Denotational Incongruencies in TEFL: Cognitive linguistic solutions for a didactic problem
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Olaf Jäkel
Abstract
Denotational incongruencies as a contrastive phenomenon of lexical-semantic analyses have been described in various respects in Cognitive Linguistics (Jäkel 2001, 2003, 2010a, 2014). This contribution based on authentic evidence from the Flensburg English Classroom Corpus (FLECC) (Jäkel 2010b) is going to demonstrate that and how denotational incongruencies also affect foreign language teaching by creating problems of intercultural misunderstanding. The proposed approach to their comparative analysis can hopefully provide solutions.
Thus, German “Bitte” is not always English “Please”, just as “Seid ihr fertig?” does not always translate as “Are you ready?” It will be argued that and why the common label of false friends is insufficient in this context. Especially the types of granularity differential and even crosspiece incongruencies pose a didactic problem for teachers whose origin needs to be recognized.
First of all, the cognitive field-semantic analysis contributes to a differentiated recognition by the teacher. In a next step, cognitive linguistics can contribute motivated solutions for TEFL and its teaching methodology. In sum, this makes for a two-stage consciousness raising enterprise: Teachers realize in how far denotational incongruencies interfere in their pupils’ foreign language learning. And they find appropriate methods to make their pupils aware of concrete cases of denotational incongruencies – an important ingredient for promoting intercultural communicative competence in foreign language teaching.
References
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- L2-constructions that go together – more on valency constructions and learner language
- Using Cooperation Scripts and Animations to Teach Grammar in the Foreign Language Classroom
- The contested notion of ‘deliberate metaphor’: What can we learn from ‘unclear’ cases in academic lectures?
- Denotational Incongruencies in TEFL: Cognitive linguistic solutions for a didactic problem
- Metaphors in educational texts: A case study on history and chemistry teaching material
- The semantics of German posture and placement verbs in noun-verb phrases
- Emergent pseudo-coordination in spoken German. A corpus-based exploration
- Deriving the meaning of light verb constructions – a frame account of German stehen ‘stand’
- Conflicting Evidence for Mental Schemas in Language Production and Processing
- A usage-based perspective on public discourse: Towards a critical cognitive linguistics
- Constructicography at work: implementation and application of the German Constructicon
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- L2-constructions that go together – more on valency constructions and learner language
- Using Cooperation Scripts and Animations to Teach Grammar in the Foreign Language Classroom
- The contested notion of ‘deliberate metaphor’: What can we learn from ‘unclear’ cases in academic lectures?
- Denotational Incongruencies in TEFL: Cognitive linguistic solutions for a didactic problem
- Metaphors in educational texts: A case study on history and chemistry teaching material
- The semantics of German posture and placement verbs in noun-verb phrases
- Emergent pseudo-coordination in spoken German. A corpus-based exploration
- Deriving the meaning of light verb constructions – a frame account of German stehen ‘stand’
- Conflicting Evidence for Mental Schemas in Language Production and Processing
- A usage-based perspective on public discourse: Towards a critical cognitive linguistics
- Constructicography at work: implementation and application of the German Constructicon
