<?page no="0"?> ISBN 978-3-8233-8130-3 The focus on communication in TBLT often comes at the expense of form. In this book, the task-based approach is enhanced and coupled with insights into (cognitive) grammar, an approach which sees grammar as meaningful. The book shows how grammar teaching can be integrated into a communicative lesson in a non-explicit way, i.e., “by the backdoor”. The learners are involved in situations that they may also encounter outside their classrooms and they are given communicative tasks they are to work on and solve, usually with a partner or in small groups. What teachers need to invest for preparing such lessons is their own creativity, as they have to come up with communicative situations which guide the learners into using a specific grammatical structure. The book first discusses the didactic and the linguistic theories involved and then translates these theoretical perspectives into actual teaching practice, focusing on the following grammatical phenomena: tense, aspect, modality, conditionals, passive voice, prepositions, phrasal verbs, verb complementation, pronouns, articles. Niemeier Task-based grammar teaching Task-based grammar teaching of English Susanne Niemeier Where cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching meet <?page no="1"?> Prof. Dr. Susanne Niemeier lehrt und forscht in den Bereichen Angewandte Linguistik und Fremdsprachendidaktik des Englischen im Institut für Anglistik an der Universität Koblenz- Landau, Campus Koblenz. <?page no="4"?> Susanne Niemeier Task-based grammar teaching of English Where cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching meet <?page no="5"?> Dedicated to my children Daria and Niclas - and to all my students in module 5.3-- Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http: / / dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. © 2017 • Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG Dischingerweg 5 • D-72070 Tübingen Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Gedruckt auf chlorfrei gebleichtem und säurefreiem Werkdruckpapier. Internet: www.narr-studienbuecher.de E-Mail: info@narr.de Satz: pagina GmbH, Tübingen Printed in Germany ISSN 0941-8105 ISBN 978-3-8233-8130-3 <?page no="6"?> 5 Inhalt Inhalt 0. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PART I: Didactic and linguistic theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1. Grammar in the foreign language classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 1.1 Current situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 1.2 A brief history of grammar teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2. Task-based language teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 2.1 The development of task-based language teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2.2 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 2.2.1 Pre-task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 2.2.2 Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 2.2.3 Language focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 2.3 The role of grammar in task-based language teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3. Cognitive grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 3.1.1 Embodiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 3.1.2 Lexis-grammar continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3.1.3 Categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 3.1.4 Usage-based perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 3.1.5 Perspective on language acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 3.2 The cognitive grammar perspective on language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 3.2.1 The centrality of meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 3.2.2 Construal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 3.3.1 Advantages of applied cognitive grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 3.3.2 Research on applied cognitive grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 4. Cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 <?page no="7"?> 6 Inhalt PART II : Case studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 5. Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 5.1 A cognitive grammar perspective on tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 5.2 The present tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 5.2.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 5.2.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 5.2.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 5.2.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 5.2.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 5.3 The past tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 5.3.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 5.3.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 5.3.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 5.3.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 5.3.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 6. Aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 6.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 6.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 6.2.1 Lexical aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 6.2.2 Grammatical aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 6.2.3 Non-prototypical uses of aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 6.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 6.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 6.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 7. Modality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 7.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 7.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 7.2.1 Root modality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 7.2.2 Epistemic modality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 7.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 7.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 7.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 8. Conditionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 8.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 8.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 8.2.1 Mental Space Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 8.2.2 Potentiality space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 8.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 8.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 8.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 <?page no="8"?> 7 Inhalt 9. The passive voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 9.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 9.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 9.2.1 Highlighting function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 9.2.2 Research results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 9.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 9.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 9.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 10. Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 10.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 10.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 10.2.1 Metaphorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 10.2.2 Proto-scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 10.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 10.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 10.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 11. Phrasal verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 11.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 11.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 11.2.1 Semantic networks of the particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 11.2.2 Analyses of the particles up, down, out and in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 11.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 11.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 11.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 12. Verb complementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 12.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 12.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 12.2.1 Iconicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 12.2.2 The complementizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 12.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 12.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 12.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 13. Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 13.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 13.2 A cognitive-linguistic perspective on pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 13.3 Personal pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 13.3.1 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 13.3.2 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 13.3.3 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 13.3.4 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 <?page no="9"?> 13.4 Possessive pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 13.4.1 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 13.4.2 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 13.4.3 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 13.4.4 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 14. Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 14.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 14.2 Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 14.2.1 Definiteness vs. indefiniteness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 14.2.2 Boundedness vs. unboundedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 14.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 14.4 The task cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 14.5 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 15. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 <?page no="10"?> 9 0. Introduction 0. Introduction Over the past two decades, task-based language teaching ( TBLT ) has been introduced quite successfully into foreign language teaching methodology in wide parts of the world and a sizable number of current and especially future foreign language teachers have become acquainted with this approach during their studies as well as during diverse internships and trainings-on-the-job. However, task-based teaching has not yet found a solid way into foreign language classrooms. Textbooks do not integrate this approach, nor do curricula, as task-based teaching is seen as being partly incompatible with current views on didactic progression. This situation is understandable insofar as task-based language teaching does not-- and does not want to-- follow the rigid routine of a traditional foreign language textbook. This may be seen as a disadvantage by those teachers who have learned to rely exclusively on a text book series, but for teachers with a more creative mindset the integration of taskbased teaching bears many advantages, which outweigh the disadvantage just mentioned, as it allows the teachers (as well as their learners) a lot more freedom to deal with everyday situations and current issues, which is usually perceived as immensely motivating by both teachers and learners alike. Task-based language teaching stands in the tradition of the multitude of available communicative approaches, which is the reason why it mainly focuses on communication. Fostering communicative skills is certainly far from being a bad idea, but at the same time an exclusive focus on communication may frequently come at the expense of form. Many task-based language classrooms (as well as a sizable part of the task-based language teaching literature) therefore largely avoid grammar teaching, as the concepts of ‘grammar teaching’ in the teachers’ minds are generally connected to something negative, something that “has to be done” but is not necessarily fun. This rather negative attitude towards grammar is observable in many teachers and teacher trainees, who transport it subconsciously-- and probably unwillingly-- to their learners. Yet, how can grammar be seen as fun or even as interesting when not even the teachers like it? Such a view of grammar is presumably still heavily influenced by the grammar drills and / or PPP methods (“presentation, practice, production”) that the teachers have encountered in their own school, university or internship days, where grammar was presented as a set of abstract structures with rules and exceptions which had to be learned by heart, and where grammar was not necessarily related to meaning. However, today, as Celce-Murcia (2001: 466) correctly claims, “grammar can no longer be viewed as a central, autonomous system to be taught and learned independent of meaning, social function and discourse structure”. This book even goes a step further because it argues that grammar is as meaningful as lexis (just in a more abstract way) and that teaching grammar is therefore at the same time teaching meaning. This perspective is owing to the fast-growing body of research in theoretical cognitive grammar and in applied cognitive grammar, an approach which is seen as usage-based, i. e., as a descriptive and not a prescriptive way of looking at grammar in usage events, and which has already managed to develop meaning-based explanations of various grammatical <?page no="11"?> 10 0. Introduction phenomena and has empirically proven their effectiveness (although hardly ever in taskbased classrooms). According to Achard / Niemeier (2004: 7), applied cognitive grammar is a good starting point for grammar instruction, “because the kinds of generalizations it posits to describe linguistic organisation can easily be made explicit, and thus incorporated into classroom practices”. As grammar will definitely be an ever-present ingredient in any foreign language classroom, grammar teaching will always be a necessity. What will hopefully change is the perspective that teachers have concerning the concept of ‘grammar’, no longer seeing it as a necessary evil but seeing it as what it really is, namely a tool in the learners’ hands which enables them to say exactly what they want to say, thus contributing to and sometimes even establishing the meanings of the utterances the learners intend to make. Only if learners know how to flexibly use this tool in diverse situations will they be able to communicate efficiently. This idea is quite close to Pennington’s view, who argues that “grammar is a process of choosing forms and constructing language to respond to communicative demands, it essentially involves the learner’s creative response to context and circumstance” (1995: vii). If such a functional concept of grammar is then coupled with insights from cognitive grammar, which presents grammatical phenomena as bearing meaning and as the language users’ deliberate choices of construal and not just-- as in traditional views on grammar-- as prescriptive and rule-governed ways of using the language, learners have the chance to stop seeing grammar as a straightjacket and to start seeing it as the tool it is, which should also enable them to use the foreign language creatively and not just reproductively. This is certainly easier the more advanced a learner is, but also less advanced learners can use language creatively, although with certain restrictions, as of course their linguistic repertoire is smaller than that of more advanced learners. Using language creatively will also benefit an outside-of-the-classroom use of the foreign language, as a creative use of language is exactly what happens in ‘real’ communication, which is quite different from the pseudo-communication that can be found in the majority of more conventional foreign language classrooms. According to Allwright/ Hanks (2009: 51), task-based language teaching “puts learners in an unconventional and perhaps unusually proactive relationship to their classroom learning. They have more room to show seriousness of purpose, some capacity for decision-making and space to be unique”, an important quote which already mentions several crucial aspects of this approach. Task-based language teaching can be seen as an action-oriented approach, which can be enhanced by integrating grammar teaching in a non-explicit way, i. e., “by the backdoor”, while the learners may not even notice that what they are learning IS indeed grammar. They will be involved in situations that they may, at least to a certain extent, also encounter outside their classrooms and they are given communicative tasks they are to work on and solve, usually with a partner or in small groups. These situations and tasks have to be carefully chosen and developed by the teacher so that in order to fulfil a task the learners need to use a specific grammatical phenomenon. In this way, not only the communicative topic is foregrounded in the lesson, as is usual in task-based classrooms, but the lesson focus is instead two-pronged, as a grammatical topic goes hand-inhand with the communicative topic. What teachers need to invest for preparing such lessons is <?page no="12"?> 11 0. Introduction especially their creativity, as they have to come up with communicative situations which more or less force the learners to use a specific grammatical structure and which additionally cater to different learner types. This book suggests to use Willis’ task cycle in a modified way (cf. Willis 1996). During the pre-task the teacher already uses the grammatical phenomenon in question but does not yet expect the learners to use it, while during the task itself the structure may and should already be used by the learners. Only after the learners have presented their task outcomes is the grammatical structure in question explicitly focussed upon. In other words: in this book, the task-based approach is enhanced and coupled with insights into (cognitive) grammar, and these two approaches jointly become a very useful tool for the foreign language classroom. So far, tasked-based language teaching and cognitive grammar have not frequently been brought together. Tyler (2012) has presented some suggestions, but has not delved deeply into the topic. Cadierno / Robinson (2009) have used pedagogic tasks to teach the construal of motion events and Jacobsen (2016) has conducted an experiment on the task-based teaching of the English conditional from a cognitive grammar perspective, the results of which show that the cognitively based way of teaching was more successful than the task-based approach on its own and that both of these ways of teaching worked better than traditional methods. The connection between task-based teaching and cognitive grammar definitely seems to be a fruitful one, although this can only be claimed with caution, as there is still a lack of studies. This book intends to show that a connection of task-based teaching and cognitive grammar is indeed a very fruitful one, as the two approaches can be integrated in order to yield the approach of task-based grammar teaching ( TBGT ). The book consists of two main parts, a more theoretical one and a more practical one, and is structured as follows. The first part discusses the didactic as well as the linguistic theoretical background, starting with some general reflections on the role of grammar teaching in various didactic approaches and pointing out the necessity of grammar instruction. Chapter 2 summarises the development of task-based language teaching, discusses its advantages and disadvantages as well as various unresolved questions that researchers do not all agree upon, such as the role of grammar in this approach. It furthermore outlines general ways of implementing the approach into the foreign language classroom, focusing mainly on Willis’ task cycle. Chapter 3 offers a concise introduction to cognitive grammar and its applications and additionally outlines their potential for the foreign language classroom. Chapter 4 then brings the two approaches of task-based language teaching and applied cognitive grammar together and explains how one can profit from the other. Subsequently, the second part of this book translates the rather theoretical perspectives of the first part into actual teaching practice. It discusses ten case studies on diverse grammatical phenomena, which were chosen according to their relevance for the foreign language classroom, starting out with the TAM complex that every verb entails (tense, aspect, modality-- treated separately due to ease of explanation although they actually belong together), continuing with conditional clauses and the passive voice, tackling prepositions and phrasal verbs, and finally focusing on verb complementation in complex sentences as well as on pronoun usage and article usage. The book does not intend to provide model lessons or teaching recipes but instead uses one teaching example in each of the chapters to explain in <?page no="13"?> 12 0. Introduction detail how the grammatical phenomenon in question can be implemented in a task-based way into a communicative situation. Further possible communicative situations and tasks are briefly indicated after the explanations of the teaching examples. Most grammar topics are discussed with a secondary school audience in mind. Those topics which are also suitable for a primary school audience (or for (pseudo-) beginners in secondary school who do not have a solid foundation from their primary school English years), such as prepositions, pronouns and articles, are discussed for an audience of less advanced learners but can also be used with more advanced learners in order to help them reorganise their grammar skills. The references following each chapter list the publications which are quoted in the chapters and which can be consulted for more in-depth information. In some instances, further basic texts have been added. Further reading Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (2004): “Cognitive linguistics, language acquisition and pedagogy”. In: Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition, and foreign language teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1-12. Allwright, Dick / Hanks, Judith (2009): The developing language learner: An introduction to exploratory practice. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Cadierno, Teresa / Robinson, Peter (2009): “Language typology, task complexity and the development of L2 lexicalization patterns for describing motion events”. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics 6, 245-277. Celce-murcia, Marianne (2001): Teaching English as a second or foreign language. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Jacobsen, Natalia D. (2016): “The best of both worlds: Combining cognitive linguistics and pedagogic tasks to teach English conditionals”. Applied Linguistics, https: / / doi.org/ 10.1093/ applin/ amw030. Pennington, Martha C. (1995): “A situated process view of grammar”. In: Pennington, Martha C. (ed.): New ways in teaching grammar. Alexandria, VA : TESOL Inc., i-xvi. Tyler, Andrea (2012): Cognitive linguistics and second language learning: Theoretical basics and experimental evidence. London: Routledge. Willis, Jane (1996): A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Longman. <?page no="14"?> 13 PART I: Didactic and linguistic theory <?page no="15"?> 14 Introduction to part I Introduction to part I This part of the book starts off from a didactic perspective on grammar teaching, elaborating its role in various approaches and methodologies and then concentrates on the approach of task-based teaching, especially focusing on its development, the definition of the concept “task”, on a suitable methodological framework for an implementation of this approach, and on the role of grammar in this approach. Subsequently, the discussion turns towards the linguistic theory, which is based upon the research area of cognitive grammar. The cognitive-linguistic paradigm and its major tenets and beliefs are introduced before the more specialised area of cognitive grammar is explained in detail. The connection between cognitive grammar and foreign language teaching is scrutinised and, in a final chapter, the didactic and the linguistic theories are brought together. <?page no="16"?> 15 1.1 Current situation 1. Grammar in the foreign language classroom This chapter starts with some brief comments on the current situation of grammar teaching in English classrooms in Germany, in the majority of which the PPP method (presentation-- practice-- production) is used, before describing the role that has been devoted to grammar in different language teaching approaches over the ages, starting with the Grammar-Translation Method, continuing with the Audiolingual Approach, ending with the communicative approaches, including the relatively recent focus-on-form movement, and leading up to task-based language learning. 1.1 Current situation In most German foreign language classrooms, the so-called PPP (presentation- - practice- - production) approach is currently chosen when it comes to grammar teaching. In this approach, a new grammatical feature is first presented to the learners, normally via the coursebook, which usually contains one or more didacticised texts with an inauthentically high number of occurrences of the phenomenon in question. In a second step, the teacher then explains this phenomenon deductively or lets the learners discover it inductively. This is followed by an analysis of the form and use of the new structure, and finally rules (and sometimes signal words) are formulated, which have to be written down by the learners and learnt by heart. The third step focuses on the learners’ controlled production and use of the targeted phenomenon, frequently in exercises consisting of isolated sentences. However, the meaningfulness of the new grammatical structure is hardly ever touched upon and the PPP procedure does not necessarily enable the learners to use the grammatical phenomenon in naturally occurring conversation outside of the classroom. R. Ellis (2003: 29) mentions that “implicit in PPP is the idea that it is possible to lead learners from controlled to automatic use of new language features”. However, such use would normally still be decontextualised, i. e., it is not pragmatically anchored in a specific usage context. R. Ellis continues his convincing arguments against the PPP approach by criticising that “ PPP views language as a series of ‘products’ that can be acquired sequentially as ‘accumulated entities” (ibid.), that “ SLA research has shown that learners do not acquire a language in this way” (ibid.) and that “L2 acquisition is a ‘process’ that is incompatible with teaching seen as the presentation and practice of a series of ‘products’” (ibid.). Furthermore, PPP is a very teacher-centred approach and the learners normally only react to the teacher’s and / or the coursebook input, but do not become the pro-active and collaborative learners which they are meant to be from a more modern perspective, which is also the perspective of task-based language teaching. Grammar is an omnipresent phenomenon in the foreign language classroom and it is generally not liked too much, neither by the learners nor by the teachers. Learning to master a foreign language certainly involves learning (about) the grammar of this language as well, however, there are many different opinions on what ‘grammar’ actually is. Most people <?page no="17"?> 16 1. Grammar in the foreign language classroom would probably say that the term relates to the structural aspects of language and they would contrast it with the notion of ‘vocabulary’. Indeed, when it comes to the competences to be acquired in foreign language teaching, most current EFL textbooks still differentiate between ‘vocabulary’ and ‘grammar’ / ‘structures’ in their tables of contents. Cognitive grammar, on the other hand, argues that lexis and grammar are inseparably intertwined and form two ends of a continuum, sharing many organisational principles (such as categorisation, (un)boundedness and metaphorization, among others)-- this is explained in more detail in the third chapter. Language cannot be defined without these two poles of the continuum. If there was only vocabulary, people would run around and utter single words-- and this is certainly not what is meant by “communication”. If there was only grammar and no words, nothing could be said or even thought at all. Both ingredients are necessary and work together. Even a very simple sentence like “Mary runs” does not only contain words, but is full of grammar as well. On the one hand, the sentence follows the English word order in that the subject is placed before the verb. As the verb is intransitive in its motion meaning 1 , it cannot have an object. Furthermore, the sentence is tensed (third person singular present tense) and the non-use of the progressive aspect states that the sentence does not describe an ongoing activity but instead a habitual one, as Mary may be a member of a running team with regular running meetings, or that Mary always runs when under stress, for example. What is still more, the sentence talks about reality, as otherwise modal auxiliaries would be used (Mary could run, Mary may run, Mary ought to run etc.-- all of them indicating various extents of distance towards reality and all of them indicating that it is not a proven fact that Mary runs). Therefore, even in the very first English lessons for beginning learners, in which simple sentences such as the one mentioned above are used on a regular basis, grammar is an ever-present asset and contributes a lot to the meanings of the utterances made, although in a more abstract way than vocabulary does. This is why grammar should never be neglected in the foreign language classroom and why learners need to be made aware of the meaning components that grammar contributes to the overall meaning of an utterance. Although Widdowson (1990: 97) correctly argued already thirty years ago that “language learning is essentially learning how grammar functions in the achievement of meaning”, this sound piece of advice has hardly been accepted and grammar has rather been taught “for grammar’s sake”. 1.2 A brief history of grammar teaching Over the history of second language acquisition theories, the importance of grammar instruction has varied quite extensively, from playing a key role to being of hardly any importance, depending on the theories that were fashionable at certain times. The following paragraphs briefly elucidate in a simplified way the major theories on second language acquisition with respect to the role that grammar plays in them. 1 “Run” can have other meanings than the basic motion meaning mentioned above, for example in “Mary runs a company”. In this case, it has become a transitive verb and demands a direct object. In this case, the basic motion sense has been metaphorically extended. <?page no="18"?> 17 1.2 A brief history of grammar teaching Foreign languages have been taught since the Middle Ages, when Latin and Ancient Greek were the languages to be learnt. When at a certain point of time foreign language teaching no longer focused on the teaching of ancient languages that were no longer spoken but turned towards modern languages instead, the way of teaching foreign languages did not change but was simply taken over from the teaching of the classical languages. This first approach to the teaching of modern foreign languages was called the ‘Grammar-Translation Method’-- definitely a misnomer, as a method needs a theory behind it, which was absent in this case. Similar to the teaching of classical languages, the language of instruction for the modern languages was usually the learners’ mother tongue, and when learners left school after many years of foreign language instruction they were in most cases utterly unable to hold a conversation in the foreign language, as this had usually never happened in the classroom, in which the focus was nearly exclusively on written and not on spoken language. Sophisticated texts were read and translated in class and grammar structures in these texts were explained and discussed, not with the aim to prepare the learners for being able to communicate with native speakers of the foreign language but with the aim of acquainting the learners with the literature of the foreign culture and educating them to be persons with a taste for what was seen as ‘high culture’ in those days. The aim of language education was not to enable the learners to use the foreign language, but education was rather seen as ‘cultivation’. Furthermore, grammar analysis was meant to train the learners’ capacity for logical thought. Language was thus not used as an everyday communicative tool but dissected in a quasi-academic way. As communication was of no special interest, grammar played a decisive role in this type of instruction. Interestingly enough, this way of foreign language instruction is still popular in wide parts of the world (cf. also Nunan 2015: 8). Although criticism of the Grammar-Translation Method came up relatively early, nothing much changed until World War II , during which the necessity for people to actually speak foreign languages became vital. New methods, among them what VanPatten / Williams (2013: 17) call the “Army method”, were developed, which were meant to lead the learners towards an ability to really speak the language in question. This was partly inspired by the thought that the enemy should be understood, partly inspired by the wish to send diplomats and soldiers or even smuggle spies into a foreign country who had to speak the foreign language flawlessly in order not to be detected, and certainly also inspired by the wish for a teaching method which focused more on oral production than on reading, analysing, translating and interpreting classic literature. The so-called Audiolingual Approach, based on behaviouristic theories of conditioning via stimulus-response, was therefore developed in the USA , but reasonably quickly also found its way to Germany. In the 1970s, many German schools invested heavily in language laboratories, in which the learners were sitting in single cubicles, listening with headphones to tapes playing sample sentences of the foreign language. They were expected to repeat the sentences they heard and transform them in so-called ‘pattern drills’. The teacher could listen in to every single one of the learners and could also correct them. This way of teaching focused on oral production, repetition and automatization. Grammar was ‘performed’ in these pattern drills, <?page no="19"?> 18 1. Grammar in the foreign language classroom where, for example, an active sentence was presented which the learners had to transform into a passive sentence, but the transformation was not explained any further. Therefore, the importance of grammar in this approach was rather minor, as the students were expected to learn from analogies and as an explicit analysis of grammatical phenomena did not happen. The method relied instead on the automatization of a grammatical structure by repetition, i. e., by ‘habitualisation’: whenever the learners heard a specific stimulus, they were expected to give a conditioned response. Although oral production had finally entered the foreign language classroom and every learner had maximal speaking time, in the end the method did not really work and came in for severe criticism from the 1970s onwards. One of the reasons for its failure is certainly the fact that language learning is a far more complex endeavour than, for example, learning to ride a bike or learning to tie one’s shoe laces, which can both easily be learnt by stimulus-repetition-response action chains, another reason was the fact that the kind of language used did not frequently approximate normal communication, as no learner would ever encounter a native speaker who, for example, would utter an isolated sentence in the active voice in order for the learner to transform this sentence into the passive voice. Therefore, the learners were still not prepared for everyday communication, although they will have had a far better pronunciation than the learners having been taught according to the Grammar-Translation Method. For all these reasons, the audiolingual method was abandoned reasonably soon and many schools only used their expensive language laboratories for writing classroom tests, as the learners could sit at a distance from each other. Other second language acquisition theories followed suit, but none of them lasted for long until the upstart of communicative language teaching began. According to Nunan (2015: 10), “communicative language teaching was less a method than a broad philosophical approach to language, viewing it not so much as a system of rules but as a tool for communication”. One of its earliest appearances is to be found in Krashen’s ‘Monitor Model’ 2 , consisting of five hypotheses which claim, for example, that acquisition and learning are two different processes. According to Krashen, acquisition is what happens in natural foreign language settings, for example, when a child and its parents move to a country where another language is spoken and the child starts to pick up the language from everyday interactions with native speakers of that language. This happens subconsciously and the aim is communication. Learning, on the other hand, happens consciously, usually in an instructed setting, and its aim is the mastery of the structural rules of a language. Krashen claimed that learning can never become acquisition 3 and that acquisition is the better process. 2 For more information on Krashen’s model see, for example, VanPatten / Williams 2013: 24-27. 3 Incidentally, this is not completely true, as on the one hand also natural language settings can involve a focus on language structure, for example, when a second language speaker says something to a native speaker and then asks a metalinguistic question, such as “Did I say that correctly? ” or “Can one say it like this? ”. On the other hand, also language instruction can involve acquisition elements. For instance, when learners first encounter the past tense--ed morpheme, they need to pay attention to adding it to every regular verb form when using this verb in the past, but once they have passed this initial stage, they just add the morpheme automatically, without thinking about it any longer. Indeed, newer research <?page no="20"?> 19 1.2 A brief history of grammar teaching Although Krashen’s model plays a fundamental role in the development of second language acquisition theories, it has been heavily criticised as being too rigid (and also untestable) in all its claims. Concerning the role of grammar, Krashen had claimed that it would develop on its own during communication and did not need to be taught explicitly. Achard (2008: 433) sums up the situation quite adequately by claiming that “the rise of the communicative models of instruction made instructors so suspicious of undue focus on structure that in the 1980s and early 1990s systematic grammatical instruction was banned from many language classrooms”. Altogether, it can be stated that the importance of grammar started to lose more and more ground in the foreign language classroom. Thus, the pendulum swung from grammar’s all-importance in the Grammar-Translation Method via its lesser importance in the Audiolingual Approach to its lack of importance in most communicative approaches. However, implicit instruction (i. e., grammar developing on its own during communication, such as Krashen had claimed) does not seem to work that well either, at least not for all grammatical phenomena 4 . This fact is well-known from studies on Canadian total immersion projects 5 (see, for example, Tarone / Swain 1995 or Swain 2000), which have shown that grammar does not develop on its own just by exposing the learners to rich input but that the result is rather one of fossilised reduction. What is more, various meta-analyses of SLA studies over the last fifteen years have come to the conclusion that “instruction that incorporates explicit (including deductive and inductive) techniques leads to more substantial effects than implicit learning” (Norris / Ortega 2000: 500) and that the effect sizes for an explicit instruction of both simple and complex language features were a lot more pronounced than those for an implicit instruction (cf. Spada / Tomita 2010). Along these lines, Cameron (2001: 108) argues that “grammar may emerge naturally in first language-(…) but the grammar of a foreign language is ‘foreign’, and grammar development requires skilled planning of tasks and lessons, and explicit teaching”. frequently uses only the term “acquisition” in order to refer to both acquisition (in Krashen’s sense) and learning. 4 Hulstijn & de Graff 1994 argue, for example, that simple forms or rules are best acquired through the use of implicit methods, whereas more complex grammatical phenomena are easier to acquire through explicit methods. 5 These projects were located in Québec, which is officially bilingual in French and English with French as the majority language. Whereas the native French speakers are usually able to communicate in English as well (mainly due to the fact that they are geographically surrounded by huge English language majorities), the English speakers are generally monolingual. In order to change this imbalance, school projects were developed in which native English speakers went to a French-speaking school and were surrounded by French from the very first day onwards, all day long, where every subject was taught in French and where some of the schools did not even tolerate English during the breaks. When these learners left the schools, they were usually quite fluent in French and had furthermore developed an interest for Franco-Canadian culture. However, the grammatical correctness of their French utterances left a lot to be desired, as the learners had only received communicative input in French but grammar had never been taught explicitly or been explained to them and had not developed on its own, which contradicts Krashen’s claim that grammar develops as a by-product of communication. <?page no="21"?> 20 1. Grammar in the foreign language classroom Furthermore, proponents from other academic fields, in this case cognitive linguistics, such as N. Ellis or MacWhinney, claim that “language acquisition can be speeded up by explicit instruction” (N. Ellis 2002: 175) and that “from the viewpoint of psycholinguistic theory, providing learners with explicit instruction along with standard implicit exposure would seem to be a no-lose proposition” (MacWhinney 1997: 278). Although the arguments of the defenders of grammar are strong, they have not been completely assimilated by or at least been filtered down into second language teaching propositions and methods. In the wake of the criticism raised against it, communicative language teaching has developed two versions, a weak one and a strong one. The strong view keeps up Krashen’s claim (1982) that communication is more or less enough to develop learners’ foreign language skills and that an explicit teaching of grammar is unnecessary, whereas the weak view maintains that an explicit teaching of grammar can be beneficial for learners. According to R. Ellis (2003: 30), task-based language teaching is also a strong form of communicative language teaching, as “tasks provide the basis for an entire language curriculum”, a view which obviously disregards form completely, and in which it is not important “what the learners will learn, only how they will learn” (R. Ellis 2003: 31). The distinction between a structured syllabus and the methodology used thus becomes blurred, as in such a view the syllabus mainly consists of the task-based methodology. It is quite difficult, though, to imagine this in practice, as this view would not allow language competences to be planned nor sequenced. In the current German context, with its structured curricula and its focus on competences to be acquired, it would be impossible to implement. The weak view of communicative language learning is also known as ‘Focus-on-Form’ (see, for example, Doughty / Williams 1998) and suggests to keep up the communicative foreign language classroom but to enhance it with grammar explanations and exercises when grammatical problems come up in classroom discussions. Supporters of ‘Focus-on- Form’ maintain that erroneous forms have to be corrected so that they do not fossilise or are imitated by other learners. ‘Focus-on-Form’ does not want to establish a renewal of a didactically oriented grammatical progression in the language that the learners are exposed to, but nevertheless argues that a focus on form, whenever necessary, should be integrated. Researchers, however, do not completely agree on the place for such an integration, as some see it in the form of “briefly drawing students’ attention to linguistic elements” (Long 2000: 185) in a communicatively based context, whereas others relate to instruction that intentionally focuses on specific linguistic forms in the context of meaningful language use, be this proactively or reactively (cf. R. Ellis 2003). However, at least when referring to Long’s view quoted above, such a focus on form normally has a rather remedial function as it only applies when learners do something wrong, i. e., it is not meant to be used for systematically introducing a new grammar topic and make the learners understand it but is instead meant to repair the learners’ language flaws when these become apparent. This can be seen as somewhat counterintuitive, as in such cases the learners have to acquire / learn a certain structure twice, once in the communicative phase, where they build their own hypotheses how to use a certain grammatical construction, and <?page no="22"?> 21 1.2 A brief history of grammar teaching once in the repair phase, where they have to modify their own interlanguage hypotheses on the grammatical structure in question. To focus on form is definitely necessary and relevant, but the approach outlined in this book wants to go one step beyond this by suggesting that it makes more sense to focus on form at the very first introduction of a new grammatical phenomenon and not as a retrospective action. Form and meaning should not be seen as two opposite issues but should instead be seen as inextricably intertwined, as is also suggested by cognitive grammar. In a communicative classroom, both lexical and grammatical aspects should contribute to meaning. Task-based language teaching as the latest development among the communicative approaches to foreign language teaching offers the potential to integrate form and meaning at the same time, in a holistic and learner-centred way. Before such an integration can be addressed in more detail, the next chapter first introduces the task-based approach, focusing on its development, its characteristics, the changed learner and teacher roles it suggests as well as on divergent views on the role grammar should play in this approach. Further reading Achard, Michel (2008): “Teaching construal: Cognitive pedagogical grammar”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. London: Routledge, 432-455. Cameron, Lynne (2001): Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doughty, Catherine / Williams, Jessica (eds.) (1998): Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ellis, Nick C. (2002): “Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition”. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24 (2), 143-188. Ellis, Rod (2003): Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hinkel, Eli (ed.) (2016): Teaching English grammar to speakers of other languages. London: Routledge. Hulstijn, Jan H. / de Graff, Rick (1994): “Under what conditions does explicit knowledge of a second language facilitate the acquisition of implicit knowledge? A research proposal”. AILA Review 11, 97-112. Krashen, Stephen D. (1982): Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon. Long, Michael (2000): “Focus on form in task-based language teaching”. In: Lambert, Richard D. / Shohamy, Elana (eds.): Language policy and pedagogy. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 179-192. Macwhinney, Brian (1997): “Implicit and explicit processes: Commentary”. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19, 277-282. Nassaji, Hossein (2010): Teaching grammar in second language classrooms. London: Routledge. Norris, John M. / Ortega, Lourdes (2000): “Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis”. Language Learning 30 (3), 417-528. Nunan, David (2015): Teaching English to speakers of other languages. London: Routledge. <?page no="23"?> 22 1. Grammar in the foreign language classroom Richards, Jack C. / Rodgers, Theodore S. (2014 3 ): Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Spada, Nina / Tomita, Yasuyo (2010): “Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis”. Language Learning 60 (2), 263-308. Swain, Merrill (2000): “French immersion research in Canada: Recent contributions to SLA and applied linguistics”. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 199-212. Tarone, Elaine E. / Swain, Merrill (1995): “A sociolinguistic perspective on second language use in immersion classrooms”. Modern Language Journal 79 (2), 24-46. Vanpatten, Bill / Williams, Jessica (eds.) (2013 2 ): Theories in second language acquisition. London: Routledge. Widdowson, Henry (1990): Aspects of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <?page no="24"?> 23 1.2 A brief history of grammar teaching 2. Task-based language teaching Over the last few decades, research into second language acquisition ( SLA ) has been gaining more and more ground and has finally come to be fully accepted as a scientific field. New theories on learning and teaching, theories on motivation, theories on coding, storing and retrieving information, theories on learner and teacher personalities, types and roles have been developed and traditional approaches have been discarded to a certain extent. Instructed foreign language learning is no longer seen (as Krashen had still claimed in the 1980s) as relying on completely different mental processes than natural second language acquisition but these two possibilities to acquire / learn another language are today rather seen as having quite a lot in common. In natural second language acquisition, i. e., when somebody acquires a new language by just “picking it up” from their surroundings, the focus is normally exclusively on communication, as one wants to understand and wants to be (and usually needs to be) understood as well. Since communicative language teaching approaches-- and with them the focus on communication and communicative success-- have taken centre stage, the notion of ‘communication’ has become the buzzword in seminars on foreign language teaching methodology and in teacher training as well as in curricula for all school types, and also in the Common European Framework of Reference for Language ( CEFR ). The CEFR even implicitly recommends task-based teaching when it states that the approach which is needed in foreign language classrooms “is an action-oriented one in so far as it views users and learners of a language primarily as ‘social agents’, i. e. members of society who have tasks-(…) to accomplish-(…) within a particular field of action” (Council of Europe 2001: 9). In contrast to the teacher-centred approaches such as Grammar-Translation and Audiolingualism, which were briefly outlined in the previous chapter, task-based language teaching can be seen as learner-centred and meaning-oriented and has its origins in communicative language teaching ( CLT ) 6 . Nunan (2015: 10) even calls it “the methodological ‘realization’ of CLT ”. However, it can be argued that this statement does not go far enough, because taskbased language teaching normally goes (or should at least go) beyond what communicative language teaching has offered, as it focuses primarily on the learner instead of only on the communicative purpose of language. Furthermore, it highlights the idea of topically structured communication and not just of communication as such, because learners are presented with tasks on a specific topic and communicate among each other about the given topic. In a sociocultural view of second language acquisition, communication (or rather interaction) is seen as the essence of learning, as described by R. Ellis (2003: 177): “acquisition occurs in rather than as a result of interaction. From this perspective, then, L2 acquisition is not a purely individual-based process but shared between the individual and other persons”. As communication and interaction are the reasons why language exists, it does not exactly 6 As suggested, for example, by Thornbury (2006), although other scholars do not all agree. For instance, Kumaravadivelu (1993) mentions that tasks can be incorporated into a variety of methods. <?page no="25"?> 24 2. Task-based language teaching come as a surprise that language is acquired by learners while they are using it, either with the teacher or with other learners or later on in real-world situations. It is up to the teacher to select suitable tasks and topics, not only keeping the learners’ age level, motivation and interests in mind but also the usefulness of the elicited language for real-world communication, i. e., outside of the classroom. As R. Ellis (2003: ix) argues, “if learners are to develop the competence they need to use a second language easily and effectively in the kinds of situations they meet outside the classroom they need to experience how language is used as a tool for communicating inside it”. Tasks usually focus a lot more on oral language than on written language 7 , although writing, listening and reading tasks can be used as well. The learners’ exposure to the target language should be maximised, providing them with opportunities for receiving comprehensible input as well as allowing and enabling them to produce meaningful output. Such meaning is not completely pre-determined, as it used to be in previous approaches, but to a certain extent the learners’ own meanings are what counts, i. e., the task just provides a framework and the learners are allowed to negotiate the task while doing it, for example, by adding their own creative ideas in order to make the task also personally meaningful for the individual learners and not only potentially meaningful for the whole class. According to Van den Branden / Bygate / Norris (2009: 6), “the performance of functional tasks involving meaningful language use is the starting point, primary mechanism, and final goal of educational activity” and this is what task-based language teaching can contribute to. R. Ellis even goes so far as to claim that task-based teaching reflects … the issues that figure predominantly in current discussions of language pedagogy-- the role of meaning-based activity, the need for more learner-centred curricula, the importance of affective factors, the contribution of learner-training, and the need for some focus-on-form. Task-based pedagogy provides a way of addressing these various concerns and for this reason alone is attracting increasing attention. (R. Ellis 2003: 33) This view fully embraces the task-based approach and sees it as the ultimate solution for all pedagogical issues in foreign language instruction. Be that as it may, at least the current status of task-based instruction can definitely not be seen as the solution for all form-related and linguistic issues, which is why this book recommends some caution concerning R. Ellis’ view and tries to add a linguistic perspective to the equation, not wanting to accept the vague expression “some focus-on-form” but instead arguing that grammar needs to be approached more systematically. Some researchers (such as Skehan 1998, R. Ellis 2003 or Samuda / Bygate 2008) distinguish between task-based and task-supported language learning. In task-based language learning, the complete syllabus is structured around tasks whereas in task-supported language learning 8 , tasks are not the only method of instruction, although they can and should 7 This is in line with Cook’s (2016: 4) primary assumption about foreign language teaching, namely that “the basis for teaching is the spoken, not the written language”. 8 But see Cook (2016: 291), who forcefully argues against a task-based syllabus by stating that tasks “cannot realistically form the core of any language teaching classroom that sees its students as people engaged <?page no="26"?> 25 2.1 The development of task-based language teaching be one of the key elements in the foreign language classroom. With the German system in mind, this book therefore rather suggests task-supported teaching ideas, as it is of course not possible to change a complete syllabus and / or curriculum overnight, especially since no suitable textbooks are available and since the idea of a task-based syllabus still clashes with current assessment and evaluation practices and regulations. This may change over the course of time, but currently tasks can only be implemented every now and then, whenever the need arises, for example, when introducing new grammatical features. Therefore, whenever the term ‘task-based teaching’ appears in this book, it refers to what some scholars see as ‘task-supported teaching’ 9 . The task-based literature provides a variety of definitions of what a ‘task’ is, which are discussed in the following sub-chapter. What all definitions have in common is that they differentiate tasks from exercises, as tasks are to be seen in a wider context and as the outcome is not just a linguistic result but a solution for a problem, in the widest sense of this expression. Exercises, in contrast, are normally decontextualised and focus exclusively on a specific linguistic form, for example, on the transformation of given active sentences into the passive voice, or-- to give a non-grammatical example-- on writing a summary of a text without focusing on pragmatic notions or learner interests. R. Ellis (cf. 2003: 3) sums up the difference between a task and an exercise quite convincingly by claiming that in tasks the learners act primarily as language users, whereas in exercises they act primarily as language learners. 2.1 The development of task-based language teaching Presumably the first scholar who reported on having taught along the lines of what was going to be known as task-based language teaching was Prabhu, who describes his view of foreign language teaching as follows: The development of competence in a second language requires not systematization of language inputs or maximization of planned practice, but rather the creation of conditions in which learners engage in an effort to cope with communication. (Prabhu 1987: 1) In other words, second language acquisition happens in and through communicative activities and all the teacher needs to provide are opportunities for authentic, natural communication, which can be done by using tasks. Prabhu conducted an experimental project, the so-called ‘Communicational Teaching Project’ in Bangalore, in which especially the messages (i. e., the communicative content) were meant to be noticed by primary and secondary classes and not so much the structures, which were only paid incidental attention. The learners did not with the world”. 9 The term “task-supported” is not used in this book for two reasons-- first of all, not every researcher makes this differentiation and second, the term “task-based” is already so very much entrenched that it can be seen as a cover term for different instructional formats involving tasks. In the same vein, Samuda / Bygate (2008: 80) state that “more recently ‘task-based’ has come to be rather loosely applied as an umbrella term to refer to any context in which tasks are used, whether as an occasional activity to fill a gap in a lesson plan, or as the central mode of instruction”. <?page no="27"?> 26 2. Task-based language teaching follow a syllabus consisting of a progression of linguistic structures but instead engaged in certain meaningful activities, in which tasks were used as a vehicle through which language was to be generated. Today, task-based language teaching is not seen as one specific approach but rather as a “family of approaches that are united by two principles: First, meaning is primary, and second, there is a relationship between what learners do in the classroom, and the kinds of things they will need to do outside of the classroom” (Nunan 2015: 13). In order to cater for these principles, the learners are confronted with well-organised tasks which they have to solve and which should be based on communicative needs in the real world. For example, if the communicative topic is ‘healthy food’ 10 , the learners are not only provided with vocabulary and language structures relating to food (word fields, plural--s etc.) but are furthermore enabled to achieve goals that go beyond the classroom, namely to obtain food and drink in an English-speaking culture and to know about healthy nourishment-- which, by the way, can additionally be seen as an example for the learner-centredness of task-based language teaching. Although ‘tasks’ are the core of task-based teaching, there is no unanimous agreement on what a ‘task’ is. Nunan (2015: 192) calls a task “the basic building block of the instructional design”. He differentiates between so-called ‘real-world tasks’ and ‘pedagogical tasks’ (Nunan 1989). Real-world tasks (such as painting a fence, repairing a bicycle etc.) do not necessarily involve language, but as soon as they enter the classroom (for example, in the form of telling others how to paint a fence or how to repair a bicycle or making plans or shopping lists in preparation of performing such real-world tasks) they become pedagogical tasks. According to Nunan, the aim that the learners are meant to reach is to convey meaning rather than to focus on grammatical form 11 . Most other researchers only mention the pedagogical tasks, not the real-world ones. Therefore, in what follows the term ‘task’ is only used to refer to pedagogical tasks. Willis, for example, one of the best-known proponents of task-based language teaching, offers a very wide definition of (pedagogical) tasks as “activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose-(…) in order to achieve an outcome” (1996: 23), which rules out most of the didacticised “communication” in a traditional classroom. The notion of a task achieving an outcome means that the learning is goal-oriented and leads-- depending on the task-- to a solution or to a product. There are various classifications of tasks, however, a discussion of all of them would lead too far at this point 12 and therefore only three of them are briefly characterised in what follows. These three classifications are each based on different ways in which tasks can be classified and should not be mixed up when designing tasks, because tasks can be addressed from quite different perspectives depending on the learning results that are meant to be reached. 10 This example is used again in the next sub-chapter. 11 The main claim of cognitive grammar is that form is meaningful, therefore, from a CG point of view, the contrast between form and meaning in this utterance is untenable as the grammatical structure also conveys meaning. 12 R. Ellis (2003: 210) speaks of a “bewildering array of types of task”. For more information on pedagogic, rhetorical, cognitive and psycholinguistic classifications of tasks, please refer to chapter 7 of R. Ellis’ book. <?page no="28"?> 27 2.1 The development of task-based language teaching Whereas Prabhu (1987) uses a cognitive typology of tasks and differentiates between three different types of task, namely 1) information gap activities, 2) reasoning gap activities and 3) opinion gap activities, not all task-based scholars follow this differentiation. A cognitive typology such as Prabhu’s orders the tasks according to the kinds of cognitive operations involved. According to Prabhu, information gap activities are the easiest tasks and reasoning gap activities the most difficult ones (with opinion gap activities coming somewhere in between) as they involve more cognitive steps than the other two types. Information gap activities involve “a transfer of given information from one person to another-- or from one form to another, or from one place to another-- generally calling for the encoding or decoding of information from or into language” (Prabhu 1987: 46). An example for such an activity could involve the creation of a weather chart, using spoken radio weather forecasts. A reasoning gap activity involves “deriving some new information from given information through processes of interference, deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns” (Prabhu 1987: 46). This kind of activity is similar to a gap activity, however, some of the necessary information is not provided by the teacher or by the task but needs to be found out by the learners themselves. An example could be witness reports on the occasion of a lost or stolen schoolbag. The witnesses report, for instance, to have seen the bag at a certain time and at a certain location and may have observed a mysterious somebody taking it away-- some witnesses saw the mysterious person’s sunglasses, others saw other parts of this person’s outfit, still others saw in which direction the person was running etc. The groups then have to pool their information and need to deduce or figure out what happened to the schoolbag. Finally, opinion gap activities involve “identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation” (Prabhu 1987: 47). Many examples fit this task type, from finding an end for a story via taking part in a discussion on a specific topic to collecting data on the likes and dislikes of the other classmates. Pica et al. (1993) use a psycholinguistic typology of tasks and identify five task types, which they classify as 1) jigsaw tasks, 2) information gap tasks, 3) problem-solving tasks, 4) decision-making tasks and 5) opinion exchange tasks. A psycholinguistic typology orders the tasks according to their potential for language learning. Pica et al.’s typology is “based on interactional categories that have been shown to affect the opportunities learners have to comprehend input, obtain feedback, and to modify their own output” (R. Ellis 2003: 215). In jigsaw tasks, the group members receive different pieces of information and have to pool their knowledge by exchanging information in order to reach a task solution. For example, the teacher enters the class and holds up a mobile phone that was found in front of the school building and which apparently belongs to one of the English exchange students who are currently visiting the school. The learners then get different fragments from WhatsApp conversations and have to find out the correct chronology of these conversations in order to find out whose mobile phone was found. Information gap tasks, which are best done in pair work, are somewhat similar to jigsaw tasks as again some pieces of information are missing for one of the participants and this information is then provided by the other participant. For example, the learners describe their <?page no="29"?> 28 2. Task-based language teaching rooms to each other and the person who is listening has to draw the described items into an empty map of a room. Then the learners change their roles and the second room map is produced. Afterwards, the learners comment on whether their rooms were drawn correctly. Problem-solving tasks can refer to a wide variety of activities, from solving short puzzles, for example of the odd-one-out type, to solving real-life problems, such as recommending a certain course of action for something or to somebody, for example, giving directions to a stranger who asked for the way to a certain building or institution. Decision-making tasks usually do not have a predetermined outcome, i. e., there are no right or wrong solutions. Instead, they require the participants to agree on a solution after several options have been discussed. An example could be that the learners create a huge pizza for the next class party, with toppings that everybody in the group likes. Finally, opinion-exchange tasks do not have a predetermined outcome either, but there is no need for the group to reach a unanimous solution. An example would be a discussion on where the next class trip should lead. In such a discussion, the learners can collect the advantages and disadvantages of specific locations without having to come to a decision. Willis (1996), as the third classification example, uses a pedagogic typology of tasks and speaks of six different task types, namely 1) listing, 2) ordering and sorting, 3) comparing, 4) problem-solving, 5) sharing personal experiences and 6) creative tasks. Pedagogic typologies are usually directed at learner training, most frequently the training of the four language skills. Willis’ typology is somewhat different and is, according to R. Ellis (2003: 211), “based on an analysis of the kinds of tasks commonly found in text book materials. The types reflect the kind of operations learners are required to carry out in performing tasks”. Listing can mean, for example, that the learners produce a list or a mindmap of items, activities, locations etc. Such lists could refer to things that are necessary for repairing a bicycle, animals that one would like to see in a zoo, places one wants to visit during a class trip etc. Ordering and sorting can, for instance, refer to the fact that the learners use such a list as outlined above and rank the items on it concerning their importance, distance, or any other factor. Comparing can mean, for example, that the learners try to find similarities or differences between what the individual group members above prepared or between what the different groups came up with. To stick to the example above, if several groups listed and ordered places and sites for an upcoming class trip, not all groups will have the same results and a solution has to be found how to evaluate the differences. Problem-solving tasks are seen in the same way as described for Pica et al. (1993) above, with examples ranging from giving directions to finding something hidden in the classroom in some kind of treasure hunt. Sharing personal experiences could refer to the learners’ likes or dislikes, for example, when it comes to leisure activities or music or travelling or to presenting one’s family or one’s Christmas wishes. Finally, creative tasks are usually the most complex task type. They can be done verbally, as, for example, by writing an additional verse for a Christmas song or in rewriting a popular song, or they can result in a product, such as preparing a healthy snack, a classroom party or <?page no="30"?> 29 2.1 The development of task-based language teaching a school trip. Willis also mentions that an activity can belong to more than one task type, which is usually the case for creative tasks. Apart from the general types of task outlined above, the task topic is certainly of interest as well. R. Ellis suggests that … the guiding principles in the selection of content for tasks will be (1) topic familyarity and (2) intrinsic interest. Some appeal may also be made to (3) topic relevancy by predicting the general situations that learners may later find themselves in. (R. Ellis 2003: 218) As already mentioned earlier on, topics have to be motivating for the students in order for them to participate and to be willing to involve themselves in working on the task. However, a learner group is always heterogeneous, and therefore the learners’ areas of interest will vary. When planning a task, a teacher needs to keep in mind that the topic should be interesting for the majority of learners. Furthermore, as solving a task needs to draw on the learners’ world knowledge, the topic should be familiar enough to them to enable them to use their background knowledge, which will of course vary from individual to individual, so that the learner groups can pool their knowledge and profit from each other in this respect. R. Ellis’ third point, although given as somewhat of an addendum in the quotation above, is actually equally important as the other two points he makes, because learners need to be prepared for situations beyond the classroom, for example, when spending time abroad in the culture(s) of their target language. They have to be able to ask for directions or to give directions, to obtain food and drink, to visit tourist attractions, to plan their travels and excursions, to interact with native speakers, just to give some few examples. A well-designed task should furthermore allow the learners, at least as much as possible, to act in a self-determined way, and it should respect the learners’ individuality, i. e., their creative ways of thinking and their personal views in understanding and solving problems, which is of course easier for more advanced learners than for beginning learners. New ideas are appreciated, as there is not only one answer to every question and there is no set answer. When planning grammar-related tasks, though, finding a suitable communicative topic is only half of the story, as the grammatical construction needs to fit into the topic as well. Therefore, the topic has to be well-structured and the language chosen for the pre-task phase as well as for the task instructions and potential worksheets needs to guide the learners into using the grammar construction in question. When the grammar topic is chosen first, situations in which the construction is used in natural communication behaviour need to be found which follow the above-quoted guidelines for suitable task contents. This task-finding sequence can also be turned around, as the teacher can first decide on a communicative situation, then see which grammatical constructions are frequently used in this situation and finally decide to focus on one of them. After having provided an overview of diverse typologies of tasks and of ideas on what a task is, it may have become obvious that there is no definition which is shared by all researchers. Therefore, as a working definition, this book follows-- at least to some extent-- the definition provided by R. Ellis: <?page no="31"?> 30 2. Task-based language teaching A task is a workplan that requires learners to process language pragmatically in order to achieve an outcome that can be evaluated in terms of whether the correct or appropriate propositional content has been conveyed. To this end, it requires them to give primary attention to meaning and to make use of their own linguistic resources, although the design of the task may predispose them to choose particular forms. A task is intended to result in language use that bears a resemblance, direct or indirect, to the way language is used in the real world. (R. Ellis 2003: 5 f.) What can be seen differently from what R. Ellis claims is that in the approach of task-based grammar teaching, as proposed in this book, a task always wants the learners to choose particular forms, they not only “may” do so but instead have to do so. Whenever a certain grammatical structure is the leading competence to be acquired in a lesson, besides the communicative topic, this influences the task design because the teacher first of all needs to find situations in which the structure in question is used in natural communication and then has to select one of these situations and create a task which guides the learners towards using exactly this structure. As a matter of caution, it should also be mentioned at this point that the task-based approach is not universally accepted but has also been criticised, especially since not all taskbased language teaching proponents necessarily agree on what this approach entails nor, as mentioned above, do they all share the same definition of ‘task’, which makes it somewhat difficult to provide a coherent account of the approach. Criticism comes, for example, from Richards / Rodgers (2001: 241), who lament “the absence of systematic grammatical or any other type of syllabus that characterises current versions of TBLT ” and state that an evaluation of task performance is difficult. Furthermore, Seedhouse (1999) claims that the language use in task-based lessons can be rather minimalistic and limited and therefore suggests that taskbased learning should not be the only approach used. A counterargument, however, would be in this case that if the teacher offers rich input and prepares tasks that demand more than minimalistic language use from the learners by repeating useful words and phrases during the pre-task phase and by constructing tasks that demand a more sophisticated language use this danger may not be so imminent, especially when compared to PPP grammar lessons, where the learners’ use of the foreign language is normally limited to reading out isolated sentences. Cook (2016: 289) argues that the task-based approach does not reach far enough beyond the classroom environment, by saying that “-…it (i. e., task-based teaching) does not appear concerned with overall teaching goals” and that … there are higher goals to language teaching than fluency, accuracy and complexity, such as the beneficial effects on the students of the second language (personal goals), the usefulness of knowing a second language for the society (local goals) and the benefits for the world in general (international goals). (Cook 2016: 289) These additional goals, however, are very far-fetched and it seems as if Cook (not exactly a supporter of the task-based approach) has tried to find whatever criticism he could think of. He certainly seems to be demanding far too much from one single approach to foreign <?page no="32"?> 31 2.2 The task cycle language teaching and presumably no approach will ever be able to achieve all the goals mentioned in the quote above. Cook does agree that fluency and accuracy may profit from the task-based approach and this is already a lot more than was reachable by previous approaches. Boiled down to a more manageable level, Cook’s “higher goals” can even be fulfilled by a task-based approach. In an ideal case, task-based instruction motivates the learners and can therefore be seen as an enrichment for their own lives (“personal goals”), and it can furthermore be useful outside of the classroom (“international goals”, although not necessarily for “the world in general” but rather for individual encounters in an international environment). Finally, as task-based foreign language teaching aims at contributing to the learners’ knowledge of and about the second language, even the “social goals” are addressed. 2.2 The task cycle When planning a task, a teacher not only has to keep the target group’s interests, age and level of language skills in mind but also needs specific abilities. Skehan (1996, as quoted in Müller-Hartmann / Schocker-von Ditfurth 2011: 87) lists these as a) “an ability to select and sequence tasks for supplementary activities”, b) “the competence to organise, appropriately, preand post-task activities”, c) “a willingness to adapt task difficulty during the actual task phase” and d) “a sensitivity to individual differences and the capacity to adapt tasks to take account of differences in learner orientation”. In other words, not only do teachers have to be able to creatively plan and prepare tasks with their target audience in mind, but they have to show a certain degree of flexibility to adapt the task if it works out differently than planned. Kumaravadivelu (2007: 20) even claims that “the biggest methodological challenge facing the classroom teacher is to cope with the unpredictable nature of task performance”. This means that teachers need to be prepared for alternative task results than those they originally had in mind and they need to be able to reorganise their lessons to a certain extent if the task takes longer than planned or, vice versa, if the learners work faster than expected. For example, it is of utmost importance never to leave out the report phase, even if time is running out, as the learners definitely need feedback and evaluation. Therefore, in some cases, the remainder of the lesson needs to be restructured so that, for instance, parts of the task can be left out in order to have enough time for the reports and the teacher’s ensuing feedback. Language learning is no linear process and therefore there is no ideal way of learning for just about everybody. All learners bring with them individual, cognitive and motivational differences, which can only be catered for if the teacher sets meaningful tasks and promotes motivating activities in which the foreign language is used. Every learner may gain slightly different outcomes and advancements of their respective interlanguage from such tasks and there will never be completely unified results. When planning a task-based lesson, the easiest way is to rely on an established framework. Various methodological designs exist, which all have in common that they consist of three main phases (pre-task, during-task, post-task). The best-known three-phase model comes from Willis (1996), who has developed a generalizable framework for task-based language <?page no="33"?> 32 2. Task-based language teaching teaching which has been widely accepted and which will also be followed by this book, although it will be modified at some points. The framework allows for creativity and variety in all of its phases. Willis uses the term “task cycle” for the middle part (which includes the actual task, the planning of the learners’ reports and the reports themselves), but many other researchers (such as, for example, Nunan 2015) use the term “task cycle” for the complete framework, which-- as has already been indicated-- consists of three main stages, the middle stage being divided into three further sub-stages. This book follows Nunan’s way of using “task cycle” for the complete model. Usually, a task cycle takes up one lesson. It is, however, possible that a lesson may consist of several task cycles (what Nunan calls “several linked tasks or task chains”, 2015: 12) or else, that a task cycle can span over several lessons. With one exception (the case study on verb complementation), the examples provided in the second part of this book all take up one lesson each. 2.2.1 Pre-task The task cycle begins with the pre-task phase, which is normally the shortest of the three stages. It has several important functions: on the one hand, it is meant to reactivate useful vocabulary or turns of phrases and to allow as many learners as possible to already say something in the foreign language, and on the other hand, it introduces the learners to the communicative topic of the lesson, which should motivate them 13 and in an ideal case should be drawing on their background knowledge. If, for example, the topic relates to healthy nourishment, the teacher can start the lesson by telling the learners that s / he does not feel well because the night before s / he ate too many unhealthy products for dinner and can continue by asking the learners for alternative food suggestions, drawing on their world knowledge and at the same time on their knowledge of food vocabulary. The learners’ suggestions, presumably words for fruits and vegetables, can be collected on the board or on flashcards and can later on be consulted by the learners during the task phase. Concerning grammar, the topic ‘healthy food’ is well-suited for introducing the plural--s, as fruits or vegetables can either be mentioned in the singular or in the plural. If the learners did not yet have any conscious contact with pluralization and answer the teacher’s question “What should I have eaten instead? ” with “an apple” or “a banana”, the teacher can comment “This is true, apples / bananas are much healthier”. Thus, during the pre-task phase, the teacher should already use the grammatical structure that is to be acquired but should not expect the learners to already use it as well. A final important function of the pre-task phase is to provide the learners with the task instructions, i. e., to introduce and explain the upcoming task and to make sure that all learners know exactly what they have to do and how much time they have to do it. Especially for lower 13 It cannot be stressed enough that the learners’ motivation is crucial in all kinds of learning and is to a certain extent dependent on the teacher’s ability to actually motivate his / her learners, cf. also Guilloteaux / Dörnyei 2008: 72 f., who speak about “the belief held by many education experts that student motivation is related to the teacher’s motivational practice”. <?page no="34"?> 33 2.2 The task cycle grades, it has proven helpful to not only explain the task verbally, but to also show a slide with a step-by-step procedure and let it remain visible throughout the task, so that the learners can refer to it if necessary. Should worksheets be distributed, the step-by-step procedure can alternatively be printed on the worksheet. Also R. Ellis (2003: 222) recommends not to rely on oral information alone: “With regard to input medium, information that is presented in written or pictorial form, which can be decoded in the learner’s own time, is likely to be easier to process than information that is provided orally, which requires online decoding”. 2.2.2 Task The task phase consists of three steps, namely the task itself, the planning of the learners’ reports on the task outcome 14 and finally the reports themselves. A task is normally done in learner-learner interaction, either as pair work or in small groups. On the one hand, this increases the quantity of learner speech, as in teacher-class interaction only one learner can speak at a time, but in pair or group work many more learners can speak at the same time. This effect is even more pronounced in pair work, as everybody needs to be active and cannot try to hide behind others who may dominate the discussion floor in a group. On the other hand, pair or group work is important for authentic communication to arise as the learners have enough time to communicate outside of the teacher’s control. Also R. Ellis (2003: 178) stresses the importance of learner collaboration, arguing that “tasks-(…) can be seen as tools for constructing collaborative acts” and, later on in his book, he speaks about “cooperative learning through collaborative dialogue” (2003: 269), i. e., the learners’ social skills are trained as well. Furthermore, learners who are anxious or nervous when they have to speak in front of the whole class may feel less nervous in pair or group work. It is usually best if the groups or pairs are formed under the teacher’s guidance, as this is a lot quicker than letting the learners find their own groups. Still, in order not to force the learners into predetermined groups, the teacher may, for example, let them draw numbers (i. e., if five groups have to be formed, the numbers on little pieces of paper go from 1 to 5 and everybody who has a ‘1’ is in ‘group one’ etc.) or colours (i. e., bits of paper which are coloured on the inside and everybody who has a yellow piece of paper, is part of ‘group yellow’ etc.). In this way, the learners cannot blame the teacher for having put them in a group they do not appreciate but they are themselves responsible for having drawn their groups. While working on the task, the learners are expected to already use the new grammatical structure during their interaction and especially when formulating their reports, which can 14 In this respect, R. Ellis (2003: 8) differentiates between ‘task outcome’ and ‘task aim’, claiming that an ‘outcome’ does not necessarily have to involve language, as, for example, when the learners have to draw pictures and then show each other the pictures without using language. If the learners verbalise their outcomes, then-- at least for R. Ellis-- the ‘aim’ of the task has been reached. As this book is only interested in a verbalised ‘outcome’ or product and consequently in an overlap of R. Ellis’ ‘outcome’ and ‘aim’, the task reports need to consist of verbal productions by the learners. They are meant to improve their grammatical and their communicative competences at the same time, for which language use is a precondition. <?page no="35"?> 34 2. Task-based language teaching be facilitated by giving them clearly structured tasks. Example sentences on a worksheet are helpful as well. To pick up the ‘healthy food’ topic once more, the learners could be given a worksheet with a shopping list and can be told in the instructions on the worksheet that they are invited to a birthday party and have been asked to bring a fruit salad. The next item that appears on the worksheet would then be a list with the heading ‘shopping list-- fruit salad’ and then several dotted lines, the first two or three of them could already be filled in with ‘1 melon’, ‘5 pears’, ‘3 bananas’ or similar. In this way, the learners already see the plural--s in use and may deduce that its use is bound to a higher quantity than 1. The worksheet could furthermore contain illustrations showing signs at a market stand which mention ‘fresh carrots’, ‘delicious grapefruits’ or the like. The learners are then expected to fill six to ten lines with the quantity and the type of fruits they need to buy in order to make their favourite fruit salad. To motivate them even further, the last item on the shopping list could be called a ‘secret ingredient’, where the groups can use their imagination and add ants, spiders 15 , marshmallows or whatever tickles their fancy. This usually heightens the learners’ motivation, they will enjoy the task and possibly have strong reactions, which make them remember the grammatical structure in their future language use. If the learners are furthermore told that after the reports the class is going to take a vote on the best fruit salad, they will try to excel. While the learners are working on the task the teacher should stay in the background as much as possible. Although it may be tempting for teachers to go from group to group (or pair to pair) and offer advice and help, they should only intervene when problems occur, for example, when the groups or pairs do not speak in English but in their native language or when a group or pair is completely stuck and asks the teacher for help. In learner-learner interaction, linguistic risk-taking behaviour is more likely to appear, due to the fact that the learners are peers. If the teacher controlled them, they would most certainly speak less and presumably only use language of which they are sure that it is correct. This can result in non-fluent communication and the new structure might not be used at all, because in such a situation the learners would act as language learners and not as language users. In an ideal case, the teacher just monitors from a distance and keeps track of the time. Some minutes before the time allowed for the task is over, the teacher should announce that the groups / pairs need to come to an end soon. During the following planning phase for the report the learners need to work on the language that they will use for the report. Normally, the report is an oral report (although it may involve graphs, drawings, posters etc., but even these still have to be described orally) and every group member should say at least one sentence, as each of the group members is accountable for the group result. Therefore, the learners have to decide who says what and they then formulate their utterances together. They may ask the teacher for help with their formulations, but new vocabulary should only be introduced if it is easy to explain to the other classmates, who obviously need to be able to understand the others’ reports. The planning 15 These somewhat macabre examples work best if the salad in question is, for example, meant for a Halloween party. <?page no="36"?> 35 2.2 The task cycle time for the report is important and should not be left out or shortened drastically. As R. Ellis (2003: 137) states, “when there is opportunity for planning, accuracy is enhanced, a finding that is perhaps best explained in terms of learners’ use of explicit knowledge to monitor their performance”. As the planning is done in groups (or in pairs), the learners can negotiate the form and the meaning of their utterances and can pool their knowledge, helping each other out. In this way, learner-learner interaction can contribute to the learning effects of the task, as the learners have the opportunity to profit from as well as learn from each other’s world knowledge and linguistic knowledge. The teacher’s role changes again during the report, as s / he becomes a moderator, calling on the groups / pairs, keeping track of the time frame, evaluating what the learners say and making sure that the rest of the class understands the reports. The teacher should also, either on a piece of paper or directly on the board, note down sentences that are to be used during the last task cycle phase, the language focus. If learners make mistakes during their presentations, these should be corrected implicitly in a non-intrusive way, for example, by a request for clarification or by repeating a sentence correctly. The report is a phase that should never be omitted as the learners want to present their task outcomes or products and as they need feedback. If the time does not suffice to let all groups or pairs present, the left-over groups or pairs should be asked to hand in their reports so that they can get feedback as well. When the task was done in pair work, there is hardly ever enough time to let all pairs present. During the report phase, the teacher might want to call on pairs who have interesting results or solutions, which s / he will have noticed in the planning stage. When the task was done in group work, and provided that there is enough time for all groups to participate in the report phase, it is sometimes a good idea to have an election of the best result. Referring to the example given above, this could relate to the best fruit salad, which can then, for instance, be prepared for a future class breakfast. If the groups are not allowed to vote for their own salads, it is normally possible to reach a majority vote for one of the salads. 2.2.3 Language focus In Willis’ framework, the task cycle ends with what she calls a ‘language focus’, separated into ‘analysis’ and ‘practice’. The analysis phase is supposed to focus on specific features of the task texts, whereas the practice phase is meant for practising new words, phrases and patterns. According to Willis / Willis (2007: 114), the language focus takes place “outside the context of a communicative activity”. Although this is the stage where newly introduced grammatical phenomena could be presented in a structured way, Willis does apparently not intend to use this part of the lesson as a systematic restructuring phase but instead suggests to practice vocabulary and phrases used during the lesson, to do pronunciation exercises and to work on problems which came up during the lesson. These ways of using the language focus are quite haphazard and unsystematic and transform the language focus into a mere appendix to the lesson, because it is not really connected to it, is furthermore uncommunicative and can probably also be regarded as superfluous if time problems arise. <?page no="37"?> 36 2. Task-based language teaching The perspective on task-based language teaching taken by this book suggests instead that the language focus be re-evaluated and should become a very important part of the lesson, not just an optional add-on and, crucially, that it stays within the context of the communicative topic of the lesson, because the example sentences come from the students’ own reports on their task outcomes. In the language focus, the learners’ attention is explicitly drawn to the grammatical phenomenon in question and to how it works communicatively, i. e., both form and meaning are focused upon. Implicitly, the grammatical phenomenon in question has already been used during the pre-task (by the teacher) as well as during the task (by the learners) and the language focus then moves from the learners’ implicit exposure to the grammatical construction towards raising their explicit awareness of the newly introduced structure. Grammar teaching cannot be effective when it is isolated from a meaningful usage context, the latter having been provided by the task. To help the learners to notice the structure, their own sentences or utterances from the reports can be taken as an illustration of the grammatical phenomenon in question, as the learners already made use of it during the task and during their reports. In the language focus, the phenomenon can then finally be structured and explained. This is preferably done in an inductive way, meaning that the learners themselves try to find out the meaning and form of the structure, which allows for deeper cognitive processing 16 . To stick to the example of the plural--s, examples from the learners’ reports can be written on the right-hand side of the board (for instance, when the task consisted of preparing a healthy fruit salad for the class and writing a shopping list for this, the expressions on the board could be “5 apples” or “4 bananas”). Following this, the teacher writes the number 1 on the left-hand side of the board and asks for each fruit “and if I have only one of these, what do I say? ” and the answers are then written on the board by those learners who gave them. When all slots are filled (three or four expressions should be enough in this case), the teacher asks the learners which differences they notice between the expressions on the left-hand side of the board and those on the right-hand side of the board. They will notice the extra morpheme, the ‘s’, which will then be underlined. However, this is only the explanation of the form, but the explanation of the meaning is equally important, namely that the plural morpheme means ‘more than one’. The learners can be asked to offer their own hypotheses on the meaning of the plural form, by answering the teacher’s questions about why they think the ‘s’ is added, and they will easily find an answer along the lines of ‘more form is more meaning’, a clear instance of iconicity in language. Other grammatical phenomena are of course not as easy to explain as the plural--s, these will be discussed in the second half of this book. Furthermore, if enough time is available after the language focus, a post-task activity can be added in order to solidify the grammatical information provided during the language focus. In this case, a transfer to another word field, for example, siblings or animals (“who has a brother / sister? ”-- “how many brothers / sisters do you have? ” or similar), is recommended. Should there not be enough time left during the lesson itself, the transfer can be done for homework. 16 This is in line with Norris / Ortega’s recommendation that learners should be “directly asked to attend to particular forms and try to arrive at metalinguistic generalizations on their own” (2000: 437). <?page no="38"?> 37 2.3 The role of grammar in task-based language teaching Summing up, it should be kept in mind that the different phases of the task cycle focus on different aspects of the two learning targets, i. e., the communicative one and the grammatical one. Whereas the pre-task phase sets the stage for the communicative topic (such as talking about healthy eating habits) and already makes the learners subconsciously and passively familiar with the grammatical phenomenon (by the teacher’s use of pluralized nouns), the task itself stays within the communicative domain but demands the learners’ active use of the grammatical construction (such as the compilation of shopping lists and the potential election of the best fruit salad, judged by its ingredients) and the language focus acquaints the learners in a structured and inductive way with the form as well as with the meaning of the grammatical construction they already used during the task, ideally followed by a transfer to another word field or topic. This procedure is in line with Robinson’s (2011: 14) idea that “pedagogic tasks should be sequenced solely on the basis of increases in their cognitive complexity”. In other words, in the suggested slightly modified 17 task cycle the learners receive input that already contains the structure in question during the pre-task phase but normally do not yet use the targeted structure themselves, while during the task phase they should use the structure actively without reflecting on it and during the language focus and the post-task phase, i. e., the transfer, they are expected to pay explicit attention to the structure and its use. Robinson further recommends to … increase resource-dispersing dimensions of task complexity first (to promote access to current interlanguage), then increase resource-directing dimensions of complexity (to promote development of new form-function mappings, and destabilize the current interlanguage system). (Robinson 2011: 15) An access to the learners’ current interlanguage systems is provided by the communicative focus of the pre-task, during which the learners are involved in establishing the communicative lesson topic on the basis of their language and world knowledge. Only afterwards are they exposed step-by-step to the grammatical topic of the lesson in an inductive way. In an ideal case, this changes their interlanguage systems, into which they will start to integrate the newly acquired structure. 2.3 The role of grammar in task-based language teaching It will probably already have become obvious that not all proponents of task-based teaching agree on the role that grammar should play in this approach. Especially researchers with a background in communicative language teaching rather suggest to carry on teaching in the communicative way, i. e., to assume that grammar develops on its own during communicative activities and to therefore neglect an introduction to grammatical phenomena of the target language. As a consequence of this neglect of grammar, learners may develop strategies to complete the task quickly, cutting corners in their language use and form. Nunan (1998: 97), 17 Modified insofar as the language focus is ‘upgraded’ and is used for systematizing the grammatical construction in question. <?page no="39"?> 38 2. Task-based language teaching for example, defines task-based teaching as “an approach to the design of a language course in which the point of departure is not an ordered list of linguistic items, but a collection of tasks”. On the one hand, he seems to contrast task-based teaching with approaches such as the PPP method, where normally the language form serves as the starting point, but on the other hand, he also seems to implicitly promote the view that grammar should not play any major role in task-based teaching. Other task-based scholars, such as Willis, admit that there has to be a certain place for grammar in a task-based lesson, but nevertheless state that communicative meaning needs to be the primary focus of the lesson. Furthermore, the way in which Willis describes her task cycle (cf. the previous sub-chapter)-- and especially the language focus at its end-- can lead to the assumption that also in her approach grammar is rather seen as a “necessary evil” and although it is tolerated, it is not seen as a key issue. Researchers such as R. Ellis or Robinson allocate a somewhat more important place to grammar but do not see it as playing a key role in a task-based lesson either, and also Samuda / Bygate (2008: 208) state that “contrary to many common assumptions about TBLT -- drawing attention to form is neither proscribed nor outlawed”, mainly addressing those researchers who try to avoid grammar topics in taskbased lessons. More importance is given to grammar by Eckerth, who recommends so-called ‘consciousness-raising tasks’, which he describes as form-focused (hence their name ‘focused tasks’) and which can be used to “direct learners’ attention to specific L2 forms while they are communicating in the L2” (2008a: 92). In contrast to other task types, which rather focus on implicit learning, consciousness-raising tasks are directed at explicit learning. Learners are given the possibility to explore target features in a focused context while completing a task according to the guidelines given by the teacher. The grammar topic builds the focus of the lesson. R. Ellis (2003), on the other hand, rather suggests to use unfocused tasks and to only occasionally integrate a focused (or consciousness-raising) task because he believes that it is not possible for a syllabus to consist of only consciousness-raising tasks 18 . For R. Ellis, the primary concern of a focused task should still the message content and not the form, as the learners’ attention to form is incidental (cf. 2003: 141). Similar to what this book suggests, he mentions that the learners should not be informed that a specific language form is targeted nor which form this might be. The grammatical construction in question can be targeted either in a productive (i. e., the learners produce the form in question) or in a receptive way (i. e., the learners pay attention to the form in the instructor’s input). According to R. Ellis, it is “considerably easier to design tasks that focus incidental attention of form receptively than tasks that elicit incidental production of a targeted feature” (2003: 142). The grammar exam- 18 As mentioned before, there are currently no task-based syllabi or curricula in Germany, therefore, R. Ellis’ idea is not applicable anyway. If tasks are only inserted into the foreign language classroom on an irregular basis, they may just as well be consciousness-raising ones. In this way, Eckerth’s idea comes closest to the perspective of this book, with the slight difference that the two lesson foci, i. e., the communicative and the grammatical one, are seen to be of equal importance in this book, whereas for Eckerth, a lesson has either a grammar focus or a communicative focus, but not both at the same time. <?page no="40"?> 39 2.3 The role of grammar in task-based language teaching ples in the second part of the book all aim at production, as this is what the learners need to be exposed to do in order to advance their interlanguage. Just noticing a grammatical feature is not enough, it also has to be used in communication in a grammatically, pragmatically and socioculturally adequate way. Loschky / Bley-Vroman (1993) differentiate between three different kinds of what they call ‘structure-based communicative’ task design. The first kind of task design is ‘task-naturalness’, meaning that the target structure may arise naturally when the learners are doing the task. However, different structures could be used alongside the target structure. Loschky / Bley-Vroman give the example of a task involving a travel itinerary, where the natural use of the simple present is targeted (“you arrive in London at 5.30 pm”), but where the learners could replace this structure by a will-form or a going-to-form and still produce grammatically correct sentences. The second kind of task design relates to ‘task-utility’, meaning that although a specific form is not strictly necessary for completing the task it is nevertheless ‘useful’. The example that the authors provide relates to prepositions and to the fact that although these are not strictly necessary to describe a picture in detail, they are nevertheless quite useful for this activity. Finally, the third kind of task design relates to ‘task essentialness’ and refers to the fact that learners absolutely have to use the targeted structure in order to complete the task and that therefore the structure is the essence of the task. The authors admit, however, that this may only be achievable in receptive tasks as there is no way to absolutely force the learners to use a specific structure. It has to be added that these two authors suggest that such structure-based communicative tasks are useful for automatizing existing knowledge, i. e., that they are not meant for the introduction of a new grammar phenomenon. This issue is seen quite differently in the present book, as all of the examples in the second part of the book relate to the introduction of new grammatical constructions, keeping in mind that the purpose of grammar learning is not just learning about grammar but also the practical use of the learners’ grammar knowledge. Although it is true that learners cannot be forced to use a specific structure and that, furthermore, not all learners react in the same way to a task, the likelihood that they will indeed use the structure in question is quite high if the task is designed adequately and the communicative topic has been adequately chosen as well. As mentioned previously, the teacher’s utterances in the pre-task phase should provide clear input enrichment, i. e., contain the targeted construction in a frequent and salient way, and the chosen communicative topic should be a situation in which the chosen construction is used naturally by native speakers. Such input enrichment can be seen as scaffolding and helps the learners to notice the new structure, but does not make them explicitly aware of it. In the same vein, R. Ellis (2003: 200) argues that “researchers have given theoretical grounds for claiming that if learners are led to use a specific structure through scaffolded help they are acquiring it”. What this book does not intend to do is to make a grammatical construction the sole topic of a task, a possibility for designing tasks that was proposed by R. Ellis (cf. 2003: 162 ff.). He suggests to give learners examples of correct and incorrect language and to have them discuss these examples. This is supposed to train their noticing skills and their awareness of the use <?page no="41"?> 40 2. Task-based language teaching of a specific grammatical phenomenon. Although a discussion about the language examples can certainly also be seen as communication, it is not a naturally arising conversation that could also be used beyond the classroom. It is rather a variety of linguistic analysis and not the communicatively adequate topic-related use of language that the learners are meant to acquire and practice. With respect to the issue of consciousness-raising tasks, Fotos differentiates rigidly between two different types, namely communicative consciousness-raising tasks and grammar consciousness-raising tasks, claiming that whereas the communicative consciousness-raising task … is ungrammatical, but requires either recognition of the target structure or its use in reaching the task solution, the content of the grammar consciousness-raising task is the target structure itself. Second, the grammar consciousness-raising task is not aimed at developing immediate ability to use the target structure but rather attempts to call learners’ attention to grammatical features, raising their consciousness of them, and thereby facilitating subsequent learners’ noticing of the features in communicative input. (Fotos 1994: 326) It is somewhat difficult to see why Fotos’ two types of task should be so rigidly separated from each other, because the grammatical construction in question should already be a subliminal part of the communicative pre-task. Furthermore, contrary to Fotos’ belief, the grammar part should not start out by making the learners notice the structure in question but they should already have used it while communicating during the task before their explicit attention is raised towards it in the language focus. Additionally, the learners’ noticing should not only be related to the target structure itself but also to its communicative usage. This once again means that the structure should not only appear in what Fotos calls “subsequent-(…) communicative input” but should already have been used-- albeit generally without the learners’ awareness-- in the communicative input prior to the language focus. Fotos seems to fall into the traditional trap of separating communication / lexis and grammar and does not seem to realise that they are actually related and inseparable, although of course the learners’ focus of attention can at certain points in the lesson be directed more towards one pole of the grammar-lexis continuum than to the other. There are not many studies on the effect that consciousness-raising tasks can have on learners, but those few studies that exist provide support for the use of such tasks in L2 classrooms. For example, Fotos herself (1994) conducted research on the effectivity of grammar tasks. Her results showed that the learners having been instructed with grammar consciousness-raising tasks outperformed those learners who had received traditional teacher-fronted instruction, not only in immediate post-tests but also in delayed post-tests. This indicates that grammar consciousness-raising tasks are a more powerful teaching tool than traditional formal instruction, but, on the other hand, this does not rule out that the results could have been even more convincing if grammar and communication had not been seen as separated issues and if the communicative aspect of the sample lessons had not been neglected to a certain extent. <?page no="42"?> 41 2.3 The role of grammar in task-based language teaching Eckerth could also prove the effectivity of using what he calls consciousness-raising tasks 19 . In one of his studies, he found that … consciousness-raising tasks succeeded in generating not only the same amount of speech production, meaning negotiation, and output modification as unfocused tasks, but also extensive individual discursive turns and complex collaborative dialogue. (Eckerth 2008a: 110) In other words: such tasks lead to more complex L2 utterances than unfocused, or grammar-free, tasks, as in unfocused tasks the learners “tend to rely on semantically-based communication strategies” (ibid.). In another of his studies, Eckerth (2008b) could even show that not only the targeted linguistic structure was statistically significantly better acquired by the learners but also other grammatical structures that had not even been targeted, due to the process of meaning negotiation during pair work. Therefore, if the use of focused tasks allows the learners to obviously make linguistic and communicative progress, R. Ellis’ suggestion of rather using unfocused tasks as the norm (see page 38) can no longer be upheld. As already mentioned in the introduction, this book goes one step further than the taskbased varieties presented so far in that it sees grammar as standing side-by-side with the communicative topic of the lesson. Somewhat similar to Eckerth’s view, one could even go so far as to say that the grammatical topic actually determines the communicative topic of the lesson, as the teacher, when planning the lesson, first of all has to know which grammatical structure s / he wants to introduce and then needs to find an everyday communicative situation in which the structure in question has to be used in the target language. This communicative situation then becomes the basis for creating a task for the learners. Of course, the other way around would work as well-- if a teacher wants to introduce a certain communicative situation s / he may, as a second step, think about structures that normally occur in this situation and then decide on one structure that will form the grammatical focus of the lesson. This alternative way of planning a task-based lesson would, however, make grammatical progression somewhat more difficult, as the communicative topic would decide about the grammatical structure and grammar would again be seen rather as a by-product. Summing up, the task-based teaching approach allows to promote grammar acquisition in a communicative setting in various ways. One can either hope for the learners’ grammar skills to develop during communication, or one can include specific grammar lessons (consciousness-raising tasks) in an otherwise purely communicative way of teaching, or else one can integrate grammar teaching and still focus on communication and on a task outcome. This latter perspective is the one taken by this book and is outlined by a number of examples in its second, more practically oriented part. The grammatical approach of choice is based on cognitive grammar and there are many good reasons for this choice, as is explained in the next chapter. 19 As a reminder: Eckerth’s use of focused ‘consciousness-raising tasks’ corresponds to what Fotos calls ‘grammar consciousness-raising tasks’. Vice versa, what Fotos calls ‘communicative consciousness-raising tasks’ are unfocused tasks for Eckerth. <?page no="43"?> 42 2. Task-based language teaching Further reading Cook, Vivian (2016 5 ): Second language learning and language teaching. Abingdon: Routledge. Council of europe (2001): Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Eckerth, Johannes (2008a): “Task-based learner-learner interaction”. In: Eckerth, Johannes / Siekmann, Sabine (eds.): Task-based language learning and teaching: Theoretical, methodological and pedagogical perspectives. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 89-115. Eckerth, Johannes (2008b): “Investigating consciousness-raising tasks: Pedagogically-targeted and non-targeted learning gains”. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 18 (2), 119-145. Ellis, Rod (2003): Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fotos, Sandra (1994): “Integrating grammar instruction and communicative language use through grammar consciousness-raising tasks”. TESOL Quarterly 28 (2), 323-351. Guilloteaux, Marie J. / Dörnyei, Zoltán (2008): “Motivating language learners: A classroom-oriented investigation of the effects of motivational strategies on student motivation”. TESOL Quarterly 42 (1), 55-77. Kumaravadivelu, B. (1993): “The name of the task and the task of naming: Methodological aspects of task-based pedagogy”. In: Crookes, Graham / Gass, Susan M. (eds.): Tasks in a pedagogical context: Integrating theory and practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 69-96. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2007): “Learner perception of learning tasks”. In: van den Branden, Kris / van Gorp, Koen / Verhelst, Machteld (eds.): Tasks in action: Task-based language education from a classroom-based perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 7-31. Loschky, Lester / Bley-Vroman, Robert (1993): “Grammar and task-based methodology”. In: Crookes, Guy / Gass, Susan M. (eds.): Tasks and language learning: Integrating theory and practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 123-167. Müller-Hartmann, Andreas / Schocker-von Ditfurth, Marita (2011): Teaching English: Task-supported language learning. Tübingen: UTB . Norris, John M. / Ortega, Lourdes (2000): “Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis”. Language Learning 30 (3), 417-528. Nunan, David (1989): Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nunan, David (1998): Second language teaching and learning. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Nunan, David (2015): Teaching English to speakers of other languages. London: Routledge. Pica, Teresa / Kanagy, Ruth / Falodun, Joseph (1993): “Choosing and using communication tasks for second language teaching and research”. In: Crookes, Graham / Gass, Susan M. (eds.): Tasks and language learning: Integrating theory and practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1-34. Prabhu, N. S. (1987): Second language pedagogy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Richards, Jack C. / Rodgers, Theodore S. (2001): Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Robinson, Peter (2011): “Task-based language learning: A review of issues”. Language Learning 61, Supplement 1, 1-36. Samuda, Virginia / Bygate, Martin (2008): Tasks in second language learning. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Seedhouse, Paul (1999): “Task-based interaction”. ELT JOURNAL 51 / 4, 336-344. <?page no="44"?> 43 2.3 The role of grammar in task-based language teaching Skehan, Peter (1996): “A framework for the implementation of task-based instruction”. Applied Linguistics 17 (1), 38-62. Skehan, Peter (1998): A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Thornbury, Scott (2006): An A-Z of ELT . Oxford: Macmillan. Van den Branden, Kris / Bygate, Martin / Norris, John M. (2009): “Task-based language teaching: Introducing the reader”. In: Van den Branden, Kris / Bygate, Martin / Norris, John M. (eds.): Task-based language learning: A reader. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1-15. Willis, Jane (1996): A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Longman. Willis, Dave / Willis, Jane (2007): Doing task-based teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <?page no="46"?> 45 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics 3. Cognitive grammar Cognitive grammar is the grammar-oriented branch of a general language theory called cognitive linguistics, which started to develop in the 1980s in the USA and some years later also conquered other parts of the world (mainly Europe and Asia). The first sub-chapter focuses on the development and the insights of cognitive linguistics and explains the main differences between cognitive linguistics and other more traditional schools of linguistics. In the second sub-chapter, the perspective that cognitive grammar takes on language is introduced and some of its major tenets are briefly analysed, as cognitive grammar cannot be presented in its entirety here 20 . The third sub-chapter then presents arguments why a cognitive grammatical perspective is a suitable choice for pedagogical applications of grammar, the predominant reason being that it sees grammar as meaningful, and what is meaningful is also explainable. Furthermore, current research focusing on the effectiveness of using this approach in second / foreign language teaching is summarised and briefly explained. 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics There are a number of reasons why cognitive linguistics has developed, not the least of them being the dissatisfaction of certain linguists with the theory of generative grammar, mainly connected to the work by Chomsky, which was overwhelmingly popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The generative theory located the field of linguistics close to the natural sciences and gave syntax the highest priority, thus partly disregarding and also somewhat discriminating against semantics. In generative linguistics, grammar is seen as the set of principles by which a language works (cf. Broccias 2006: 81). ‘The well-formed sentence’ and ‘the ideal speaker’ are important notions in generative grammar-- the problem is just that in everyday life, there are hardly any ideal speakers using only well-formed sentences. Instead, language use is influenced by countless non-linguistic factors, among them the speech situation, the speaker’s intention, his / her educational, regional and social background, gender and age, culture, to name just a few of the numerous influences. Simplifying somewhat, generative linguistics tries to look at ‘language proper’, devoid of all the influence factors just mentioned, and at the linguistic system rather than at actual speech performance. It furthermore believes that language is not directly related to other cognitive faculties that humans possess, such as their experiences, their memory, their senses, their senso-motor systems, their vision as well as other factors related to cognition. The hypothesised language component in people’s brains is seen as autonomous and as rather independent of all the factors enumerated above. As mentioned before, researchers began to become dissatisfied with the explanations of language and grammar that generative linguistics had to offer and at a certain point in time (the midto late 1970s) began to look for alternative explanations of language. Today, many 20 There are a number of very useful introductions to cognitive grammar, see, for example, Langacker 1987, 2006, 2009, 2013, Radden / Dirven 2007 or Taylor 2002. <?page no="47"?> 46 3. Cognitive grammar researchers within the field of cognitive linguistics see the publication of Lakoff / Johnson’s seminal work “Metaphors we live by” (1980) as the starting point of cognitive linguistics. In this publication, Lakoff, a linguist, and Johnson, a philosopher, analyse so-called conceptual metaphors 21 that appear in everyday language. For example, when somebody says that s / he was “on my way to fame”, but recently “hit a dead-end street” and has to find out “how to go on”, this person is speaking about their way in life by using metaphorical linguistic expressions belonging to the conceptual metaphor Life is a journey 22 . This metaphor borrows terms from the concrete word-field of ‘journey’ and uses them for the abstract concept of ‘life’, because there are no words that are unique to ‘life’. Life is a journey is actually a very common metaphor, especially in Judeo-Christian cultures, as, for example, already the Bible speaks about good and evil ways in life. A life is of course not a journey in the concrete sense of the word, but people use this metaphor quite frequently in order to speak about the abstract phenomenon of life. What is more, this metaphor is normally not used consciously, but people’s concepts and thought systems are subconsciously structured according to this metaphor 23 . The main function of conceptual metaphors then is to make abstract concepts more graspable and more concrete and thus to provide understanding. In the wake of Lakoff / Johnson’s 1980 publication, metaphor theory has been lured away from the realm of literature analysis and the two authors have proven that people do not only speak in metaphors in literary texts but also-- and especially so-- in their everyday language, and that, furthermore, people think in metaphors. Metaphor is thus not only seen as a matter of language but more generally as a matter of cognition and additionally as a matter of culture, as most metaphors can be seen as culture-dependent. This line of thought focuses on the connection between language, cognition and culture that the generativists had completely disregarded. At about the same time when Lakoff / Johnson worked on their conceptual metaphor theory ( CMT ), Talmy developed his theory on force dynamics 24 , claiming that what people know about forces in the world-- for example people’s understanding of gravity or of motion along a path-- is also to be found in their language use, i. e., Talmy tried to integrate encyclopaedic everyday knowledge into research on language. Such foundational schemas give structure to the understanding of many other domains of experience. For instance, when somebody says “You may enter” this person gives permission and thus takes away the potential obstacle of “no permission to enter”, so that passing through an entrance becomes possible. This can be interpreted in the sense of physical forces-- if a barrier is lifted, the way is open and if the barrier is not lifted, it is known from everyday experience that the way is blocked. It becomes 21 This book comes back to conceptual metaphor theory in the chapters on teaching prepositions and phrasal verbs (chapters 10 and 11), in which the notion of metaphor is explained in more detail. 22 By convention, conceptual metaphors are always written in small capital letters. 23 This is called an ‘image schema’ by cognitive linguists, i. e., an underlying and subconscious coherent structure, which explains what something in the world is like. Image schemas can be seen as the mental representations of external physical experiences. 24 This theory is revisited in the chapter on modality (chapter 7), where it is explained in more detail. <?page no="48"?> 47 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics obvious that also in this part of cognitive linguistic theory human everyday experience is tapped into. The third area of cognitive linguistics that was developed around the same time as the two approaches just mentioned was Langacker’s version of cognitive grammar 25 (see, for example, Langacker 2006; Langacker 2013). In his grammatical analyses of English, Langacker started to prioritise meaning, i. e., the semantic aspects of language, instead of syntax, as the generativists had done. For Langacker, grammar is as meaningful as lexis, just in a more abstract way. Therefore, every grammatical construction carries meaning, and language users normally have the choice between different construals, i. e., different ways of grammatically structuring an utterance. This does not only entail a choice between different linguistic constructions but at the same time it entails a choice of perspective. Speakers normally select that construction and that perspective which make it easy for their interlocutor(s) to understand what they want them to understand. The process of selecting a specific construal happens for nearly every utterance, because speakers are relatively free to describe a given event or situation in different ways, depending on what exactly they want to express. At the same time, this means that speakers’ conceptualizations are inherently subjective. An example for this subjectivity is the choice between the active voice and the passive voice: “Peter analysed an example sentence” refers to the same situation as “the example sentence was analysed (by Peter)”, but describes this situation in a different way. Whereas in the active sentence “Peter” is important as the agent who performed the analysis, in the passive sentence “the example sentence” is more important and the person who performed the analysis is of minor importance and can even be omitted. This can be imagined as placing a spotlight on the most important participant in the situation described and the move from the active voice to the passive voice includes moving the spotlight. In this way, the choice of the active voice vs. the passive voice mirrors the language user’s perspective on the given situation and shows what is important for him / her or what s / he wants others to understand 26 . As cognitive grammar is the topic of the following sub-chapter, it is presented and discussed in more detail there. As it is furthermore the basis for all the case studies in the second part of this book, it is revisited in every single case study, where the underlying meaning of the grammatical phenomenon in question is explained from a cognitive-grammar perspective for each case study. It may have become obvious that cognitive linguistics, which sees itself as a humanistic approach to language, has its origins not in a single new approach but refers to a multitude of approaches which share similar basic beliefs, some of which developed at around the same time, all of them in the USA , but at different places. One can assume that the dissatisfaction with the ruling generative paradigm became so overwhelming that researchers from different 25 Langacker first used the name “Space Grammar”, as the notion of space is the most basic one for human beings (having been born into space and moving in space), but after a while renamed his theory because people erroneously thought that he was talking about space travel and astronauts (personal communication). 26 This is discussed in more detail in the chapter on the passive voice (chapter 9). <?page no="49"?> 48 3. Cognitive grammar linguistic fields reacted by developing and presenting theories that contradicted much of what generative linguistics sees as its basic assumptions. This is also why Geeraerts (2006: 2) calls cognitive linguistics a “flexible framework rather than a single theory of language”. In complete contrast to generative linguistics, cognitive linguistics “sees language as an instrument for organizing, processing, and conveying information-- as something primarily semantic, in other words” (Geeraerts 2006: 3). This quote highlights the fact that cognitive linguistics is first and foremost interested in meaning, which it sees as “not just an objective reflection of the outside world” (ibid.: 4) but as “a way of shaping that world” (ibid.). As Geeraerts (ibid.: 5) stresses, “linguistic meaning is not separate from other forms of knowledge of the world that we have, and in that sense it is encyclopaedic and non-autonomous: it involves knowledge of the world that is integrated with our other cognitive capacities”. Therefore, cognitive linguistics is interested in human cognitive processing and sees cognition as the key to the explanation of language structure, language acquisition (relating to both the first language as well as to further languages) and language use. It assumes that human language reflects people’s experiences within a given culture, which help them to conceptualise the world, and that explanations for linguistic phenomena are frequently inseparably intertwined with these experiences, be they physical or sociocultural 27 . Language is therefore considered to be a reflection of human cognition and conceptualization. Cognitive linguistics holds that people do not have direct access to an objective, external reality (cf., for example, Evans / Green 2006: 47), but can only access their subjective and anthropomorphic conceptualizations directly. The linguistic representation of an event is then based on the conceptualization that the event evokes in a language user or that the language user chooses to adopt. 3.1.1 Embodiment Language is not only a reflection of human cognition but at the same time reflects the fact that humans are embodied beings. The bodies people have influence their experience of the world, which is then reflected in the language they use and the ways how they use it. Many basic experiences have to do with the human body, which is therefore a crucial element in many areas of conceptualization. Cognitive linguists call this phenomenon ‘embodiment’ and speak of ‘embodied meaning’, which is seen as deriving from people’s general cognition, world view and experiences 28 . To give an example: an embrace offers human warmth, which 27 An example for a phenomenon influenced by sociocultural experiences is the TV (from French “tu” vs. “vous”) distinction that German has and English does not have, i. e., the German choice between “du” and “Sie” when addressing a person. The choice of construal in a TV language is based on the perceived social distance between two persons. If the usage norms are violated, this can have severe consequences for a language user. The TV distinction disappeared from English already in Shakespearian times, is currently disappearing from Spanish and may at some point disappear from German as well, but as long as it is still there, the choice of pronoun carries social meaning. 28 For more information on embodiment, please consult, e. g., Ziemke, / Zlatev / Frank (eds.) 2007. <?page no="50"?> 49 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics is seen as positive 29 , and therefore the expression “a warm welcome”, even if it refers to an encounter where nobody touches another person and therefore no body warmth can actually be experienced, metonymically relates to a positive experience as well. Another example, this time from the area of grammar, relates to the fact that humans experience their bodies as containers (containing, for example, their organs, their blood, other body fluids etc.) and therefore the preposition in always refers to containment, either in a concrete sense (“wine in the bottle”) or in a temporal sense (“I have to be back in an hour”-- the hour contains the time that the person was allotted) or in a metaphorical sense (“I was caught in a traffic jam”- - the traffic jam is seen as a container which contains lots of cars and persons, amongst them the speaker). All these situations share the idea of containment (be this concrete, temporal or abstract) due to the use of the preposition in 30 . As can be seen from these examples, humans conceptualise their surroundings according to their embodied knowledge and it is only a small step to assume that they do not only do this when speaking but also when thinking. 3.1.2 Lexis-grammar continuum The above-mentioned examples already hint at another of the tenets of cognitive linguistics, namely that it assumes a lexis-grammar continuum and does not see these two areas as opposites. Whereas in generative linguistic a sharp distinction is made between syntax and the lexicon, this distinction is not accepted in cognitive grammar, nor are strict grammatical rules accepted (cf. Broccias 2006: 81). Broccias (2006: 82) describes that in cognitive grammar “syntax and the lexicon form a continuum of constructions ranging from very specific elements (e. g. cat, kick the bucket) to increasingly more general patterns (e. g. nouns, transitive constructions)”. In the cognitive approach, grammar is not seen as consisting of strict rules, but instead as a solution that generations of speakers of a speech community have found to structure their thoughts with the intention of communicating them to other people (cf. Radden / Dirven 2007: XI ). The same organisational principles apply for lexis as they do for grammar, for example, embodiment, metaphorization, or the notion of boundedness vs. unboundedness. There are countless examples for embodiment in lexis, as human body parts are frequently metaphorically used to designate non-body concepts, as, for example, “foot of the mountain”, “eye of a needle” or “leg of a journey”. An example of embodiment in grammar was already mentioned for the container meaning of in, which can refer to concrete containment (as in “the wine in the bottle”) or to metaphorical containment (as in “caught in a traffic jam”). In the field of lexis, the notion of boundedness vs. unboundedness 31 relates to the distinction between count nouns and mass nouns. Count nouns have a clear contour or boundary and are 29 This can be related to earliest childhood experiences in which the parents hold their infants close to their bodies, keeping them warm. 30 Again, this is discussed in more detail later, in the chapter on prepositions (chapter 10). 31 This topic is picked up again and explained in more detail in the chapter on aspect (chapter 6) as well as in the chapter on articles (chapter 14). <?page no="51"?> 50 3. Cognitive grammar individualised (such as “cat” or “computer”), i. e., they are bounded, whereas mass nouns refer to non-individualised entities (such as “water” or “salt”) without a clear boundary, i. e., they are unbounded. The same distinction can be found in grammar, as the non-progressive aspect for inherently bounded events (i. e., “he played tennis”) refers to an event with a clear temporal boundary, including the beginning of the event as well as its end, and which is therefore seen as bounded, whereas the progressive aspect for the same verb (i. e., “when I saw him he was playing tennis”) refers to an ongoing event, the boundaries of which are defocused. This event must have begun at some point, but has not yet reached its end when the progressive aspect is used to describe it, and it can therefore be seen as unbounded. The difference between the two poles of the lexis-grammar continuum is that the principles are evident in a very concrete way when it comes to lexis, but that they are more abstract when it comes to grammar. In the middle of the continuum, where phenomena such as prepositions are to be found, the principles are evident less concretely than for the completely lexical pole and more concretely than for the completely grammatical pole. This difference also relates to the notion of ‘meaningfulness’-- lexical meaning is quite concrete (the word “tree” calls up a very specific mental image of a prototypical tree from the language user’s culture) whereas grammatical meaning is more abstract (using prepositions as an example again, “in my mind” means that the mind is the container of something, usually thoughts or knowledge, whereas “on my mind” means that something is on top of the speaker’s mind, weighing him / her down, and which therefore presumably refers to a problem). Even if speakers do normally not have concrete mental images for prepositions, they are able to perceive the presented situations holistically. The important aspect to underline in this context is again that there IS meaning in grammar, although it is abstract, and that this meaning can be explained to learners. 3.1.3 Categorization A further important notion in cognitive linguistics is categorization. Humans categorise everything they encounter, as this kind of mental organisation is a precondition for retrieval. The ability to categorise is present from early childhood onwards, although small children’s categories do not yet necessarily mirror those of adults. Children who have never seen a cow, but know horses, might lump the first cow that they encounter into the horse category, as these two types of animals have certain properties in common (a certain size, four legs etc.). When children grow older, they develop more fine-grained, adult-like categories. These categories are shaped by the language community’s social, cultural and linguistic input and are therefore resistant to change, although they are not completely unchangeable, as, for example, through scientific discoveries. However, quite frequently folk categories, i. e., non-expert categories, are kept up for a very long time. For example, although it is known today that the strawberry is actually a nut, most people still categorise it as a fruit. These conceptual categories are reflected in language and in turn mirror cultural beliefs. As Tyler (2012: 47) puts it: “one would expect that speakers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds will have somewhat different categories with different prototypes”. The category ‘animals’, for example, comprises all kinds of animals in the German (and British) <?page no="52"?> 51 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics culture-- mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects and so on. In Australia, only mammals are ‘animals’, whereas the other groups are not called animals, but birds, reptiles, marsupials, fish or insects-- there is no superordinate category. In the USA and in Canada, on the other hand, all these kinds are called ‘animals’ with the exception of insects, which are only called ‘insects’ and do not fall into the animal category. This goes to show that even in closely related cultures category membership can differ. The probably best researched category in linguistics is that of colour. Although all humans have the same organs for colour perception, the number of basic colour terms varies between languages. Following the classic Berlin / Kay research (1969), cultures have between two and eleven (later on changed to twelve 32 ) basic colour terms, which in English are black, white, red, blue, green, yellow, brown, grey, purple, pink and orange. All other colour names are seen as non-basic. Cultures for which colours are not that important in their daily life and environment have developed fewer terms. For example, the language Dani (from Papua- New Guinea) possesses only two basic colour terms. The more basic colour terms exist in a language, the better the language users’ colour memory is assumed to be, as the different categories provide different labels which lets the language user conceptualise these colours as more different than if they fell under the same label. However, the linguistic evidence for this is somewhat inconclusive. The best example of a category is called its prototype-- it is the image that somebody would draw (if asked and if given the necessary artistic skills) if they heard the category name. The status of prototype usually differs between cultures. For example, in a Western culture a table would be drawn as being relatively high-legged, whereas the legs would be a lot shorter in the Japanese culture. Prototype status is related to the relative frequency with which the entity in question occurs in a culture and it can also change over time, as today’s prototypical car is different from the prototypical car of the 1950s, for example. The non-prototypical members of a category share some features with the prototype but differ more or less from it in other respects and are therefore called marginal (or peripheral) members of the category in question. They can also vacillate between two neighbouring categories because the borders between categories are normally not exactly determined but remain fuzzy, at least to a certain extent. Thus, to quote colours again, the colour turquoise is grouped by some people into the ‘blue’ category whereas other people put it into the ‘green’ category. Such category vacillation could never happen to a prototype, as, for instance, nobody would ever put a prototypical ‘red’ into a different colour category than ‘red’. To use another example: a dog will always be put into the ‘mammal’ category, whereas some people, especially children, might put non-prototypical mammals, such as whales or bats, into the ‘fish’ respectively ‘bird’ categories because they share properties with prototypical fish or birds (whales can swim, bats can fly and so on). 32 This was due to the fact that Russian was found to have two different terms for what English and German label as ‘blue’, namely one word for dark blue (‘siniy’) and one word for light blue (‘goluboj’), and these colours are perceived by native speakers of Russians as equally distinct as blue and green are for English or German speakers. Welsh, on the other hand, lumps grey, blue and green together in one basic colour term, ‘glas’. <?page no="53"?> 52 3. Cognitive grammar Grammar also possesses categories and prototypes. According to Langacker (2008: 79), “grammatical elements of any sort are likely to be polysemous 33 , having a prototypical as well as an array of other, less central values”. Word classes, for example, can be seen as categories, and, again, every category has a prototype. A prototypical noun (such as ‘house’) has time stability, whereas a prototypical verb (such as ‘to run’) has no time stability. As in every category, there are also less prototypical, i. e., more marginal members. The nominal entity ‘lightning’, for example, has no time stability, as a lightning only lasts for fragments of a second, but since the word is a member of the noun category, it is perceived as object-like. On the other hand, the event ‘to know’ is normally quite time-stable, but since the expression is a member of the verb category, it is still perceived as rather event-like. In the same way, grammatical constructions have prototypical usages and less prototypical usages, which traditional grammars call ‘rules’ and ‘exceptions’, the latter ones normally having to be learnt by heart. In the cognitive-linguistic view, however, the non-prototypical usages can still be explained via the prototype as they share some of its meaning. When teaching, it is of utmost importance to start with the prototypes and to later on develop the non-prototypical usages on the basis of a firmly established prototype. 3.1.4 Usage-based perspective A further premise in cognitive linguistic theory is the notion that language is “usage-based”, which refers to a descriptive view of language and does away with the prescriptive view that the generativists still maintained (‘ideal speaker’). Although other linguistic as well as didactic paradigms call themselves “usage-based” as well, cognitive linguistics is presumably the most prominent example (cf. Tyler 2010). N. Ellis / Wulff see two working hypotheses as a common denominator of all usage-based approaches to second language learning, namely that (1) language learning is primarily based on learners’ exposure to their second language (L2) in use, that is, the linguistic input they receive [and] (2) learners induce the rules of their L2 from the input by employing cognitive mechanisms that are not exclusive to language learning, but that are general cognitive mechanisms at work in any kind of learning, including language learning. (N.- Ellis/ Wulff 2013: 75) As a consequence, a usage-based model of language does not aim at representing a linguistic system controlled by rigid rules but rather wants to “depict the complexity of language use” (Tomasello 2003: 5). In other words: cognitive linguistics aims at studying and representing language as it occurs in real life, as opposed to the abstract and context-free representations favoured by the generativists and also favoured by traditional textbooks and grammar exercises. A rule can never be a substitute for actually occurring instances of the construction in 33 Author’s note: polysemy refers to different but related meanings of words or grammatical constructions which share the same form. In the cognitive-linguistic view, radial networks of meaning consist of a central prototype and of a number of non-prototypical exemplars scattered around the prototype, which are not necessarily related to each other but are all explainable via the prototype. The word or the grammatical construction is then called ‘polysemous’ (from Ancient Greek: poly-= many, sem-= meaning). <?page no="54"?> 53 3.1 The development of cognitive linguistics question. For the generativists, language use was relatively unimportant, as they were more interested in language structure. Cognitive linguistics has turned this view around, because it “considers the knowledge of language to be experientially based in actual speech” (Geeraerts 2006: 6), as words and grammar patterns do not occur on their own but are always part of actual utterances, actual conversations and actual speaker intentions. Encompassing the complete lexis-grammar continuum, expressions and grammatical constructions are categorised by the language users according to their degree of abstractness and to the phonological, semantic and pragmatic associations between the linguistic units involved (cf. Bybee 2008). These associations include information about form, meaning and the context of use, for words as well as for grammatical constructions. If words and constructions are used frequently, in so-called ‘usage events’ 34 , the connections between them get strengthened (cf. ibid.: 216). Langacker (2008: 81), for example, recommends “providing the learners with sufficient exposure of representative uses of a given unit. Ideally, moreover, this exposure should occur in the context of meaningful exchanges approximating socially and culturally normal usage events”. Such exposure is meant to empower the learners and to give them the confidence to act native-speaker-like whenever they find themselves in situations that resemble the usage events they were exposed to in the foreign language classroom. This rationale is followed in all of the more practical teaching suggestions in the second part of this book. 3.1.5 Perspective on language acquisition The principles outlined in the previous sub-chapter can be observed especially well in first language acquisition. Children acquire their native language by extracting information from the input they receive and accordingly build up their native language competence. Similarly, in an L2 classroom the teacher’s input is frequently taken as a model and helps to advance the learners’ interlanguage, and the more usage events of a particular grammatical structure the learners encounter the easier it is for them to adopt the structure into their L2. This has been nicely summed up by Tyler: Cognitive linguistics holds that since our knowledge of specific instances of language includes knowledge of the contexts in which linguistic units are encountered, knowledge of discourse and pragmatic constraints is established along with knowledge of the words and phrases or sentence patterns of the language. Saying that language is usage-based, that it is learned through usage events or contextualized encounters with members of the discourse community using the language, means that we learn the language as contextualized, discourse-oriented information. (Tyler 2012: 53) In cognitive linguistics, grammatical constructions are never seen as standing on their own, and they not only depend on correct and adequate word usage and grammar but additionally on an adequate situational context of the usage event, on potential pragmatic constraints (an example would be politeness in discourse, i. e., to know how to speak to whom, to not use 34 According to Langacker (2008: 81), the notion of “usage event” refers to “actual instances of language use, in their full phonetic detail and contextual understanding”. <?page no="55"?> 54 3. Cognitive grammar colloquial phrases in academic papers and the like) as well as on the form of discourse chosen (jokes are not told at funerals and seminar presentations are a different discourse type than chatting on the internet, for example). Therefore, L2 learners not only have to acquire the vocabulary and grammar of the foreign language but additionally have to pay attention to all the above-mentioned factors in order to gain communicative competence. This ties in with what Valenzuela Manzanares / Rojo (2008: 198) claim, namely that “the process of learning a language can also be seen as the process of acquiring the relevant cognitive patterns which codify the conventions of use of that language” and these patterns can be learned from specific usage events. In contrast to L1 acquirers, however, L2 learners are normally not exposed to their second language at the same level of frequency, which is why carefully designed instructional interventions, in the sense of what Valenzuela Manzanares / Rojo are referring to, are necessary in order to facilitate the learners’ acquisition of a given grammatical construction. This is one of the reasons why L2 instructors should make sure that the targeted grammatical constructions are embedded in those chunks and phrases in which they are conventionally used by native speakers of the language in question. This focus on communicative usage is also one of the reasons why cognitive linguistics is able to collaborate well with a communicative approach to language learning, whereas traditional linguistic approaches did not give usage an important role. Before the perspective is narrowed down to the discussion of cognitive grammar, a final comment on the role of cognitive linguistics in Germany is appropriate, as the focus of attention in this book is mainly a local one, namely on German learners acquiring English as a second language. As mentioned earlier on, in its beginnings cognitive linguistics was an American approach. It started out in the USA as a relatively small countermovement but has since experienced an enormous growth in its theory as well as in the numbers of researchers and followers that it has attracted and is still attracting, basically all over the world. In the late 1980s, cognitive linguistics entered Europe, mainly due to the efforts of Dirven, whom Geeraerts (2006: 21) describes as “undoubtedly the major organizational force of the entire Cognitive Linguistics enterprise” and who in 1989 organised the first European conference on this topic (which was later on, in retrospect, called the first international cognitive linguistics conference) at the University of Duisburg. On this occasion, the International Cognitive Linguistics Association ( ICLA ) was founded and the journal Cognitive Linguistics (published by De Gruyter Mouton) was launched. This conference hosted about 60 participants 35 , and has been held every two years since then, today frequently attracting more than 1000 participants. Since cognitive linguistics has grown so much since its early days, quite a lot of sub-fields have developed, although the research activities in all areas of this very active academic field still predominantly rely on Lakoff’s, Talmy’s and Langacker’s early research, which has of course been refined and partly reformulated. National associations of cognitive linguistics have been founded in quite a number of countries, also in Germany ( DGKL / GCLA -- Ger- 35 Author’s note: as René Dirven was my doctoral supervisor and as I was working for and with him in those days, I helped organise this conference and thus personally witnessed the ‘birth’ of what was going to become a very important academic field. <?page no="56"?> 55 3.2 The cognitive grammar perspective on language man Cognitive Linguistics Association 36 with more than 300 members, which also organises biannual international conferences). As the field of cognitive linguistics has grown and become more extensive and as basic theories and models have been developed, it was a logical next step to look at applications for the theoretical underpinnings. One of the obvious areas of application for theories which explain language is certainly second / foreign language acquisition. Bringing theory into language instruction means to provide instructors with a solid foundation that teachers and learners can build upon. In more than 40 years, the generative paradigm did not manage to develop a teaching approach that has found its way into textbooks and / or classrooms and even Chomsky himself has said that the generative approach is probably not applicable to the foreign language classroom 37 . This, however, is different for cognitive linguistics, and in particular for cognitive grammar. Although the approach is still too young to have found its way into foreign language textbooks, the number of research articles and experiments testing the effectiveness of teaching along cognitive-linguistic lines is steadily growing. A lot of this research has been done in the field of cognitive grammar, which is discussed in the next sub-chapter. 3.2 The cognitive grammar perspective on language Much that was said in the previous sub-chapter has already alluded to cognitive grammar beliefs and principles, as cognitive grammar is a prominent field of research within cognitive linguistics and therefore shares its basic assumptions, which were outlined in the previous sub-chapter. Cognitive grammar is not a completely uniform approach 38 , however, what all current frameworks have in common is that they treat language as an integral facet of cognition and regard grammatical phenomena as meaningful. They are not as concretely meaningful as lexical structures are, but they are meaningful in a more abstract way. Langacker (2008: 67) calls this “a matter of degree, so there is no clear line between lexicon and grammar”. Cognitive grammar aims at investigating “the ways in which people structure their experiences through language” (Niemeier 2013: 11), “based on the assumption that situations are generally not reflected directly in linguistic forms but by means of elaborate cognitive construals” (ibid.). 36 Author’s note: I was elected president of the GCLA from 2012-2014 and am still a board member at the time of writing this book (2017). 37 Cf., among a number of similar utterances, Chomsky 1966: 52, where he says “I am, frankly, rather sceptical when it comes to the significance, for teaching languages, of such insights and understandings as have been obtained in linguistics and psychology”. 38 The most popular approaches in this field are by Fauconnier (e. g., 1994), Langacker (e. g., 2009), Radden / Dirven (2007) and Taylor (2002). Among these, Langacker’s approach is the best-known one in the cognitive community. <?page no="57"?> 56 3. Cognitive grammar 3.2.1 The centrality of meaning The research field of cognitive grammar was introduced and developed by Langacker, who sees grammar as consisting of symbolic relationships, i. e., form-meaning pairings: “lexicon, morphology and syntax form a continuum of symbolic units serving to structure conceptual content for expressive purposes” (Langacker 1987: 35). A symbolic unit consists of the pairing of a semantic structure and a phonological structure. The primary function of language being communication, language- - including its grammar- - is all about meaning. As mentioned before, linguistic meaning is not seen “as referential and objective, but as subjective, dynamic, flexible, encyclopaedic and usage-based” (Niemeier 2013: 14). Langacker stresses the centrality of meaning in cognitive grammar as well when he comments in a somewhat funny way: If generative linguistics views syntax as being central to language, Cognitive Linguistics accords this honor to meaning. The latter seems far more natural from the perspective of language users. When ordinary people speak and listen, it is not for the sheer pleasure of manipulating syntactic form-- their concern is with the meanings expressed. This does not of course imply that grammar is unimportant in language or in language teaching. It is, however, helpful to realize that grammar subserves meaning rather than being an end in itself. (Langacker 2008: 67) Cognitive grammar aims at accounting for all grammatical phenomena by not putting forward arguments about rules and exceptions to these rules but by investigating prototypical usages of a specific grammatical phenomenon as well as its more marginal, but still explainable usages. Compared to other grammatical approaches, this involves a change of perspective for teachers as well as for learners, as cognitive grammar does “not posit a clear borderline between rules and exceptions” but instead refers “to language phenomena as situated within a radial network of meaning with more prototypical instances at the core and more marginal instances on the fringes, all of them related and explainable” (Niemeier 2013: 15). Therefore, exceptions to the rule do not have to be learnt by heart anymore but the meaningfulness of marginal category exemplars can be reconstructed via their connection to the prototype. The marginal uses are not seen as arbitrary exceptions but instead as motivated, and therefore as explainable. Most importantly, from the perspective of cognitive grammar, grammar is meaningful. Wierzbicka sums up this perspective by stating that … grammar is not semantically arbitrary. On the contrary, grammatical distinctions are motivated (in the synchronic sense) by semantic considerations, every grammatical construction is a vehicle of a certain semantic structure; and this is its raison d’être, and the criterion for determining its range of use. (Wierzbicka 1988: 3) This is why the focus of cognitive grammar is on the motivated, meaningful connections between forms, which are often ignored by other theories of language. Native speakers of a language are presumably not aware of such abstract grammatical meaning, as they use language in a quasi-automatised way. For learners of this language, the situation is somewhat <?page no="58"?> 57 3.2 The cognitive grammar perspective on language different. They have automatised their own L1, and frequently transfer its grammatical tools to the new language, which in many cases does not work, as different language systems have generally developed different ways of expressing meaning. The further the two languages are typologically apart from each other, the fewer commonalities can be found. However, even in such typologically reasonably closely related languages as German and English the multitude of differences in conceptualization presents quite a challenge for language learners. 3.2.2 Construal Grammar can be seen as a tool in the learners’ hands (and minds) which allows them to articulate their ideas exactly as they want these to be perceived. Language users can actively choose among different forms in order to get their own conceptualizations of given situations or events across to their interlocutors. This active choice goes by the name of ‘construal’, which can be defined as the ability of humans to mentally recreate (or construe) a situation in alternative ways (cf. Taylor 2002: 11). For example, the same situation can be presented in various levels of detail, certain participants can be foregrounded or backgrounded (as in the active vs. passive example quoted earlier, cf. page-47), different kinds of words can be used (as in ‘terrorist’ vs. ‘freedom fighter’) and different styles can be applied (as in colloquial use vs. formal use). To use Langacker’s words (2008: 68), “there is no completely neutral way to describe situations- - expressions necessarily construe them in a certain manner” as well as from a certain perspective. Furthermore, it is important to mention that a situation frequently does not exactly mirror reality but is a language user’s mental construction, as “much of what we express linguistically is imaginative in nature, even in talking about actual occurrences” (ibid.: 69). For example, when speaking about the picture of a car on a road, it is quite usual to say “the car is driving along a road”. However, the motion of the car is not real but imagined, because the picture only shows the car to be at a specific point of the road. Still, due to their world knowledge, people can predict the movement of the car reasonably well. The use of figurative language, such as metaphorization and metonymisation, plays a major role in construal. To refer again to the above-mentioned example “the car is driving along the road”, it is obvious that ‘car’ is used metonymically, as it is not the car that is driving but the driver, so the metonymy in question is ‘salient entity for less salient entity’, i. e., the more conspicuous car is mentioned instead of the less conspicuous driver. Metonymy is pervasive in language, even more pervasive than metaphor, as otherwise language would be very redundant and boring. An example for a metaphorical construal is “I spent an hour with my grandmother”, where the verb ‘spend’ has been borrowed from the concrete domain of money in order to provide an understanding of the more abstract domain of time, the underlying conceptual metaphor being time is money. However, the dividing line between metaphor and metonymy is fuzzy, and these two types of figurative language can be imagined to form a continuum (cf. Niemeier 2017). According to Langacker (2008: 71), “though generally implicit, these various kinds of mental constructions are crucial to both the form and meaning of expressions. They are facets <?page no="59"?> 58 3. Cognitive grammar of an elaborate conceptual substrate that supports and makes coherent the notions overtly expressed”. In other words: speakers frequently leave gaps in what they say, which the listener can fill in, and where the content is not explicitly stated but is only implied. Meaning is not only IN the words or constructions, but additionally needs elaborate mental coding processes (by the speaker) as well as decoding processes (by the listener), in which background knowledge (especially cultural knowledge), experience, memory and other cognitive abilities play an important role. Many of the standard (or quasi-neutral) construals are language-specific and conventionalised-- and “conventional usage almost always has conceptual motivation” (Langacker 2008: 72). Taylor (2002: 368) quotes the example of the English mass nouns ‘information’, ‘advice’, ‘evidence’, ‘research’ and ‘news’, which in German are count nouns 39 (‘Information / Informationen’, ‘Ratschlag / Ratschläge’, ‘Beweis / Beweise’, ‘Forschung / Forschungen’, ‘Neuigkeit / Neuigkeiten’), and which Germans therefore see as countable and thus as being able to add an indefinite article and a plural morpheme. Therefore, these concepts are conventionally seen as structured in different ways by speakers of these two languages. L2 learners frequently carry over their native language concepts into their L2 interlanguage, as they are not aware of the different construals. Apart from such conventionalizations, construal is additionally influenced by the speaker’s perspective and choice of linguistic items. In an example such as “the apple fell from the tree” vs. “the apple fell on Peter’s head”, two perspectives on one and the same situation are presented, depending on what the speaker deems as more important. In these examples, the source-path-goal image schema is involved. People know from their daily experience that a path starts somewhere (in this case: the fall of the apple started from the tree), continues for a while (in this case: the apple fell through the air), and ends somewhere (in this case: the apple landed on Peter’s head), but not all elements of the source-path-goal schema need to be mentioned, usually one element is enough for the other elements to be intuited. Dirven / Verspoor (2004: 85) speak of a ‘goal-over-source principle’, meaning that humans are normally more interested in the goal than in the source. But again, this depends on what a speaker wants to focus on-- if it is important that the apple fell from the tree (and not from the roof, for example), the focus will be on the starting point. If it is important that the apple landed on Peter’s head (and not on Mary’s, for example), the focus will be on the goal. It is evident that more than the choice of lexical and grammatical elements is involved in formulating what Langacker calls a “usage event”. His definition of a usage event is that it is an … instance of language use as initiated by a language user who is in command of not only the linguistic expression but also other factors such as memory, planning, problem-solving ability, and general knowledge of the world, as well as a full apprehension of the physical, social cultural and linguistic context. (Langacker 2000: 9) 39 For more information on count nouns vs. mass nouns, please consult the chapter on articles (chapter 14). <?page no="60"?> 59 3.2 The cognitive grammar perspective on language A speaker needs to invoke all kinds of knowledge in order to convey the particular perspective s / he intends to convey. L1 speakers share such knowledge because it is conventionally encoded in their language, and such shared background allows them to select the linguistic means to get their perspective across. However, L2 speakers do not have the same access as native speakers to the linguistic conventions encoded in the L2, they may have different background knowledge and possibly different perceptions of the context. For example, English uses “at this moment”, whereas German uses “in diesem Moment”-- ‘in’ as a three-dimensional container preposition indicates that a ‘moment’ might be perceived as somewhat longer by Germans than by native English speakers, who use the zero-dimensional ‘at’, whereas containment (of time) is implied in the German language. To use another example, the progressive aspect is not grammaticalized in German, which is why German learners of English usually have major problems with its use in English. In English, every activity or process needs to be scanned for ongoingness, whereas German normally leaves this open. A sentence such as “Daria reitet” can either mean that she is doing it right now (“Schau mal da hinten auf dem Feld, da reitet Daria”) or that it is her hobby (“Daria reitet immer am Dienstag”). In English, however, there is a clear differentiation between “Daria is riding” for the first German sentence and “Daria rides” for the second German sentence and speakers of English have to select which of these two different meanings they want to express. Progressivity can of course also optionally be expressed in German, but only with lexical-- i. e., not with grammatical-- means (“sie ist gerade am Reiten”, “sie reitet gerade”, “sie reitet jetzt, in diesem Moment” etc.), and therefore progressivity does not have the same relevance as it does in English. Insofar, German learners of English have a different mindset than native speakers of English when it comes to expressing progressivity, as they are not used to deciding between the use of the progressive or the non-use of the progressive for every single verb they encounter. Instead, they frequently think that they can just leave it open whether an activity or process is in progress or not, as they are used to this from German-- however, this does not work in English 40 . A very important notion in cognitive grammatical explanations of diverse grammatical phenomena are the notions of ‘trajector’ (the primary focal participant in a situation) and ‘landmark’ (the secondary focal participant) 41 . The trajector is prototypically the smaller, more mobile element, and the landmark is prototypically bigger and less mobile, very similar to the figure-ground concept from gestalt psychology. In every situation or relation, one element is foregrounded and another element is backgrounded. For example, people rather speak about “the chandelier over the table” instead of “the table under the chandelier” 42 . Trajector-landmark relations are also valid for grammatical relations. For instance, as already mentioned, in the active voice the subject is foregrounded, whereas in the passive voice 40 The use of the progressive aspect is explained in more detail in the chapter on aspect (chapter 7). 41 Trajector-landmark relationships are sometimes also called figure-ground relationships. 42 This use is also possible, of course, but only in specific situations, as, for example, in a furniture showroom, where a salesperson might say to a potential client “Which table do you like better? The one under the chandelier or the one close to the window? ” In this case, the table is ‘in profile’ and the chandelier just serves as the backdrop. This is explained in more detail in the chapter on prepositions (chapter 10). <?page no="61"?> 60 3. Cognitive grammar the object is foregrounded 43 . Another example relates to word order: although the situation spoken about is exactly the same, the focus between “a cat is on the mat” vs. “on the mat there is a cat” differs. The trajector always has prominence, which is why in the first sentence the cat is more important and is accordingly the first element focused upon by the hearer, whereas in the second sentence the mat is given prominence and the hearer then performs a mental scan from the mat to the cat. It can therefore be claimed that although these two constructions are quite alike, they are not identical and it becomes evident that the speaker tries to lead the hearer towards a specific perspective, namely the one s / he wants to transmit. A final characteristic of cognitive grammar that needs to be mentioned here relates to the notion of iconicity in grammar. Iconicity is a concept borrowed from semiotics. An iconic sign resembles what it stands for. In a non-linguistic context, signs on airports depicting starting or landing planes are iconic because they show an image of what they stand for. Iconic principles can be found in language as well. For instance, the plural-s morpheme added to a lexical morpheme means ‘more of what the noun refers to’, or in other words: more morphemes stand for more meaning. Word order is also frequently iconic, as, for example, the sequence of determiners in “the famous delicious Italian salami pizza” cannot be turned around. It is of course possible to omit one or more of the determiners, but it is not possible to speak about “*the Italian delicious salami pizza”, because the sequence of determiners mirrors the conceptual distance between the determiners and the noun. In the example just mentioned, ‘salami’ inherently describes what the pizza topping consists of, ‘Italian’ refers to the country the pizza originates from, ‘delicious’ means that something is edible and tastes good, whereas ‘famous’ is the vaguest determiner in this example, as it can relate to anything from pop stars to books 44 . To sum up, cognitive grammar offers meaningful explanations of conventional construal patterns and can therefore be used to not only make learners aware of potential construal conflicts between their L1 and their L2 but also to make them aware of the different construal options that they have in their L2. The following sub-chapter presents reasons why cognitive grammar is an approach that lends itself well for being applied to foreign language instruction, especially due to its focus on the centrality of meaning. 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar As already mentioned, explanations stemming from the research fields of cognitive linguistics or cognitive grammar are so far not to be found in mainstream textbooks or classroom practice, at least in Germany, although Tyler (2008: 457) goes so far as to say that “cognitive linguistics offers the most accurate, systematic, and complete model of language currently available”. Still, grammar teaching according to cognitive grammatical insights is not yet 43 This is the case for both direct and indirect objects, as both of them can form passives. Compare, for example, “Peter gave Mary flowers” vs. “Mary was given flowers (by Peter)” vs. “Flowers, were given to Mary (by Peter)”. In each of these sentences, the primary focus is on the first element mentioned. For more information, please consult the chapter on the passive voice (chapter 9). 44 More on iconicity can be found in the chapter on verb complementation (chapter 12). <?page no="62"?> 61 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar practiced in foreign language classrooms. Nevertheless, some first experiments and empirical studies have been conducted, most of which have shown that a cognitive perspective on grammar explanations seems to be helpful for learners. This sub-chapter first of all explains why the cognitive-grammatical paradigm is a good choice for being applied in foreign language pedagogy, and, secondly, it presents a (non-exhaustive) summary of existing research in this area. 3.3.1 Advantages of applied cognitive grammar Current grammar teaching practice largely focuses on decontextualised language. Frequently, isolated sentences are used in exercises and the learners have to either transform these sentences or to fill some gaps in them. In the majority of cases, the correct grammatical form is asked for and the semantic and / or pragmatic meaning stays backgrounded. This is what learners know and expect in grammar lessons and what they feel more or less comfortable with. Teaching along cognitive-grammatical lines may therefore confuse some learners, as they will see themselves confronted with an unfamiliar way of dealing with language. Some learners will still demand rules (and exceptions to these rules) and may not be interested in understanding why something is constructed the way it is. Others will react differently, of course. However, if a cognitive-grammatical approach is used in a classroom, many learners will face the challenge of having to unlearn what they have already internalised and having to relearn a new way of looking at grammar. Quite understandably, it is to be expected that not every learner will like this situation 45 . For beginners of English, the situation is somewhat different, as they have not yet made any experiences with grammar learning and can start learning from scratch with the new approach. One of the positive assets of cognitive grammar is certainly that it prioritises meaning and does not, like most of traditional grammar instruction, only focus on various aspects of form. As mentioned previously, in traditional approaches syntax is on the one hand highlighted and on the other hand seen as completely separated from the lexical, semantic and pragmatic aspects of language. In contrast, and as also mentioned a couple of times before, cognitive grammar prioritises meaning as the most important aspect of language and consequently also of syntax. It sees meaning as explainable and offers a reasonably unified, comprehensive and systematic approach for such explanations, thus presenting a solid theoretical linguistic background, which has been lacking so far in the area of foreign language teaching. What is more, from a traditional (and popular) point of view, grammar teaching means that learners have to follow rules, whereas from a cognitive grammar point of view, grammar teaching means that learners become co-creators of meaning. 45 This can be seen in research results as well. When participants were asked for their impressions concerning the new way of grammar explanation, quite a number of learners claimed to like the cognitive approach but, if they had the choice, they wanted to go back to the rule-and-exception paradigm, as it is quite hard to change one’s habits. <?page no="63"?> 62 3. Cognitive grammar According to Achard (2008: 432), a focus on the meaning of grammatical structures “provides opportunities to teach grammar in a way similar to that of lexical items”. Achard furthermore points out that … because the grammar of a language is strictly composed of a structured inventory of symbolic units, there is no a priori distinction between the teaching of grammar and that of lexical elements. This is particularly welcome because it provides a way of teaching grammar in ways compatible with the principles of most communicative models of instruction. (Achard 2008: 451) Just as the meaning of a lexical item is involved when learning its form, the semantics of grammar structures provides learners with an insight into why these are formed the way they are-- it is then the teacher’s task to guide the learners towards noticing the intricate connection between the grammatical form and its meaning. Accordingly, grammar is treated as a contextually dependent rather than as a contextually independent phenomenon, which ties in well with the focus on communication in certain teaching approaches, such as task-based language teaching. By showing learners that they have a choice of construal-- dependent on what exactly they want to express- - they are transformed into more agentive beings, who are thus enabled, in an ideal case at least, to see grammar as a tool and not as a straitjacket. The overall aim should be that by understanding the meaning of grammatical constructions, learners start to dominate grammar and not vice versa, i. e., that they feel dominated by grammar. Learners should be enabled to pick and choose the linguistic means that are demanded by the context, the speech situation and the communicative purpose and they should furthermore be enabled to see that the available language choices can be motivated and coherent instead of random and idiosyncratic. This view stands in stark contrast to what traditional grammar teaching consisted of, namely to see grammar as a system that needed to be imparted to the learners instead of empowering the learners with the knowledge that they can make linguistic choices. Of course, some linguistic choices are easier to make than others, as some basic constructions are more conventionalised and therefore more stable than more complex constructions, such as, for example, the relatively obvious difference between count nouns and mass nouns. Such stability can later on be used as a basis for teaching less conventionalised items to more advanced learners, for example the use of the progressive vs. the non-progressive aspect 46 . The importance of empowering learners to become active and creative language users is also highlighted by Achard, when he claims that … focusing on the speaker rather than on the system involves the shift from teaching set patterns of lexical associations to teaching the conventionalized way of matching certain expressions to certain situations, as well as the flexibility of using the available alternatives to express specific semantic nuances. (Achard 2008: 441) 46 What the two phenomena of count nouns / mass nouns and the progressive aspect / non-progressive aspect have in common is elucidated in the chapter on aspect (chapter 6). <?page no="64"?> 63 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar In traditional grammar teaching, the instructors’ starting point was usually the language system, which they wanted to impart to the learners. In contrast, in a cognitive-grammatical paradigm, the learner / speaker and his / her communicative needs are focused upon. Adopting such a view of foreign language instruction would of course also entail that quite a number of foreign language teachers need to change their own traditional paradigms of grammar teaching. Whereas traditional explanations quite frequently present linguistic phenomena as arbitrary and recommend that learners learn certain rules (as well as the exceptions to these rules) by heart, the conceptual tools and explanations rooted in cognitive grammar aim at helping learners to discover and understand how the foreign language works. Furthermore, rules presented in textbooks are quite frequently too general and thus flawed, often leading learners to form incorrect generalizations. For example, nearly all textbooks state that the progressive form cannot be used with verbs of involuntary sensory perception (“I see a bird fly by”, but not *“I am seeing a bird fly by”). This is true for the prototypical usages of such verbs, as an involuntary sensory perception happens too quickly to allow for the notion of ‘ongoingness’-- however, it is not correct that these verbs cannot use the progressive aspect, as it is certainly possible to say “I am seeing Tom tonight”, an utterance in which the verb of involuntary sensory perception is used non-prototypically, namely metonymically. This non-prototypical usage is easy to explain because the speaker’s perspective has widened and ‘seeing’ is only one part of the whole scenario of ‘meeting’ (part-for-whole metonymy), a process which is long enough to allow for the notion of ‘ongoingness’. Therefore, it becomes possible to use the progressive aspect 47 . In traditional instruction, this meaning shift would have to be learnt by heart, whereas the explanatory power of cognitive grammar allows instructors to offer understandable explanations to their learners. A further positive aspect of cognitive grammatical explanations is that they lend themselves well to visualisations 48 , which traditional grammar teaching approaches rather do not. This ties in with Paivio’s ‘double coding’ hypothesis (see, for example, Clark / Paivio 1991), claiming that learning works better when not only one but two (or even more) modes of sensory input are offered. If a word is pronounced (acoustic input) and at the same time a picture is shown (visual input), the chances that learners remember the word are bigger. The two representations are then stored together or at least connected by mental pathways. Frequently, one input can then trigger the other input. For example, the visual input can help learners to think of a targeted word, if they cannot remember it off-hand, or vice versa. The same is true for motion. Especially in primary school, new vocabulary is often accompanied by movements. For example, when the word “roof ” is introduced, the learners form a roof above their heads with their arms and hands. In this case, the movement alone is frequently enough to make the learners think of the word. 47 For more detailed information on progressivity vs. non-progressivity, please consult the chapter on aspect (chapter 6). 48 For concrete examples, see the second part of this book. <?page no="65"?> 64 3. Cognitive grammar It is also possible for the more abstract area of grammar to achieve the effect of double coding. This can be done, for instance, by visualizing a narrow-perspective view for the progressive aspect (for example, in the form of a keyhole or a magnifying glass) and a wide-perspective view for the non-progressive aspect 49 . To give another example: showing up the related meanings of polysemous terms, such as prepositions or particles of phrasal verbs, can be done through a drawing of a radial network, with the prototypical meaning in the middle and the extended meanings reaching out towards the periphery, but still-- visually as well as conceptually-- connected to the basic, prototypical meanings. Meaning extensions are generally motivated by either metaphor or metonymy. Such non-literal uses of language are largely neglected by traditional teaching approaches, whereas cognitive grammar sees them as important facets of human cognitive processing and as pervading all aspects of language. Metaphor and metonymy rely on either conventionalised or novel mental images that a speaker makes use of, not only lexically but also grammatically, and they can especially help to explain non-prototypical usages 50 . Achard (2004: 168) adequately sums up the suitability of cognitive grammar for pedagogic purposes by stating that cognitive grammar can contribute to language teaching “by integrating cognitive descriptive insights into compatible well-established models of L2 pedagogy”-- such as, for example, task-based teaching. Such a combination of cognitive grammar and the task-based approach, which is dealt with more exhaustively in the following sub-chapter and especially in the second part of this book, seems promising. If cognitive-linguistic insights can be made accessible for learners through well-selected tasks, the learners should be able to get a more comprehensive understanding of the target structure(s) and their expressivity can be enhanced. When a learner encounters a communicative situation in which a native speaker is likely to make a specific linguistic choice, the learner can then make a similar choice of construal and thus advance on their way towards a native-like command of the foreign language. It is up to the teachers to present tasks to their learners in which such choices of construal become possible and are as transparent as possible for them. 3.3.2 Research on applied cognitive grammar Due to the relatively recent interest in applying cognitive grammar principles to foreign language instruction, there is not that much research on this topic. Although quite a number of researchers have developed instructional ideas, not many of these were tested empirically under controlled conditions. In the more qualitative research, the focus was on a diversity of linguistic phenomena, such as for instance prepositions, phrasal verbs, case marking, modal auxiliaries, the polysemy of verbs, idioms, articles, the passive voice, aspect, tense and conditionals. The following paragraphs elucidate the most important results. Prepositions are the research area which has received the most attention of all the grammar structures enumerated in the previous paragraph. Lindstromberg already started out in 1998 49 For more details, please consult the chapter on aspect (chapter 6). 50 For more details, please consult the chapters on prepositions and phrasal verbs (chapters 10 and 11). <?page no="66"?> 65 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar to show how conceptual metaphor could be used to elucidate preposition meanings, and in his revised book from 2010 he has strengthened the cognitive approach even more. However, his analyses are not supported by tests or empirical data. Tyler / Evans (2003, 2004) developed the approach of ‘principled polysemy’, which focuses on radial networks of prepositions while aiming at connecting their more marginal meanings to the core meaning (or to what Tyler / Evans call the ‘proto-scene’). This approach was tested in two intermediate ESL classes by Matula (2007), who only took into account the basic and the temporal meanings of the prepositions on, in and at and left out their abstract meanings 51 . Although the ‘cognitive group’, which had received cognitive-linguistic explanations on how to connect the basic sense of a preposition to its extended temporal sense, did not significantly outperform the traditional group, to which the prepositions had been presented as formulaic sequences, it nevertheless showed “more consistent increases in use of the prepositions” (Matula 2007: 539) as well as a heightened level of metalinguistic knowledge. Tyler / Mueller / Ho (2011) also focused on the teaching of prepositions (in this case: to, for and at) to two groups of ESL learners. In their experiment, the post-tests actually showed a significant gain for the cognitive group. Almuoseb (2016) tested Arabic, Japanese and Spanish learners of English on their use of the basic and extended meanings of the prepositions at, on and in, her main concern being the interference of the learners’ L1, as Arabic, for example, uses only one single preposition (fi) for the three English prepositions. She found out that the learners’ L1 did not play a significant role, that-- contrary to many other research findings-- the use of images did not help these learners and that, for all learners, at was the most problematic preposition. Kurtyka (2001) reports on the teaching of phrasal verbs along cognitive-linguistic lines to Polish learners of English and not only found that the learners in the cognitive test group improved more than the learners having been taught with a traditional approach, but also that the cognitive learners reacted quite positively to the learning materials. Kövecses / Szabó (1996) as well as Boers (2000) could also establish that making learners aware of the conceptual metaphors behind the particles 52 of phrasal verbs helped them to outperform those learners who had only been given L1 translations or synonyms instead of cognitive-linguistic explanations. Similar results were obtained by Yasuda (2010) with Japanese learners of English. However, these last-named studies were all designed more like pilot studies, as none of them had a controlled and rigorous empirical design. Kohl-Dietrich et al. (2016), on the other hand, conducted a controlled and empirical study on the teaching of phrasal verbs with a cognitive group and a control group of English learners from a German secondary school. Although the researchers did not find a better performance of the cognitive group 51 For more information on prepositional meanings, please see the chapter on prepositions (chapter 10). 52 These were orientational metaphors such as more is up for phrasal verbs as, for example, in “Hurry up, please! ”, or happy is up for phrasal verbs as, for example, in “my mood lightened up”, or visible is out for phrasal verbs as, for example, in “he came out with the truth” etc. For more information, please consult the chapter on phrasal verbs (chapter 11). <?page no="67"?> 66 3. Cognitive grammar on the post-tests, the learners in the cognitive group proved to be significantly better at understanding novel phrasal verbs that they had not encountered before than the learners in the control group. Liamkina (2008) conducted an experiment with learners of German as a foreign language, focusing on the dative case. For one complete term, students from the cognitive group received cognitive-linguistically oriented feedback whenever a mistake came up in their (written) use of the dative case, whereas the learners in the traditional group were given the traditional standard rules for the use of the dative. At the end of the term, the students in the cognitive group showed a statistically significant improvement in their use of the German dative case, whereas the traditional group did not. Gradel (2016) also developed teaching materials on the basis of cognitive grammar insights for the dative case as well as for the accusative case for learners of German as a foreign language at the CEFR level A1 and tested these materials. She did not only rely on cognitive grammatical explanations but additionally used grammar animations. In this case as well, the cognitive treatment group gained statistically significantly better results than the group which was taught in a traditional way. Another area of grammar which has received the attention of a number of researchers are modal auxiliaries. Tyler / Mueller / Ho (2010) conducted a quasi-experiment with college students with diverse L1s who were quite advanced learners of English. Again, these learners were divided up into two groups, one group receiving a cognitive-linguistic treatment of modal auxiliaries, the other group receiving instruction that focused on the more traditional speech act approach. The cognitive-linguistic treatment involved visualisations, as the learners were presented with little stick figures enacting the basic and extended meanings of the modal auxiliaries. For example, when an outward force was implied (as in may, granting somebody permission and where a barrier was lifted, or as in must, where a social force exerting pressure on the stick figure was shown), the stick figures were shown to lift a barrier for somebody else or they were pushed from behind by another figure, respectively. In the post-test, the cognitive group outperformed the traditional group significantly. El-Bouz (2016) reports on a related experiment, this time for German as a foreign language. She not only relied on cognitive-linguistic explanations, but additionally used animations. Her 118 participants were divided into four groups, the first group receiving cognitive-linguistic explanations with animations, the second group receiving cognitive-linguistic explanations with static pictures, the third group receiving traditional explanations and animations, and finally the fourth group receiving traditional explanations along with static pictures. Both cognitive groups significantly outperformed the traditional groups, with the cognitive / animations group being somewhat ahead of the cognitive / static pictures group. Csábi (2004) tested a cognitively enhanced teaching procedure for the polysemous verbs ‘keep’ and ‘hold’, using elements of metaphor theory. Her test subjects were Hungarian learners of English in a secondary school. The test group was shown and explained the radial semantic networks around the prototypical and less prototypical meanings of the verbs in question, whereas the control group just received Hungarian translations. The immediate post-test showed significantly better results for the cognitive group, however, in the delayed <?page no="68"?> 67 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar post-test this significance had disappeared. Csábi’s experiment was replicated by Beréndi / Csábi / Kövecses (2008), again with two groups and a preas well as two post-tests. In comparison to the first experiment, the instructional treatment was more extensive. The cognitive group received visual support which illustrated the prototypical meanings of the verbs in question, and the explanations informed by metaphor theory were expanded. The cognitive group showed significantly better results both in the immediate post-test as well as in the delayed post-test, which took place five months later. A somewhat similar experiment was conducted by Lindstromberg / Boers (2005), who tested the acquisition of English verbs relating to manner of motion, such as ‘to trudge’ and ‘to saunter’. The cognitive group was allowed to enact the movements (in the sense of embodiment), whereas the control group just received verbal explanations. The cognitive group outperformed the control group on the retention of the targeted verbs, and the difference in performance was statistically significant. A similar bodily-based teaching procedure has been described by Holme, who integrated cognitive grammar elements into the Total Physical Response method by focusing on embodied demonstrations of word stress and intonation patterns, claiming that “activities that link movement, stress and rhythm also link language, as a remembered entity, to the use of the body as semiotic device” (Holme 2009: 44). However, these teaching suggestions were not empirically tested. Furthermore, it is somewhat difficult to imagine how movement and gesture can help to explain more complex grammatical areas such as, for example, tense, aspect or voice. Verspoor / Huong (2008) tested the effect of cognitive grammar explanations for the acquisition of English definite and indefinite articles with Vietnamese students, a topic which is of special relevance for Vietnamese learners of English because Vietnamese is a language without articles. The researchers used a ‘decision tree’ as a visual help for the learners to decide which article to use. Once again, the cognitive group significantly outperformed the traditional group in the immediate post-test, however, the statistical significance was no longer given in the delayed post-test. Król-Markefka (2010) also focused on the teaching of English articles to speakers of a language which does not have articles, in her case Polish learners of English, and found that the cognitive grammar approach worked better than the traditional approach. Whereas the test results immediately after the teaching intervention were comparable for both groups, only the cognitive grammar-instructed group had retained these results in the delayed post-test. Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2013) conducted a four-week empirical study targeted at teaching the English active and passive voices to Polish learners of English in a classroom setting, focusing on cognitive grammar for one group and traditional, structuralist instruction for another group. They found statistically significant but comparable gains in knowledge in both groups and could not prove any superiority of the cognitive group. In their conclusion, they state that cognitively oriented teaching approaches are equally effective as standard ones and they blame the non-superiority of the cognitive approach on the fact that the (advanced) learners in their experiment had been trained on traditional grammar explanations for a number of years and may have found it difficult to see grammar from a new perspective. The authors claim that “the effectiveness of CG -based rules might benefit <?page no="69"?> 68 3. Cognitive grammar from their more widespread use in language pedagogy” (ibid.: 607), although it is doubtful that cognitive grammarians would accept the expression ‘rules’. Roche / Suñer (2016: 105) mention a forthcoming study by Suñer / Arnett 53 , which focuses on the passive construction for learners of German as a foreign language. They conducted a small-scale intervention study, in which they could show that the cognitive treatment, together with animations, led to better results than the standard treatment, especially concerning the semantic aspects of the active and passive voices. Some few studies focus on the teaching of tense and aspect in English, as usually these two areas go hand in hand. Tense and aspect are two of the most error-prone areas of English for German learners. One study (Tian 2015) reports on an experiment which only dealt with tense, namely the teaching of the English simple present to Chinese learners of English. The study found out that the learners who were taught with a cognitive-grammatical approach did not perform significantly better than those learners who were taught with a traditional approach, although “the CG approach did improve the students’ performance considerably” (ibid.: 24). Also in this case, the author argues that possibly the CG treatment and the accompanying new terminology may have been too abstract for the learners. This argument makes sense, especially when taking into account that in this study the CG approach was not didactically reduced for the learners’ sake. Similar results, namely that the cognitive treatment did not result in more gains for the learners than the traditional treatment were found by three further studies 54 , all of them focusing on both tense and aspect. All three studies claim that to a certain extent the obtained result is at least partly due to the learners’ lack of familiarity with the cognitive approach. The final area to be briefly considered relates to the teaching of English conditionals. Jacobsen (2016) reports on a three-week teaching intervention with advanced ESL learners, which included three different learner groups, one taught with the traditional approach to grammar, one taught with a task-based approach, and the third one taught with a combination of cognitive grammar principles and the task-based approach. This study is the only currently available one which combines cognitive grammar principles with the task-based approach. The results of this experiment demonstrate that it was the combination of cognitive grammar and the task-based approach which proved most fruitful in terms of the learners’ gains, significantly more so than task-based instruction on its own, which-- in turn-- worked better than the traditional approach. Although most of the studies cited do show a clear improvement on the side of the learners when cognitive-linguistic approaches were used in the teaching of grammar phenomena, not all studies managed to prove this effect. This can be due to a variety of reasons, among them the learners’ utter unfamiliarity with this approach, their being accustomed to a very different type of grammar teaching, their dormant theories about grammar teaching, the brevity of time used for the cognitive instructional interventions and sometimes also weaknesses in the 53 So far, this study is nowhere to be found, therefore only the summary from the Roche / Suñer (2016) article can be reported here. 54 These studies are by Reif (2012), Bielak / Pawlak (2011) and Kermer (2016). <?page no="70"?> 69 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar study set-ups and tests or a flawed methodology. What none of the studies has shown, however, is that the cognitive treatment failed or was worse than the traditional treatment, as it produced results which were at least as good as those achieved through traditional instruction, and in many of the cases its results were clearly superior to those gained by the traditional approach. However, only one of the studies (Jacobsen 2016) embedded the grammatical instruction into a task-based setting, a method which proved effective. It can be assumed that in the future more empirical studies working with a cognitive grammar framework and at the same time using a task-based approach will be published. As long as this is not the case, one can only assume that this way of teaching works 55 . Further reading Achard, Michel (2004): “Grammatical instruction in the natural approach: A cognitive grammar view”. In: Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 165-194. Achard, Michel (2008): “Teaching construal: Cognitive pedagogical grammar”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. London: Routledge, 432-455. Almuoseb, Anwar (2016): “A lexical-semantic analysis of the English prepositions at, on and in and their conceptual mapping onto Arabic”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 211-234. Beréndi, Marta / Csábi, Szilvia / Kövecses, Zoltán (2008): “Using conceptual metaphors and metonymies in vocabulary teaching”. In: Boers, Frank / Lindstromberg, Seth (eds.): Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary and phraseology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 65-100. Berlin, Brent / Kay, Paul (1969): Basic color terms: Their universality and evolution. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Bielak, Jakub / Pawlak, Miroslaw (2012): “Teaching English tense and aspect with the help of cognitive grammar: An empirical study”. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 1 (3), 365-400. Bielak, Jakub / Pawlak, Miroslaw / Mystkowska-wiertelak, Anna (2013): “Teaching the English active and passive voice with the help of cognitive grammar: An empirical study”. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 3 (4), 581-619. Boers, Frank (2000): “Metaphor awareness and vocabulary retention”. Applied Linguistics 21, 323-363. Broccias, Cristiano (2006): “Cognitive approaches to grammar”. In: Kristiansen, Gitte / Achard, Michel / Dirven, René / Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, Francisco J. (eds.): Cognitive linguistics: Current applications and future perspectives. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 81-115. 55 Author’s note: I have tried out this approach for six consecutive terms (so far) with German students of English aiming at becoming English teachers-- which is of course not comparable to an empirical study in a concrete and controlled classroom setting-- and it worked out well in nearly all cases, although some of the students had problems with adhering to the cognitive grammar approach. In the end, however, most of the students were quite thankful for having been shown a way how to make grammar teaching more interesting and more motivating. <?page no="71"?> 70 3. Cognitive grammar Bybee, Joan (2008): “Usage-based grammar and second language acquisition”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. London: Routledge, 216-236. Chomsky, Noam (1966): “Linguistic theory”. In: Mead, Robert G. (ed.): Language teaching: Broader contexts. Menasha: George Banta, 51-60. Clark, James M. / Paivio, Allan (1991): “Dual coding theory and education”. Educational Psychology Review 3 (3), 149-170. Csábi, Szilvia (2004): “A cognitive linguistic view of polysemy in English and its implications for teaching”. In: Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 223-256. Dirven, René / Verspoor, Marjolijn (2004 2 ): Cognitive exploration of language and linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins. El-Bouz, Katsiaryna (2016): “Animation of grammar-- interplay of cognitive linguistics and multimedia learning: The example of German modal auxiliaries”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 135-151. Ellis, Nick C. / Wulff, Stefanie (2013): “Usage-based approaches to SLA ”. In: VanPatten, Bill / Williams, Jessica (eds.): Theories in second language acquisition. London: Routledge, 75-93. Evans, Vyvyan / Green, Melanie (2006): Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Fauconnier, Gilles (1994): Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Geeraerts, Dirk (2006): “A rough guide to cognitive linguistics”. In: Geeraerts, Dirk (ed.): Cognitive linguistics: Basic readings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1-28. Gradel, Valentina (2016): “The acquisition of the German case system by foreign language learners through computer animations based on cognitive linguistics”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 113-134. Holme, Randal (2009): Cognitive linguistics and language learning. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Jacobsen, Natalia D. (2016): “The best of both worlds: Combining cognitive linguistics and pedagogic tasks to teach English conditionals”. Applied Linguistics, https: / / doi.org/ 10.1093/ applin/ amw030. Kermer, Franka (2016): A cognitive grammar approach to teaching tense and aspect in the L2 context. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Kövecses, Zoltán / Szabó, Peter (1996): “Idioms: A view from cognitive semantics”. Applied Linguistics 17, 326-355. Kohl-Dietrich, Dorothee / Juchem-Grundmann, Constanze / Schnotz, Wolfgang (2016): “Conceptual motivation as a tool for raising language awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom-- does it enhance learning outcomes? Insights from an empirical study”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 193-209. Król-Markefka, Agnieszka (2010): Metalinguistic knowledge and the accurate use of English articles: The effects of applying cognitive grammar in second language teaching. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Kraków: Jagiellonian University. <?page no="72"?> 71 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar Kurtyka, Andrzej (2001): “Teaching English phrasal verbs: A cognitive approach”. In: Pütz, Martin / Niemeier, Susanne / Dirven, René (eds.): Applied cognitive linguistics, Vol. II : Language pedagogy. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 29-53. Lakoff, George / Johnson, Mark (1980): Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (1987): Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. I: Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2000): “A dynamic usage-based model”. In: Barlow, Michael / Kemmer, Suzanne M. (eds.): Usage-based models of language. Stanford: CSLI , 1-63. Langacker, Ronald W. (2006): “Cognitive grammar”. In: Geeraerts, Dirk (ed.): Cognitive linguistics: Basic readings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 29-67. Langacker, Ronald W. (2008): “Cognitive grammar as a basis for language instruction”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. New York: Routledge, 66-88. Langacker, Ronald W. (2009): Investigations in cognitive grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, Ronald W. (2013): Essentials of cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Liamkina, Olga A. (2008): “Making dative a case for semantic analysis: Differences in use between native and non-native speakers of German”. In: Tyler, Andrea / Kim, Yiyoung / Takada, Mari (eds.): Language in the context of use: Discourse and cognitive approaches to language. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 145-166. Lindstromberg, Seth (2010 2 ): English prepositions explained. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Lindstromberg, Seth / Boers, Frank (2005): “From movement to metaphor with manner-of-movement verbs”. Applied Linguistics 26, 241-261. Matula, Suzanne (2007): Incorporating a cognitive linguistic presentation of the prepositions on, in and at in ESL instruction: A quasi-experimental study. Doctoral dissertation. Washington: Georgetown University. Niemeier, Susanne (2013): “A cognitive grammar perspective on tense and aspect”. In: Salaberry, Rafael / Comajoan, Llorenç (eds.): Research design and methodology in studies on L2 tense and aspect. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 11-56. Niemeier, Susanne (2017): “Teaching (in) metaphors”. In: Ervas, Francesca / Gola, Elisabetta / Rossi, Maria Grazia (eds.): Metaphor in communication, science and education. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 267-282. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Reif, Monika (2012): Making progress simpler? Applying cognitive grammar to tense-aspect teaching. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Roche, Jörg / Suñer, Ferran (2016): “Metaphors and grammar teaching”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 89-112. Talmy, Leonard (1988): “Force dynamics in language and cognition”. Cognitive Science 12, 49-100. Taylor, John R. (2002): Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tian, Cong (2015): “A cognitive framework in teaching English simple present”. English Language Teaching 8 (3), 24-34. Tomasello, Michael (2003): Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press. Tyler, Andrea (2008): “Cognitive linguistics and second language instruction”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. New York: Routledge, 456-488. <?page no="73"?> 72 3. Cognitive grammar Tyler, Andrea (2010): “Usage-based approaches to language and their applications to second language learning”. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 30, 270-291. Tyler, Andrea (2012): Cognitive linguistics and second language learning: Theoretical basics and experimental evidence. London: Routledge. Tyler, Andrea / Evans, Vyvyan (2003): The semantics of English prepositions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tyler, Andrea / Evans, Vyvyan (2004): “Applying cognitive linguistics in pedagogical grammar: The case of over”. In: Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 257-280. Tyler, Andrea / Mueller, Charles M. / Ho, Vu (2010): “Applying cognitive linguistics to instructed L2 learning: The English modals”. AILA Review 23, 30-49. Tyler, Andrea / Mueller, Charles M. / Ho, Vu (2011): “Applying cognitive linguistics to learning the semantics of English to, for and at: An experimental investigation”. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 8, 181-205. Valenzuela Manzanares, Javier / Rojo Lopez, Ana M. (2008): “What can language learners tell us about constructions? ” In: de Knop, Sabine / de Rycker, Teun (eds.): Cognitive approaches to pedagogical grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 197-230. Verspoor, Marjolijn / Huong, Nguyen Thu (2008): “Cognitive grammar and teaching English articles to Asian students”. In: Lapaire, Jean-Rémi (ed.): From grammar to mind: Grammar as cognition. Bordeaux: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 249-268. Wierzbicka, Anna (1988): The semantics of grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Yasuda, Sachiko (2010): “Learning phrasal verbs through conceptual metaphors: A case of Japanese EFL learners”. TESOL Quarterly 44: 2, 250-273. Ziemke, Tom / Zlatev, Jordan / Frank, Roslyn M. (eds.) (2007): Embodiment. Berlin: Mouton de-Gruyter. <?page no="74"?> 73 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar 4. Cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching This chapter finally points out an explicit connection between cognitive grammar and the task-based language teaching approach. It aims at bridging the gap between these two approaches and briefly presents several arguments why it is a profitable idea to bring together cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching in order to establish and foster a way of grammar teaching that on the one hand motivates foreign language learners of different age levels and from different school types and on the other hand advances their linguistic competences. Both approaches have been introduced separately in the previous chapters and it has been argued that task-based language teaching is currently seen as a very successful way of teaching when it comes to communication, but that, nonetheless, the focus on communication frequently comes at the expense of grammar. It has been suggested by certain scholars that linguistic explanations may be integrated into communicative lessons whenever necessary, but up to now nobody has gone so far as to grant grammar the same importance as is devoted to communication in a task-based language classroom, probably due to an outdated concept of what ‘grammar’ is. Communication without grammar is certainly unimaginable, but most of the grammar in current communicative classrooms is just used-- not always correctly-- and not discussed any further. The learners are not led to see or do not receive explanations on the meaningfulness of grammatical constructions, and what is called ‘grammar’ in many task-based classrooms is frequently not systematised either, as in most cases it does not rely on a solid linguistic theory. The aim of all of the grammar topic discussions in the second part of this book is to do exactly this, i. e., not only to focus on communication but also on the learners’ understanding and their use of grammatical constructions that are new to them. If a teacher decides that s / he wants or needs to deal with a specific grammatical phenomenon, they first of all need to look for situations in which this phenomenon is used in naturally occurring language and then create tasks around such usage events. Such tasks have to be well-planned and, additionally, they ought to be learner-centred, catering to the learners’ age level, interests and motivation, and they need to address situations that will be of use for the learners also outside the foreign language classroom. Furthermore, they need to focus on a goal or a product. Thus, the bulk of the teacher’s work in this case lies in preparing such a lesson, in creating suitable tasks and in thinking about the grammatical theory and how to reduce it for the target group. Once the learners have achieved the goal or finalised the product demanded by the task, this goal is verbalised by the learners in their reports (or else, the product is described). In these reports, the learners need to use the new grammar construction-- asked for by the task formulation-- and samples from these learner reports are then used during the language focus, which aims at making the learners aware of the systematicity behind the new construction. Although the teacher acts as a guide during the language focus, s / he should let the learners discover this systematicity themselves and should encourage them to explain it in their own words. At the end of such a task-based grammar <?page no="75"?> 74 4. Cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching lesson, two goals should have been reached, namely the communicative or task goal on the one hand and a first understanding of the meaning as well as of the form and use of the newly introduced grammatical structure on the other hand. There are several reasons why task-based teaching and cognitive grammar fit so well together. Evans (2012) argues, for instance, that task-based approaches are consistent with the guiding assumptions of cognitive linguistics. The most obvious reason is of course that both approaches focus primarily on meaning. Whereas the task-based literature generally sees meaning as being in opposition to form and as only being present in words and communication, the overarching belief in cognitive grammar is that grammar is meaningful as well, just in a less concrete and more schematic way than lexis. Both lexis and grammar are seen as working hand in hand, with the aim of generating meaningful communication. As the task-based approach primarily focuses on meaning and meaningful language use (although so far excluding grammar from the equation as grammar was seen and frequently is still seen as rather formalistic and as not contributing to meaning), it is only logical to combine it with a linguistic approach in which meaning is seen as a priority in all facets of language. Due to the fact that in the cognitive grammar approach the concept ‘grammar’ is seen as equally central to meaning-making as words are, a combination of these two approaches seems fruitful and productive. Teaching grammar then becomes teaching meaning, or, to be more precise, it becomes teaching schematic meanings that help the learners to formulate their communicative utterances in a way in which they want them to be understood. The learners will probably not even notice that they are learning ‘grammar’ while they are working on their tasks. The focus throughout a grammar task is on communication, which is on the one hand in line with the general task-based approach and which is on the other hand also the primary goal in cognitive grammar, as in a cognitive analysis a speaker formulates his / her utterances according to his / her conceptualizations, with the aim of inducing a proper understanding on the side of the hearer. Due to the fact that cognitive grammar is a usage-based theory, it shares even more common ground with task-based teaching, which focuses on language learning through meaningful content and through a contextualised, quasi-authentic usage of language. Furthermore, task-based teaching highlights the usefulness of the topics discussed in class also beyond the classroom, and cognitive grammar is interested in real language usage events as well. If insights from cognitive grammar are combined with the task-based approach, the learners are confronted with naturalistic situations, which could even occur in their private lives outside of the classroom, and they have to solve them or discuss them or deal with them in any other way. The situations have to be carefully selected from a range of potential situations in which native speakers of the target language would use the specific grammar phenomenon in question and then need to be embedded in pedagogical tasks. In this way, meaning stays a priority, as the task is all about its solution or results, and the use of the targeted grammar phenomenon is necessary in order to reach the solution or result, thus contributing to the overall meaning. Robinson & Ellis also stress the commonalities between the cognitive approach to language and task-based teaching by stating that the aim of such teaching is to use <?page no="76"?> 75 4. Cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching … optimally effective techniques for drawing learner awareness to form-meaning mappings in the L2, and the communicative functions these can help serve. Cognitive Linguistics provides a view of language that is relevant to these aims, in which-(…) the centrality of meaning, the meaningfulness of grammar, and its usage-based nature are all fundamental assumptions. (Robinson & Ellis 2008: 494) In other words: learners need to be subtly guided towards noticing the meaning and function of the grammatical construction in question and, as the ultimate aim, towards using this grammar phenomenon in a native-like way in communication. Another argument to be mentioned and which speaks for a combination of cognitive grammar and task-based teaching relates to Paivio’s double coding hypothesis (cf. Clark / Paivio 1991). As already stated, cognitive grammar invites visualisations, and learning in tasks also means learning with several senses. Tasks normally involve several language skills anyway (speaking / listening have priority, but frequently writing / reading are targeted as well), but additionally most tasks involve images, sometimes even real objects are used, and sometimes actions have to be performed. Therefore, as both cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching foster double coding, this can be seen as another important point of convergence. If the view is shifted from the learners to the teachers, it can be claimed that cognitive grammar offers quite some advantages for this target audience as well, as it provides teachers with explanations for all kinds of grammatical usages. This enables teachers to answer many of those learner questions which they were not able to answer before, as the concept of grammar on which they relied did not entail decent answers for lots of questions and as the answer “this is an exception” can never be a satisfactory one for learners. What can be seen as a major challenge to implementing cognitive grammar in task-based (and other) lessons, however, are the current learners’ (and presumably also the teachers’) dormant theories about grammar and grammar teaching, as already mentioned in the introductory chapter. In this context, Meunier (2008: 103) also laments the fact that a majority of learners today “still express a need for short and easy-to-understand explanations and rules of grammar”, which is what they have become accustomed to from their previous language learning (and teaching, as this prejudice is also to be found with teachers) activities. This is a problem that can only be solved by time. If beginning learners are taught with a task-based approach combined with insights from cognitive grammar, this problem should not occur. More advanced learners, on the other hand, will need to reformulate their concepts on what grammar is and how it is taught. Concerning the teachers, it is partly understandable that they would rather rely on what they were confronted with and what they internalised during their own school times, during their years at university and also during their teacher training but they should nevertheless be flexible enough to change their ways of thinking. Rethinking grammar is quite a challenge, but it is definitely worth the effort. <?page no="77"?> 76 4. Cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching Further reading Clark, James M. / Paivio, Allan (1991): “Dual coding theory and education”. Educational Psychology Review 3(3), 149-170. Evans, Vyvyan (2012): “Cognitive linguistics”. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 3 (2), 129-141. Meunier, Fanny (2008): “Corpora, cognition and pedagogical grammars”. In: de Knop, Sabine / de Rycker, Teun (eds.): Cognitive approaches to pedagogical grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 91-120. Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (2008): “Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and L2 instruction-- Issues for research”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. New York: Routledge, 489-545. <?page no="78"?> 77 3.3 Pedagogical applications of cognitive grammar PART II : Case studies <?page no="79"?> 78 Introduction to part II Introduction to part II The following chapters present examples of how grammatical phenomena can be embedded into the task-based learning approach. Before the examples are discussed, some brief guidelines on how to design such a task-based grammar lesson are provided. A large part of these guidelines has already been mentioned in the previous chapters, but as it is possible that only the more practical chapters are consulted it seems important to present a general and condensed step-by-step procedure on how to go about planning a task-based grammar lesson in thirteen steps. All the chapters on the individual case studies then proceed according to these guidelines by giving concrete advice on how to approach the individual grammar topics. First of all, each grammar topic is briefly characterised concerning its form, and then its meaning is thoroughly analysed from a cognitive-grammatical point of view. Following this, a suitable communicative situation is selected and outlined, the learners’ prior knowledge is commented upon (mainly relating to word fields and grammar structures that should already have been dealt with before the new grammar topic is introduced), which goes hand in hand with a didactic reduction of the cognitive grammar theory for the target audience. The competences that the learners are to acquire through the lesson are stated, and as a final step, the complete task cycle for the grammar topic in question is explained. Additionally, alternative communicative situations are briefly pointed out so that teachers have a choice of situations. However, no explanation of the complete task cycle is provided for the alternative situations. At the end of each chapter, a discussion on how to implement the grammar topic in question for more or less advanced audiences follows, if applicable 56 . When planning a task-based grammar lesson, the teacher should, in a chronological sequence, 1. decide on the grammar structure to be taught. 2. analyse the grammatical phenomenon thoroughly, both concerning its form as concerning its meaning and usage. Only if the grammar topic is understood by the teacher in all its complexity can it be turned into a task. 3. reduce the grammar topic didactically with the target audience in mind, as the grammatical content should not be too complex. For example, when introducing prepositions for the first time, it is enough to just introduce their spatial usages and leave the temporal and abstract usages for a later lesson. In this case, the number of prepositions should be limited as well, six to eight prepositions are usually enough for one lesson. In the same vein, the best idea is always to start with prototypical usages and only if these have been internalised by the learners should non-prototypical usages be addressed, as an under- 56 Not all of the chosen grammar topics can be used with an audience of beginners, as, for example, the passive voice, aspect, phrasal verbs or the conditional forms are not normally introduced to non-advanced learners. Vice versa, there are topics which are more suitable for beginners than for more advanced learners, such as prepositions, pronouns or articles, but which can just as well be returned to in higher grades, involving more complexity than during their first introduction. <?page no="80"?> 79 Introduction to part II standing of the prototypical usages is an important precondition for the introduction of non-prototypical exemplars. 4. find a communicative situation in which the grammar topic in question is regularly used by native speakers of the target language. Furthermore, this situation needs to relate to the learners’ age level and interests and needs to be motivating for them. Finally, as already mentioned a couple of times before, the learners should be enabled to master a similar communicative situation also outside of the classroom, when travelling abroad, for example. 5. scrutinise the necessary vocabulary for the communicative task. If necessary, introduce certain word fields in a lesson which precedes the task, as new vocabulary should not be taught in the same lesson as a new grammatical construction. Analyse the vocabulary and only use such lexemes that are completely regular. The orthography of the words and their semantics need to be checked. For instance, if the plural--s is to be introduced in the context of making a fruit salad, list those fruits that do not change their orthography when used in the plural (apple, pear, melon etc.) and leave out those fruits that change their spelling in the plural (strawberry, cherry, peach etc.). Furthermore, only select those fruits that make conceptual sense both in the singular and in the plural- - as nobody would buy ‘one grape’ at a market stall, for example. 6. decide on whether the task is better done in pairs or whether small groups are a better option. When deciding for small groups, prepare a way of assigning the learners to the groups. 7. plan a task relating to the communicative situation, in which the grammar construction in question can already be used by the teacher during the pre-task. 8. plan the task instructions carefully and never underestimate the challenge that such instructions present. As every learner should be able to know what they are supposed to do, let a learner repeat the instructions. Alternatively, give step-by-step instructions on a transparency that remains visible throughout the time during which the learners are working on the task or print the instructions on the learners’ worksheets. 9. prepare worksheets for the actual task that get the learners to use the new grammar construction in their pair / group work, if only in a limited way. Example sentences or visual aids on the worksheets are usually very helpful for getting the learners on the right track towards using the grammar construction in question. 10. think about how to organise the learners’ reports. Decide whether there is enough time for all groups or pairs to present their reports. If there is not enough time for this, find a way to give feedback to those groups or pairs who cannot present their results during the lesson. It is always a good idea to ask which groups have similar results to the ones already presented or else to take the reports home and give written feedback to the learners. 11. organise a structured way of presenting the grammar phenomenon during the language focus. Sentences from the learners’ reports should be used, because the learners have already worked with these sentences and because it is very motivating for them to see their own sentences on the board. Although in most cases the teacher will not be able to fully predict these sentences, s / he knows reasonably well what the learners might produce. <?page no="81"?> 80 Introduction to part II Contrast these sentences with other sentences in a diagram, for example. If possible, use visualisations, which can be planned and prepared before the actual lesson. 12. let the learners analyse the sentences on the board and let them come up with their own suggestions, hypotheses and conclusions. If they have trouble doing so, do not give them rules to be learnt by heart but provide explanations that they can follow and understand. Have them write the structured sentences from the board into their exercise books or prepare these as handouts for the following lesson. 13. ask the learners to use the new structure with another word field or another topic if there is enough time for such a transfer. Should there not be enough time, prepare a homework sheet which demands a transfer. Every task-based grammar lesson can be planned according to these thirteen basic steps. The following chapters all use these thirteen steps, although not all the steps are precisely outlined in the descriptions as the grammar topic and the communicative situation take centre stage in these case studies. <?page no="82"?> 81 5.1 A cognitive grammar perspective on tense 5. Tense This chapter first elaborates on the concept of ‘tense’ and secondly presents a short formal analysis followed by a more extensive cognitive-grammatical analysis of tense. The two analyses are provided separately for the present tense and the past tense, as these are normally treated as two different topics in teaching. Each of the analyses is followed by an explanation of the selected communicative situation together with a didactic reduction of the grammar explanation for the target audience in question. Subsequently, the complete task cycle is described for each tense. The chapter ends with some remarks concerning alternative communicative situations. 5.1 A cognitive grammar perspective on tense Every English verb is marked for tense, aspect and modality and these three phenomena belong closely together. However, they are dealt with separately in this book in three different chapters in order to allow for more clarity. Tense as the grammaticalized conceptualization of time is one of the most error-prone areas when acquiring English as a foreign language. This is especially so for German learners, as, for instance, in German the past tense and the present perfect can be exchanged with each other, at least in everyday speech, and therefore German learners of English are easily tempted to do the same when speaking English. However, in English these forms have to be strictly separated concerning their different functions. Before starting to explain tense from a cognitive-grammatical perspective, the notion ‘tense’ needs to be defined. In cognitive grammar, most researchers state that English has only two tenses, namely the past and the present. The only exception is Radden / Dirven, who speak about three tenses in English (past, present, future), as this tripartition is well-established, although they admit that … our projection of events into the future always involves a certain amount of uncertainty- (…) Future situations are therefore very much subject to people’s imagination. As a result, English has a number of future tense forms expressing shades of (un)certainty about a future situation. (Radden / Dirven 2007: 224) At the same time, they state that when the present tense is used to indicate a future time, the future seems to be relatively certain (as in “my driving license expires next week”). In these cases, the present tense lends more reality status to the future events 57 . Although there are reasons why the three-tenses approach might be kept up in grammar teaching, as it is compatible with all traditional textbooks and theories and as the learners will probably be familiar with it from grammar lessons in their native language, the two-tenses 57 For more detailed information on the future, please consult Radden / Dirven (2007: 225), as the future is not discussed any further in this book. <?page no="83"?> 82 5. Tense approach also has its advantages. It makes more conceptual sense due to the connection to reality that the present tense and the past tense both possess, a connection which the future does not have. Instead, in cognitive grammar the future is seen as belonging to modality, as it uses modal auxiliaries (as in “Paul will arrive tomorrow”) and as it has not yet happened (i. e., in relation to the example just mentioned: it is always possible that something may prevent Paul from coming) and is therefore hypothetical, similar to other modals 58 . In this view, the future auxiliary will does no longer have to be differentiated from the modal auxiliary will, because both can be seen as referring to potentiality instead of to reality. In the two-tenses approach, both the past and the present are on the one hand morphologically marked on the verb (the--ed morpheme for the past and the third person singular--s for the present tense, see also the discussions on form in the sub-chapters 5.2.1 and 5.3.1) and on the other hand, they both have reality status, as events in the past are known to have happened and as events in the present are currently happening. These two tenses are also called ‘simple tenses’ because both of them involve only one temporal domain. In their prototypical uses, the past tense refers to the past time and the present tense refers to the present time. In cognitive grammar, the other so-called ‘tenses’ that can be found in textbooks are seen as combinations of tense and aspect 59 . For example, a construction such as “he is coming” is a combination of the present tense and the progressive aspect, or “he was running” is a combination of the past tense and the progressive aspect. The perfect forms (the so-called ‘perfective aspect’) belong to the complex tenses, which involve two temporal domains each. The present perfect, for example, refers to a stretch of time ranging from the past into the present, such as in “Martin has broken his leg” (meaning that the impact of the broken leg is still active in the present, so that Martin cannot currently walk very well), whereas the past perfect refers to a stretch of time which started at a point before the past and reached into the past, such as in “back then, he had broken his leg” (meaning that the accident happened at a time before the narrative time and its impact was still noticeable during the time the narration refers to). The perfective aspect allows language users to shift forward and backward in time, to connect temporal domains and to focus on anteriority or posteriority. Langacker as well as Taylor (2002) subsume tense under the keyword ‘grounding’, as “the term ground is used in CG to indicate the speech event, its participants (speaker and hearer), their interaction, and the immediate circumstances (notably, the time and place of speaking)” (Langacker 2008: 259). In a cognitive grammar analysis of tense, three different components need to be differentiated, namely speech time, relevance time and situation time. Speech time designates the present moment of speech, which “offers an anchor to locate the occurrence of situations in time” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 202). It is the moment in time at which a communicative utterance is produced. Relevance time refers to the speaker’s viewpoint, i. e., to the time span for which the speaker sees the proposition of the utterance as relevant. Frequently, relevance time is identical to 58 For a discussion of modality, please consult chapter 7. 59 For a discussion of aspect, please consult the next chapter (chapter 6). <?page no="84"?> 83 5.2 The present tense speech time, but not always. News headlines, for example, are frequently written in the present (as in “tsunami hits the coast”), but generally refer to an event of the day before the headline appeared, i. e., to the past. Situation time refers to the time at which a situation is instantiated. In prototypical utterances, all three components coincide with each other, as, for example, in the sentence “The weather is awful”. In this case, speech time is in the present, relevance time is in the present as well (as the utterance is currently valid and relevant) and situation time is also in the present. This is similar in the sentence “We had an accident yesterday”, in which speech time is in the present, relevance time is in the past (relating to the day before the sentence was uttered) and situation time is in the past as well. In more complex cases, the different tense components do not necessarily always overlap. In the example “The police found the abducted woman, but she was dead”, speech time is in the present (if the sentence is uttered on today’s evening news, for example), relevance time is in the past, but whereas the situation time for the first part of the sentence is in the past, the situation time for the second part of the sentence encompasses the past, the present and the future, as the woman will remain dead forever. Thus, it is not only a question of tense morphology, but additionally a question of the semantics of the verb, as ‘to be dead’ is an unchangeable situation. Tense does not locate events or situations on the time axis, but it rather allows the speaker to select a time span that is relevant for what s / he wants to say. In the following paragraphs, the so-called simple tenses 60 , i. e., the present tense and the past tense, are characterised separately. 5.2 The present tense First, the form of the present tense is briefly presented, followed by a cognitive-grammatical perspective on both the prototypical meaning and the extended meanings of the present tense. Subsequently, the communicative situation selected for the task of this case study is presented and its choice is explained. As the target audience cannot be confronted with the detailed linguistic theory outlined before, a didactic reduction is performed. Finally, the task cycle is discussed in detail, together with some additional teaching ideas that differ from the task cycle presented before. 60 Radden / Dirven (2007: 204) call the simple tenses ‘deictic tenses’, as they relate to speech time, “the only moment that is available to us in our perception of time”. <?page no="85"?> 84 5. Tense 5.2.1 Form Concerning form, the inflective -s ending for the third person singular in the present tense is the only person-number affix left in present-day English (cf. Berndt 1989: 127) 61 . This morpheme is used for all regular verbs 62 , although the spelling differs for certain verb endings. If a verb ends in--s, the allomorph--es is used (as in to kiss-- she kisses), and if a verb ends in a consonant + y, the ending changes to--ies (as in to carry-- he carries). If a verb ends in a vowel + y, just the regular--s ending is added (as in to say-- she says). The third person singular morpheme has three different pronunciations, depending on the final sound of the verb. If this final sound is voiced, the--s is also voiced and is pronounced as / z/ (as in to grab-- he grabs). If the final sound is unvoiced, the--s is also unvoiced and is pronounced as / s/ (as in to hit-- she hits). If the final sound is a sibilant, i. e.,--s,--z,--ch,--sh, or- -x, the- -s is pronounced as / iz/ with a voiced s-sound (as in to kiss- - she kisses or in to wash-- he washes). The form is relatively easy to explain, for the written as well as for the spoken mode. When a tense is to be introduced, it is important that the teacher pays attention to only use prototypical examples and to postpone the introduction of non-prototypical examples. These can be introduced in a later lesson or lessons, as they are easier to understand on the basis of a firmly established prototype. Therefore, the verbs used in a task need to be carefully chosen so as not to confuse and potentially overwhelm the learners. What is somewhat more challenging to explain is the meaning aspect of the present tense, which also needs to be understood, as knowledge about the form is not sufficient. The following paragraphs therefore provide a cognitive grammar perspective on the meaning of the present tense. 5.2.2 Meaning The use of the present tense always locates a situation at or around or including speech time, whereas the past tense locates a situation at a time earlier than speech time. In other words, the distinction between the present tense and the past tense can be seen as a proximal / distal contrast (cf. Langacker 1991: 245). The present tense is temporally close (or proximal) to the speech situation, whereas the past tense is temporally removed (or distal). The present tense is also called the ‘simple present’, although this expression can be called a misnomer, as according to Langacker (2001), it is one of the most complicated tenses in English. The present tense relates to ‘immediate reality’, and thus to proximity, and in its prototypical use speech time and relevance time co-occur exactly. However, such a co-occurrence is quite difficult to find, which is what makes the present tense so complex. In addition to the 61 The s-inflection for the third person singular can be seen as a leftover from Old English. While the endings for the first person disappeared after the Old English period, the endings for the second and the third person became -est and -eth in Middle English (cf. Crystal 1995: 44). After the Middle English period, “the final simplification to the modern system-[…] took place” (ibid.), so that present-day English only has two forms, namely the third person singular form and the basic form for all other persons. 62 Only the verbs to be, to do, to go and to have have special third person singular forms, namely is, does, goes and has. <?page no="86"?> 85 5.2 The present tense prototypical use, there are a number of non-present uses of the present tense, where “what is being coded linguistically is not the actual occurrence of events, but their virtual occurrence as part of a non-canonical viewing arrangement” (Langacker 2001: 30). The ‘true’ present tense presupposes that a bounded event (such as “to read a book”) coincides with the utterance itself. As reading a book (or nearly every other bounded event) takes longer than the second it takes to say this sentence and therefore a co-occurrence of the utterance and the event is not given, the simple present cannot be used in this case. The situation needs to be unbounded by the use of the present progressive, because “Peter is reading a book” focuses on the process of reading and not on the complete activity (i. e., reading a book from its first to its last page), therefore, any moment of the process of ‘reading’ coincides with the utterance “he is reading a book”. There are only very few instances of very short events (for example, a balloon which pops) which co-occur with the time a speaker needs for making an utterance such as “the balloon pops”. The necessary co-occurrence is not only a durational problem but additionally it is an epistemic problem, because normally it takes a speaker a while to identify a situation and only then is s / he able to talk about it, which takes even more time away from the small time frame provided by the utterance. This is why bounded situations in the present generally take the progressive aspect in English 63 , thus getting rid of the boundaries that would otherwise not fit into the small time frame. Unbounded situations (such as “he resembles his grandfather”) are unproblematic in this respect, as they are true at any time and therefore also at the moment of speaking. On the other hand, many uses of the simple present do not refer to speech time, but either to the future, or to the past, or to so-called timeless situations or eternal truths. Langacker (2001) argues that such uses are extended (or non-prototypical) uses of the ‘true’ present. He gives the example of the narration of demonstrations, such as in cooking programmes on television (“I put some oil into the pan and heat it up. Now I put the meat in. I cook it at a low temperature for several minutes”), where the present is not used for the description of actual situations but is instead to be seen as reading off entries from a list or scenario. In this case, the present tense refers to the virtual occurrence of the situation, which obviously coincides with the time of speaking. This is also the case when the present tense is used to speak about future events, such as in “my bus leaves at five”, the so-called ‘scheduled future’. Again, this utterance refers to a virtual schedule in people’s minds and not to the actual situation itself. Such scheduled future uses generally contain a precise time expression (“at five”) and do not work for situations that cannot be scheduled or predicted (*“I break my leg next week”). Even though the scheduled future belongs to the future time sphere, it is reliable and stable enough also at the present moment of speaking and can therefore be seen as a virtual occurrence of the situation in question, which coincides temporally with the moment of speaking. Stage directions work in 63 As mentioned before, it is next to impossible to really separate tense and aspect. The topic of boundedness / unboundedness is picked up again in the chapter on aspect (chapter 6), and also in the chapter on articles (chapter 14). <?page no="87"?> 86 5. Tense a very similar way, as does the use of the ‘historical present’, i. e., a past situation being retold by using the simple present 64 . In the latter case, a past situation is virtually replayed, and the use of the present tense underlines the fact that the situation is still vividly recalled by the experiencer and therefore still has an impact at speech time, which once more underlines the proximity reading of the present tense. A final non-prototypical use of the present tense relates to so-called eternal truths and timeless situations, such as “dolphins are mammals”. This utterance does not refer to any specific dolphin but to a virtual instance of a dolphin. The use of the present tense indicates that the speaker is talking about a sub-part of this eternal truth at the moment of speaking and therefore, the moment of speaking coincides with the validity of the utterance, as dolphins are mammals also at the moment of speaking. This is similar for habituals such as “I go horse-riding every Tuesday”, where the utterance does not refer to any actual instance of riding but to a virtual instance of riding, as this sentence can also be uttered on every other day and not only on a Tuesday. It may have become obvious that the cognitive grammar view is not about rules and exceptions but about prototypical usages and non-prototypical but explainable meaning extensions. In the classroom, the basic meaning of the simple present as referring to situations occurring in the here and now should be introduced at a very early point and can then be used as the basis for the explanation of the extended uses. The actual or virtual coincidence between speech time and reference time is easy to visualise, for example, by using a time axis and drawing reference-time circles as well as situation-time circles in different colours-- the reference-time circles will always be identical to speech time, whereas the situation-time circles may be larger (for instance, covering the complete time axis in the case of eternal truths) but will always contain speech time as well as reference time. The learners can then verbalise the illustrations and thus-- via the commonalities between the various prototypical and extended instances of use-- develop and advance their concepts of the meaning of the present tense. 5.2.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction As the present tense is introduced relatively early in the instructed acquisition of English as a foreign language, the following task is targeted at beginners, either in primary school or early in secondary school. Tensed utterances are used from the first encounter with English onwards, as even the simplest short sentences contain a tensed verb, usually in the present tense. If the learners say something about themselves, such as “I am a girl”, “I am ten years old”, “I like chocolate” or “I come from Germany”, they have to use the simple present. Sentences which describe activities, such as “I am jumping” or “Look, I’m working on my picture”, are left out in this sub-chapter, as aspect is dealt with in the following chapter. 64 For example, when somebody arrives at school in the morning and says “You can’t imagine what happened yesterday! I drive along Main Street on my bicycle, suddenly a police car comes up behind me, overtakes me, forces me to stop, then the officer jumps out and says-…” <?page no="88"?> 87 5.2 The present tense The task cycle described in the next sub-chapter concentrates on the third person singular--s, as this presents a step beyond saying something about oneself, where inflection is not involved, and allows the learners to speak about third persons. It is, therefore, a basic and important demand for communication. If native speakers speak about others-- something that humans frequently do, given their interest in other humans-- in the simple present, they need to add the--s morpheme to the state verbs they use. This addition of the--s morpheme is not self-evident for early learners and they need to get acquainted with this inflection. This can be done by allowing the learners to speak about themselves and then let others repeat what the speaker said. In such a repetition, the third person needs to be used, together with a proper name or a personal pronoun. For example, if Peter says “I like chocolate”, then somebody else can report this fact as “Peter likes chocolate” or “He likes chocolate”. The choice of potential communicative situations is extensive, as there is a multitude of communication events which involve talking about third persons. For the task at hand, the selected situation is to talk about one’s likes and preferences 65 and the learners are to acquire the competence to use the third person singular--s correctly. As likes and preferences can be talked about in various communicative settings and situations and as a task needs to focus on one situation in particular, the example of creating a pizza for a school party has been chosen. As everybody has developed specific eating habits and preferences, this topic ties in with the learners’ world knowledge and reaches beyond the classroom at least insofar as the learners may find themselves in a situation in which they are abroad and have to order food for themselves or for somebody else, for example a pizza for which they have to decide on the toppings. If a ‘real’ school party is planned, this topic is even more relevant, as it then involves a real event together with the preparations for this event. Furthermore, in classes with 30+ learners, an agreement needs to be reached which pizza to prepare as everybody will have a different taste and as it is impossible to prepare 30+ individual pizzas, therefore the learners’ social skills are trained as well. The only verb used is ‘like’, as the learners then do not have to concentrate on finding the correct verb. Furthermore, the voiceless pronunciation of the verb ending is invariable, i. e., it does not change when an--s is added. In further lessons, the difference between verbs taking a voiced--s ending and those taking a voiceless--s ending or an--es ending definitely will have to be dealt with, but for an introductory lesson, the degree of difficulty needs to be lowered and the choice of verbs needs to be limited. In this task-based lesson, the learners are expected to acquire the competence to correctly use the third person singular form for the verb ‘like’ and to pronounce this verb form correctly. As a precondition for the lesson, the learners should be familiar with personal pronouns as well as with possessive pronouns, at least in the singular, as the sentences that they form will include either a proper name or a personal pronoun as well as the possessive “(on) his / her (pizza)”. Furthermore, the learners already need to know the word fields of vegetables and fruits, as these are the main ingredients used for pizza toppings. The chunks “I like X on 65 It is of course equally important to talk about one’s dislikes, but as an introduction to the third person singular negation would be too much for one single lesson, this topic should be left for a follow-up lesson. <?page no="89"?> 88 5. Tense my pizza” and “s / he likes X on his / her pizza” are offered by the teacher already at the very beginning of the lesson, i. e., during the pre-task phase. Should a learner insert an article (such as *“I like a ham on my pizza”), s / he should be corrected non-intrusively through a reformulation such as “Oh, you mean you like ham on your pizza? ”/ “Oh, you mean s / he likes ham on his / her pizza? ” followed by “say it again, please”. Another potential source of error is the fact that the pizza toppings can either be in the singular or in the plural, such as in “he likes ham on his pizza” vs. “she likes onions on her pizza”-- this could be avoided if only certain toppings were allowed, which, however, would restrict the learners’ creativity to a certain extent. Such errors should therefore be corrected by the teacher, but the reason for the use of either a count noun or a mass noun (i. e., the onions are seen as countable, whereas ham is not seen as countable) should not be gone into, unless a learner asks for an explanation 66 . The lesson focuses on the prototypical verb ‘like’, thus avoiding irregular verbs, verbs with orthographic changes and verbs that do not end in a voiceless- -s. On this basis, the other forms can be successively introduced later on. The prototype needs to be firmly established in order to form the basis for an explanation and an understanding of the non-prototypical forms. Concerning the meaning of the third person singular--s, nothing much needs to be transmitted in this case, as this inflectional relic from Old English does not carry a lot of meaning beyond stating that the speaker is talking about a third person and beyond indicating that an oral utterance is an assertive one and not an imperative one, as there is indeed a difference in pragmatic intention between “Peter plays the guitar” and “Peter, play the guitar! ” The notion of ‘tense’ is not introduced nor is the notion of ‘aspect’, although in further lessons the simple present will have to be contrasted with the present progressive and the learners will have to internalise that the simple present is prototypically used for states and habits (such as ‘like’), but not for activities and actions. 5.2.4 The task cycle The task cycle begins with the pre-task phase, which is meant to introduce the communicative topic. In the present case study, this topic concerns culinary likes, which is why the teacher might want to start the lesson by telling the learners what wonderful pizza s / he had the night before (or alternatively, what awful pizza s / he had). The younger the learners are, the more interested they normally are in the teacher’s private life. The teacher might say something like “I had the best pizza of my life last night-- with lots of pineapple on it. It was sooo delicious” and then ask “who of you also likes pineapple on their pizza? ”. Some learners will raise their hands. The next question could be “what else do you like on your pizza? ” and the learners presumably give one-word answers. If, for instance, one learner says “salami”, the teacher elaborates “Peter likes salami on his pizza. Who else likes salami? ” and then s / he could ask various learners what they like, always commenting the answers in the third person singular, so that the third person singular--s is used as frequently as possible, at least by the teacher. 66 The differences between count nouns and mass nouns are explained in detail in chapter 14.2.2. <?page no="90"?> 89 5.2 The present tense The learners do not yet have to use it, as they will be focusing more on the content of their classmates’ answers. While the learners enumerate their favourite toppings, the teacher attaches flashcards with the names of the ingredients (and possibly their pictures) on the walls or the board, where they should remain visible throughout the lesson in order to serve as reminders during the task itself. Especially weaker learners may be thankful for the flashcards, as these can give them ideas for the pizzas they are about to create. At the end of the pre-task phase, the teacher gives the instructions for the upcoming task. Summarizing what was discussed before, s / he might say something like “all of us love pizza, but not all of us like the same toppings, because as we saw, some of you like salami, others do not like salami, some like pineapple, others do not like pineapple. This is why we will now create pizza recipes for our upcoming school party / for lunch next week (or similar). You will work together in groups of five. Every group creates a pizza for one of the following teachers: X, Y, Z-…” 67 . The teacher also informs the learners that their pizza recipes will be reported by all group members in front of their classmates during the report phase. The teacher lets the learners draw little pieces of paper with pictures of vegetables and fruit on them and everybody who has the same vegetable or fruit forms one group. The group members leave their places in order to sit together and every group draws another piece of paper with a teacher’s name on it. The learners are then asked to guess which toppings these teachers would like on their pizzas. They have to use at least four different ingredients and they are allowed to add at least one mystery ingredient, which they are completely free to choose, from cockroaches to aliens 68 . If the groups are smaller or bigger than five people, the number of ingredients has to be changed in such a way that every group member has to say at least one sentence during the report phase. Subsequently, a worksheet is distributed which has the header “Ms Miller 69 : Her favourite pizza”. Below the headline, there is a picture of a pizza without any toppings and then some free lines, the first of them starting off with “Ms Miller likes-(…) on her pizza”, the second one saying “She also likes-(…)-(…)” and then three more empty lines which the learners have to fill in completely. A final line, a bit below the other lines, says “Mystery ingredient: -(…)”, followed by the instruction “Please select one or more other toppings of your own choice. Be creative! ” As an extra motivation, the teacher may also tell the students that at the end of the reports there will be an election of the most interesting recipe. 67 Alternatively, pizzas for famous pop stars, soccer players etc. can be created. The teacher example was chosen because preparing a pizza for a teacher is more likely to happen than making pizza for celebrities. Furthermore, it may be more intriguing to find a ‘mystery ingredient’ for persons one really knows and not only admires from afar. 68 From my own experience, I can confirm that the learners normally enjoy a ‘mystery ingredient’ very much and are usually very creative in selecting it. This mystery ingredient does not necessarily contribute to the learners’ exposure to the third person singular--s, due to the fact that it may not be introduced by the chunk “S / he likes XY on her pizza”, because it might be an ingredient that will not be liked very much. However, this procedure adds some fun and motivation for the learners. 69 Every worksheet carries the name of a different teacher, and-- if possible-- half of the teachers should be male, the other half female. <?page no="91"?> 90 5. Tense The learners then work on their own for about ten minutes, discussing within their groups which ingredients the teacher in question might like and agreeing on four of them as well as on the mystery ingredient(s) and then formulate the sentences for the worksheet. The teacher keeps in the background, observing the learners. Some minutes before the reports have to begin, the teacher tells the learners to come to an end and to prepare their reports. They have to make sure that the sentences they wrote down are correct and they have to decide who is going to say which sentence. The teacher goes from group to group, helping learners who have questions. Furthermore, s / he may already preselect those answers that are to play a role during the language focus. All groups report their results in turn and the other class members listen actively. At the end of all the reports, the best pizza recipe is chosen. No group is allowed to vote for their own pizza, as this would presumably result in the fact that every pizza recipe only gets the votes of the group members who helped to create it. Instead, the others’ pizzas with their mystery ingredients are reflected on by the whole class and a choice has to be made for the most delicious, the most interesting or the most absurd one. The pizza with the most votes is the one that will be prepared for the school party, although presumably without the mystery ingredient. For the language focus, the teacher has written down (or remembered) several sentences from the reports. S / he asks those learners who uttered these sentences to repeat them, after which they have to come to the board and write the sentences down on its right-hand side. Four sentences should be enough, two of them should start with a proper name and two of them should start with a personal pronoun (‘she’ and ‘he’). The teacher then has a learner read the first sentence, for example “She likes onions on her pizza” and then asks the class “Who else likes onions on their pizza? ”. S / he selects one learner and asks again “Do you like onions on your pizza? ” and the learner has to answer “Yes, I like onions on my pizza”. This learner is then asked to write exactly this sentence on the left-hand side of the board, parallel to the original third person singular sentence. The other third person sentences are also transformed into the first person singular and written on the board. The left-hand side of the board gets the title ‘I’ and the right-hand side of the board gets the title ‘he / she’. The teacher continues by asking the learners whether they can spot a difference between the sentences on the right-hand side of the board and those on its left-hand side. The learners will mention the- -s morpheme and will find out that the- -s is added whenever a personal pronoun or a proper name is used, whereas for the first (and second) persons nothing is added to the verb stem. If time allows, the teacher can add the pronoun ‘it’, for example, for a pet (as in “I sometimes let my dog have pizza as well. It adores pizza! And it likes ham on its pizza”). If there is not enough time left, the pronoun ‘it’ can be added in the following lesson. After having introduced the ‘it’, the teacher can use the sentence “He, she, it-- the ‘s’ must fit” as a mnemotechnical device, which the learners can note down along with the example sentences. In an ideal case, a transfer phase is added at the end of the lesson 70 . The verb ‘like’ can be used again, but this time it should relate to other word fields than fruits or vegetables. For example, the teacher can tell the learners “Please find a classmate who likes tennis and then 70 If there is no time for a transfer, the following exercise should be given for homework. <?page no="92"?> 91 5.2 The present tense tell the rest of the class about it”. The learners then ask around and report “Maria likes tennis”, for instance. The homework involves a second transfer, this time focusing on other verbs than ‘like’. The learners have to fill in a worksheet about the habits of a friend or a family member. The verbs are given in alphabetical order and an example sentence is provided, for example “(My father) drinks (coffee in the morning)”. The next line starts with “He also-…” and the learners have to find their own sentence ending. The following lines are left empty and have to be filled in completely. The verbs in question should refer to habitual activities, such as, for example, “drink X”, “eat X”, “walk to school / work”, “write a letter / an email”, and should end with a voiceless consonant. 5.2.5 Alternatives As there are plenty of other suitable communicative situations than the one focused on above, only some of them can be listed below. Teachers can rely on their own creativity to select different situations. If the verb ‘like’ is focused on, many objects / events can be liked, this ranges from animals via holiday locations to pop stars and soccer players. It is also possible to develop a survey for the class into which everybody enters their favourite food, music, animal, colour, city, sport and the like. Then the survey results can be written down without the names, the sheets are folded up, one learner after the other draws a sheet and reads “The mystery person likes tennis, likes dogs, likes pizza etc.” and then has to guess who is meant. If the learner guessed correctly, s / he may select the next learner who then draws another sheet. If the solution is wrong, the person has to sit down and the teacher selects the next person who has to guess. Everybody who guesses correctly may sit down in the winners’ corner. This game can also be played in a more competitive way in teams, and every correct solution then earns the team a point. Alternatively, a survey on famous people can be created with similar columns than the ones described above. Then everybody gets a sheet attached to his / her back and has to guess who s / he is. In order to be able to do so, the learners have to present each other by saying “This person likes sports cars” or “This person likes to dress up” and so on, until the ‘person’ has guessed who s / he is. Every guess is worth a point, and the ‘person’ with the lowest number of points wins. Both varieties can of course also be used in follow-up lessons with other verbs than ‘like’, for example “The mystery person plays the piano” or “The mystery person hates broccoli” etc., or, for the second variety, “This person plays soccer” or “This person lives in Scotland”, for instance. However, it is important to select regular verbs at the beginning, especially if the verbs also appear in writing (see the section on the form of the present tense). As an alternative to the transfer suggested above, the learners can engage in a game in which one person starts by saying, for example, “I like cats” and the second person has to repeat this statement and add a personal statement, for example “Jessica likes cats and I like horses”, and the third person then says “Jessica likes cats, Thomas likes horses and I like crocodiles”, so that the sentences get longer and longer. This can of course be done with any word field that the learners are already familiar with. The game ends when a learner cannot correctly remember what the others before him / her have said. <?page no="93"?> 92 5. Tense If the topic ‘simple present’ is used in higher grades, it can be contrasted with either the past tense by guiding the learners towards realizing which relevance time and situation time certain events are dealing with (see also the next sub-chapter), or else with the progressive aspect in such a way that it becomes obvious to the learners that the two aspects, i. e., the progressive and the non-progressive one, focus on different viewing perspectives, do not have identical meanings and can therefore not be exchanged for each other. This is dealt with in detail in the sub-chapter on aspect. 5.3 The past tense As in the previous sub-chapter, a brief explanation of the form of the past tense precedes the more detailed cognitive-grammatical explanation of both its prototypical as well as its extended, non-prototypical meanings. These explanations are followed by a discussion of the selected communicative situation together with a didactic reduction of the linguistic theory. In a last step, the task cycle is presented in detail and some alternatives are suggested. 5.3.1 Form The regular past tense morpheme is--ed, although for the past tense a number of irregular verb forms exist, which cannot be discussed here in detail. Similar to the present tense, also for the past tense the spelling differs for the endings of certain verbs which can otherwise be seen as quite regular, as they also add the- -ed morpheme. If a verb ends in a single consonant and if the preceding vowel is stressed and written with one letter, the consonant is reduplicated before the- -ed morpheme is added (as in to grab-- he grabbed). However, this does not happen when this single consonant is unstressed (as in to answer-- she answered) or when the vowel before the final consonant is a long one and is written in two letters (as in to cheat-- she cheated). If a verb ends in a vowel + c, the reduplication of the “c” is written as--ck (as in to mimic-- she mimicked). However, this rule is weakened when a verb ends in a vowel + s, as usually both writings are permitted (as in to focus-- he focused or he focussed). Similar to the present tense, with a preceding consonant a--y ending is turned into--ied (as in to try-- she tried), whereas the--y remains intact if it is preceded by a vowel (as in to play-- she played). Finally, if a verb ends in a silent “e”, this silent “e” is dropped and the past tense marker--ed is added (as in to hike-- he hiked). The “e” is also dropped in verbs ending in--ie (as in to tie-- she tied). Concerning pronunciation, the phonation of the last consonant is decisive. In line with what was already stated for the present tense, if the last consonant is voiced or if the verb ends in a vowel (including r-coloured vowels), the--ed morpheme is also voiced and is pronounced as a / d/ (as in to add-- he added or in to die-- he died or in to score-- she scored). If the last consonant is unvoiced, the -ed morpheme is also unvoiced and is pronounced as a / t/ (as in to pick-- she picked). If the verb ends in an alveolar (i. e., a / t/ or a / d/ ), an / i/ -sound is inserted (as in to hunt-- he hunted or in to mend-- she mended). <?page no="94"?> 93 5.3 The past tense 5.3.2 Meaning In order to explain the meaning of the past tense and the past tense morpheme, a comparison to the present tense is sometimes mandatory, as none of the two tenses exists in isolation. Whereas the present tense locates a situation exactly at the time of speaking, “the past tense morpheme imposes an immediate scope prior to the moment of speaking” (Langacker 2001: 22), i. e., it relates to events that are temporally more distant to the speaker. In contrast to the present tense, the past tense is not limited concerning the length of the described process, as no co-occurrence of the utterance and the event is possible due to the simple fact that the event happened in the past. In narratives, a sequence of past tense events can frequently be found and in this case, the individual events are seen as successive because the first event locates the situation in the past and the following situations are interpreted as following this first situation in sequential order 71 . A past tense situation is seen as completed, and therefore a sequence of past tense situations is seen as various complete events following each other. Should situations in the past co-occur, the progressive aspect needs to be used for the backgrounded situation. The past tense “conveys distance from the speech event” (Taylor 2002: 394) and refers to facts 72 . The abstract meaning of the past tense morpheme of signalling distance-- of various kinds-- is also kept up throughout all of its extended uses. Its temporal use in the formation of the past tense, where it signals temporal distance, is just its prototypical and most frequent use. All of its other, non-prototypical uses signal other kinds of distance. Langacker (1991: 242) relates the past tense to “non-immediate reality” 73 . This is at least true for the prototypical, temporal use of the past tense morpheme, but not necessarily for its non-prototypical, extended uses, as the past tense morpheme is conventionally also used to signal less commitment to the reality of a situation. One of its frequent non-prototypical uses is to signal epistemic distance in conditional constructions such as in “If I asked you-…” (cf. Evans / Green 2006: 396) 74 . Conditionals locate an event in irreality, as they always signal hypothetical events (of more or less probability, depending on the type of conditional used), and the--ed morpheme 75 signals the distance to reality in this usage. The- -ed morpheme is also used to indicate a lack of intimacy, such as in “My divorced husband was Brazilian”, which does not indicate that the Brazilian ex-husband is no longer alive but instead shows that there is no longer any contact or closeness, thus signalling in- 71 A sequence of events is usually interpreted iconically, i. e., the chronology of the events is seen as represented by the chronology in which they are reported. For example, there is quite some difference between saying “Gina married and had a baby” and “Gina had a baby and married”. 72 Such facts can of course be confirmed or negated, i. e., both “Peter went to Canada last year” and “Peter did not go to Canada last year” are seen as facts. 73 This stands in contrast to the present tense, which is related to immediate reality. 74 For more details, please see the chapter on conditionals (chapter 8). 75 Please note that the expression “-ed morpheme” is used for the non-prototypical cases and not the expression ‘past tense’. The expression ‘past tense’ just relates to the temporal use of the--ed morpheme, whereas its use in conditionals etc. has nothing to do with the past tense, although all uses share the notion of ‘distance’, of whatever kind. <?page no="95"?> 94 5. Tense timacy distance. The same goes for a lack of salience, as in “This book is a masterpiece. It was published in London” (cf. Tyler / Evans 2001: 71), which backgrounds the fact that the book was printed in London, as it is more important for the speaker that the book was and still is a masterpiece. As Tyler / Evans (2001: 72) claim, “past tense signals background and supporting status and present tense signals foreground status”, or, in other words, the use of the present tense creates closeness, whereas the use of the past tense creates distance. A further type of distance that can be indicated by the--ed morpheme is social distance, for example, when it is used to create a heightened degree of politeness, such as in “I wanted to ask you whether you have a minute”-- the asking itself is of course done in the immediate present, but the use of the--ed morpheme indicates that the speaker is aware of his / her social distance towards the addressee. The use of the--ed morpheme weakens the request and makes it less face-threatening and hence more polite. In all of the cases sketched above, the--ed morpheme does not relate to ‘non-immediate reality’ but is used in non-prototypical situations in order to indicate diverse kinds of distance in non-temporal events. Both the temporal and the non-temporal uses of tense forms can be traced back to a common conceptual basis, namely the proximal / distal schema. While the present tense is always used to indicate proximity / immediacy (either temporal, epistemic, ‘narrative’ or formal), the past tense always indicates distance / non-immediacy. This can also be interpreted as iconic in the sense of ‘more form is more meaning’, i. e., the addition of the -ed morpheme signals the addition of the notion of distance, either with respect to relevance time, reality status, background or social commitment. The connection between the various uses of the--ed morpheme can be exploited in teaching in order to give the learners an integrated view on grammatical areas that in traditional grammar teaching remain unconnected, for example the use of the- -ed for the past tense and for conditionals. This will allow the learners to establish meaningful connections and come up with grounded hypotheses for the usage of these grammatical phenomena. When introducing the past tense morpheme, a focus on regular verbs and their prototypical usage is essential. Therefore, the temporal domain should come first. It may be a good idea to already introduce the notion of ‘temporal distance’ so that the ‘distance’ metaphor can be reused when the non-prototypical uses are discussed later on, which helps the learners to connect them to the prototype. The temporal use of the past tense morpheme can easily be visualised, for example, with a time axis on the blackboard, indicating the present and the time before the present and focusing on the distance between these two time zones. 5.3.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction As the simple past is mainly used to ground situations in time and, in its extended uses, to express a certain degree of politeness or detachment from reality, salience or intimacy, it can be seen as an important grammatical phenomenon for learners and as an essential element for communicating in English as a foreign language (cf. Radden / Dirven 2007: 202). The past tense in its prototypical function of signalling temporal distance is in the focus of the selected communicative situation, i. e., the learners are to be enabled to understand and to <?page no="96"?> 95 5.3 The past tense talk about situations in the past. The example lesson is aimed at early secondary school pupils and is concerned with introducing the basic structure of the past, which-- in later lessons-- will be extended by adding irregular past tense forms as well as non-prototypical usages of the--ed morpheme. Due to the fact that the lesson is meant as an introduction, the learners are only meant to acquire the regular past tense endings in affirmative sentences including their correct pronunciation as well as the basic meaning of the past tense of signalling temporal distance, before being exposed to more complex structures. As much of what humans talk about is situated in the past, the possibilities of finding a useful communicative situation are endless. Keeping in mind that the communicative topic needs to motivate the learners and needs to relate to their own lives and their world knowledge, the topic ideally has to concern them directly. Therefore, a person known to them should tell them about past adventures. In order to justify the use of English-- as it would not necessarily be very authentic to have a German classmate tell the other Germans about past adventures in English-- this person should be a native speaker of English, if at all possible. Due to the fact that many classes are in contact with a partner class from an English-speaking country or even participate in an exchange program, a member of the partner class will be the protagonist of the past adventures 76 . This native speaker of English has kept a diary and has sent the diary entries every day by email to the teacher’s address, asking him / her to read out the entries to the class. However, the various printouts containing the native speaker’s adventures have not survived in one piece, but due to bad luck (they could have been burned, and the burn holes interestingly enough destroyed a majority of the past tense verb endings, or else they could have been pecked at by the teacher’s parrot, again destroying the verb endings and so on) and the learners get the task to reconstruct the chronology of the story, including the regular past tense endings of the verbs contained in the story. On the one hand, the learners are motivated by the detective work of finding clues for the correct reconstruction of the story, and on the other hand, they need to focus on the correct verb meanings and endings. In order to didactically reduce the linguistic contents of the lesson, the chosen verbs need to be carefully selected. They have to be fully regular verbs, so that the learners are not confused and are able to intuit the form and the meaning of the basic past tense ending during the language focus. Additionally, although they are not completely regular, verbs which end in--e and which therefore only add a--d (such as loved, liked, hoped, observed etc.) are admissible, as without including these verbs the choice of available verbs for the email texts would be too limited. It may sound trivial to try and find regular verbs, but it is not an easy task at all that the teacher has to accomplish in this respect, as most of the verbs that come to mind when talking about adventures are irregular (for example, have, get, run, swim, drive and the like) and should therefore not be used. 76 If the class in question does not have a partner class abroad, there are many other possibilities: either an English-speaking partner class can be invented, or one of the German learners may spend an exchange year abroad and inform the others about their experiences or the class mascot-- which is usually introduced as speaking only English-- has gone for a travel, and so forth. <?page no="97"?> 96 5. Tense The endings of the verbs are not preselected into voiced and voiceless, as was the case for the example lesson on the present tense, because this would restrict the choice of vocabulary too dramatically. This, however, means that during the reports the teacher will have to pay special attention to the learners’ correct pronunciation. Due to the fact that the German language uses “Auslautverhärtung” 77 , i. e., always pronounces final consonants as voiceless, the learners may transfer this phonological rule onto English and thus mispronounce those past tense endings that should be pronounced as voiced. As a precondition for the lesson, the learners need to be familiar with all the verbs selected for the diary entries as well as with the word fields for travelling, transportation, excursions, hobbies and pastimes. They should furthermore know the days of the week and certain temporal adverbs, such as, for example, “yesterday” or “later”. As already stated for the present tense example, the notion of tense is not introduced nor are the non-prototypical uses of the--ed morpheme. All the learners are meant to pick up in this lesson concerning the form of the past tense is its regular--ed ending as the most recognisable element signalling a past situation, and all they have to understand concerning the basic meaning of the past tense is that it relates to a period of time that precedes the speech event. They have to notice that, when the native speaker in the task writes about a situation in the past, this situation took place before the event of writing. This prototypical meaning of temporal distance will not be unfamiliar for the learners, as they are used to stories being told in the past tense due to the fact that this is the normal tense for narrations. A comparison with the German language should be avoided at this point, because in German utterances about a past time period vacillate between using the “Perfekt” and the “Imperfekt” with no temporally discernible meaning difference between them, just a difference in style and formality. Therefore, such a comparison would only confuse the learners, especially when the present perfect is introduced as well at a later point in time. 5.3.4 The task cycle As usual, the pre-task phase is reserved for the introduction of the communicative situation, which is, in this case study, ‘adventures’ (in the widest sense of the term) which happened in the past. The teacher can start the discussion by telling the learners what s / he did during his / her last holidays, as especially younger learners are always quite interested in the teacher’s private life. S / he could show a picture of herself / himself on which s / he is climbing a mountain or crossing a bridge or visiting a museum etc. and say “Look here! I was in Switzerland / Ireland / -…, where I experienced a lot of things. Look, I climbed a mountain, I crossed a bridge, I visited a museum-…”. Then s / he could go on to ask “Who of you visited a museum during your last holidays? ” or “Who of you climbed a mountain? ”. Some learners will respond by raising their hands, the teacher addresses them and says “Peter, you climbed a mountain? Which mountain? Do you remember its name? ” or “Andrea, you visited a museum? Which museum? ”. 77 Interestingly enough, there is no English equivalent for this term. <?page no="98"?> 97 5.3 The past tense Following this, the teacher could ask those learners who did not contribute anything what they did during their holidays: “In your last holidays, what happened? ” The learners may say “ride a camel” or “hike through the Black Forest” or similar, and the teacher then transforms the answers by repeating them as “Great, Martin hiked through the Black Forest! ” or “Wonderful, Isabel rode a camel! ” 78 . As many learners as possible should contribute, as the topic is presumably seen as a highly motivating one by the learners because they can share their personal experiences. The past tense should be used as frequently as possible, at least by the teacher. The learners do not yet have to use it, as they are preoccupied with the communicative content of the pre-task phase, which is, as always in this phase, foregrounded. At the end of the pre-task phase, the teacher provides the learners with the instructions for the upcoming task. The class is divided into five groups 79 , from group A through to group E, and the teacher explains that Jonathan, a boy from the American partner class, has written her / him daily emails about his holidays with his parents and asked her / him to read out the emails to the class. In order to do this, the teacher has printed out the emails (without their headers) and then, due to bad luck, the emails were damaged and all that is left are fragments. The class is supposed to find out the correct sequence of the email printouts and fill the text gaps so that Jonathan’s texts get restored. Every group receives the damaged email message which carries the letter corresponding to the group name (the damages should actually be visible in order to render the task more authentic) as well as a worksheet. An example for such a damaged email message could be “On Monday, we rent(…) a car for a trip to the south of the island, then wal(…) through-(…) gigantic rainforest. It was here that they produc(…) “Jurassic Park”, a-(…-= great / wonderful) movie! In the-(…-= rainforest), we obser(…) many exotic birds and-(… = amazing / huge / gigantic) trees and plants. My moth(…) want(…) to catch some-(…) for our garden at ho(…). My father just laug(…) at this idea! I look(…) at many waterfalls,-(…. = trees / insects) and plants. I also film(…) some-(…. = wild / exotic) animals with my IP hone. A really perfect day! ”. Additional past tense forms for the other damaged emails are, for example: asked, liked, loved, hoped, jumped, talked, visited, explored, entered, searched, hunted, played, listened to, started, surfed, sailed, camped, hated, enjoyed, ordered, hiked, climbed, cooked or decided. The worksheet contains an email fragment, split up in single sentences with gaps in them. Every damaged email should contain at least six gaps for past tense endings in separate sentences (so that every group member can read out at least one sentence during the report phase), and it should additionally include further gaps which serve as distractors from the fact that the past tense ending is targeted. These additional gaps allow the learners some creativity as they can be filled by whatever the learners think is logical. However, it should be reasonably obvious for the learners which kind of content has to be inserted into the gaps (word endings, 78 The learners may use verbs which are irregular in the past tense. In this case, the teacher should just use the correct past tense form and not comment on this any further, unless someone asks about the form. 79 Please consult sub-chapter 2.2.2 for advice on how to form learner groups. For the task at hand, the snippets for determining the group membership could be named A through E, corresponding to the letters on the damaged emails. <?page no="99"?> 98 5. Tense nouns, adjectives, articles). The gap in the first sentence is already filled in bold print as an example. The other gaps are left empty. Underneath the sentences from the emails, the learners are asked to find out which day the message speaks about. As the header says ‘Jonathan’s holiday trip to Hawai’i from Sunday, August 1 to Friday, August 5’, the learners can try to figure out which day their fragment refers to. The fragment mentioned above is an easy one, as ‘Tuesday’ is mentioned. Other fragments speak about “the day after we visit(…) the rainforest”, or state that “I enjoy(…) yesterday’s whale-watching trip very much, but I liked today’s trip even better”, both of which can only be identified when all fragments have been read out. Another fragment speaks about “On our first day, we-…” and the last one about “Tomorrow we fly home after a perfect holiday”. The chronology has to be established in five boxes which need to be filled with keywords (for instance: rainforest, beach day, museum, helicopter trip, treasure hunt) while the learners are listening to the other groups’ reports. The learners then work on their own for about ten minutes, discussing within the groups how to fill the gaps and guess at the chronology, which is of course easier for some groups than for others. As usual, the teacher keeps in the background, observing the learners. Some minutes before the reports are to begin, the teacher tells the students to come to an end and to prepare their reports. The learners have to make sure that the sentences that they completed on their worksheets are correct and they have to decide who is going to say which sentence. The teacher goes from group to group, helping learners who have questions. As the teacher already knows the verbs that play a role in the email texts, there is no need to preselect sentences for the language focus. All groups then read out their reconstructed email messages, volunteers first, and the other class members listen actively. As the sequence of the emails cannot yet be completely clear to all the learners, the teacher reminds them that they should additionally listen for cues concerning the chronology of the emails. At the end of all the reports, the learners should be able to establish the correct sequence of the emails. For the language focus, the teacher asks four learners to come to the board and to each write down an example sentence from their reports, for instance “we rented a car”, on the right-hand side of the board. When all four sentences are on the board, the teacher asks the learners when these events happened and uses the answers (‘during Jonathan’s last holiday’ or similar) as a headline for the right-hand side of the board. On the left-hand side, s / he writes down the headline ‘every year during the holidays’ 80 and asks the learners about the time frame of both headlines. A timeline can be drawn with the present marked with a red X and ‘present’ and the learners will notice that the utterances on the right-hand side of the board relate to a point in time which is prior to the present. This period to the left of the X is then labelled ‘past’. 80 It is not possible to compare the past tense to the ‘real’ present tense in this case (see the analysis of the present tense in sub-chapter 5.2.2), as this cannot be used for bounded events such as “rent a car” or “walk through the rainforest” in the present, but can only be used to talk about habits. <?page no="100"?> 99 5.3 The past tense The teacher then continues by asking about the time frame for the heading on the left-hand side of the board. Presumably, the learners will not be able to determine a specific time frame but will say “always” or “usually”. The important issue is that they become aware of the fact that ‘every year’ does not relate to the past but instead refers to a habit. Then the teacher goes on by asking the learners how the first sentence on the right-hand side of the board needs to be changed if it is meant to refer to ‘every year during the holidays’ and the first learner who answers correctly is asked to write down “we rent a car” on the left-hand side of the board. The same procedure is applied to the other three example sentences in the past tense, so that in the end the four past tense sentences are contrasted with the four sentences in the habitual present. The learners are asked which difference they notice and the obvious answer is the added- -ed morpheme on the right-hand side of the board, which is then underlined. The teacher refers to the timeline drawing again and writes ‘+--ed’ next to the term ‘past’. As a transfer, the learners ask each other questions about what they wanted to be or to do when they were younger, using one of the chunks “As a small child / in primary school / in kindergarten, I wanted to-… And you? ”, generating answers such as “I wanted to be a pilot / an astronaut / a princess” or “I wanted to live in the USA ”. In this way, the learners use the past tense for a very frequent (regular) verb for communicating about the past. In their homework, the verb choice is widened again and the learners are asked to write an email about their own last holidays to Jonathan. A choice of verbs (see above) is given next to the instructions on the worksheet that the learners get in order to prevent them from using irregular verbs. Additionally, the worksheet provides one example sentence so that the learners remember what they have to do, such as “During my last holidays, I visited Disneyland Paris”. When the learners work on their own at home, they do not have to concentrate on communicating with others but can focus their attention on the grammatical structure. In the follow-up lesson, some very frequent irregular verbs (had, said, saw, took, was, went etc.) should be introduced in order to widen the learners’ choice of verbs, which would stay quite limited if they were only supposed to use the fully regular verbs. 5.3.5 Alternatives Talking about something that happened in the past frequently presupposes the use of the past tense. As much of what people communicate about relates to the past, many situations come to mind that can be transformed into tasks. If the learners’ personal interests are taken seriously, the learners can be asked to portray themselves when they were smaller (similar to the transfer suggested above). This task should focus on activities, as the use of regular past tense forms is mandatory for an introduction of this tense. The learners could, for instance, focus on their favourite toys, their favourite pastimes and their favourite food during their toddler age (introduced by the chunks “As a small child-…” / “At the age of three-…” 81 etc.) and produce utterances such as “I played with toy cars”, “I loved to visit my grandparents” 81 The chunks “When I was younger” or “When I was 3 years old-…” can of course also be used. However, in this case, the form ‘was’ should be left unexplained, unless a learner asks about it. <?page no="101"?> 100 5. Tense and “I liked porridge”. In groups, the learners could first discuss their preferences in toys, pastimes and food and then prepare a riddle for their other classmates, to be presented during the report phase. One group member then presents the favourite toy(s), pastime(s) and food of one of the other group members and the rest of the class needs to guess which group member is meant. Another type of situation refers to the (potential) upcoming visit of a partner class from abroad, and the learners are asked to imagine what the students from the partner class might tell their parents after their return from Germany. In groups, the learners look at brochures about their city and decide which sites to show to the visitors. They then prepare the visitors’ reports for their parents (“We visited XY , a marvellous castle” or “We climbed Mount XY ”). The verbs to be used need to be listed on the worksheets in order to avoid the use of irregular verbs. Alternatively, the groups can get the task to report on their perfect holiday. They receive a sheet which starts with “Last year, we visited XXX -…”. Additionally, the sheet contains a list of twenty to thirty regular verbs and the learners have to use at least ten of them. This task can be combined with an election of the best holiday, taking place after all the holiday reports have been presented. Finally, a fictive crime scene could be established and the learners could play at detectives. They need to prepare questions for the ‘suspects’ and the ‘suspects’ need to come up with alibis. The learners are distributed into different groups by having to draw cards with a ‘D’ or an ‘S 1’, ‘S 2’, ‘S 3’ or ‘S 4’ on them. The ‘D’ group consists of detectives who need to prepare questions for the suspects. For example, the detectives can ask: “What happened when you visited the library? ” or “What happened when you climbed the stairs? ”. The other groups (S1 through to S4) are the suspects who have to prepare their alibis (one suspect is the perpetrator, but only this suspect knows it as his / her card has a little red X on it). The different groups of suspects get different instructions, one group was at the library (where the “crime” happened), the second group was out on the street (which the perpetrator, who managed to escape, used for running away), the third group was in a nearby café (which the perpetrator ran into during his / her escape) and the fourth group was at a friend’s place in a neighbouring house (from where they could have seen the entire escape and maybe even the crime). The suspect groups need to prepare statements such as “When I returned home, a man walked out of the neighbours’ house” or “When I entered the building, a woman asked me for the time”. Again, the learners need to be given a selection of regular verbs in order to avoid the use of irregular ones. This game is easier when the irregular verbs such as “to see”, “to do” and “to be” have already been introduced and when the learners are able to formulate questions in the past tense, but can also be used at an earlier stage, with the restrictions mentioned above. After the introduction of the regular past tense ending and the most important irregular past tense forms, the distance meaning of the--ed morpheme can-- in more advanced classes-- be extended from just signalling temporal distance to covering topics such as, for example, politeness (“I wanted to ask you”) or hypotheticality (“If you told me everything I need to know-…”). These topics should be related to each other (in traditional textbooks, they never <?page no="102"?> 101 5.3 The past tense are) because the--ed always signals “distance”, which makes it easier for the learners to draw connections between its various usages. A further distinction that needs to be made once the present perfect has been introduced is the difference between the present perfect and the past tense, which frequently is a source of error for learners. The past tense covers just one temporal domain and the present perfect relates two domains to each other, namely the present and the past, and is therefore not as “distant” as the past tense is, which states that an action is completed or a situation is finished. The present perfect, on the other hand, starts in the “distant” past but is also connected to the “proximal” present. This can be shown by examples, can be visualised by arrows and can also be implemented in tasks. Further reading Berndt, Rolf (1989): A history of the English language. Leipzig: Verlag Enzyklopädie. Brisard, Frank (2002): “The English present”. In: Brisard, Frank (ed.): Grounding: The epistemic footing of deixis and reference. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 251-297. Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Evans, Vyvyan / Green, Melanie (2006): Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (1991): Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. II : Descriptive application. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2001): “Cognitive linguistics, language pedagogy, and the English present tense”. In: Pütz, Martin / Niemeier, Susanne / Dirven, René (eds.): Applied cognitive linguistics I: Theory and language acquisition. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 3-39. Langacker, Ronald W. (2008): Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Niemeier, Susanne (2013): “A cognitive grammar perspective on tense and aspect”. In: Salaberry, Rafael / Comajoan, Llorenç (eds.): Research design and methodology in studies on L2 tense and aspect. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 11-56. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Taylor, John R. (2002): Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tyler, Andrea / Evans, Vyvyan (2001): “The relation between experience, conceptual structure and meaning. Non-temporal uses of tense and language teaching”. In: Pütz, Martin / Niemeier, Susanne / Dirven, René (eds.): Applied cognitive linguistics I: Theory and language acquisition. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 63-105. <?page no="104"?> 103 5.3 The past tense 6. Aspect Every verb in English is marked for tense 82 and for aspect, and additionally for modality 83 . These three grammatical phenomena always interact and influence each other, but are explained separately in this book. The term “aspect” refers to what is taught in English classes in Germany as the “continuous form” or the “progressive aspect”. In cognitive linguistics, the term “aspect” also usually refers to the progressive aspect, although this theory additionally talks about a perfective aspect. However, as perfectivity relates to complex tenses, it is only briefly dealt with in this chapter 84 . The term “aspect” can be traced back to the Latin word ‘aspectus’ (=-“view”), which means that aspect allows speakers to represent situations from different viewpoints. The progressive aspect has not always been part of the English language, but began to emerge in the Middle English period and its use was fully established in the English language by the times of Early Modern English (cf. Crystal 1995: 45). While tense provides an external view of the temporal structure of a situation, aspect relates to the internal temporal structure of a situation. It characterises a situation as either bounded, i. e., complete with its beginning and its end, or as unbounded, i. e., in progress. Situations can be viewed from different perspectives, and the language user can normally choose between different ways of presenting a situation. Generally, speakers see situations subjectively and hence encode their subjectivity grammatically. The hearer decodes the speaker’s utterance, which, however, does not necessarily happen in exactly the same way as the speaker meant it, but the speaker has at least provided the hearer with valid hints concerning his / her subjective perspective, for example whether an action is to be seen as being in progress or as completed. For example, when a speaker says “I am living in London”, this may indicate to the hearer that London is only a temporary location for the speaker, as the use of the progressive with inherently unbounded verbs such as “to live” indicates that the situation may change. If, in contrast, the speaker says “I live in London”, the hearer can deduct from this utterance that the speaker lives in London on a permanent basis, as no endpoint is indicated when the non-progressive form is used with the inherently unbounded verb “to live”. In English, only the progressive aspect is marked on the verb, the contrasting element in the pair is not grammatically marked, as it serves as the default choice and is usually called a “simple form” (cf. ‘simple present’, ‘simple past’). This simple form is the unmarked basic form and is, for instance, always used when verbs are entered into dictionaries and vocabulary lists. There is actually no real agreement about the existence of a non-progressive aspect in English. However, cognitive linguistics sees this differently and suggests that non-progressivity, or in other words the absence of the progressive marker--ing, also exists. What is more, Radden / Dirven (cf. 2007: 177-196) assume that there is a cross-wise aspectual contrast in English. This crosswise aspectual contrast is elucidated in more detail in sub-chapter 6.2. 82 For more information on tense, please consult chapter 5. 83 For more information on modality, please consult chapter 7. 84 Information on the perfective aspect, i. e., the present perfective and the past perfective, can be found, for example, in Matlock 2011. <?page no="105"?> 104 6. Aspect In contrast to German, every English verb has to be marked for aspect, i. e., either the progressive has to be used or the non-progressive. The fact that aspect errors are among the most frequent errors that German learners of English commit (cf. Niemeier / Reif 2008) is probably due to this difference between the two languages. German verbs do not need to be marked for aspect, as aspect is an optional category, which can either be indicated in various lexical ways (“ich bin gerade dabei zu arbeiten”, “ich arbeite gerade”, “ich bin am Arbeiten” etc.) or else can be omitted altogether. Therefore, many German learners of English seem to tacitly assume that aspect is not an obligatory category in English either. Most EFL textbooks used in Germany do not explain this difference between the two languages to them either. The concept of aspect is frequently not even mentioned, but instead the progressive aspect is subsumed under “tense”, which-- from a cognitive linguistic perspective-- is wrong. The following two sub-chapters first briefly focus on the form of aspect and then explain the meaning of aspect from a cognitive grammar point of view in more detail. This is followed by the selection of the communicative situation and the didactic reduction for a task-based lesson on aspect, the description of the task cycle for this lesson and some reflections on alternative lesson topics. 6.1 Form As stated before, the non-progressive (or simple) aspect does not receive any grammatical marking, as no extra morpheme is added to the verb, whereas the progressive aspect adds the morpheme--ing to the verb. Furthermore, the verb is preceded by an inflected form of the auxiliary verb “to be”. This happens in the same way for all tenses, be they simple or complex. The tense that is being used becomes visible in the tensed form of “to be”. For example, the present tense progressive forms in the singular are “I am laughing, you are laughing, he / she / it is laughing”, and in the plural they are “we are laughing, you are laughing, they are laughing”. The inflection is only to be found in the form of “to be”, the--ing morpheme never changes its form. Accordingly, the past tense progressive is “I was laughing” etc. Concerning the complex tenses, in the present perfect progressive-- which can be seen as an interaction between the present tense, the progressive aspect and the perfective aspect-- a form of “to have” is inflected and the participle of “to be” is used together with the verb +--ing, as in “I have been laughing”. In the past perfect progressive-- an interaction between the past tense, the progressive aspect and the perfective aspect-- the inflected form of “to have” is in the past tense, followed by the participle of “to be” and verb +--ing, as in “I had been laughing”. The future and the conditional can add the progressive aspect as well (“I will be laughing”, “I will have been laughing”, “I would be laughing”, “I would have been laughing”), but as these do not count as tenses in cognitive linguistics, they are not dealt with in this chapter, which rather concentrates on the combination of tense and aspect. As briefly stated above, many textbooks count all of the aspectual forms mentioned above as “tenses”, which is incorrect from a cognitive-linguistic perspective, as it sees these constructions as combinations of tense and aspect. <?page no="106"?> 105 6.2 Meaning The addition of the--ing morpheme at the end of a verb not infrequently causes spelling changes. For example, when a verb ends in a silent “e”, this silent “e” is dropped before the -ing morpheme is added (as in to hike-- hiking). A single consonant at the end of a verb is reduplicated if the preceding vowel is stressed and is spelt with a single letter (as in to run-- running). However, this does not happen when this single consonant is unstressed (as in to answer-- answering) or when the vowel before the final consonant is a long one and is written in two letters (as in to cheat-- cheating). If a verb ends in a vowel + c, the reduplication of the--c is written as--ck (as in to mimic-- mimicking). Finally, if a verb ends in “ie”, this diphthong changes into a “y” when an--ing morpheme is added (as in to lie-- lying). 6.2 Meaning In the view of cognitive grammar, two different types of aspect have to be distinguished, namely lexical aspect and grammatical aspect. The notion of lexical aspect is meaning-based, as it relates to the generic meanings of verbs which refer to inherently bounded situations vs. those verbs which refer to inherently unbounded situations 85 , whereas the notion of grammatical aspect relates to the contrast between progressivity and non-progressivity. As already briefly mentioned in chapter 3.1, the notion of boundedness vs. unboundedness, one of the basic organizational principles of language, relates to the notion of (conceptual) boundaries of a situation or concept. This notion is relatively easy to introduce to learners via the count noun / mass noun distinction, which is familiar to native speakers of German as it exists in German as well 86 . Count nouns can be counted, as their name already implies, they can have determiners, such as articles, numerals etc., and they can build a plural. Mass nouns, on the other hand, cannot form a plural and cannot add articles or numerals. A mental image for a count noun, such as for instance “cat”, has an outer boundary, in this case the contour of a cat, and consists of heterogeneous parts, for example a head, four legs, a tail, whiskers and so on, whereas a mental image for a mass noun, such as for instance “water”, has no discernible boundaries and consists instead of a homogeneous mass. Even if one takes a part of “water” away, the part taken away is still “water” and the left-over part is “water” as well. If one took a part of a cat away, for example, a leg, the left-over part may still be marginally seen as a (non-prototypical) cat, but the part taken away is definitely not a cat anymore but a cat’s leg. Count nouns are bounded and mass nouns are unbounded, at least in their prototypical usages. If a count noun is used non-prototypically, as in “there was a lot of cat on the road after the accident”, a homogeneous mass of “cat” is mentally construed without any boundaries. This also works the other way around, i. e., when a mass noun is used non-prototypically. For 85 Langacker (2008: 147) calls inherently unbounded situations “imperfective”, while he calls inherently bounded situations “perfective”. This book has chosen not to adopt his terminology, as this could lead to confusion with the German notion of “Imperfekt” and the perfective aspect. 86 It needs to be added at this point that although the majority of nouns behave in a similar way in English and in German, a number of nouns exist that behave differently in the two languages, for example “information”, which is a mass noun in English, vs. “eine Information”, which is a count noun in German. <?page no="107"?> 106 6. Aspect example, if somebody orders “Two waters, please” in a restaurant, this person has mentally construed a contour for the water in the form of a glass or a bottle, or in other words: this person has added boundaries to the water. The way these (and other) nouns are used always depends on the speaker’s perspective, i. e., on how s / he sees a situation and how s / he wants to represent it verbally 87 . If a count noun is used as a mass noun, or vice versa, if a mass noun is used as a count noun, the speaker adds additional information to his / her utterance which stems from the chosen construction. This can once again be taken as a proof that grammar is indeed meaningful. If the notion of boundaries / contours is introduced early in EFL classes, it can be reaccessed when the progressive aspect is taught, as the same organizational principle applies for the progressive that was already introduced for the count / mass noun distinction. The notions of boundedness and unboundedness are not only important for nouns but also for processes, as is explained in the paragraphs to follow. 6.2.1 Lexical aspect Concerning lexical aspect, inherently unbounded situations (such as “live”, “know”, “resemble” etc.) are internally homogeneous (similar to “water”) and are not susceptible to change, in other words: they are not expected to come to an end. Of course, they must have had a beginning and they will at a certain point in time also presumably come to an end, but the end is at least nowhere in sight at the time of speaking. Such situations either designate permanent states, such as “ BE FEMALE ”, which- - at least concerning common-sensical world knowledge-- is not going to change throughout the person’s lifetime, or they can designate potentially transient states, such as “ LIVE IN LONDON ”, for which a change cannot be completely ruled out, but is neither probable nor predictable and therefore does not belong to the speaker’s current viewing frame. In contrast, inherently bounded situations are internally heterogeneous (similar to “cat”), i. e., they consist of many different stages, and are susceptible to change, as they allow an internal development and are expected to come to an end at some point in the not too distant future. Inherently bounded situations can either have explicit boundaries, such as in “ PLAY TENNIS ”, which starts at some point and is by definition over once the match is finished, or they can have implicit boundaries, such as in “ STROLL AROUND THE CITY ”, a process that, although it does not possess a fixed endpoint, is extremely unlikely to last forever. At least for native speakers 88 , it is a fact that their world knowledge provides them with an intuitive understanding of situations as either being bounded or else being unbounded. This 87 For a more thorough discussion and for suggestions how to apply these ideas to teaching, please consult Niemeier 2008. 88 It needs to be added at this point that there is some variability concerning the use of the progressive aspect between the various varieties of English. Standard Irish English, for example, is known to use the progressive aspect more widely than Standard British English does. In Standard Irish English, it is, for example, quite common to say “Who is this car belonging to? ” (cf. also Crystal 1995: 338). <?page no="108"?> 107 6.2 Meaning can of course be different for learners of a language as their native languages may deal with aspect quite differently, as is the case for German. So far, only the prototypical readings of either inherently unbounded or inherently bounded situations have been discussed. Speakers may, however, want to indicate that they see a situation differently or want the hearer to see a situation differently from its prototypical interpretation. This is where grammatical aspect comes into play. 6.2.2 Grammatical aspect As already mentioned, the notion of ‘grammatical aspect’ refers to the use of either the progressive or the non-progressive form. Grammatical aspect interacts with lexical aspect by offering the speaker a way to construe an idealised situation 89 in different ways. Depending on whether the type of situation is inherently bounded or unbounded and depending on whether it is construed as a single situation or as a repeated situation, grammatical aspect can have different conceptual effects. To give an example: an idealised situation such as “ PLAY TENNIS ” can be referred to in two different ways. On the one hand, it can be seen in a prototypical way, namely as an inherently bounded situation with explicit boundaries, such as in “Nick played tennis” 90 . The initial boundary is the beginning of the situation, when Nick grabbed his racket, entered the tennis court and started to play, and the final boundary is the endpoint of the situation when the match is finished. The non-progressive aspect expresses that the situation is perceived in its entirety, that it is completed and that both its beginning and its endpoint fall within the scope of predication. On the other hand, the same idealised situation can be expressed by saying “Nick was playing tennis”, where both the beginning and the endpoint of the match stay outside the scope of predication. The beginning is defocused and the endpoint has not yet been reached at the time of speaking. The use of the progressive aspect has the effect of unbounding a bounded situation, or in other words: of taking away the conceptual boundaries of the situation in question. The situation is then construed as being in progress and as not completed. The speaker “zooms” into the situation and just focuses on its middle phase, i. e., its ongoingness. The same explanation applies to inherently bounded situations with implicit boundaries, such as “ STROLL AROUND THE CITY ”. The sentence “On Friday, we strolled around the city” refers to the complete situation including its beginning and its endpoint, whereas the sentence “On Friday, we were strolling around the city when XXX happened” again zooms into 89 ‘Idealised situation’ is to be understood in the sense of Smith (2009: 9), who claims that “when speakers talk about actual situations, they invoke abstract representations, or idealised situation types. The idealised situation types are abstractions that represent the properties characteristic of different situations”. 90 It is far easier to compare the two different grammatical aspects while using the past tense, as the problem concerning the duration of the situation interferes when using the present tense. When somebody says “Nick plays tennis”, this can only be understood in the sense of a habit, namely that Nick plays tennis on a regular basis or that it is his hobby, cf. also page 84 f. This durational and epistemic problem does not exist for the past tense. <?page no="109"?> 108 6. Aspect the situation, defocusing its beginning and its end and instead focusing on its ongoingness, or in other words: its middle part. The progressive aspect thus takes away the conceptual boundaries for inherently bounded situations. However, concerning inherently unbounded situations, the effect of using the progressive aspect yields exactly the opposite result as it does for inherently bounded situations. This is what Radden / Dirven (2007: 177-196) have called the “cross-wise aspectual contrast”. Inherently unbounded situations, such as “ LIVE IN LONDON ”, in their prototypical non-progressive use refer to situations without boundaries, i. e., to lasting states that are not susceptible to change, such as “David lives in London”. There is no need or possibility to unbound an already unbounded situation. When this idealised situation is, however, used with the progressive aspect, such as in “David is living in London”, implicit boundaries are added to the situation and it is no longer seen as a lasting state but rather as a temporary state, which implies an upcoming change, for example that David will soon move to Melbourne or elsewhere. In other words: this second situation is construed as having implicit boundaries and as being susceptible to change. Instead of defocusing the boundaries-- as the use of the progressive aspect does for inherently bounded situations-- the use of the progressive aspect with inherently unbounded situations imposes conceptual boundaries. Such a conversion from an indefinitely lasting state to a temporary state is frequently also applied in the description of characters or of people’s behaviour. For example, “you are arrogant / untidy” is a statement about a characteristic quality of a person or of a person’s general style of behaviour, whereas “you are being arrogant / untidy” refers to the current, temporary behaviour of a person, independent of their normal behaviour and character. They may not be arrogant or untidy at all, but at this one special moment they are acting as if they were. To sum up, the meaning of the progressive aspect is to change the prototypical inherent boundaries of situations. Therefore, it is an incorrect simplification to say (as basically all German EFL textbooks do) that the progressive aspect focuses on ongoingness, as it does so only for inherently bounded situations, whereas for inherently unbounded situations it does exactly the opposite, namely limit them by imposing implicit boundaries on them. As the use of the non-progressive or the progressive have an impact on the construal of a situation by indicating how the internal constitution of a situation is viewed by the speaker, it makes sense to make learners aware of the meaning behind the aspectual system of English. By understanding what aspect is about and how a grasp of the aspectual system helps and enables them to fine-tune their utterances, learners can work their ways towards expressing their own perspectives. Furthermore, the notion of “(no) boundaries” (referring to either the presence of boundaries or to a lack of boundaries) may help the learners by enabling a double coding of the input, as the picture of boundaries (and the middle phase between these boundaries) is then coded along with the grammatical construction of the (non-) progressive aspect. <?page no="110"?> 109 6.2 Meaning 6.2.3 Non-prototypical uses of aspect So far, this chapter has explained the prototypical uses of aspect. However, there are also a number of non-prototypical uses of aspect, which in textbooks and other learner grammars are usually labelled as “exceptions”. Frequently, learners are confronted with a list of “state verbs” and are usually told that these verbs cannot take the progressive aspect. Such a list is supposed to be learned by heart, which is not exactly a useful learning strategy, as the learners may face difficulties because they do not know any reason why the “exceptions” differ from the rule and may therefore be unable to construct or reconstruct their meanings. Although the role of frequency of a linguistic phenomenon has largely been underestimated (see, for example, N. Ellis 2013), frequency does not seem likely to be a decisive factor for a rehabilitation of the “learning by heart” strategy, because “exceptions” in grammar tend to be quite infrequent and thus do not normally appear as salient features in the linguistic input a learner receives-- instead, they are by definition non-prototypical. It is debatable whether the notion of “exception” helps learners at all, as they are expected to learn these by heart, without any further explanation why these cases behave differently than expected. Instead, cognitive grammar argues that what are traditionally called “exceptions” are not exceptions at all, but rather non-prototypical uses of aspect, which are meaningful and therefore explainable. When the idea of prototypicality vs. non-prototypicality is applied, the non-prototypical instances of use can be traced back to the prototypical cases, can be meaningfully connected to them and become explainable via the prototype, which is definitely helpful for learners, as in this way they get explanations about why a certain grammatical construction behaves differently from the prototype. In the following paragraphs, three apparent deviations are discussed, namely the use of the progressive with iterative processes, the use of the progressive with verbs of involuntary sensory perception and the use of the non-progressive with performatives. Iterative processes can be defined as a repetition of events of no or a very short duration. Iteratives always have a multiplex structure 91 , which is already hinted at in their name (from Latin ‘iterare’ = to repeat). Examples for verbs with no or a very short duration are to kick, to hop, to knock etc. At first sight, these verbs seem to be prototypical members of the class of inherently bounded situations, as the processes they describe are clearly delimited in time. However, these verbs do not normally allow the progressive aspect. The utterance “Daria was kicking her little brother” can only be interpreted as the description of several kicks. If there is only one kick, the non-progressive aspect has to be used, i. e., “Daria kicked her little brother”. The progressive cannot be used for a single kick because this process does not have any duration and is too short to zoom into. Therefore, it does not allow an internal perspective. In other words: there is no middle phase because the starting point overlaps with the endpoint, as these two points nearly coincide temporally. To repeat what was already mentioned above: using the progressive with an inherently bounded situation means defocusing the starting point of a situation as well as its endpoint, which in the case of punctual, short events like “ KICK ” leaves actually nothing to view. 91 For more information on the concept of plexity, please consult Evans / Green (2006: 519). <?page no="111"?> 110 6. Aspect When the progressive is used for such verbs, the interpretation changes to that of an iterative, repetitive process, in which the duration of the situation is conceptually expanded in order to be able to zoom into the middle phase between the starting point and the endpoint, which then results in an interpretation of repetitive short actions. Therefore, such processes as “Daria was kicking her little brother” are interpreted as referring to a succession of minimal-duration processes, which are, according to Langacker (2008: 156), “construed as constituting a single overall event of bounded duration”. This makes it possible to highlight and zoom into the internal duration of this overall situation, defocusing the beginning and the endpoint of the sister’s tantrum. Thus, an iterative interpretation of the progressive used with very short events is neither an exception nor a deviation, but is due to a meaning inconsistency between verbs denoting short processes and the concept of unboundedness. If there is no middle phase between the boundaries to zoom into, unbounding is not possible. Zooming-in only becomes possible if the overall situation is reconstructed as consisting of several repeated sub-processes. If learners are already familiar with the notion of the “boundaries” of a situation, it should be quite easy for them to discover why short, bounded, non-prototypical processes have to be treated differently from prototypical bounded situations. The second non-prototypical use of aspect is quite closely related to the one just discussed. Verbs of involuntary sensory perception, such as to see, to hear, to feel, to smell and to taste, generally also describe very short processes. Most EFL textbooks and grammars list these verbs as exceptions because they do not take the progressive aspect, but they do not explain why this is the case. Again, cognitive grammar argues that these verbs are no exceptions but that they do not invite a zooming-in into the middle phase due to their brevity, just as described above for verbs like to hop, to kick, to nod and the like. If a perception such as “ HEAR A GUNSHOT ” is verbalised, this process will be over before there is time for the language user to contemplate and to describe it. Such a process lacks duration and its onset and its offset nearly coincide, just as claimed for the verbs for very short processes described above. In contrast to the minimal-duration verbs, however, verbs of involuntary sensory perception do not allow an iterative interpretation as this would represent a semantic incompatibility-- if something is involuntary, it cannot be repeated at will because by definition one’s will is not involved. If such processes are repeated, then they turn into processes of voluntary sensory perception, for which other verbs than the ones for involuntary sensory perception need to be used (to hear turns into to listen, to see turns into to observe, to look at etc.) 92 . The verbs for voluntary sensory perception behave just like any other inherently bounded verbs. However, although the majority of EFL textbooks claims that verbs of involuntary sensory perception cannot be used with the progressive aspect, they can nevertheless be used with it in two respects. On the one hand, the processes being involuntarily perceived may have some kind of temporal extension, as, for example, in “ FEEL PAIN ” (i. e., they may not be punctual 92 German has a similar distribution of verbs of involuntary vs. voluntary sensory perception, which, however, is organised differently concerning its grammatical construction, as it is partly achieved via prefixation: sehen vs. ansehen / betrachten, hören vs. zuhören / lauschen, fühlen vs. befühlen / anfassen, riechen vs. beschnuppern. <?page no="112"?> 111 6.2 Meaning as in “ HEAR A GUNSHOT ”), in which case they are treated like any other bounded situation that has a duration which can be zoomed into for unbounding it. On the other hand, the verbs can be used metonymically, such as in “She is seeing Tom tonight”. In this example, “ SEE ” metonymically stands for “ MEET ”-- which of course involves seeing the person and is therefore a part-for-whole metonymy-- and which refers to the complete scenario connected to meeting a person. “ MEET ” is a prototypical inherently bounded verb, which entails various sub-processes (e. g., going to a bar, seeing Tom there, walking towards him, greeting him, having a drink or two with him etc.). Therefore, “ SEE ” in the sense of “ MEET ” has a certain duration which can be zoomed into. If verbs of involuntary sensory perception are not being used in their basic, prototypical sense but in more marginal, mostly metonymically motivated senses which no longer focus on the actual sensory perception alone but instead on the complete scenario, they gain duration and can therefore semantically accept an inner perspectivization, which in turn allows the progressive aspect. The sensory perception then just serves as a metonymic link. So again, this is not an exception, but an extended use of the verb. The third non-prototypical use relates to performatives, which can only be used with the non-progressive. Performatives explicitly name speech acts (to swear, to sentence, to apologise etc.) and the speaker is always the agent / the subject of the utterance. Performatives are always bounded and always uttered in the present tense, as uttering them coincides with the notion of “doing them”. When the present tense is used, speech time needs to temporally coincide with the situation time, but with a vast majority of situations, this is not possible 93 , which is why the simple present cannot normally be used to describe bounded situations happening in the present time. With performatives such as “I apologise for my bad behaviour”, however, this dilemma is avoided, as they do not describe a situation but ARE the situation itself (in the case of the last example, the sentence is the apology itself, i. e., by uttering the sentence the speaker performs the act of apologizing). This means that there is indeed a temporal identity between the utterance of the speech act and the act of apologising and that therefore speech time and situation time completely coincide. The verb to apologise is bounded and the starting point as well as the endpoint are both contained in the utterance. Performatives furthermore lack the epistemic problem that normally arises with the use of the present tense, namely that of speaker knowledge, or, to quote Langacker (2009: 191), “by the time we observe an event to find out what is happening, it is already too late to initiate a description that precisely coincides with it”. This is different for performatives, as the speaker performs the action intentionally, which means that there is no need for him / her to first identify the action, as it is known to him / her anyway. Thus, the explanatory potential of the cognitive grammar view on aspect with respect to performatives is able to cater for this non-prototypical aspectual use as well. If the basic aspects (“boundaries”) are known to the learners, they can extend this knowledge in order to also understand the more marginal aspectual uses. 93 This is explained in more detail in the chapter on the meaning of the present tense (chapter 5.2.2). <?page no="113"?> 112 6. Aspect 6.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction It is known from studies on first language acquisition that native speakers of English acquire the--ing morpheme for forming the progressive earlier than they acquire the simple present. In German EFL textbooks, however, the simple present is introduced first and the progressive appears only later. This may be due to the fact that aspect is a tricky area for Germans, as mentioned above, and it is therefore very important to introduce this grammatical area in detail. In any case, even if the introduction of the progressive aspect follows the introduction of the simple present, it should be introduced as early as possible, for example early in the fifth grade, because if learners are not acquainted with the progressive aspect they can only talk about states and may tend to overuse the simple present, which, as was already outlined in detail, is not frequently used in English to actually refer to actions in the present time. An introduction of the progressive aspect should exclusively focus on its prototypical use for bounded events. Its use for unbounded events as well as all non-prototypical uses can be introduced later, as they build on the learners’ knowledge about the prototypical instances. As a first encounter with aspect, a basic distinction between the use of the progressive vs. the use of the non-progressive for bounded situations should therefore be the learning target. If the simple present is used to refer to a bounded situation, the utterance does not refer to an event in the present time (cf. chapter 5.2) but to a habitual situation. Therefore, habitual situations-- formed with the simple present, which should already be known to the learners-- should be contrasted with ongoing situations. As motion verbs prototypically refer to ongoing situations (such as he is playing tennis, she is sailing, we are walking etc.), they are the ideal candidates for introducing the idea of unbounding. Motion is normally expressed with the progressive, but if the motion verb in question refers to habitual activities, the non-progressive has to be used, as the reference then changes from the idea of actual motion to the idea of virtual motion, which does not necessarily happen at the moment of speaking but rather relates to some kind of schedule. Such a schedule, in the basic sense of the word, is used in the task described in the next sub-chapter. Schedules are a part of the learners’ lives, as they have hobbies, play musical instruments, have regular extra-curricular appointments etc., and these schedules can be drawn on for introducing the use of the progressive aspect vs. the use of the non-progressive aspect. As some of the actions the learners perform may not be describable with motion verbs, this notion has to be used in a wide sense and would also cover, for example, diverse uses of “play” (as in play tennis, play soccer, play the piano etc.), or “sing” (in a choir) or “visit friends”, for example. As long as the verbs refer to actions which can be performed on a regular basis, this list can be widened in order not to limit the learners’ creativity. The task therefore concentrates on the learners’ regular schedules vs. their actual ongoing activities. This topic is motivating for learners, as first of all, they usually like to talk about themselves and their activities, and second, the learners get to know each other better. If the lesson is meant for an early fifth grade, the learners have only met each other at the beginning of the school year and may not yet be completely familiar with each others’ lives. The topic furthermore relates to the learners’ interests outside the classroom and will certainly be useful <?page no="114"?> 113 6.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction when the learners present themselves and their hobbies to native speakers of English (using the non-progressive aspect) or describe activities that they observe (using the progressive aspect). In this lesson, the learners are meant to acquire the competence to form the progressive for regular verbs describing bounded situations by adding the--ing morpheme, and additionally, they are to understand that this use of the progressive signals a zooming-in into an ongoing action while defocusing its boundaries. The metaphor “zooming-in” is easy to visualise, for example, by using the idea of a keyhole 94 through which the learners can only watch the middle part of an action (see also Niemeier 2008), as what happens to the right or to the left of their viewing zone is invisible for them and is therefore defocused. Another technique is the use of a lens which is placed on the middle phase (see also Niemeier & Reif 2008: 349 f.). If the technical equipment in class is available, it is even possible to really zoom into actions. The form of the progressive should not pose any major difficulty, therefore the main focus is on its meaning, especially as German does not have a grammaticalized progressive aspect, so that the learners have nothing to compare this construction to in their native language. The contrast between an unbounded current situation and a habit / hobby should become evident for them. It is advisable not to use the terms “continuous” or “ongoing” in this context, as they only tell half of the story. Although the verbs used for the lesson in question all display boundedness and therefore the notion of ongoingness would be correct in this case, as soon as the progressive with unbounded situations is introduced in a follow-up lesson the learners would be confused, because the notion of ongoingness is cancelled for unbounded situations in the progressive. The advice is therefore to stick to the terms “boundaries / no boundaries”, which are also easy to visualise. In an ideal case, the notion of boundaries / no boundaries or boundedness / unboundedness has already been introduced when the distinction between count nouns and mass nouns was dealt with and just needs to be reawakened. As a precondition for the lesson, the learners need to be familiar with all forms of “to be” in the present tense as well as with all the selected verbs for hobbies and habits. The verbs chosen for the lesson should all form the progressive in a regular way, i. e., they should not change their orthography when the--ing morpheme is added. This rules out all verbs which end in a silent “e” as well as verbs which double or change their final consonants in the progressive. Furthermore, the learners should be acquainted with the days of the week and with time expressions such as “in the afternoon” or “in the morning” as well as with expressions from the lexical fields “sports” and “hobbies”. The notion of aspect itself with its general meaning of changing the default boundaries for a situation is not introduced. Furthermore, neither negation nor questions nor the use of aspect with unbounded situations are addressed in this lesson, all this is left for later lessons. However, should learners erroneously use an unbounded verb with the progressive aspect 94 A keyhole stencil is also a good idea for later lessons, in which the teacher can hold it up whenever the learners use aspect incorrectly, as it reminds them of having to pay attention to the middle phase of an action without the teacher’s verbal interference being necessary (cf. Niemeier 2008). <?page no="115"?> 114 6. Aspect (such as *“I’m knowing this”), the teacher should interfere and briefly explain why such a use is not possible in English. It is important that the teacher makes clear from the very beginning that what the learners are dealing with is not a “tense” but refers to the internal development of a situation and not to time, which is external to a situation. Aspect can be used for the past in exactly the same way as it is used for the present, therefore it only has to be learned once, and not several times as the current textbooks suggest, which call the present progressive, the present perfect progressive, the past progressive, the past perfect progressive and the will-future progressive “tenses” as well. Aspect can be combined with any tense, be they simple or complex. But again, this is a topic for later lessons. As Niemeier / Reif (2008: 331) state, “once the learners have understood that the progressive and the non-progressive aspects are simply different ways of construing a situation, they might be able to apply this knowledge to the construal of other situations as well, largely independently of the tense that is being used”. The non-prototypical uses of aspect, as discussed in the previous sub-chapter, should be left for later lessons as well, because non-prototypical uses can only be understood on the basis of a well-entrenched prototype. The combination of tense and aspect, which occurs in every verb as these two phenomena are inseparably intertwined, should also be left for a later point in time. Therefore, in an introductory lesson on aspect, the tense should not be varied. The lesson described in the next sub-chapter uses the present tense and contrasts the meanings of the simple present (focusing on habitual actions) and the present progressive (focusing on ongoing bounded actions). 6.4 The task cycle The pre-task is reserved for introducing the communicative situation, which in this case deals with hobbies and leisure time activities. As already mentioned for the tense example, learners are generally quite interested in information about the teacher. Therefore, the teacher could, for example, introduce the lesson by limping into the classroom and saying “I do not feel too well today. You know, I play tennis twice a week and I did so yesterday for over two hours. That was perhaps a bit too much”. Then s / he could hold up a photograph showing him / her playing tennis. S / he could comment on the photograph by saying “Look here, I am playing tennis with my best friend” and then continue by asking the learners who else plays tennis. Some hands will go up and the teacher can then ask questions such as “Do you play tennis regularly? On which days do you play? Do you only play in the summer or also in the winter? ” and elicit answers from some of the learners. S / he can then continue by asking those learners who did not contribute anything which sport they do actively. Whatever the answers, the teacher should always also ask the other learners “Who of you plays soccer / golf / field hockey-… as well? ” and can then ask some questions about these hobbies. For the majority of potential hobbies, s / he should have brought pictures showing somebody who performs this sport and comment on the pictures by using the progressive aspect “Look, this man / woman is playing soccer as well”. <?page no="116"?> 115 6.4 The task cycle In order to also freshen up the lexical field concerning other leisure activities, the teacher might then continue by asking what else the learners do in their spare time. If nothing much is produced, s / he can also ask the learners who of them plays the piano / the flute / the guitar-…, who sings in a choir, who meets with friends etc. If possible, s / he should also comment on these activities by showing pictures of people doing them by using the progressive aspect, such as “Look, this girl is playing the piano as well”. Especially for weaker classes, the activities mentioned can also be noted down on a transparency, which then stays visible throughout the task cycle, so that the learners are inspired by them. At the end of the pre-task phase, the teacher provides the instructions for the upcoming task. The learners are divided into five groups 95 and the groups gather in different parts of the classroom, as some of what they have to come up with should be kept secret until the report stage. The teacher already announces at this point in time that the report will be in the form of a riddle and that the groups are in competition with each other. All groups receive a sheet with little pictures displaying common sports, hobbies and pastimes. These could be, for example, activities such as playing tennis, playing soccer, playing golf, rowing, sailing, climbing a mountain, walking the dog, going shopping, watching TV , playing computer games, singing in a choir, reading a book / comics, meeting friends, visiting the grandparents, helping the parents in the kitchen / in the garden, listening to music, playing the piano / the flute / the guitar-…, playing with friends, sleeping, eating chocolate and many others more, as long as they have a regular spelling. Above the pictures, the learners find one example sentence, such as “The girl is listening to music” next to a picture of a girl with headphones. Under every picture, there is an empty line which the learners have to fill in for seven pictures of their own choice. Additionally, the learners receive a second worksheet displaying a timetable with seven columns, one for each day of the week. After the learners have identified the hobbies and pastimes on the pictures and have agreed on how to fill in the lines beneath the pictures, they have to work with the other worksheet, which displays a timetable. They are to fill in the weekday columns with their favourite regular leisure time activities, the pictures from the first worksheet serving as suggestions. Everybody is allowed to contribute two pastimes, which can be entered, together with the initial of the learner who contributed the entry, into one of the weekday columns, for example as “Tuesday 2 o’ clock: S plays tennis” or “Saturday 12 o’ clock: R walks the dog”. The learners then work on their own for about 10 minutes, discussing the solutions for the sentences underneath the pictures within the groups and entering their two pastimes each into the schedule. The teacher keeps in the background, observing the learners. For the final part of the task and as a preparation for the report, the learners have to think about and then prepare a pantomime of one of their leisure activities for the other groups to guess. Doing a pantomime is not only motivating for the learners but also allows double coding, as the words and the grammatical construction used are coded together with the movements performed. 95 Please consult sub-chapter 2.2.2 for advice on how to form learner groups. For the task at hand, the snippets for determining group membership could have little pictures of sports paraphernalia on them, such as a football, a tennis racket, a baseball cap and so on. <?page no="117"?> 116 6. Aspect Some minutes before the reports begin, the teacher tells the students to come to an end and to start thinking about their pantomimic presentations. The learners have to decide who is going to present which activity and which activity is presented first, which second etc. The teacher goes from group to group, helping those learners who have questions. Furthermore, s / he may already preselect those sentences that can be used in the language focus. During the report phase, every learner is then asked to produce their pantomime, starting with the first learner from each of the groups, then a second learner from each group and so on 96 . The teacher asks the class “What is X doing? ” and all the students from the other groups have to guess what their classmate is doing. If the first three guesses are wrong, the point goes to the group which the presenter belongs to. If somebody guesses correctly, the point goes to his / her group. The guesses have to be uttered in a full sentence, using a progressive form. The teacher should give an example when s / he explains the game. For instance, s / he could demonstrate playing the piano and say that the correct answer is “Mr / s X is playing the piano”. If the progressive is not used correctly in the learners’ answers, the teacher repeats the answers correctly by saying “Yes, you are right, S is playing tennis”. At the end of the pantomime game, the group which gained the most points has won. For the language focus, the teacher has already prepared two charts on the two halves of the board. The right-hand side shows the header “Right now-…” and the teacher selects three of the pantomime solutions and asks the learners who guessed these correctly to come to the board and write them down. The board then shows sentences such as “P is playing tennis”, “R is walking the dog”, “M is watching TV ”. The three prepared lines on the left-hand side of the board start with “Every-…” and the teacher asks who of the learners carries out the activities listed on the right-hand side of the board on a regular basis. The learners can consult the schedules they came up with during the task and raise their hands. The teacher asks on which day the learner in question performs this activity and writes the day on the board “Every Monday, Patrick-…” and another learner comes to the board and continues this sentence with the simple form “Every Monday, Patrick plays tennis”. This is done in the same way for all three sentences. The learners are then asked which differences they notice between the forms on the righthand side of the board and those on the left-hand side of the board. They will notice the--ing ending, which is then underlined. The teacher mentions that not only the form is different but also the meaning, and the sentence beginnings “Right now-…” and “Every (Tues)day” should enable the learners to find out that the sentences on the left-hand side of the board refer to regular activities, or-- in other words-- to complete actions (with a beginning and an end), whereas the sentences on the right-hand side of the board refer to something that is ongoing, or-- in other words-- to the middle phase of an action. Should the learners not see this difference, then the teacher can help them with questions concerning whether they actually witness the beginning or the end of the action in both cases. 96 Not all learners will be able to perform due to time reasons, therefore the teacher has to control the time allotted for the pantomime game, as s / he needs at least ten minutes for the language focus at the end of the lesson. <?page no="118"?> 117 6.5 Alternatives If there is still some time left for a transfer, the learners can then either be asked to select one of the pictures on the worksheet used before and do another pantomime. The rest of the class then guesses which activity is being performed, starting their sentences with “Right now-…”, and then have to change the sentence in order to refer to a regular activity, starting their sentences with “Every (Tues)day-…”. Or, as an alternative, the learners can come up with activities on their own, which the others have to guess. However, this alternative has the disadvantage that irregular verbs might be used (although they will not necessarily be irregular in oral language, as an activity such as “Jessica is dancing” sounds just like any regular verb when used in the progressive aspect) or that the learners want to perform activities for which they do not yet know the verbs. It is quite unlikely anyway that there is time left for a transfer, because if the teacher notices in time that the lesson proceeds more quickly than planned, the reports-- in the form of the learners’ pantomimes from the task-- can be lengthened and more learners can actively participate in the pantomime game. For homework, the learners have to prepare a riddle for the rest of the class. They have to find at least three pictures of a celebrity (presumably they find these most easily on the internet) and additionally have to come up with three statements in writing which they then present one by one to their classmates, for example “In this picture, the man / woman is lifting weights / playing soccer / attending the Oscar celebrations”, showing the pictures only briefly. After each statement, the other learners have to guess which celebrity is meant. They have to repeat the description of the picture together with the celebrity’s name (for example, “Robbie Williams is attending the Oscar celebrations”). If they do not guess correctly, the pictures are held up again for a longer time and the learners can guess again. In this way, they get more practice in using the progressive aspect for ongoing bounded events. When controlling the homework, the teacher can insert questions such as “Does he always lift weights / play soccer / attend the Oscar celebrations? ” in order to underline the contrast between the use of the non-progressive and the progressive aspect. 6.5 Alternatives It is not so easy to come up with situations which demand the progressive in the present tense, as the zooming-in effect presupposes that this action is actually happening at speech time. Therefore, pictures showing somebody in the middle of an action are presumably the best choice. Films or videos would be even more authentic, as an action can then be stopped and the frozen picture would show somebody in the middle of it instead of showing a completed action. A good alternative is pantomime, as it relates to actions actually being performed in the classroom, which can be described while they are in progress. Pantomime can also be used as the main task. For example, the teacher can prepare snippets which indicate actions such as blowing one’s nose, brushing one’s teeth, cleaning the windows, combing one’s hair, cooking, mowing the lawn, opening the door, packing a suitcase, painting a wall, typing on a computer and the like, which can be performed quite effortlessly and can also easily be guessed by the other learners. <?page no="119"?> 118 6. Aspect The learners can work in pairs on this task. Every pair draws two snippets, then first has to decide who is taking care of which of the two actions (sometimes there is the need for two performers, for example, when playing tennis has to be enacted) and afterwards the learners have to think about how to perform these actions. During the report stage, the pantomimes are performed for the others to guess, which is usually quite funny and motivating. The guesses that are uttered have to feature the progressive aspect, and in this way the learners’ exposure to this structure is heightened. The teacher should pay attention to the fact that all of the learners have the chance to come forward with their guesses and not only those learners who are the loudest and / or the quickest. An alternative possibility for the pre-task is to ask the learners to bring pictures of themselves which show them carrying out an action / a sport. These pictures can be put face-down on a table and one learner after the other turns a picture around and guesses whom they see on the picture, for example “This is Andrea” and the teacher adds “Look, Andrea is playing tennis”. The shortcoming of this pre-task activity is that the teacher cannot control the verbs that are necessary for commenting on the actions, which is why irregular verbs might be used. On the other hand, this pre-task activity is quite motivating for the learners, as they will enjoy seeing pictures of themselves and their classmates. In order to have more control over the verbs used, the teacher can also collect the pictures before the actual lesson and then include those pictures in a PowerPoint-supported guessing game that can be described by regular verbs. Further reading Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. De Wit, Astrid / Brisard, Frank (2014): “A cognitive grammar account of the semantics of the English present progressive”. Journal of Linguistics 50 (1), 49-90. Ellis, Nick C. (2013): “Frequency-based grammar and the acquisition of tense and aspect in L2 learning”. In: Salaberry, Rafael / Comajoan, Llorenç (eds.): Research design and methodology in studies on L2 tense and aspect. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 89-117. Evans, Vyvyan / Green, Melanie (2006): Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2008): Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2009): Investigations in cognitive grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Matlock, Teenie (2011): “The conceptual motivation of aspect”. In: Panther, Klaus-Uwe / Radden, Günter (eds.): Motivation in grammar and the lexicon. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 133-148. Niemeier, Susanne (2008): “The notion of boundedness / unboundedness in the foreign language classroom”. In: Boers, Frank / Lindstromberg, Seth (eds.): Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary and phraseology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 309-327. Niemeier, Susanne (2013): “A cognitive grammar perspective on tense and aspect”. In: Salaberry, Rafael / Comajoan, Llorenç (eds.): Research design and methodology in studies on L2 tense and aspect. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 11-56. <?page no="120"?> 119 6.5 Alternatives Niemeier, Susanne / Reif, Monika (2008): “Making progress simpler? Applying cognitive grammar to tense-aspect teaching in the German EFL classroom”. In: de Knop, Sabine / de Rycker, Teun (eds.): Cognitive approaches to pedagogical grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 325-355. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Smith, Carlota (2009): “A speaker-based approach to aspect”. In: Aristar-Dry, Helen / Meier, Richard P. / Destruel, Emilie (eds.): Text, time, and context. Dordrecht: Springer, 7-24. <?page no="122"?> 121 6.5 Alternatives 7. Modality The concept of ‘modality’ refers to the third component of the so-called TAM (tense, aspect, modality) complex that surrounds each verb. The close connection between these three phenomena has frequently been highlighted, as, for example, by Brisard / Patard (2011: 1), who say that “various issues of grammatical time, including tense and aspect, are inextricably linked, to varying extents, with concerns of mood and modality, in particular of an epistemic nature”. However, although tense, aspect and modality are intrinsically tied to each other, they are dealt with in separate chapters for the sake of clarity. Modality is related to the speaker’s attitude towards what s / he is saying. Each verb either displays modality or does not display modality. When a verb is used non-modally, it refers to reality, whereas modality is concerned with assessments of potentiality and therefore relates to non-reality. Whenever somebody thinks of a situation and / or wants to describe it, s / he evaluates this situation with regard to its reality status and its likelihood (cf. also Radden / Dirven 2007: 234). As the likelihood of situations is not always certain in everyday life, language provides its speakers with a wealth of linguistic patterns to express different degrees of uncertainty and / or probability, for example, via modal verbs (such as can, should or may), via modal adjuncts (such as certainly or in all probability), via lexical expressions (such as beyond any shadow of doubt or it seems as if) as well as via other constructions (see the sub-chapter on form). All these modal elements are called ‘modalizers’. As Declerck explains, …the referent of a modalizer is a modal state, i. e. the state of a situation being necessary, possible, permitted, wished for, etc., or the state of it being possible, likely, necessary, etc. that a proposition is true in a given world. (Declerck 2011: 26) This ‘world’ to which modalizers refer is always a non-factual world, i. e., a possible world, which is why Declerck (2011: 27) defines modality as “the phenomenon that a situation is located in a non-factual world”. English modalizers, and hence modality, belong to the most frequent elements in naturally occurring discourse (cf. Tyler 2012: 94). However, “there does not seem to be a standard definition that is widely accepted” (Declerck 2011: 22). Typical definitions reduce modality to the use of modal auxiliaries and at the same time to concepts such as possibility or permission with the trigger-words can and may, obligation, necessity or likelihood with the trigger-words must and should and so forth (cf. ibid.: 21). Not only are such definitions quite superficial, but furthermore do they fail to provide an analysis of the modals themselves, for example for learners of English, which would allow them to gain an understanding and an insight into modality (cf. Tyler 2012: 98). Equally troublesome is the fact that often verbs are put into the category of modal auxiliaries which, although they possess the formal characteristics of auxiliaries, nevertheless “are clearly not auxiliaries used to build tense forms, aspectual forms or passive verb forms” (Declerck 2011: 22). In this respect, Declerck quotes the examples of used to and dare, which <?page no="123"?> 122 7. Modality are, even in recent grammars, generally lumped into the category of modal auxiliaries, and argues against this by claiming that …the meaning expressed by used to is aspectual, not modal: My late uncle used to go to bed early predicates of my uncle the past characteristic (habit) of going to bed early. I daren’t do that has exactly the same nonmodal meaning as I don’t dare to do that. Since to dare to is a lexical verb without a modal meaning, the auxiliary dare in I daren’t do that should be treated as what we could call a ‘lexical auxiliary’-- something which to my knowledge nobody has ever suggested doing. A lexical auxiliary combines the morpho-syntactic characteristics of an auxiliary with the lexical meaning of a full verb (rather than with the meaning of an auxiliary expressing tense, voice, modality or aspect). (Declerck 2011: 22) 7.1 Form As mentioned before, any linguistic device which creates a non-factual, modal world is called a modalizer. In English, several types of modalizers can be distinguished. As this chapter mostly concentrates on the modal auxiliaries in English, the other modalizers are only briefly presented in the following paragraphs 97 . Modalizers other than the modal auxiliaries are, for example, modal adjuncts. This group comprises modal adverbs, such as perhaps, possibly, certainly, obligatorily, as well as prepositional phrases, such as in all probability or of necessity, and clauses, such as it seems as if, which lexically render the speaker’s message tentative. This becomes obvious in the first two modal adverb examples, which transmit that the speaker is not exactly sure of what s / he is saying, whereas the third and fourth example show that the speaker is quite sure, although not completely so, as in the latter case no modal adverb would have been used. Additionally, English has so-called intensional verbs (such as, for example, to believe, to assume or to imagine), which, according to Declerck (2011: 41), “create a world that is not represented as being the factual world” and, hence, again show the speaker’s stance concerning this non-factual world. Declerck goes on to explain that such verbs focus on the “likelihood of compatibility with the factual world”, i. e., if the speaker only ‘imagines’ something, this something is not real, and sometimes it is even counterfactual, as the example “He imagined himself to be God” shows, because the speaker is definitely not God. Therefore, Declerck claims that “the intensional world can be called an epistemic modal world. Intensional verbs are therefore epistemic modalizers” (ibid.) 98 . Another group of modalizers are so-called attitudinal verbs (such as to intend, to want, to hope or to desire), which describe, as their name already implies, the speaker’s attitude towards something which is not (yet) factual, as its realization lies in the future and therefore does not (yet) exist in the factual world, and possibly never will. Other modalizers are, according 97 For more details, please consult, for example, Declerck 2011. 98 Instead of the expression ‘intensional verbs’, Radden / Dirven (2007: 242) use the term ‘mental expressions’, which, according to them, “includes cognition verbs like believe, judge, conclude and doubt and complex expressions such as be of the opinion, have the impression, as far as I can tell, etc.” <?page no="124"?> 123 7.1 Form to Declerck (2011: 28), the subjunctive mood and the imperative mood, both referring to something that is not yet factual. “Wish you were here” does not state that somebody is ‘here’ and “Please close the window” does not imply that the window is closed, on the contrary, and it does not even imply that the window will be closed by the addressee. Furthermore, conditional clauses 99 also create a ‘theoretical world’, as they do not refer to factual reality. The same is true for tense auxiliaries creating a future but not (yet) a factual world (e. g., will, be going to, be about to). The best-known and most frequently used modalizers (and the ones that learners of English meet first) are the modal auxiliaries, also called ‘modal verbs’ or ‘central modals’, which include can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, need to and ought to. Textbook grammars usually first list the modals, then use them in decontextualised examples and finally give explanations concerning their usage, which at times seems rather idiosyncratic. Almost all modal verbs tend to have two meanings, a so-called ‘root meaning’ as well as a so-called ‘epistemic meaning’, although traditional explanations tend to present these two meanings as homophones and do not address the systematic patterning that the modal system possesses. Apart from the central modals, there is a more peripheral group of secondary modals, also called semi-modals, which includes the expressions have to, have got to, be to, be able to, be willing to, get to, be supposed to and some others. These secondary modals can have finite as well as non-finite forms. These less grammaticalized verbs have been granted ‘honorary modal status’ by Talmy (1988: 81), but do not count as full modals and are therefore not discussed any further in this chapter. Modal verbs are also sometimes called auxiliary verbs because they ‘help’ to express the intended meanings of the full verbs, i. e., they express “meanings which are much less definable, focused, and independent than those of lexical verbs” (Crystal 1995: 212). They furthermore differ in important ways from full verbs. Firstly, they cannot be used as main verbs (*I may coffee), as “their semantic content is bleached out” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 242). This ties in with the quote in the last paragraph stating that the meaning of the modal verbs is not definable enough for allowing a precise interpretation. Additionally, modals do not have nonfinite forms, i. e., they neither add a ‘to’ for the infinitive nor can they add--ing or--ed morphemes nor can they be used in non-finite clauses (*I want her to may sing). Modals are furthermore not inflected in the third person singular present “because they do not conceptually agree with the subject of the sentence” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 242). Due to the fact that modals “have the function of grounding a situation in potential reality with the speaker as the fixed reference point” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 242), they cannot co-occur with each other in Standard English, as “a situation can only be grounded once” (ibid.) 100 . 99 For more information on conditionals, please consult the following chapter. 100 Crystal (1995: 315) quotes some evidence from American dialects in which double modals occur, as, for example, might could or might can. Such occurrences tend to correlate socially with the lower social class and regionally with the American Lower South. Such forms also existed in Middle English, especially in <?page no="125"?> 124 7. Modality Modals generally lack past tense forms as the speaker’s assessment that they convey happens at the present moment of speaking. The only modal that possesses a real past tense form is the can of ability, as in “She could already speak full sentences at the age of two”. The other distal forms might, would, could, should and ought to do not refer to the past, although many textbook grammars say that they do, but instead give the expressed meaning a more tentative note, creating more distance 101 between the speaker and the addressee and therefore frequently sounding more polite. Modals can be negated. In this case, ‘not’ is added after the modal. Can combines with not to cannot, written in one word, whereas the other negated modals are all written in two words. In informal spoken language, the not is frequently contracted to n’t (as in can’t or shouldn’t). However, negation is an area that is somewhat tricky when applied to modals, as the meaning of a negated modal is not always the counterpart of its non-negated meaning. Modal negation can refer to different entities of an utterance. For example, when a verb phrase containing a modal is negated, the negation applies in some instances to the modal (such as in You may not enter = you are not allowed to enter) and in other instances to the complete sentence (such as in I may not manage to catch the next bus = it is possible that I will not be on time for the bus). This is due to the different kinds of modals used in the examples, as in the first example, the modal may is a root modal, and in the second example, the modal may is an epistemic modal (see also sub-chapter 7.3). The negation of must is especially difficult for Germans users of English, as an utterance containing must (such as That must be Henry at the door = I am quite sure that it is Henry at the door as he said he would arrive at this time) is usually negated with may not if the whole sentence is negated (such as That may not be Henry = it is possible that it is not Henry at the door) or with can’t (such as in It can’t be Henry at the door = it is impossible that it is Henry at the door) if the modal itself is negated. In contrast, the apparently fitting mustn’t rather has the meaning of needn’t, i. e., has a wider scope of prediction, such as in You mustn’t annoy him = it is not necessary to annoy him 102 . The modal auxiliaries display different strengths of the speaker’s conviction, for example, as Tyler / Mueller / Ho (2010: 31) state, “advice using could is interpreted as weaker than advice using must”. However, textbooks generally tend to convey a speech-act perspective on modals, which is not especially helpful as it does not explain the systematicity of the modal verbs. A speech-act perspective leaves …both the teacher and the learner with the impression that the only approach to mastering modals is to memorize formulaic expressions for each speech act, and the particular modals which happen to occur in these expressions. (Tyler / Mueller / Ho 2010: 32) Northern British regions, where they partly still exist. For instance, Radden / Dirven (2007: 242) quote the current Scottish example “You shouldn’t ought to have done that”. 101 For more details, please consult the sub-chapter on the meaning of the past tense (chapter 5.3.2), especially concerning the non-prototypical uses of the--ed morpheme. 102 For more information about a cognitive grammar perspective on the negation of modals, see Radden 2014. <?page no="126"?> 125 7.2 Meaning Tyler / Mueller / Ho (2010: 32) quote an example from a 1996 textbook for advanced-intermediate learners which tells its users that may / might / can / could express ability and possibility, may / can grant permission, may / could / can ask for permission, and would / could / will ask for assistance. This is quite confusing for learners, as several modals appear several times in different functions, and without any further explanation. What is more, the meaning differences between those modals which are lumped into the same category are completely ignored, as they are presented as “functional equivalents that are essentially interchangeable” (ibid.). English textbooks used in German classrooms contain similar (non-) explanations. The next sub-chapter outlines the cognitive grammar perspective on modals, which is quite different from the speech-act perspective. 7.2 Meaning As already pointed out, modality relates to a non-factual world and refers to the speaker’s attitude towards a situation and his / her judgment of the reality status of a situation. Cognitive grammar speaks of two distinctly different types of modality, namely ‘root modality’ (or deontic modality) and ‘epistemic modality’. Most of the modal verbs are used in both epistemic and deontic senses and can therefore be called polysemous, but others, such as can, are seen as restricted to only one of these senses 103 , in this case the root sense. Root meanings always involve physical or social reasoning and express the speaker’s attitudes towards “the world of things and social interaction” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 233). In contrast, epistemic modality can be defined as “the speaker’s judgment of the reality status of a state of affairs” (ibid.: 242), refers to logical-causal reasoning and expresses assessments of potentiality relating to “the world of knowledge and reasoning” (ibid.: 233). Most of the cognitive grammar accounts of modality are based on the approach of force dynamics, which was developed by Talmy (cf. Talmy 1988). Radden / Dirven explain that …the notion of force dynamics pertains to the opposition of forces and counterforces. The phenomenon of force is ubiquitous in the physical world. For example, we feel the force of gravity when doing push-ups or the force of the head wind when riding a bicycle. We also experience force dynamics in the social world when a person in authority tells a weaker person what to do. (Radden / Dirven 2007: 243) Force-dynamic accounts of modality explain that root modality has to do with physical and social forces and counterforces, whereas epistemic modality has to do with conceptual forces and paths. In root modality, forces are seen as objective, i. e., as existing in the outside world, which means that every person knows them from experience. In epistemic modality, speakers of a language use their image schemas 104 of forces conceptually in order to reason and speak about non-physical things. Such conceptual uses of bodily-based image schemas can be found 103 However, not everybody agrees on this restriction, as is discussed in more detail in sub-chapter 7.2.2. 104 Please see footnote 23 for an explanation of ‘image schema’. <?page no="127"?> 126 7. Modality quite frequently in language, not just concerning modality, because, as Sweetser (1990: 49) argues, “a pervasive and coherently structured system of metaphors underlies our tendency to use vocabulary from the external domain in speaking of the internal domain”. Langacker (cf. 2009: 212) states that the force is manifested socially in the case of root modality and that for epistemic modality, in contrast, the force is generally manifested mentally. In this respect, “root modals are aimed at effective control-- determining what happens in the world itself. And obviously, epistemic modals are aimed at epistemic control-- evolution in our knowledge of the world” (Langacker 2011: 78). As its name implies, root modality is more basic than epistemic modality and developed earlier. Tyler / Mueller / Ho describe the development of the English modals by stating that in the course of language change …the English modals developed from non-modal lexical items that first expressed physical strength or social obligation; for instance, may / might derive from magan ‘be strong’ (clearly physical strength) and must derives historically from moste, the past form of mot, meaning ‘obliged’ (clearly social obligation). The general pattern of historical development for modal verbs was that the semantics and usage of the non-modal forms gradually extended to root modal meaning and later broadened to epistemic meaning. (Tyler / Mueller / Ho 2010: 34) The root meanings metaphorised, i. e., vocabulary from ‘the external domain’, denoting actual physical forces which belong to the spatial, social and cultural worlds humans live in, was used for ‘the internal domain’, a clear instance of embodiment. Sweetser (1990: 50) notes that “we view our reasoning processes as being subject to compulsions, obligations, and barriers just as our real-world actions are subject to modalities of the same sort”. In the following paragraphs, first the root meanings of the English modal auxiliaries are described and then the epistemic meanings of the same modals are explained. The forces that are alluded to in both types of modality differ between the different modal verbs, but are the same for the two usages (root and epistemic) of one and the same modal. 7.2.1 Root modality As ‘forces’ are involved in modality, a differentiation between internal and external forces is helpful. In the following paragraphs, the different kinds of forces and their strengths are discussed, starting with internal forces. The strongest force is explained first, and then the forces gradually get weaker. The notion of ‘internal force’ relates to the fact that the force comes from within a person himself / herself, whereas the notion of ‘external force’ indicates that the force comes from outside a person, either from another person (usually one with authority) or from society at large, as, for example, from codes of behaviour, laws, ethics, customs, etiquette, common sense or the like. <?page no="128"?> 127 7.2 Meaning Root modals relating to an internal force: The root modals need to, will, would, can and could refer to internal forces, and are organised below according to the strength of the force, starting with the strongest degree of force. 1. With need to, the compelling force comes from within a person. For example, the wish or plan “I need to finish my assignment this afternoon” involves an internal force, as the person uttering this sentence knows exactly that it is a good idea to finish the assignment. As Radden / Dirven (2007: 251) explain, need to “gives rise to the idea of ‘requiring what is lacking’”. In other words: a person knows that something is lacking and wants to reach the goal 105 of remedying this lack. Therefore, this person strives to meet certain expectations, usually societal ones. However, such an idea or internal force can still be rejected by adding “…but I suppose I’ll leave it for later”, which is, for example, not possible for utterances with must, such as in the example of a parent saying to a child “You must come home on time”-- children cannot just tell their parents that they will come later, or they will be in trouble. Smith (2003: 264) states that need to “is not an overt marker of power- (…), if anything, it is more likely to have the positive association of taking cognizance of individual needs and requirements”. In other words, the compelling force expressed by need to is quite strong, but not as strong as for must, and furthermore comes from inside the speaker and not from the outside, as is the case for must. If something is an internal desire, this desire is by definition individualised, although it usually refers to values and norms and expected behaviour within a society. 2. In a similar way as for need to, no other person or authority is implied by will, as the force comes from inside the speaker himself / herself. As Radden / Dirven (2007: 251 f.) explain concerning the use of will, “its original sense of ‘wishing’ and ‘desiring’ has undergone a chain of motivated meaning extensions to ‘volition’, ‘intention’, ‘prediction’ and ‘weak necessity’”, with ‘volition’ and ‘weak necessity’ being purely modal meanings and the other meaning extensions, i. e., ‘prediction’ and ‘intention’, referring more to the future meaning. However, the internal force for will is somewhat weaker than that for need to. The speaker has a specific and strong desire, inner wish, ability or motivation that s / he wants to satisfy or fulfil. “I will finish my assignment today” means that the speaker is very certain-- although not completely so-- that the intended action will happen. Such a strong desire can also be present in orders from another person, as in “You will finish your assignment today”, or in encouragements by others, as in “I am sure you will finish your assignment in time”. Will is furthermore used for indicating futurity and also in this case implies that something will happen with a relatively high degree of certainty. On the other hand, nobody can predict the future, therefore even an utterance such as 105 It is interesting in this context that need to is used together with the goal preposition to, see also the chapter on prepositions (chapter 10). <?page no="129"?> 128 7. Modality “I will turn 25 next Thursday” refers to a non-factual world, as ‘next Thursday’ is not yet a reality and a lot of things could happen before then. 3. For the distal form of will, namely would, the strength of the wish, commitment or desire is weakened, as the notion of ‘reality distance’ 106 interferes, therefore, would rather indicates a strong suggestion instead of a near-certainty, such as in “Why don’t you join me on my upcoming trip to Canada? You would love it! ”, which transports the idea that the speaker is aware of the fact that the addressee is probably not that inclined to do the suggested action. If the speaker says instead “You will love it! ”, s / he is more convinced of the effect of his / her suggestion. 4. Can also focuses on the speaker himself / herself. However, the force involved is weaker than for the modals just discussed. Tyler / Mueller / Ho (2010: 34) describe can as “a positive physical or social ability on the part of the doer, analogous to potential energy in physics”. For example, if somebody claims “I can run a marathon”, this does not mean that this person will actually do so, just that the person thinks s / he is physically fit enough to compete in a marathon. Thus, the use of can does not relate to reality, but instead refers to a possibility in a non-factual world. Can derives from the Old English word cunnan, meaning ‘to be able’. Thus, in a narrow sense “Can I come in? ” does not ask for somebody else’s permission and no conceptual barrier (in the form of the impending permission) is perceived that would have to be lifted. Can is sometimes believed to be interchangeable with may, but these two modals actually have different meanings, as may involves an external force whereas can points to an internal force, as just described. However, due to the tendency of the English language to develop into a more informal direction may and can are sometimes indeed used interchangeably when asking for permission, can being the more informal option and may the more polite option, as it is definitely more polite to leave the decision whether an action is allowed or not to one’s interlocutor. 5. The distal form of can, namely could, has lost even more strength. If somebody says “I could run a marathon”, this indicates that this person is actually not going to run a marathon, although s / he might be able to do so. There are certain inner forces at play which hinder this person. Furthermore, the use of could points to the fact that even more reality distance than stated for can (see above) is involved. Frequently, an utterance such as “I could run a marathon” would be continued by an if-clause (as in “-…if I trained more frequently”, “-…if I gave up smoking” etc., naming the inner forces that hinder the person). If could is used for asking for permission, such as in “Could I come in? ”, it sounds more polite than “Can I come in? ”. Again, as mentioned concerning the difference in meaning between will and would, the use of the distal form creates distance, in this case social 106 Please compare to the notion of distance expressed by the--ed morpheme, as described in the sub-chapter on the past tense (chapter 5.3.2). Although would is an irregular form, it still includes this meaning. It does not refer to the past tense but to another type of distance, namely social distance. <?page no="130"?> 129 7.2 Meaning distance. In this context, could can be seen as being largely interchangeable with may, just that it does not focus on an addressee’s permission (as may does). Root modals relating to an external force: The root modals must, ought to, shall, should, may and might refer to external forces, again starting with the strongest degree of force. 6. The root meaning of must is an irresistible force which directs a person towards an action. This force usually comes from the outside, from laws or from an authority, as, for example, in the order “You must be home by ten”, uttered by a parent to a child. This means that the child has the obligation to be home by ten because the parent wants it that way. The compelling and irresistible force in this example stems from the parent’s authority. 7. Ought to, derived from a former past tense form of ‘to owe’, has preserved the weakened impact that distal forms possess. In comparison to must, ought to expresses a slightly weaker obligation, usually a moral obligation, that the speaker feels exposed to, such as in “You have an exam tomorrow, therefore you ought to be home by ten”. A further difference between must and ought to is the fact that ought to refers to the best solution (such as in “If you want to get to the train station quickly, you ought to take a taxi”, implying that this is the best way to get there quickly but that there are other ways as well), whereas must refers to the only solution (such as in “If you want to get to the train station quickly, you must take a taxi”, implying that there is no other way to get there quickly). Insofar, ought to is less compelling than must and involves an external force stemming from social norms, expectations and systems of values which entail what the ‘best’ solution might be. In the example “You ought to go to your yearly check-up at the doctor’s soon”, the social benefit of having one’s check-ups done regularly compels the listener to at least consider the option of actually going to the doctor’s, maybe even of getting an appointment. However, as already mentioned, the force that is exerted is not as compelling as for must. Radden / Dirven (2007: 252) describe it as “the speaker’s idea of desirability about an advisable course of action” and note that the meaning of ought to is very close to that of should, which today has widely replaced ought to, especially in American English. 8. In contrast to will, shall points to an external force coming from another person or an authority, who utters a (more or less) binding order, such as in “You shall obey the rules”. The addressee acknowledges and accepts the speaker’s authority. The strength involved is somewhat weaker than it is for must, which-- as described above-- refers to an irresistible force, and it is also different from ought to, as it does not have any moral undertones. A good example for the use of shall as referring to a relatively binding order can be seen in the language use of the ten commandments, eight of which use shall. For indicating futurity, traditional grammars draw a sharp distinction between the use of shall for the first persons singular and plural and will for all other persons, but this distinction is more or less lost today and shall is only infrequently used for indicating futurity. <?page no="131"?> 130 7. Modality 9. The difference between shall and should is similar to the difference between will and would. The sense of authority that is present for shall is weakened for the distal form should and the external force involved can therefore be seen as less powerful, as, for example, in “You should walk to work”, which certainly indicates that this activity is recommendable but which can be interpreted as a comment rather than as an obligation. Therefore, the sense of obligation that is present for shall is weakened for should. This is again due to the notion of distance inherent in the distal form, as the speaker can only indirectly influence the addressee. 10. The use of may also involves an outside force, as may relates to the lifting of a conceptual barrier by a person of authority, which in turn allows somebody else to perform an action, as, for example, in “May I come in? -- Yes, you may”. As Tyler / Mueller / Ho explain, …the meaning focuses on a lack of restriction imposed on the doer by someone else who has the authority or power to impose the restriction, and hence the interpretation of permission granted by an authority who could potentially block the doer’s action. (Tyler / Mueller / Ho 2010: 34) If somebody does not want a person to come in, this somebody could just forbid the other person to enter, and by doing so create a conceptual barrier. 11. The distal form of may, namely might, is again a weakened version. It includes an external force as well, but this force does not rely on a lot of authority. For example, “You might want to take the dog for a walk” rather sounds like a suggestion and not like granting permission. The distal form transfers the notion of distance and is therefore less face-threatening than the proximal form. It sounds more polite and the barrier that is lifted through the use of might was not a very substantial one. 7.2.2 Epistemic modality All modal verbs described in the previous sub-chapter additionally have an epistemic meaning, although some scholars deny an epistemic meaning for the modal verbs can, need to and shall (see below). Each epistemic modal usage is metaphorically connected to the root usage of the same modal, as they share their force-dynamic structures. However, in contrast to the root modal meanings, the epistemic modal meanings refer to logical-causal processes of reasoning and assessments of potentiality instead of to processes of physical and / or social reasoning. Radden / Dirven (2007: 241) call the construal of epistemic assessment “maximally subjective”, i. e., it is obvious for the hearer that what is said is the speaker’s assessment, which is necessarily subjective. Such an assessment is closely connected to the speaker’s knowledge as well as to the inferences that s / he draws based on this knowledge. However, as epistemic modality is grounded in a non-factual world, it can of course not be used if a speaker has complete knowledge of something-- which would be grounded in a factual world and then be stated as a fact, without the use of any modals-- but only when their knowledge is incomplete. <?page no="132"?> 131 7.2 Meaning The different epistemic modals refer to different degrees of a speaker’s assessment of the potentiality of a situation, as s / he can either be quite sure of something (seeing it as highly probable, but without knowing it as a fact), or somewhat unsure about something (seeing it as probable or quite possible), or else quite unsure whether something is the case or not (seeing it as quite improbable, although not completely so), and all of these nuances are expressed by different modal verbs. Radden / Dirven explain that …an epistemic assessment is based on perceptual or intuitive evidence, which the speaker processes on the basis of her knowledge or belief. In using a modal expression, the speaker assesses the probability of a situation and thereby implies that he has evidence upon which his assessment relies. (Radden / Dirven 2007: 235) Thus, the epistemic modals differ concerning the degree of the speaker’s certainty about the truth of an utterance. Similar to the explanation of the root meanings in the previous sub-chapter, a differentiation between internal forces and external forces is also presented for the epistemic meanings. Epistemic modals relating to an internal force: The epistemic modals need to, will, would, can and could refer to internal forces, ranked according to the degree of probability involved. This ranking is identical with the ranking of the root modals, because the root modals and the epistemic modals share their force-dynamic structures and therefore also their strength factors, as the epistemic modal meanings have evolved from the root modal meanings. 1. Epistemic need to is rarely used, some scholars even claim that it cannot be used in a positive form, just in its interrogative or negated forms 107 (cf. Sweetser 1990: 62). Seggewiss (cf. 2012: 98) states as well that she did not find any instances of epistemic need to in the two corpora of present-day spoken English (one corpus from the 1960s and the other from the 1990s) that she examined. However, although it is only infrequently used in its positive form, it can have an epistemic meaning after all, namely that there is compelling evidence that leads a person to conclude that something is the case, such as in “this needs to be true”, referring to a process of reasoning which as its end result leads the person to believe that something is the case, with a high degree of probability. In other words: a logical force compels the speaker to believe that something is very probably true. This is different from the meaning of need to in its root sense, where it refers to a social or moral obligation or expectation imposed by something internal to the speaker, as in “I need to finish my assignment this afternoon”, expressing a necessity that acts as a social force. What the two uses have in common is the compelling internal 107 Such as, for example, in “Do you really need to do this? ” (meaning: do you really have enough compelling evidence for thinking that what you want to do is good? ) or in “He needn’t be a Londoner-- he could just have acquired the accent” (meaning: my reasoning leads me to the conclusion that if someone speaks with a London accent, there is no compelling evidence that this person was actually born in London, as he could have picked up the accent in another way). <?page no="133"?> 132 7. Modality force, driving the persons concerned either towards actions (root meaning) or towards conclusions (epistemic meaning). 2. Epistemic will, as in “That will be John” (when somebody is ringing the door bell) is an expression of high certainty. The speaker does not know for a fact that John is ringing the bell but as John said he would come over at this time it is highly probable that it is him, or in other words: the speaker’s world knowledge (for example, that John said he would come over at this time and that John is normally on time, or that John has a special way of ringing the bell etc.) leads him / her to a conclusion which s / he sees as fairly certain. In this use, will “implies a prediction and thus shades into the future” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 252). 3. Epistemic would is a weakened form of epistemic will. Like will, it refers to the fact that the speaker’s conclusions are based on strong arguments but the speaker is somewhat more cautious with his / her conclusions when using would than s / he is with will. To use the above-mentioned example again, “That would be John” signals a slightly lower degree of certainty, as the speaker can possibly also think of other people who might ring the door bell at this time, with John being the most likely person. 4. Somewhat similar to what was explained for need to, according to Sweetser, …positive can is almost unusable in an epistemic sense. But its negative and interrogative forms are quite acceptable (cf. “Can that be true? ”) and have the reading of questioned or negated epistemic enablement on the part of the speaker. (Sweetser 1990: 62) In this respect, a negative use of epistemic can means that the speaker has arrived at a reasonably certain conclusion that something is false or impossible. Tyler (cf. 2008: 470) explains as well that there is no epistemic counterpart for the root modal can 108 . One could, however, argue in this case that positive epistemic can does indeed exist, although it may not be frequently used. An example such as “That can indeed be a good solution for the conflict” may be uttered by a speaker who needs to find a solution for a conflict, after having thought about various possibilities and after having come to the logical conclusion that one of these solutions can indeed result in ending the conflict in question. Another famous example of positive epistemic can is to be found in Obama’s motto “Yes we can! ”, as this also refers to a thought process rather than to a physical process and therefore can be seen as the result of reasoning (in this case reasoning that it is possible to make the USA a better nation). Epistemic can is slightly weaker than epistemic will / would, as it only outlines a possibility that is the result of a thought process and for which no proof is available yet, instead of being based on reasonably certain facts that the speaker generates from his / her world knowledge. 5. As already mentioned a number of times, the distal form is always a weakened version of the basic form. Therefore, the meaning of epistemic could is similar to that of epistemic can, just weaker. Furthermore, whereas the use of positive epistemic can is relatively re- 108 She argues that “unfortunately, one of the continuing, unexplained exceptions is can’s lack of epistemic extension, but no analysis has been able to satisfactorily explain this” (Tyler 2008: 470). <?page no="134"?> 133 7.2 Meaning stricted, positive epistemic could is widely used. Epistemic could, such as in “That could be John at the door”, hints at the possibility that it is John at the door but that at the same time it might just as well be somebody else, i. e., the speaker is not able to predict-- based on logical reasoning processes-- who the visitor really is. Therefore, the degree of probability is quite low, even lower than that of epistemic can. Epistemic modals relating to an external force: The epistemic modals must, ought to, shall, should, may and might all refer to external forces, and are ranked according to the strength of the probability involved. As before, this ranking is identical with the ranking of the root modals, because the root modals and the epistemic modals share their force-dynamic structures and thus their strength factors, as the epistemic modal meanings have evolved from the root modal meanings. 6. Must is not only the strongest of the root modals but also the strongest of the epistemic modals 109 . It indicates that the speaker has strong external evidence (comparable to the irresistible force present for the root modal must) for the conclusion to which s / he comes. “That must be John at the door” entails that the speaker has relevant information coming from an outside source, i. e., not based on his / her own internal reasoning processes. Such relevant information could, for example, consist in the fact that John has recently sent a text message announcing that he was going to be at the speaker’s door within ten minutes. This lets the speaker conclude with a very high degree of certainty that the person at the door can only be John-- but again, the speaker cannot be completely sure before s / he has seen John with his / her own eyes. 7. Ought to is slightly weaker than must. Certain external assumptions and premises act on the speaker’s reasoning process and the speaker is reasonably certain about the proposition s / he utters. In the example “This ought to be the correct solution”, although the speaker is not completely sure that the solution is correct, s / he has external evidence, maybe data, pointing to the fact that the solution is presumably correct. Just as sociophysical (moral) forces act on the root modal ought to, also concerning the epistemic modal ought to, the available data and evidence act as influencing forces on the speaker and lead him / her to the conclusion that s / he is right. 8. Epistemic shall also refers to a speaker’s relatively convincing conclusion, based on external data and evidence. This is similar to the root modal shall, which does not refer to a binding obligation but to an acceptance of the speaker’s authority. Although Sweetser (1990: 62) claims that “shall is not epistemic”, there are nevertheless some examples of epistemic shall to be found, although it is indeed quite rare. When it occurs, then it normally occurs in rather formal language, such as in “I understand that I shall have to take responsibility for what I plan to do”. Epistemic shall sometimes also occurs in 109 Quite a number of scholars call the function of must ‘logical necessity’. However, according to Radden / Dirven (2007: 250), “this term is misleading: if necessity was a matter of logic, the deduction reached from given premises would always have to be true”. <?page no="135"?> 134 7. Modality non-formal contexts, such as in “I shall see you again”. Both examples can be interpreted as indicating futurity and thus function as predictions, or in other words: in the first example, the speaker concludes that s / he has to take responsibility for his / her actions in the future, formally declares that s / he is fully aware of this fact and therefore makes the prediction that s / he will indeed take responsibility in the future. In the second example, the speaker is relatively convinced that this was not their last meeting and believes to have evidence for this assumption, probably based on intuition, or on world knowledge, or on experiences from previous encounters. 9. Epistemic should is far more frequent than epistemic shall. As already stated for the corresponding root modal, the meaning is weakened in comparison to shall, due to the function of the distal form. Epistemic should indicates a strong possibility, but not a probability, as, for example, in “Don’t worry- - your teacher should give you a good grade”, meaning that the speaker knows that the learner worked hard for the grade and if everything goes according to plan, things can work out in the way the speaker assumes. Epistemic should suggests that something will be the case if events are following their expected course, and thus expresses “the speaker’s idea of desirability about an advisable course of action” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 252). 10. Epistemic may implies a weak external force. It frequently refers to a possible subjective assumption about something which may be the case or then again may not be the case. In other words: it involves considering evidence and counterevidence and then assessing a state of affairs as possible. For example, if somebody says at the ringing of the door bell “This may be John at the door”, there is nothing which hinders him / her from concluding that John is the visitor, but on the other hand, nothing compels him / her to conclude this either. There is no strong evidence for either course of event, which is why the speaker remains quite undecided, and just mentions a possibility resulting from his / her subjective judgment 110 . 11. Epistemic might is the distal form of epistemic may and therefore, again, its impact is weakened compared to that of may. It is very frequently used in its epistemic meaning. For example, in “The teacher might like your essay”, the speaker is not able to come to an assessment for either of the two possible outcomes. It is possible that the teacher likes the essay, but it is just as easily possible, maybe even more possible, that s / he will not like it. The speaker cannot commit to either of these two outcomes, as there is no evidence at all for either of them, whereas with may, there is at least some weak evidence for a positive outcome. 110 In the context of the difference between may and can, Dirven / Radden (2007: 25) report the example of warnings on cigarette packets, which at the beginning read “Smoking may damage your health” and then had to be changed to “Smoking can damage your health”, implying that the damage potential of cigarettes is not a subjective view (as in may) but one which is corroborated by scientific evidence and is therefore more objective (as in can). <?page no="136"?> 135 7.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction Summing up, modality in English is quite systematic and is organised according to the following principles: ▶ each modal verb has a root usage and a metaphorised epistemic usage ▶ both the root usage and the epistemic usage of the same verb rely on the same force-dynamic structure ▶ the root usages refer to physical and social forces, whereas the epistemic usages refer to (metaphorical) forces of logical reasoning ▶ for both root modality and epistemic modality, the distal forms (could, would, should, ought to, might) express weaker degrees of strength than the base forms of the same verbs ▶ the forces that explain the modal verbs can either come from inside a person (internal forces) or from the outside, either from another person, usually one with authority, or in the form of laws, values, norms, codes of behaviour etc. (external forces) ▶ the strength of the force involved is different for each modal. It is gradable and can therefore be ranked. ▶ for the root modals, the ranking relies on the desirability of the actions indicated by the main verb, whereas for the epistemic modals, the ranking relies on the speaker’s assessment of either the strong necessity, or the probability, or the possibility of the actions indicated by the main verb, yielding the sequences of modal verbs presented in this and in the previous sub-chapter. 7.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction Modal auxiliaries open up new possibilities for learners of English as a foreign language, as they enable them to not only describe and report things and events in a factual way but additionally allow them to state their own opinions. What is more, a correct use of modal auxiliaries is indispensable for speaking English outside of the classroom, as descriptions and reports are usually not the main purposes of speaking in naturally occurring conversations. Instead, speakers rather want to talk about their opinions and have these opinions assessed by their interaction partner(s). In German textbooks of English as a foreign language, the explanation of modality is usually based on a speech-act approach. In this approach, modality is illustrated and taught according to a list of possible meanings that the modal auxiliaries can have, which then needs to be learned by heart (cf. Declerck 2011: 21). For example, the learners are informed that can stands for permission but also for ability, but that may also stands for permission, and so forth. The learners are normally not introduced to the two different types of modality and are therefore not provided with a systematic picture of modality. The modals are frequently presented as if they were highly interchangeable, whereas each of them has in fact a slightly different meaning, related to its degree of strength and to whether the (metaphorical) force behind the modal comes from an internal source, namely from the speaker himself / herself, or from an external source. <?page no="137"?> 136 7. Modality As root modality is the more basic type of modality and as the mental image of forces influencing the modal meaning is easier to comprehend for physical and / or social forces than for the reasoning forces which act on the epistemic modals, the lesson presented in the next sub-chapter only deals with root modality, which at the same time prepares the ground for the introduction of the metaphorised epistemic modals at a later stage. Modal auxiliaries are highly frequent in natural language use, as by far not everything that is uttered relates to facts. Rather, speakers tend to talk about their personal attitudes, beliefs and possibilities, and it is very important for learners of English as a foreign language to understand correctly which attitude a speaker has and wants to convey. Moreover, it is important for learners to be able to present their own attitudes and beliefs. Therefore, the use of modality should be introduced as soon as the learners are comfortable enough with reporting facts and asking for information, which means that they are able to communicate about the factual world. As mentioned before, modality refers to the non-factual world and the degree of non-factuality that a speaker transmits crucially depends on the choice of the correct modal auxiliaries. An introduction to modality can happen already in sixth or seventh grade. In a first step, the learners should get acquainted with a selection of root modals, ideally with the help of visualisations. Such a selection could consist of the most prominent members of the family of root modals, namely will, can, must and may, which are presumably the most frequently used root modals. In order not to overwhelm the learners, the other root modals should be introduced at a later stage. However, all root modals should have been introduced before the epistemic modals are tackled, as the meanings of all epistemic modals rely on the meanings of the root modals, which should therefore be known as a precondition. Furthermore, the negation of the modal auxiliaries should come at a later point in time as well, as the transfer from a positive to a negative meaning does not work as a one-to-one correspondence for the modals. Naturally occurring communicative situations in which modal auxiliaries are used are innumerable. As soon as language is not used in a fact-related way, modals are needed. For the lesson introduced in the next sub-chapter, the general grammatical learning target is for the learners to get acquainted with the use of modality as relating to a non-factual world of assessments, opinions and beliefs, and the specific grammatical learning target is for the learners to differentiate between the uses of the four chosen modal auxiliaries: ▶ may is used when somebody else is asked for permission or grants permission and can be connected to the mental image of a lifted barrier ▶ must is used when a strong external authority- - be it a person with authority or be it written norms, laws or codes of conduct which need to be obeyed-- exerts an irresistible force. It can be connected to the mental image of a powerful force pushing the acting person. ▶ can relates to the notion of ability, frequently referring to physical ability, and can be connected to the mental image of bulging muscles as a signal for the force that the acting person has in himself / herself ▶ will relates to a strong desire and also to futurity, i. e., to a probable course of action. It can be connected to the mental image of heading towards a goal, which can be visualised <?page no="138"?> 137 7.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction as an index finger pointing ahead or, in the written mode, as an arrow pointing to the right-hand side 111 It is important to focus on the fact that for the first two modals (may and must), an external source is responsible for the applied force, whereas for the second pair of modals (can and will) the force comes from within the acting person himself / herself. In this way, the different abstract meanings of the notion ‘force’ are clearly distinguished and kept apart. The mental images mentioned (i. e., the lifted barrier for may, the action of pushing for must, the bulging muscles for can and the arrow pointing at a goal for will) are easy to visualise. Tyler (2008, 2012, see also Tyler et al. 2010) has developed an approach in which she designed visualisations for most modal verbs, albeit not for the negated ones. In Tyler’s visualisation for the modal auxiliary can, for example, a stick figure is shown which has lines in its head in order to symbolise the internal force, which has little bulging muscles on its arm in order to signal its physical ability to lift the object shown next to it and which has an arrow on one of its hands pointing to the right-hand side, i. e., indicating that the figure is headed into the direction of the future. The sentence accompanying the picture is “I can lift 100 pounds” (see figure 1). As Tyler’s approach was developed for advanced L2 learners, it needs to be simplified for pupils in grade six or seven (or below). One suggestion for simplification is to render the picture more understandable as well as more appealing for the target audience by getting rid of some of its abstractions and by adding concrete details instead, such as a real and colour- 111 This ‘right-hand side’ refers to the timeline model for verb tenses, which is frequently used in teaching English grammar. This timeline is of course only a culture-related metaphor, as it is a well-entrenched belief in Western cultures that the future is ‘ahead of us’ and that the past lies ‘behind us’, or, relating to the timeline, that the future is on the right-hand side and the past is on the left-hand side, the reason being, amongst other things, that Western cultures read from left to right and therefore have embodied this type of chronology, i. e., what is on the left side comes first and what is on the right side comes later. This is by far not the case in all cultures, as, for example, the Aymara-- an indigenous group living in South America, mainly in Bolivia, Peru and Chile-- see the future as lying behind them (as they cannot see it, having no eyes at the backs of their heads) and the past as lying in front of them (as it has already happened and they know about it, i. e., have witnessed it happen), cf. also Evans 2013: 244 f. Furthermore, in cultures where script is read from the right to the left, as, for example, in Arabian cultures, the embodied chronology of events goes from the right (where the past would then be located) to the left (where the future is then assumed to reside). On the one hand, this is another example for the notion of embodiment, and on the other hand, this can be seen as proof for the fact that cultures live and understand life according to different underlying conceptualizations. Figure 1: “I can lift 100 pounds” (T yler 2012: 104) <?page no="139"?> 138 7. Modality ful object to be lifted, and to stress its weight. Furthermore, the lines in the figure’s head are replaced by a thought bubble, which locates the sentence meaning “I can lift 1000 kilos” 112 in the speaker’s mind and thus points at the internal force. Finally, a smiling face has been added, which shows that the speaker is confident concerning his / her ability to lift the heavy object. The arrow pointing to the future has been left out, as it becomes clear from the picture that the lifting is just an idea / a plan and has not yet happened (see figure 2). As a second example, figure 3 shows an adaptation of Tyler’s visualisation for the modal must, which has also been changed in order to foster a more intuitive understanding on the part of the learners. In Tyler’s suggestion, the two depicted persons have roughly the same size, there is a double arrow for the arms as a symbol for the strong force that is applied from outside and the persons have no faces. In the adaptation, the social pressure coming from an external source is shown by three elements: by a strong arm which pushes in the direction of another, smaller person’s back, by the smaller person’s frowning face (as nobody likes to be ordered around) and by the word “Homework! ! ! ! ! ”, which the stronger person utters and which the smaller person thinks about in a negative way. The learners therefore encounter a situation that they know from their own lives, for instance, when their parents force them to do their homework. The stick figures could of course also be replaced by a well-known character from the learners’ lives, for example by the class mascot, Homer Simpson, Batman etc., in order to make the visualisations even more attractive and memorable for the learners 115 . 112 The ‘pounds` from the original example were replaced by ‘kilos’. Furthermore, the obvious exaggeration (as nobody can lift 1000 kg) may make the picture more memorable. 113 My thanks go to my student Bruno Rischar for having developed this adaptation. 114 Again, my thanks go to my student Bruno Rischar for having developed this adaptation. 115 The other modal verbs can be visualised in a similar way. For inspiration, please see Tyler (2008, 2012) or Tyler et al. (2010). Figure 2: Adaptation of T yler ’s visualisation for can: “I can lift 1000 kilos” 113 Figure 3: Adaptation of T yler ’s visualisation for must: “You must do your homework” <?page no="140"?> 139 7.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction However, the modals cannot only be visualised through pictures or symbols, but can also be acted out. For may, the learners can, for example, pretend to lift an imaginary barrier in order to allow others to do a certain action (as, for example, entering a room), or-- for must-- they can push each other towards a certain course of action, as, for example, picking up a pencil. For both of these possibilities, two persons are necessary, which underlines the fact that for both may and must the force comes from outside, either in a relatively weak version for may or in a strong version for must. In order to act out the other two modals, for can, students can show or point to their bulging biceps muscles to indicate ability, both in a physical as well as in a non-physical sense, or for will, they can point their index fingers towards the future to signal their strong intention of doing something in the future. These latter two actions can both be performed by a single person, which underlines the fact that the force for both of these modals comes from inside a person, again either in a weaker version for can or in a stronger version for will. It is important to guide the learners towards understanding that can does not signal that an action is or will be done, just that a person’s ability to do it is relevant, whereas the use of will underlines the intention of doing something and, therefore, it is more likely that something will actually be done in the case of will than it is for can. As preconditions for the lesson outlined in the next sub-chapter, the learners should be able to form affirmative sentences as well as questions and they should be familiar with the use of all tenses and of the progressive aspect. They should furthermore be able to talk about themselves and their lives and should know the word field of animals and their behaviour. As the forms of the four targeted modals should not present any difficulty for the learners, they can concentrate on acquiring their meanings. The task at hand focuses on the learners’ interest in animals, domestic ones as well as wild ones, and lets the learners playfully and creatively invent fantasy animals and imagine their behaviour. This topic is on the one hand age-relevant and is related to the learners’ lives and interests outside of the classroom, and on the other hand it opens up the learners’ repertoire of potential utterances and conversational topics, as all interpersonal speech acts are based on modality. In this way, the learners train their competence of asking for details concerning a phenomenon they do not completely understand and of making statements about desirable, possible or probable situations, which have not (yet) happened. For the task, the learners are asked to sit together in groups and to invent fantasy animals. They invent names for these animals and describe their behaviour. As the animals do not exist in the factual world, the behaviour can only be described tentatively, by using modal auxiliaries. The learners can use their own creativity for the task and will presumably concentrate on the result and not necessarily on the modal auxiliaries. There is no preconceived solution for this task, as the learners can determine what these animals might look like and how they might behave. They presumably enjoy such a creative task and will also enjoy reporting their results. As the other classmates have never heard about the other groups’ fantasy animals before, they need to get further information about them and their behaviour in the report phase. It is also possible to have a competition at the end of the lesson in order to decide which fantasy animal is liked best by the majority of the class members, but as all groups <?page no="141"?> 140 7. Modality will have created interesting fantasy animals, such a competition is only an option if there is enough time left at the end of the lesson, since the competition is presumably not necessary as a further motivating element for the lesson. 7.4 The task cycle As usual, the task cycle begins with the pre-task phase, which is meant to introduce the communicative topic. For the present case study, this topic deals with animals in general and fantasy animals in particular. The teacher can, for instance, start the lesson by telling the learners about a recent visit to the zoo in order to refresh the learners’ knowledge of the word field ‘animals’. After the introductory statement that s / he went to the zoo, the teacher starts by describing the animals that s / he saw there. S / he might say, for instance, “I liked the kangaroos very much-- they can hop and skip, but they must stay inside their cages, they may not leave them”. S / he can then continue by asking who of the learners likes kangaroos as well. Some hands will go up, and then the teacher starts to ask questions such as “Where do they come from? ” or “What do they eat? ”. After some answers, the teacher can ask further questions, such as “Can they eat chocolate? ” or “Is it correct that kangaroos can fly? ” or “May a kangaroo visit you at home? ” or “Is it true that kangaroos must carry their young ones with them wherever they go? ”, already using all four targeted modals in no specific sequence. The learners will presumably not use these modals in their answers, they will instead be fully focused on the topic. The same procedure is repeated with further animals, elicited by “Which other animals did I see at the zoo, what do you think? ”. The animal vocabulary can be collected on the board or on a slide. If possible, flashcards showing pictures of the animals together with their names can be attached to a wall, as a source of inspiration for weaker learners. Then the teacher informs the learners about the instructions for the upcoming task. The learners work in groups of four 116 and each group has to invent a fantasy animal, for which they have to find a name and whose behaviour has to be described. The teacher provides an example, for instance by saying “When I was at the zoo, I could not decide whether I like kangaroos better or whether I prefer gorillas. It would be a good idea to combine these two and then have a kangarilla”. The teacher might want to show a drawing or a picture showing this fantasy animal, consisting of, for example, the lower body part of a kangaroo and the upper body part of a gorilla (or vice versa). S / he might then continue by saying that s / he is looking forward to seeing which combined fantasy animals the learners may come up with, and that, furthermore, these fantasy animals’ behaviour should be described. Following this introduction, the task starts with the teacher’s description of the kangarilla’s behaviour, during which all four modals are used and visualised: 116 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. In this case, it would be a good idea to let the learners draw snippets with animal pictures on them in order to build ‘group kangaroo’, ‘group lion’, ‘group giraffe’ and so on. <?page no="142"?> 141 7.4 The task cycle ▶ “You know, a kangarilla can jump very well”- - accompanied by a visualisation of can and by touching his / her muscles while saying something like “it can do this very well, because it has strong muscles”. ▶ “The kangarilla will run away when it sees you, as it is quite shy”-- accompanied by a visualisation of will and by adding that s / he is quite sure that the kangarilla will indeed run away, followed by the repetition of “it sees you and then it runs away-- it will indeed do this”. The part of the sentence saying “then it runs away” is underlined by a forward-pointing gesture with the index finger. ▶ “It is possible that I want to take the kangarilla home, but it must sleep outside and not in my bedroom”-- accompanied by a visualisation of must, furthermore by a shake of the head and by vocally stressing must, then this information is repeated as “The kangarilla goes into my bedroom? Oh no, I push it out again-- it must stay outside”, together with a gesture of pushing. ▶ “The kangarilla may play in my garden”-- accompanied by a visualisation of may, the addition of “Come on, kangarilla, come into my garden. You may play there! I allow you to play there! ” and a gesture of opening the door to the garden, i. e., of taking away an obstacle blocking the kangarilla’s access. The visualisations of the targeted modal verbs, as discussed in the previous sub-chapter, can be used during the task phase, as described above, as well as during the language focus. They should, however, not be used during the pre-task phase, as the pre-task is reserved for establishing the communicative situation. In this phase, normally only the teacher uses the grammatical construction which is focused upon. For the language focus, the visualisations can then be attached to the board in order to structure the example sentences. After the teacher’s descriptions of the kangarilla, each group receives a worksheet. At the top of the worksheet, the learners find the teacher’s four example sentences, along with the visualisations used during the presentation of these examples, in order to remind them of the meanings of the targeted modals-- where does the pressure come from and how strong is it? Below the examples and the visualisations, there is a box into which the group members have to write the fantasy animal’s name and under which they find four lines, showing the following texts and gaps: 1. “ XXX ” (standing for the fantasy animal’s name) can-… (verb) 2. “ XXX ” will-… (verb) 3. “ XXX ” must-… (verb) 4. “ XXX ” may-… (verb) This is followed by some more lines, which are completely empty. If the learners are quick, they can invent more properties or kinds of behaviour of their fantasy animal and write them down as well. The learners then work on their own for about ten minutes, first selecting their fantasy animal and finding a name for it and then discussing the kinds of behaviour that this animal might display. During this time, the teacher keeps in the background, observing the learners. <?page no="143"?> 142 7. Modality As a preparation for the report, the learners have to decide who reads which sentence (four group members-= four sentences) and they have to make sure that they picked the correct modal auxiliaries for their example sentences. The teacher goes from group to group, helping those learners who have questions. Furthermore, s / he may already preselect those sentences that are to play a role during the language focus. During the actual report phase, every group is asked to present their fantasy animal and to talk about it. After each group report, the teacher asks questions about the fantasy animal, for example “Can this fantasy animal swim? ” or “Will it bite me when I try to touch it? ” or “May I feed it? ” or “You understand that the fantasy animal must not come to school, right? ” The teacher then invites the other class members to ask questions as well and the group reporting at that moment tries to answer them, if necessary with the teacher’s help. If the targeted modal auxiliaries are not used in the classmates’ questions, the teacher may reformulate these questions in order to integrate them. When the teacher notices that a learner has used a wrong modal auxiliary, a flash card with the correct visualisation can be held up. For the language focus, the teacher has already prepared four columns on the board, one for each of the targeted modal auxiliaries. The columns have the headers ‘can’ and ‘will’ on one side of the blackboard and ‘may’ and ‘must’ on the other side. Above the headers, the visualisations which were already used before are attached. The teacher then selects two learners who would like to write down their sentences with can from their reports, followed by the same procedure for the other three modals. When the board shows eight sentences, two for each modal auxiliary, the teacher asks the learners to explain what exactly the sentences mean and suggests to refer to the visualisations for the explanations. The learners should realise that can focuses on ability (such as in “The kangarilla can jump very well” or “The eletiger can run fast”), signalled by the little bulging muscles in the visualisation. The teacher then continues by asking whether the kangarilla / eletiger is performing this action right now, in order for the learners to realise that the sentence does not refer to an action in the factual world but to a possibility. This is repeated in the same way for the other modals. The meaning of will (such as in “The kangarilla will run away” or “The eletiger will chase you”) is connected to the notion of futurity, indicated by an arrow pointing to a future action. This is again accompanied by the question whether the fantasy animal in question is behaving in this way right now, which should make the learners realise that the action lies in the future (or in irreality, as the animal does not exist) and is therefore non-factual. The meaning of may (such as in “The kangarilla may play in my garden” or “The eletiger may sleep in the garage”) is connected to the notion of permission, indicated by the lifting of an obstacle, in this case the opened entryway to the garden or the opened garage door. The learners are to understand that (in this case) the speaker grants permission and allows the fantasy animal to do these things, and that the fantasy animal does not perform these actions by its own will but that an ‘authority’ needs to allow them. Finally, the meaning of must (such as in “The kangarilla must stay outside” or “The eletiger must clean its teeth before going to sleep”) is connected to the idea of a strong force exerted by an ‘authority’, indicated by the visualisation of pushing the animal towards a desired action. <?page no="144"?> 143 7.4 The task cycle In this case, the authority emanates from the speaker. The expected actions are the speaker’s idea of the correct behaviour of the fantasy animal, although the sentences do not necessarily entail that the animal actually obeys. Summing up, the learners need to realise that the sentences on the board do not report facts but are the speaker’s perspective of how the fantasy animal behaves or has to behave. The use of the targeted modals indicates that the fantasy animal ▶ is able to perform certain actions (which is not the same as actually doing them) = can ▶ will perform certain actions in the future and in certain cases (which, again, is not the same as actually doing them) = will ▶ has the permission to perform certain actions (which does not mean it will do them, but if it wanted to, it could) = may ▶ is pushed towards performing certain actions because the speaker exerts considerable force in order to get the animal to do these actions (which it will most likely do then, but not necessarily so) = must If there is still some time left for a transfer, the learners can use the newly acquired modals for speaking about a different topic, related to a different word field. They could, for example, speak about their lives at home and report on what their parents habitually demand from them. The teacher could ask “When you want to play computer games, are you allowed to do that at all times? ”-- and the learners answer by using one of the modals (“I can play computer games whenever I want” or “I will play computer games as soon as I come home from school” or “I may play computer games when my father is not at home” or “I must wash the dishes before I am allowed to use the computer”, for example). This can be done in a question-and-answer chain, i. e., every learner who gives an answer can ask the next question, as long as the topic stays within the confines of ‘life after school’ and ‘duties at home’. Should a learner select the wrong modal auxiliary, the teacher can point to the visualisations on the board and ask the learner to reconsider. Furthermore, the teacher should try to make sure that all four targeted modal auxiliaries are used. For homework, the learners need to prepare questions for a parent or a relative and write these questions down, together with the answers 117 . The teacher should give the learners some examples of the types of questions they are supposed to ask. They have to prepare at least four questions focusing on the topic of food and dining and then elicit answers from their interview partners and write them down: 1. “May I have some ice cream? ” (asking for permission, getting rid of the hurdle of the non-access to the ice cream partition in the freezer) 2. “Can you pass me the salt, please? ” (asking for the bodily ability of a person, enquiring whether this person has the salt at arm’s length) 3. “Will Uncle Peter come to dinner on Sunday? ” (asking for an event in the future, pointing towards the future) 117 If the answers are negative, a simple ‘no’ is enough, as the negated modals have not yet been introduced. <?page no="145"?> 144 7. Modality 4. “Must I really eat broccoli? ” (asking whether somebody will force them to eat what they do not want to eat, indicating the irrefutable strength and authority of the other person involved, usually a parent) They have to use each modal auxiliary at least once and have to be able to explain the choice of modal. In the follow-up lesson, the dining situation can be acted out as a role play in class with everybody trying to include their prepared sentences. 7.5 Alternatives As already mentioned, there are many communicative situations in which modal auxiliaries are used. One possibility for slightly more advanced learners is to refer to the explanations of traffic sings. A sign such as ‘Give right of way’ can be verbalised as “you must give priority to vehicles driving on the main road”, a stop sign can be verbalised as “you must stop”, or a zebra crossing can be verbalised as “pedestrians may cross here”. The situation to be introduced might relate to the imminent (or imagined) visit of an exchange class from an English-speaking country, who are in a bus and are driving towards the school. The bus driver is lost in the foreign town where the German partner school is located and has stopped in order to wait for directions. The teacher receives a phone call asking for help. S / he can then distribute city maps to the learners, which indicate where the bus is at that moment. Every group then has to produce a verbal description of a part of the correct route. This description has to include an explanation of the traffic signs, which are also shown on the maps. For example, the learners can produce sentences such as “Cross the main road next-- but you must pay attention to the stop sign at that crossing” or “You can turn left after you have passed the post office, then you will end up at the school’s parking lot instead of directly in front of the school” or “You may call again if you get lost again”. Then the learners record their directions, for example with a smartphone, and send them-- in the correct sequence-- to the bus driver’s phone number. Another idea, which was already briefly mentioned, relates to the students’ acting out the meanings of the modal auxiliaries. The teacher can prepare snippets with short sentences on them, each of them using a modal auxiliary, for example “I can lift a chair” or “I will open the window” or “You must pick up my pencil” or “You may leave the room”. The learners work in pairs on the snippets (as those modals which relate to an external force need to be presented by two persons) and discuss how to present the sentence in question in a pantomime. During the report phase, the other classmates then have to guess which sentence was presented. For “I can lift a chair”, one learner could point at a chair, make a lifting movement, show a confident face, touch his / her muscles and produce a nod, together with a thumbs-up sign. For “I will open the window”, one learner could point at the window, make a gesture of opening it and then walk towards the window. For “You must pick up my pencil”, a pencil could be laid on the ground, one learner could push the other learner towards the pencil and point to the pencil. For “You may leave the room”, one learner could point at the door, make a questioning face, point to himself / herself and the other student may nod and produce a ‘go ahead’-gesture or <?page no="146"?> 145 7.5 Alternatives even open the door. In this way, the use and the meanings of the modals are stored together with the movements for these modals, which, according to Clark / Paivio (1991), should result in a quicker retrieval. The work group around Roche ( LMU Munich) has produced grammar animations for various grammatical phenomena, among them modal verbs 118 . Although these animations are meant for teaching German as a foreign language, they can be adapted for English and can then replace the static visualisations mentioned before. The tests that were run to prove the effectiveness of animated grammar explanations have shown that these are more efficient than static pictures. Therefore, if the technical equipment is available in a classroom, these grammar animations can be used, for example during the language focus, in which the different meanings of the modals are discussed. In more advanced classes, the focus needs to shift from root modality to epistemic modality. If all the root modals have been introduced, it is time for making the learners aware of the fact that the modals can also have extended meanings, due to a metaphorization from a physical or social force to a force involving logical reasoning. The visualisation for the epistemic uses of the modals are exactly the same as for the root uses, only the example sentences need to vary (see sub-chapter 7.2). As the learners already possess mental images of the forces expressed by the root modals, these images can be transferred to their epistemic uses. For instance, the familiar visualisation of must can be shown, which depicts a person being pushed by a stronger ‘authority’, only that this ‘authority’ is no longer a person or a law etc., but resides in the realm of reasoning. A sentence such as “Tim must be at home” relies on a very strong conclusion to which the speaker is pushed by external evidence, as, for example, a recent phone call from Tim’s home number. Such strong external forces can then be contrasted with weaker external forces, such as in “Tim may be at home”, relying on the (weak) external evidence that the speaker knows that Tim is frequently at home at this time of the day, however, s / he cannot really be sure of this. These uses can be introduced and trained in a task related to a detective game, where the detectives have to find out and evaluate the suspects’ alibis (“He must have been the thief because he was seen with his hands in the victim’s pocket” vs “He may have been the thief because the witness saw him run away in a hurry”). Further reading Brisard, Frank / Patard, Adeline (2011): “Introduction: Cognitive approaches to tense, aspect, and epistemic modality”. In: Brisard, Frank / Patard, Adeline (eds.): Cognitive approaches to tense, aspect and epistemic modality. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1-17. Clark, James M. / Paivio, Allan (1991): “Dual coding theory and education”. Educational Psychology Review 3(3), 149-170. 118 El-Bouz 2016 reports on the teaching of German modals and presents her examples, her teaching experiment and her results. <?page no="147"?> 146 7. Modality Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Declerck, Renaat (2011): “The definition of modality”. In: Patard, Adeline / Brisard, Frank (eds.): Cognitive approaches to tense, aspect, and epistemic modality. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 21-44. El-Bouz, Katsiaryna (2016): “Animation of grammar-- interplay of cognitive linguistics and multimedia learning: The example of German modal auxiliaries”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 135-151. Evans, Vyvyan (2013): Language and time. A cognitive linguistics approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2009): Investigations in cognitive grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, Ronald W. (2011): “The English present: Temporal coincidence vs. epistemic immediacy”. In: Patard, Adeline / Brisard, Frank (eds.): Cognitive approaches to tense, aspect, and epistemic modality. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 45-86. Radden, Günter (2014): “Making sense of negated modals”. Argumentum 10, 519-532. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Seggewiss, Friederike (2012): Current changes in the English modals-- A corpus-based analysis of present-day spoken English. Doctoral dissertation. Universität Freiburg. Smith, Nicholas (2003): “Modals and semi-modals of obligation and necessity”. In: Facchinetti, Roberta / Krug, Manfred / Palmer, Frank (eds.): Modality in contemporary English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 241-266. Sweetser, Eve (1990): From etymology to pragmatics: Metaphorical and cultural aspects of semantic structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Talmy, Leonard (1988): “Force dynamics in language and cognition”. Cognitive Science 12, 49-100. Taylor, John R. (2002): Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tyler, Andrea (2008): “Cognitive linguistics and second language instruction”. In: Robinson, Peter / Ellis, Nick C. (eds.): Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. London: Routledge, 456-488. Tyler, Andrea (2012): Cognitive linguistics and second language learning: Theoretical basics and experimental evidence. London: Routledge. Tyler, Andrea / Mueller, Charles M. / Ho, Vu (2010): “Applying cognitive linguistics to instructed L2 learning: The English modals”. AILA Review 23, 30-49. <?page no="148"?> 147 8.1 Form 8. Conditionals Just as explained for modality, also the use of conditionals relates to a non-factual world. Whereas modality is concerned with speaker attitudes and speaker assessments, conditionals are prototypically used to describe ‘what if-…’ situations, which are by definition non-factual, as they have not yet happened at the moment of speaking, have not happened in the past or cannot happen anymore. The speaker merely reflects on potential consequences of a given situation, negotiates between several logical and illogical scenarios and, depending on the type of conditionality employed, judges these consequences either as possible (conditional I), or as not impossible but improbable (conditional II ), or as completely impossible (conditional III ). Conditionals are frequently judged to be quite difficult for learners of English, partly because “most ESL grammar books lack precise explanations of conditional meanings and usage contexts” (Jacobsen 2016: 1). 8.1 Form Three types of conditionals exist, which are usually numbered as ‘conditional type I’, ‘conditional type II ’ and ‘conditional type III ’. What all three types of conditionals share is their basic structure, as all of them consist of two parts: the conditional clause (i. e., the clause usually starting with ‘if ’ 119 , which establishes a theoretical situation, not connected to reality) and the so-called head clause or main clause (i. e., the clause which describes the consequences if the conditions are, will be, or would have been met and which marks the theoretical situation with some degree of reality, cf. Werth 1997: 252). If the if-clause comes first, a comma separates it from the main clause. If the main clause comes first, the comma is omitted. Learner grammars usually present the three types of conditionals by labelling them-- based on the degree of factuality encoded in them-- as ‘factual’ 120 (conditional type I), ‘hypothetical’ or ‘potential’ (conditional type II ) and ‘counterfactual’ (conditional type III ). The focus in traditional textbooks and grammars is primarily on the form of the conditionals and a lot less on their meanings. Conditional I uses the present tense in the if-clause and either the present tense or the future in the main clause, such as in “If it rains, we do not go out” / “If it rains, we will not go out”. Its meaning is generally explained as relating to a ‘real’ and ‘true’ condition. Conditional II uses the past tense in the if-clause and the distal form of a modal 121 such as would (could, might, ought to are also possible) plus a finite full verb in the main clause, such 119 There is only a limited number of other possibilities, the only alternatives being only if, even if, except if or “a word or phrase that has a meaning similar to if, only if (e. g., provided) or except if (viz. unless)”, (cf. Declerck / Reed 2001: 9). 120 The label ‘factual’ does not make any sense from a cognitive grammar point of view, as the situation in a conditional clause is by definition theoretical, i. e., non-factual. However, the label ‘factual’ fits when a habitual activity is described, as, for example, in “If the sun comes out, we (always) go for a walk”. 121 For information on distal modals, please consult sub-chapter 7.3. <?page no="149"?> 148 8. Conditionals as in “If it rained, we would / could / might / ought to stay indoors”. This type of conditional is generally explained as referring to a possibility which is “neither in accordance with reality, nor necessarily inconsistent with it” (Taylor 1997: 302). Conditional III uses the past perfect in the if-clause and the distal form of a modal such as would (could, might, ought to are also possible) plus a perfect form of the verb in the main clause, such as in “If it had rained, we would / could / might / ought to have stayed indoors”. This type of conditional, also known as ‘irrealis’, is generally explained as referring to a situation which is no longer possible, or in other words: as a counterfactuality. This tripartition, completely based on tense differences, may seem quite reasonable on the surface, but if actual language data are analysed, the picture changes somewhat, as in naturally occurring language data, available via corpus analyses, conditionals are not infrequently used differently. Therefore, the picture transmitted in EFL textbooks is simplified. Which conditional is used in an if-clause frequently depends on the context and on information which lies outside the realm of linguistic coding 122 . Textbooks usually only present one type of conditional at a time. This way of presentation makes it hard for learners to see the differences between the three subtypes of basically the same construction, and a generalization of the notion of the different degrees of ‘conditional meaning’ thus becomes difficult or even impossible. 8.2 Meaning The general meaning of conditionals consists in making a prediction, for which it is necessary to estimate the outcomes of two or more alternatives and decide for the most likely one. Conditionals are a linguistic area for which a multitude of different theories have been developed, none of them really exhaustive. As already mentioned, textbooks generally simplify their explanations of conditionals, as these are quite frequently used differently than described in learner grammars. In cognitive grammar, conditionals are seen as a construction, i. e., as an abstract form-meaning pairing. Again, as for other constructions (and as explained for tense and for aspect in chapters 5 and 6), there are prototypical instances, which display the conventionalised meaning of conditionals, and more marginal instances, which rely “on the (dynamically constructed) context” (Dancygier 1998: 10). The best-known description from cognitive grammar comes from Dancygier / Sweetser 2005 and is based on Fauconnier’s Mental Space Theory. Therefore, before the Dancygier / Sweetser analysis of conditionals can be presented, a short excursion into Fauconnier’s Mental Space Theory seems to be appropriate. 122 See also Taylor (cf. 1997: 302), who provides the following two examples: a) “If he said that (and we heard him say it! ), he’s a liar” and b) “If he said that, he’d be a liar”. Both sentences share the same if-clause, but in a) the condition can be interpreted as factual, whereas it is hypothetical in b), the reason for the difference in meaning lying in the speaker’s background knowledge, i. e., outside the linguistic coding. <?page no="150"?> 149 8.2 Meaning 8.2.1 Mental Space Theory The basic idea of Fauconnier’s model (cf. Fauconnier 1994, Fauconnier / Turner 2002) is to trace the directions of a speaker’s thoughts, which then show up in his / her language use. When discourse participants interact, they mentally construct small conceptual packets (called ‘mental spaces’) of information. These mental spaces contain elements of meaning, i. e., conceptual information concerning the things or people talked about as well as information on the reality status of the situation which is talked about and its relevance time. The mental space that serves as the basis or starting point of an interaction is called ‘base space’. Base space is the situation at speech time, the ‘here and now’, in which the speaker is the deictic centre. It serves as an anchor for expressing both the reality status and the temporal relevance of any situation that is communicated and it contains conceptual information on the things or people talked about, the space and time of the interaction as well as information about the interaction context. All of this is generally taken for granted and will therefore not necessarily be expressed verbally. Everything that is uttered is interpreted via the base space-- the hearer either notices that the utterance deviates temporally from base space, i. e., is about past or present reality, or is informed that the situation talked about deviates from reality, as conditionals prototypically do. A new mental space can be set up or an already established space can be referred back to at any moment in the discourse. Most mental spaces are opened implicitly, but this can also be done in a more explicit way by so-called ‘space builders’. One such space builder is if 123 . Space builders let the hearer immediately understand that base space has been left and that a new space has been opened up, which-- in the case of if-- is a non-factual space, also called potentiality space. Potentiality space has two subdivisions, namely hypotheticality space and counterfactuality space. They are differentiated concerning their distance to base space (and therefore to reality) and they can be imagined as gradually moving away from base space / reality space. All these spaces can be mentally accessed by the use of conditionals. This can be exemplified by a brief analysis of the sentence “If he shows up, you will talk to him straight away”. This sentence can be seen as a prediction. Base space consists of the current reality and of the knowledge that the speaker already has, according to which the person in question is not (yet) present. The if-clause as an explicit space builder opens up a new mental space that relates to an alternative world, in this case a non-factual, but potential, one. In this new mental space, the speaker is allowed to assume a number of possible outcomes (such as, for example, “you will ignore him”, or “you will attack him”, or “you will talk to him straight away” etc.), one of these possible outcomes-- usually that one which the speaker thinks to be most likely-- is then mentioned in the main clause, which functions as a conceptual and grammatical extension of the if-clause. By using conditional type I the speaker indicates that s / he judges the outcome as possible in the future. 123 Other explicit space builders are, for example, ‘possibly- …’ or ‘(Tom) believes that- …’. Grammatical markers for tense, aspect and modality are not explicit space builders themselves but provide the hearer with clues concerning the space that is relevant at that point (cf. Fauconnier 1994: 29). <?page no="151"?> 150 8. Conditionals 8.2.2 Potentiality space As already mentioned, a speech act based on non-factuality opens up potentiality space. This needs to be marked explicitly, usually by if in combination with a set of tense forms that indicate the epistemic as well as the temporal relevance. The following example sentences demonstrate the different degrees of potentiality, which correspond to the different types of conditionals: 1. If he shows up, talk to him at once. 2. If he shows up, you will talk to him straight away. 3. If he showed up, you would probably talk to him. 4. If he had shown up, you could have talked to him. The possibility that a hypothetical situation will become real is still given in the immediate future (example 1, using conditional I) or in the more remote future (example 2, also using conditional I- - cf. the analysis of this sentence at the end of the previous sub-chapter). In terms of their reality status, these two situations are located either in the fuzzy peripheral area of base space (example 1) or close to the reality of base space, but already outside it (example 2). In example 3 (using conditional II ), it is highly unlikely-- but not yet impossible-- that the person in question will show up, therefore the distance to reality is bigger than in the first two examples and the degree of hypotheticality is higher. In example 4 (using conditional III ), the epistemic distance to the reality of base space has become even bigger, and the situation displays counterfactuality, defined by Fauconnier / Turner as “forced incompatibility between spaces” (2002: 230). A counterfactual hypothetical statement indicates that it is impossible for the described situation to happen. The statements in examples 1-4 do not differ concerning the events described or with respect to their times of occurrence (as none of them have occurred at the time of speaking), they only differ concerning their epistemic distance to base space. The use of the--ed morpheme indicates distance 124 . In example 3, the--ed morpheme (in ‘showed’) refers to epistemic distance (i. e., distance from reality), whereas the use of the past perfect in example 4 refers to even more distance, namely in this case both temporal and epistemic distance to base space. Since the situation in example 4 is located in temporal as well as epistemic distance from the base, a ‘double backshift’ takes place grammatically, as can be seen by the use of the past perfect in ‘had shown up’. Every speaker has many grammatical options at hand to communicate his / her thoughts, whereas from the hearer’s perspective, the use of space builders as well as the use of the--ed morpheme or the past perfect “allows us to reconstruct the reality and time spaces set up from base space” (Fauconnier 1997: 78) as well as the relations between them. In other words: the speaker provides the hearer with hints as to which directions his / her thoughts are taking, whether they refer to the past or to the present or whether they refer to reality or not and the hearer can then trace back the intended meaning of what the speaker said. For native speakers of a language, this happens subconsciously both on the part of the speaker as well as on the 124 This is described in more detail in sub-chapter 5.3.2. <?page no="152"?> 151 8.2 Meaning part of the hearer, whereas foreign language learners need to pay attention to using the correct space builders and grammatical cues in order to provide their hearers with relevant hints as to what they really want to express. Coming back to the Dancygier / Sweetser (2005) approach, Jacobsen highlights that these authors …claim that conditional if-clauses set up certain mental space structures. They analyse how such a set-up happens through manipulating various markers (e. g., if, when, unless) and using different verb forms. Coherence and validity of conditional phrases depend on the successful configuration of all the elements constituting their structure, as individually construed by a given speaker. (Jacobsen 2016: 4) This view was also outlined in the previous paragraphs. If this theory, based on Mental Space Theory, can be transferred to learners, they are enabled to focus on the meanings of the various types of conditionals instead of on rules focussing on the correct use of the tenses for the three types, as is currently common practice. Mental spaces can be visualised, with base space / reality space in the middle and potentiality space somewhat removed from this middle, gradually expanding via hypotheticality to counterfactuality. The more removed a situation is from reality, the smaller are the chances that this situation is actually going to happen, which is then indicated by the different types of conditionals used, as the sequence of conditionals I- III entails an increase of the distance from reality. This means that learners need to focus on the reality status of a situation in order to be able to use the correct conditional form. If tense has already been explained to the learners from a cognitive grammar perspective, they will know that the--ed morpheme in the if-clause signals distance, not only temporal distance but also reality distance 125 , which then interacts with the type of conditional used; and if modality has already been explained to the learners from a cognitive grammar perspective as well, they will additionally know that the use of modals in the main clause (will, would, could etc.) signals that a non-factual world has been entered. Finally, the double backshift in conditional III and the use of the perfective aspect (‘had shown up’, ‘could have talked’) signals that two time spheres are being related to each other, namely the pre-past and the past, in which the things talked about did NOT happen (because first the person in question would have had to show up and only then could he have been talked to) and that this situation is not changeable anymore, as the past just cannot be changed. All these explanations are based on the meaning components of grammatical structures, in this case: --ed for distance, modals for non-factuality and the double backshift for indicating both distance and non-factuality. 125 The very common learner mistake of using would in the if-clause is an interference from German, where such a construction is possible (“Falls er anrufen würde, dann-…”). In English, however, distance from reality can only be signaled once per clause, and this is done by the if in the if-clause and by a distal modal such as would in the main clause. <?page no="153"?> 152 8. Conditionals The iconicity 126 aspect of the different conditionals is apparent: if the situation spoken about is close to base space, no distance-creating--ed morpheme and no distance-creating modals are used (=-conditional I and the present tense in the main clause). If the situation is slightly removed from base space, the modal will is used, which creates some distance (=-conditional I and the future in the main clause). If the situation is more removed from base space, a distance-creating--ed morpheme is used in the if-clause as well as a distal modal in the main clause (=-conditional II ). Finally, if the situation is far removed from base space, more linguistic material is used (the past perfect in the if-clause and a distal modal plus the present perfect in the main clause), which in an iconic way mirrors this large conceptual distance (=-conditional III ). This need for the compatibility of conceptual meaning and grammatical markers relates to what Dancygier / Sweetser have called ‘coherence’, which is why they argue that …in the case of conditional constructions, one can see that certain combinations would be coherent and others less so: a construction which marks its mental-space set-up as true, or believed in by the speaker, will not be coherent with verb forms which express the speaker’s doubt about such truth, while a neutral verb form will be coherent with a wider range of constructions. (Dancygier / Sweetser 2005: 12) Again, it needs to be stressed that in applied cognitive grammar, grammar is seen as a tool in the learners’ hands which enables them to say exactly what they want to express. Concerning conditionals, they are enabled to express the exact degree of potentiality of their non-factual utterances. 8.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction Conditionals are a topic which is not suitable for beginning learners of English, as these grammatical structures can only be taught successfully once the learners have already mastered a number of other grammatical phenomena, as, for example, tense and aspect, modal auxiliaries and negation as well as the syntactic aspects of subordination. All of these factors make conditionals into a topic for quite advanced learners. However, this does not mean that conditionals cannot be used with less advanced learners. If the structure of the conditional clause stays unchanged, the learners only have to memorise and use a chunk, for instance, “If I won a million, I’d-…”, and can then fill the slot by whatever takes their fancy. Communicative situations in which to embed the topic of conditionals are not difficult to find, as every single time that potential, hypothetical or counterfactual situations are addressed, conditionals (or modal auxiliaries 127 ) have to be used. The aim that is targeted in the lesson outlined in the following sub-chapter is for the learners to acquire the form of the conditional structure which relates to the future (conditional I) and to use it correctly in a controlled context. Additionally, they are meant to realise that 126 More information on iconicity can be found in chapter 12.2.1. 127 For more information on modality, please consult chapter 7. <?page no="154"?> 153 8.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction conditional constructions display meaningful patterns which originate in the speaker’s background knowledge and their reasoning processes, i. e., their ability to make a prediction and to select one outcome out of different possibilities. The selected situation is meant for a seventh grade and relates to an upcoming class trip. The learners will travel to an English-speaking country in their Easter break, and for many of them it will be the first time that they can use their English with native speakers. The city which the learners will visit still has to be determined, as there are a number of different possibilities. The topic has been discussed before and six cities have been identified as the learners’ favourites: London, Edinburgh, Dublin, New York, Sydney and Vancouver 128 . The teacher has asked the tourist information centres of these cities to send brochures and information materials, additional information about the cities can be found on the internet-- all of this can then be used as teaching material. In the task, the learners have to decide on the destination of their class trip. This topic is of personal relevance for the learners, as they will actually participate in this trip and as they experience themselves as being partly responsible for selecting its destination. The learners are not yet aware of the programme of the trip and can therefore not rely on prior information, as the latter might restrict their creativity to a certain extent. This creativity is also important from another perspective, because when speakers use a conditional construction in everyday communication, they choose between various possible options and then mention the one that makes the most sense to them. In this way, the task asks the learners to imitate-- in a controlled context-- the way in which conditionals are constructed in natural communication. The learners realise that they may form a multitude of different main clauses for their if-clauses, and presumably discuss such options within their groups, but they are aware of the fact that they need to decide for the most convincing arguments if they want their city to be the winner. The situation is adequate for an introduction of the conditional type I, as the trip is planned for the future. Therefore, the situation that is mentioned in the main clause is by definition non-factual. The learners are asked to find arguments for ‘their’ city, which can then be used in the report phase with the aim of convincing the other classmates. At the end of the lesson, the learners can vote for the city which they like best. Even if they were not in the group which found arguments for the city they like best, they can then still vote for ‘their’ city. Concerning terminology, the expression ‘conditional’ is used, as it is easy to explain: the sentence is only true under the ‘condition’ that the if-clause becomes a reality. The communicative situation makes it obvious for the learners that they are talking about plans for the future and that the choice of city is still open at that point, therefore the meaning of the if as referring to a non-factual situation should be evident. If it is not, the teacher can always introduce the notion of ‘reality’ and ask the learners whether they are currently speaking about something real or not. The second part of the conditional construction relates to a plan for the future, which can become reality in case the city in question is the one the learners will 128 As it is quite expensive to get to some of these locations, also smaller towns can be used. All tourist information centres should be able to send materials on request. Furthermore, if no trip abroad is planned, the lesson can just as well focus on an imaginary trip. <?page no="155"?> 154 8. Conditionals travel to. Therefore, they should have no problem with becoming aware of the fact that the main clause makes a prediction but does not refer to reality. Conditional I can also use the present tense in the main clause, as, for example, in “If he is your friend, talk to him right now”, where the action of talking lies in the (near) future. As a first encounter with the conditional I construction, however, it is better to only concentrate on the more remote future, so that the learners have a better chance to realise that the situation in the main clause does not relate to current reality. As prior knowledge, the learners should be familiar with the tenses and the will-future. If the other two types of conditionals are introduced soon after the first one-- which is recommended so that the learners can focus on the temporal and reality differences between the three types, which share the same basic structure-- they also have to be familiar with the rest of the modal auxiliaries. Concerning vocabulary, the learners should know a number of motion verbs (visit, travel, go, explore, take a ride etc.) and be familiar with the word field of travelling (means of transportation, sightseeing etc.). 8.4 The task cycle As usual, the task cycle begins with the pre-task phase, in which the focus is put on establishing the communicative situation, which in this case is an exploration of the merits and highlights of a city. The teacher can, for instance, start the lesson by telling the learners that s / he went to Berlin (or any other bigger city) over the previous weekend and was fascinated by all the possibilities for sightseeing and other activities, and then mention a few examples. Following this, s / he can ask the learners who of them have already been to Berlin and what they did and saw there. Whenever a learner mentions something new, the teacher reacts by saying something like “How interesting! If I travel to Berlin again, I will certainly visit XXX / do XXX as well! ” and then ask the rest of the learners “If you go to Berlin, what will you do / see there? ”. It is possible that one-word answers are provided by the class (such as, for example, “Brandenburger Tor”), in which case the teacher picks up these one-word answers and rephrases them as “So if you go to Berlin, you will visit the Brandenburger Tor? ”. The teacher should use as many instances of conditional I as possible, whereas the learners are not yet expected to use this structure. If there are not enough answers for Berlin, the teacher can select another city and repeat the procedure. After a short while, the teacher changes the topic to the upcoming class trip. As this topic is closely related to the one discussed before, a simple sentence such as “Cities have many interesting sights, especially foreign cities. I am looking forward to our upcoming class trip and I think we finally have to decide which city we will travel to”. The teacher asks the learners to repeat the six candidate cities, then holds up six envelopes, saying “I have collected some information on all of the six cities because we need to make plans what to do there”. Then the learners get together in groups of five 129 and are told that each group works on one of the candidate cities and that they have to find arguments why to go to exactly this city, what 129 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. In this case, it would be a good idea to let the learners draw snippets with city sights on them in order to build the groups, as, for exam- <?page no="156"?> 155 8.4 The task cycle to do there and what to see there. They may use the information contained in the envelopes, but they may also rely on their own background knowledge. After the group phase, they have to try to interest the rest of their classmates in exactly this city and to convince them to vote for it, because the voting will take place immediately after the reports. Then every group receives an envelope. As nothing is written on the envelopes, the learners only know which city they have to deal with once they have opened their envelopes. In this way, they cannot argue that they are in group A but would have loved to be in group B because they prefer that city. The envelopes contain information brochures 130 about the cities in question, together with a worksheet. On this worksheet, the students are told that they have to find at least five arguments 131 for selecting ‘their’ city as the destination for their upcoming class trip. Two example sentences, the structure and tense usage of which the learners can copy, are provided at the top of the worksheet: “If we go to Paris, we will climb the Eiffel Tower.”-- “If we go to the Shetland Islands, we will ride on Shetland ponies”. Then five empty lines follow, which the learners have to fill in. They will first look at the brochures, discuss the contents, decide on what to do and what to see in the city in question, but after about five minutes the teacher should remind them that they have to write down their arguments. During this time, the teacher keeps in the background, observing the learners. As a preparation for the report, the learners have to decide who reads out which sentence (five group members-= five sentences) and they have to make sure that the sentences are grammatically correct. The teacher goes from group to group, helping those learners who have questions or problems. During the actual report phase, every group is then asked to present their arguments for ‘their’ city. After each group report, the teacher asks an additional question about the city, for example “If we go to XXX , will we also go on a city tour? ” and invites the other class members to ask questions as well. If the targeted construction is not used in the classmates’ questions, the teacher reformulates these questions. After all groups have presented their arguments, the teacher lets the learners vote for their favourite city. The city that the learners have decided for plays the key role in the language focus, as this will consist of the five sentences from the group which found arguments for the winning city. The group members who worked with the winning city are asked to write their sentences on the board. The teacher has already prepared the board insofar as the left-hand side carries the header ‘if-clause’ and the if-clause has already been written down five times, although without a city name (i. e., “If we go to XXX ”), whereas the right-hand side shows the header ‘main clause’ and nothing else. ple, The Tower of London, The London Eye, The Houses of Parliament, Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, Sydney Opera etc. However, these pictures are only meant for the group formation and have nothing to do with the cities that the groups then work on. 130 There should not be too much information as the learners will then be distracted from writing their sentences. Basic touristic information showing some famous sights is enough for this purpose. 131 As the groups consist of five people, everybody can then utter (at least) one sentence. Should the groups be smaller, the number of sentences can either be reduced or doubled (six sentences per group for groups of three, for example). <?page no="157"?> 156 8. Conditionals As soon as the sentences from the group work are on the board, the teacher asks the learners to look closely at the sentences and to mention what they notice. If they do not immediately notice the use of the will-future, the teacher can point to it, as the learners need to become aware of the tense usage. The present tense in the if-clause as well as the will-future in the main clause can then be underlined and the if is circled. Subsequently, the teacher focuses on the meaning of the conditional I construction by asking the learners “Are we already in XXX ? ”, and they will say “no”. S / he continues by asking whether the situations in the two clauses are real and have already happened, and the learners will negate this as well. The aim is for the learners to realise that the conditional I construction never speaks about current or past reality but always about a potential event. The space builder if can be explained as a signal for this non-factuality. If there is enough time, the teacher can already announce that there are two more conditional constructions and that the use of conditional I indicates that the situation is not real but relatively likely to happen, whereas in the other two constructions the likelihood decreases, i. e., the situation in question is less likely in conditional II and the likelihood has completely disappeared in conditional III . Should there still be time for a transfer, the learners can be asked what they will do over the following weekend if the weather is good. The teacher can start by saying “If the weather is good on Saturday, I will go for a walk. And you, what will you do if you go for a walk? ” A learner picks up the topic and completes the sentence by saying, for example, “If I go for a walk, I will see ducks” and the next learner then says “If I see ducks, I will feed them”, the next learner will say “If I feed the ducks, they will run away” and so on. Every learner who answers can select the next learner. For homework, the learners have to ask at least five other persons for their weekend plans if the weather is good, write the answers down and report them in the next lesson. 8.5 Alternatives If conditional II is to be introduced, one possibility for doing this has already been mentioned, namely to refer to the quiz show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire? ’. The teacher tells the learners that s / he watched this show the night before and asks the learners who of them watched the show as well. S / he then says that s / he would really like to take part in this quiz show and informs the learners what s / he would do if s / he won a million and wants to know what they would do if they won a million. This task can best be done in pair work, as in this way the speaking time for each of the learners is increased. The learners can then tell each other about all the different options they would select for spending the million, and then finally decide for the best option, which they will present to the rest of the classmates during the report. During the language focus, the learners should become aware of the fact that in the if-clause the if signals non-reality and that in the main clause, the distal modal (prototypically would) signals non-reality, and that this can only be signalled once per clause. This is meant to avoid the frequent learner mistake of using would in the if-clause. <?page no="158"?> 157 8.5 Alternatives As another possibility to introduce conditional II , the teacher can start the pre-task phase by telling the learners that his / her daughter has told him / her recently that she was going to be a rock star once she has grown up and that she said “If I was a rock star, I would give interviews all day long / I would perform in major cities / I would be incredibly rich” and so on. The teacher says that s / he explained to her daughter that it was rather unlikely that she was going to be a rock star, but that it was of course not impossible. S / he then asks the learners what else rock stars do besides giving interviews, performing etc. The actual task is then done in pair work and the partners tell each other about their own dream jobs. They have to come up with at least five sentences, describing what they would do if they were a princess / astronaut / pilot / doctor / riding instructor or similar. If conditional III is to be introduced, the teacher can start the lesson with the pre-task phase by telling the learners about an airplane crash that was on the news the day before. The plane crashed down on an uninhabited island and only some few people survived. They had to wait for a couple of days until they were rescued. They were, however, able to take some survival equipment from the plane with them. The teacher says “If I had been on the plane, I would have taken something to eat” and goes on to explain that of course s / he was not on the plane, which s / he is very glad about, but that s / he is just imagining the situation. S / he then continues by asking the learners which items they think are necessary to survive in the wilderness. For the task, the learners get together in groups and try to decide on five items they would have taken with them in order to survive until the rescue teams arrived and also to give reasons for having chosen these items. They have to formulate sentences like “If I had been on the plane, I would have taken XXX , because XXX is necessary for (survival)”. If conditionals are restructured for more advanced learners who have already dealt with all the three types, the targeted competence consists in differentiating between the three types and their different relations to reality. In this case, the learners need to consider which situation is quite realistic, which is less realistic or which is not realistic at all. For this purpose, they can get a handful of snippets per group, half of them displaying if-clauses and the other half displaying main clauses / sentence endings, covering all three types of conditionals. The learners are then asked to reconstruct the sentences according to their reality status: what is possible, what is improbable but still possible, and what is completely impossible? In this way, the meaning aspect of the different conditionals is foregrounded and the tenses used on the snippets help the learners to correctly interpret the reality status of the various situations. During the language focus, a scale of likelihood can then be developed on the board as a visual aid. Alternatively, the learners could only get the snippets with the if-clauses and have to come up with matching main clauses on their own. This can actually be quite fun for the learners as they frequently come up with very interesting sentence endings, in the manner of “If we had written a classroom test today-… I would have been ill” or “If the good fairy granted me three wishes-… I would wish for XYZ ” or “If I leave the classroom-… my classmates will give me a round of applause”. During the report, the groups can then read out those sentences they like best and let the others rate the reality status of these sentences. This can also be done as a competition. During the language focus, a scale of probability can be developed (ranking from <?page no="159"?> 158 8. Conditionals high probability via low probability to no probability), which may help the learners to distinguish between the different degrees of (im)probability of the different types of conditionals. Further reading Dancygier, Barbara (1998): Conditionals and prediction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dancygier, Barbara / Sweetser, Eve (2005): Mental spaces in grammar: Conditional constructions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Declerck, Renaat / Reed, Susan (2001): Conditionals: A comprehensive empirical analysis. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Fauconnier, Gilles (1994): Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fauconnier, Gilles (1997): Mappings in thought and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fauconnier, Gilles / Turner, Mark (2002): The way we think. Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books. Jacobsen, Natalia D. (2016): “The best of both worlds: Combining cognitive linguistics and pedagogic tasks to teach English conditionals”. Applied Linguistics, https: / / doi.org/ 10.1093/ applin/ amw030. Taylor, John R. (1997): “Conditionals and polarity”. In: Athanasiadou, Angeliki / Dirven, René (eds.): On conditionals again. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 289-306. werth, Paul (1997): “Conditionality as cognitive distance”. In: Athanasiadou, Angeliki / Dirven, René (eds.): On conditionals again. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 243-272. <?page no="160"?> 159 9.1 Form 9. The passive voice As mentioned previously, grammatical construal offers the language user the possibility to present situations from different perspectives. In English-- as well as in German-- the passive voice is one of the grammatical means allowing such a change of perspective, at least for the majority of verbs, and is addressed in every textbook. In the default perspective, the active voice is used, which focuses on the subject / agent and assigns importance to it 132 (as in “Mary saw Peter”, highlighting Mary’s agency), whereas in the passive voice the focus lies on the subject / patient 133 as well as on the verb (as in “Peter was seen by Mary”, highlighting Peter’s role as well as the process of ‘seeing’). In natural language use, the passive is far less common than the active, especially in spoken language. In written language, however, the passive is generally considered to be an “objective, impersonal style” (Crystal 1995: 225) and is predominantly used in “scientific and official publications” (ibid.). It may be quite tempting to conclude that the passive is not an important grammatical structure for learners of English due to its restriction of rather being used in written communication than in spoken language. However, the use of the passive structure does not only have stylistic reasons and does not only depend on the contrast between oracy and literacy. Additionally, and as explained before, it offers a construal option to the speaker / writer so that the language user can select how to present a situation, i. e., what s / he wants to highlight. Hence, the use of the passive voice has an abstract meaning beyond the mere transformation from the active to the passive voice and also beyond the stylistic difference between the two voices. By using the passive voice, a speaker defocuses the role of the agent to a certain extent and can therefore, consciously or subconsciously, guide or even manipulate the hearer’s interpretation of the event in question. 9.1 Form Prototypically, transitive sentences, i. e., sentences involving a subject and at least one object, focus on a situation involving an agent as well as a patient 134 . The agent is the entity which is active and which develops energy (e. g., in “Mary hit Peter”, Mary is the agent, i. e., the active entity which develops energy) and the patient is the entity the energy is directed at (i. e., in “Mary hit Peter”, the energy developed by Mary went to Peter). In an active sentence, the subject is always the agent (here: Mary) and the object is always the patient (here: Peter). In 132 Cf. Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2013: 586), who also state that speakers of English “tend to associate focal prominence with agency”. 133 The terms ‘agent’ and ‘patient’ designate semantic roles, with ‘agent’ referring to the active part, which brings up energy for an action, and ‘patient’ referring to the passive part, who or which is the recipient or the goal of the agent’s energy. 134 It is important to differentiate between the grammatical notions of, on the one hand, ‘subject’ and ‘object’, which refer to positions in a sentence and, on the other hand, the participant roles of ‘agent’ and ‘patient’, which refer to the semantic roles of the entities involved, as these do not always coincide. <?page no="161"?> 160 9. The passive voice passive sentences, however, the grammatical roles in the sentence change and the patient becomes the subject (as in “Peter was hit (by Mary)”), while the semantic roles ‘agent’ and ‘patient’ remain unchanged. Passives are formed by moving the object of an active sentence to the subject position of the clause and by moving the subject of the active sentence to the end of the clause, introduced by ‘by’ (as in “Mary saw Peter” vs. “Peter was seen by Mary”). At the same time, the verb changes, as it takes a form of the auxiliary verb ‘be’ (in the example: ‘was’) and adds the past participle of the verb from the sentence in the active voice (in the example: ‘seen’). The agent can also be omitted (such as in “Peter was seen”), for example, when the speaker does not see it as important to mention who the agent of the action is, when naming the agent does not add any new information, or when the agent is simply not known. Crystal (1995: 225) states that in around 80 % of all passive clauses the agent is omitted. In informal styles, the verb ‘be’ can be replaced by ‘get’ (such as in “I got kicked out of class”). Furthermore, according to Chen / Oller (cf. 2008: 391), the get-passive has an emotional function and can express subjective feelings 135 , which is not the case for the be-passive. The auxiliary verb ‘be’ can be used in all persons, tenses and aspects as well as in all modal varieties. Its form is therefore changeable and adapts to the temporal, aspectual and / or modal set-up of the situation described (is seen, are seen, was seen, were seen, has been seen, have been seen, had been seen, is being seen, are being seen, was being seen, were being seen, will be seen, will have been seen, would be seen, would have been seen, ought to be seen, should be seen, should have been seen etc.), whereas the form of the past participle (here: seen), which is added to the inflected verb, never changes. Only transitive verbs, i. e., verbs that can take an object, can form a passive, while intransitive verbs cannot do so, because they do not have an object that could be placed at the front of the sentence in the process of passivization. But here again, not all transitive verbs are alike. Some transitive verbs are more prototypical than others, which is why not all transitive verbs behave in a similar way when passivised. Whereas “prototypical transitive verbs can be freely passivized” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 7)-- such as in “Mary hit Peter” vs. “Peter was hit by Mary”-- “sentences with less prototypical transitive verbs can only marginally form a passive” (ibid.)-- such as in “Mary likes donuts” vs. ? “Donuts are liked by Mary”-- and “sentences with peripheral transitive verbs do not allow the passive at all” (ibid.)-- such as in “Mary had two donuts” vs. *“Two donuts were had by Mary”. Radden / Dirven (cf. ibid.: 287) explain that this scale of decreasing prototypical transitivity depends on the decreasing amount of energy that agents invest into the actions described by the verbs, as ‘hitting’ demands more energy than ‘liking’, which is an emotional state and not an activity, while ‘having’ demands no energy at all. The notion of ‘energy’-- or force-- has already been discussed in chapter 7, related to the area of modality. It can be traced back to Talmy’s (1988) theory of force dynamics, which claims that the knowledge about forces in the physical world influences language users’ perception 135 For example, Chen / Oller (2008: 391) explain that “the use of “John got promoted” suggests a sense of favourable affectedness as contrasted to the neutral “John was promoted””. <?page no="162"?> 161 9.2 Meaning of all kinds of forces, including mental forces and reasoning processes. In the example “Mary hit Peter”, the (physical) force emanates from Mary and is targeted at Peter. “Mary likes donuts” involves a moderate mental force, namely Mary’s preference for donuts, which possibly drives her to try to get hold of donuts as frequently as possible. “Mary had two donuts”, on the other hand, does not involve any kind of force, neither physical nor mental, it is just a state of possession. Thus, the prototypical transitive verb focuses on force dynamics, whereas the least prototypical transitive verbs do not focus on forces and can therefore not be passivised. The middle section of the scale of the decreasing presence of forces then contains exemplars of verbs for which passivization is only marginally possible. Ditransitive verbs have two objects, a direct one and an indirect one, such as in “We gave Mary flowers”, both of which can be passivised. The passivization of the direct object yields the sentence “Flowers were given to Mary (by us)”, whereas the passivization of the indirect object results in “Mary was given flowers (by us)”. The choice of which of the two passive structures is used depends on which element of the described scenario the speaker wants to highlight (either “the flowers” or “Mary”). The by-phrase is not necessary and is usually omitted. 9.2 Meaning The main difference between a traditional approach and a cognitive grammar approach to an explanation of the passive voice is based on the cognitive grammar focus on the meaningfulness of the grammar phenomenon in question. Whereas traditional grammar explanations rely on explaining which formal changes occur in the passivization of an active sentence and comment on the genres and styles in which the passive is predominantly used, cognitive grammar goes one step beyond this and focuses on the reasons for these formal changes, maintaining that the passive allows speakers to highlight the patient role and at the same time to background (or even get rid of) the agent role, a process which results in a different cognitive scenario and which provides the hearer with a different mental representation of the communicated situation. Therefore, in cognitive grammar passivization is not simply seen as exchanging the agent and patient roles in the subject position, but it “can be viewed as more than just a simple transformation since any reconfiguration of the grammar implies a different ideological as well as perceptual point of view” (Giovanelli 2015: 33). In other words, a speaker’s decision to use the passive voice instead of the active voice not only transmits the lower degree of importance that this speaker attaches to the agent or, vice versa, the higher degree of importance given to the process itself and especially to the patient, but at the same time the speaker’s perspective on the situation in question and its potential consequences are transmitted. 9.2.1 Highlighting function By saying “Mary hit Peter”, Mary (the agent) is foregrounded and blamed for the action of hitting, as she is presented as Peter’s (the patient’s) attacker, whereas in “Peter was hit by Mary”, Mary’s role is presented as less prominent, the blame is therefore lessened and Peter’s state of <?page no="163"?> 162 9. The passive voice having been hit as well as the process which led to this state are seen as more important than Mary’s responsibility. This type of passive is also called the ‘process passive’, as it focuses on a process, namely the patient’s change of state (in this case, from ‘not hit’ to ‘hit’). When the agent is omitted in a passive sentence, such as in “Peter was hit”, this means that the responsible person is not even part of the scenario that is communicated. Therefore, in the case of the above example, the blame is completely taken away from Mary because her agency is not even mentioned. This type of passive is also called the ‘stative passive’, as it focuses on the patient’s end state. Although it is obvious that every transitive verb describes a process in which an agent needs to take part, the fact that the ‘by-phrase’ can be omitted provides speakers with the possibility not to mention the agent. Although the agent is schematically still present (as the process of ‘hitting’ presupposes an agent), its importance or salience can be considered as being very low. Speakers can have diverse reasons not to mention the agent: either they do not want to focus on the agent, or they do not consider the agent as important, or they do not know the agent, such as in “My purse has been stolen”, when the thief was neither seen nor was the theft discovered at the time when it happened. Following Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2013: 586), “according to CG , the function of voice is simply the reflection of different configurations of salience (cf. Langacker 1991, 2008)”. They further explain that “ CG evokes the relative salience of situational participants as a factor explaining and governing the use of the active and passive voice in English” (ibid.). In other words: the language user selects which participant of a situation s / he sees as more important and which therefore needs to be highlighted. Such highlighting can then be done by using the appropriate voice, i. e., either the active or the passive. The participant mentioned at the beginning of the sentence is foregrounded and seen as primary, whereas the participant at the end of a sentence is backgrounded and seen as secondary, and can even be omitted altogether in the passive voice. Again, grammatical construal can be seen as a tool in the speaker’s hands, allowing him / her to present their own perspective on a situation and decide what they want to highlight or to defocus. The grammatical structure that a speaker selects draws the hearer’s attention prominently to only certain parts of the event, which is why the meanings of an active sentence and a passive sentence describing exactly the same situation are not identical. Every choice of construal is made at the expense of other possible choices and is therefore meaningful. 9.2.2 Research results Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2013) report on an experiment concerning the instruction of the passive voice with second language learners of English in Poland. Their experiment involved two test groups of advanced learners, one of which was taught in a traditional way and the other one in a cognitive grammar-inspired way. Although the authors had expected the cognitive group to outperform the traditional group, this turned out not to be the case, as both in the post-test and in the delayed post-test the traditional group achieved better results, although both groups showed considerable learning gains. None of the <?page no="164"?> 163 9.2 Meaning differences between the two test groups were statistically significant concerning the written test, however, the differences reached significance level concerning the oral test, where the traditional group scored higher. The authors comment on these results by stating that “ CG -inspired instruction is at least as effective as that based on standard pedagogical descriptors in both the long and the short run” (Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak 2013: 603) and assume furthermore that “the participants, given their long history of previous English instruction, were already familiar with (large parts of) the standard rules” (ibid.: 604). This kind of comment has also been uttered concerning the results of other tests of cognitive grammar-inspired teaching-- apparently, learners have internalised a certain way how grammar has to be taught (i. e., with rules and exceptions) and if an innovative approach is introduced, learners tend to shy away from it and rely on their ‘old’ ways, in which they do not have to think and understand but where they can apply the rules that they learned by heart, although they may not know about the semantic rationale for these rules. According to Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak (cf. 2013: 605), this reliance on rules is more noticeable in oral communication, as the learners are under time pressure in oral tests and are therefore unable to remember the novel explanations they received during the instructional phase. A second reason why the experiment did not yield the results that the researchers had expected may lie in the fact that the lessons on the passive voice described in Bielak / Pawlak / Mystkowska-Wiertelak (2013) were explicit grammar lessons, using the PPP method 136 . When no communicative situation is involved, addressing the importance of ‘meaning’ becomes difficult and relatively abstract, as the learners still have to produce decontextualised sentences which do not necessarily contribute to focusing on and establishing meaningfulness. If, on the other hand, a teacher is able to come up with a communicative task (which is per se meaningful), it becomes a lot easier for the learners to actually focus on meaning. They will use the new structure in a meaningful way because within the communicative situation they want and need to express certain nuances of meaning that can only be expressed when the passive is used (e. g., a shift of focus from one participant in a situation to another participant, i. e., from the agent to the patient). Furthermore, the test groups in the experiment were first confronted with explanations concerning the passive structure and then had to use it, whereas in the task-based approach this sequence is reversed. First, the structure is used and only later, in the language focus, its form, use and meaning are consolidated and explained, in an ideal case by the learners themselves. Roche / Suñer (2016) focus on the teaching of the passive voice for learners of German as a foreign language 137 . They work with so-called ‘grammatical metaphors’, which they define as “innovative conceptual metaphors which make the conceptual base of grammar more 136 Please consult chapter 1 for an explanation of the PPP method. 137 As the passive in German is quite similar to the English passive, Roche / Suñer’s (2016) grammatical metaphors and grammar animations can be used for English as well. <?page no="165"?> 164 9. The passive voice transparent by using learners’ everyday life situations” (ibid.: 98). For teaching the passive construction, they suggest to use two different grammatical metaphors, the first being the game of billiard, which takes into account the learners’ everyday experiences. The billiard player can be seen as the agent and exerts force (by using an instrument) on the billiard ball, which can be seen as the patient. The second grammatical metaphor Roche / Suñer suggest is that of a spotlight, emphasizing the element of the scene that is in focus, i. e., the agent is in focus in the active construction, the patient’s change of state is in focus in the process passive and the patient’s end state is in focus in the stative passive. <?page no="166"?> 165 9.2 Meaning Figure 4: r och e / S uñ er ’s ( 2016 : 99 ) visualisation of the German passive Furthermore, Roche / Suñer (2016) are in favour of multimedia grammar teaching while using the above-mentioned grammatical metaphors and have developed grammar animations for various grammatical structures. For the passive, for example, a stick figure touches a billiard ball with a billiard cue, and on impact this ball rolls towards the other billiard balls (see figure 4). When a sentence is presented in the active form, a spotlight is placed over the player, when the process passive is targeted, this spotlight moves away from the player and focuses on the movement of the billiard ball, and for the stative passive, the spotlight is placed on where the billiard ball lands, which is its end state. In this way, the meanings of the active structure and the two passive structures are visualised by using one and the same situation but highlighting different aspects of this situation 138 . Roche / Suñer (2016: 98) argue that “even the graphical resources used in cognitive linguistics do not always enable direct access to the conceptual foundation of grammar”, and that, according to Scheller (2009), “implementing grammatical metaphors in the form of animations based on the multimedia principles is crucial in order to achieve sustainable learning effects and to support the construction of mental models”. They even go so far as to argue that “taskand content-based learning approaches have proven to be particularly suitable for the use of grammar animations” (Roche / Suñer (2016: 103). Using grammar animations is most certainly a method that can and should be considered for classrooms which are technically adequately equipped. For the ‘normal classroom’, however, working with static visualisations is a more easily accessible way to present grammar phenomena than using animations. 138 This approach has not yet been sufficiently tested, only a small-scale study of an intervention with thirteeen students exists, which, however, has not yet been published. Roche / Suñer (2016: 105) report concerning this study, which was conducted by Suñer / Arnett, that “the results show that the participants improved significantly on the immediate post-test”. <?page no="167"?> 166 9. The passive voice 9.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction Suitable communicative situations related to the use of the passive in natural communication are harder to find than situations for other grammatical structures, mainly due to the fact that the passive is not that frequently used in spoken language. The situation chosen for the current case study is a detective game: a (minor) crime has been committed and the learners need to find the culprit. For being able to do so, they need to compare witness statements and alibis. They have to make sense of the various statements in order to understand what happened, for example, when certain persons were seen at which places. The learners work together in teams, trying to solve the puzzle of who stole the money that had been collected by their English exchange class 139 for a class trip to Germany and had been stored in a cupboard in the classroom in England. The detective teams receive different witness accounts and the learners will know all the facts only after having listened to all the reports and can then find out who took the money. In witness statements, the passive is frequently used, as no agent is known if the crime in question has not yet been solved. The lesson is suitable for a seventh or eighth grade in secondary school and, as necessary prior knowledge, the learners should be familiar with the tenses and aspects as well as with modality. Some basic knowledge about conditionals would be ideal as well, as trying to solve a crime relies a lot on hypotheses and suppositions, although conditionals can also be avoided in the task. The word fields of furniture, person descriptions and verbs of perception should also have been mastered by the learners. As the lesson is meant as an introduction to the passive construction, only transitive verbs are focused on, ditransitive verbs are left for a later lesson. Furthermore, only one tense should be included. Due to the fact that a crime is usually only detected after it has been committed, the chosen tense for the task is the simple past. The competences that the learners are meant to acquire are, on the one hand, to know how to form the passive, both with and without a by-phrase, and, on the other hand, to understand its meaning as a highlighting effect: what is mentioned first in a sentence, the subject, is always highlighted and attracts the hearer’s interest. Generally, it would be a good idea to first only introduce the passive with the by-phrase, as the switch between agent-= subject in the active voice and patient-= subject in the passive voice is easier to understand if all the participant roles in the sentence structure remain present, but due to the communicative situation and the fact that the agent of a crime is generally unknown, the passive without a by-phrase needs to be used as well (as, for example, in “the money was stolen” or “The window was left open”). In order to lead the learners towards the use of the passive during the task itself, the worksheet for the task needs to be carefully constructed so that the use of the active voice is 139 This detective game could of course also focus on a theft in the actual classroom, but in this case persons known to everybody involved would have to be the suspects (and the culprit), which would not be a good idea. And even if a foreign class is the ‘victim’ in the current case study, it is important that-- after the lesson-- the teacher stresses the fact that in fact no crime was committed after all, although this takes away some of the authenticity of the situation. <?page no="168"?> 167 9.4 The task cycle discouraged as much as possible. It is therefore important to provide examples of possible entries for the list the learners have to come up with, which can then act as model entries. As only the third person singular is used, the expression “ XXX was (seen / gone / heard / -…)” can then be taken as a schema according to which the learners can fill in the empty slots. 9.4 The task cycle As usual, the pre-task phase serves to introduce the communicative situation. The teacher can enter the classroom with a facial expression of concern and a printout of an email in his / her hands and say “You know what? I have just received this email message from our partner class 140 in XXX -- you remember that they will come to visit us soon? They already collected money for this trip and now this money was stolen! They do not yet know who did this, but they are trying to find out and they have asked for our help in finding this out”. Then, in order to get the class talking, the teacher could ask who of the learners knows this situation “Has anything ever been stolen from you as well? ” and some learners will answer that somebody stole their purse, their scarf and so on. The teacher reacts to each of these utterances by repeating the stolen item in a passive construction, e. g., “Oh, your purse was stolen? When was that? Was it found again? Did you find out who did it? ” or “Your scarf was taken away? Was it given back to you later on? ”. After this introduction, the teacher tells the learners that the email from the partner class contains quite a lot of information, as the members of the partner class already managed to find witnesses, who are at the same time their suspects, and interviewed them. The headmaster was also interviewed. The theft happened between 1 pm and 1.30 pm, when the pupils were out of the classroom enjoying their lunch break. There are only six persons who could have stolen the money, some of them were seen at certain times near the classroom. However, the partner class needs help in finding out who really stole the money, as they do not want to put the blame on one specific person without being absolutely certain. If the German partner class confirms their suspicions, they will then talk again to the most likely suspect. The transcriptions of the interviews with the witnesses were attached to the email and now the German class is asked to make sense of and evaluate the witness reports. The learners get together in 6 groups 141 and each group receives an envelope with one of the witness reports and a worksheet, so that all the groups work on different reports. The top of the worksheet shows pictures of the headmaster and all the six witnesses, who are at the same time the suspects, as one of them must have stolen the money. The pictures can be photos or drawings and should be named, for example: 1) Miss Brown, the school secretary; 2) Mr Black, the facility manager; 3) Rose, a pupil from the class next door; 4) Violet, another pupil from the class next door; 5) Ms White, one of the lunch ladies and 6) Mr Green, the gardener. 140 If no partner class exists, a fictive class will also do. 141 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. In this case, it would be a good idea to let the learners draw snippets with colours which correspond to the names of the six witnesses. <?page no="169"?> 168 9. The passive voice The witness reports contain five relevant statements each, somewhat hidden in the transcribed texts. As one example for such a witness report, the text for the headmaster could say: I had my lunch break from 1-2 pm, so I was not in my office. But at 1 pm, when my break started and I left the office, I saw Miss Brown on the stairs which lead to the classrooms. I wondered why she was not having lunch. At 1.20 pm, just when the mail was delivered, I saw Miss Brown in conversation with Mr Green and I furthermore saw that Ms White was already on her way home-- I wondered why she left so early. At 1.30 pm while I was planning the new garden with Mr Green, I saw Violet leave the building with her bag and I thought she might be ill, as school was not yet over. Furthermore, the worksheet shows a grid with seven columns, the first one carrying the header ‘headmaster’ and the other columns carrying the six witnesses’ names. On the left-hand side of the grid, times are indicated (1 pm, 1.10 pm, 1.20 pm, 1.30 pm). The ‘headmaster’ column has already partially been filled in to provide an example of what the entries should look like. Thus, at 1 pm the headmaster’s entry reads ‘lunch was served’, the entry for 1.20 pm reads ‘mail was delivered’, and the entry for 1.30 pm reads ‘new garden was planned / Mr Green’. Additionally, the ‘Miss Brown’ column already has the entry for 1 pm ‘was seen next to the classroom’ and for 1.20 pm ‘was seen in conversation with Mr Green’, the ‘Mr Green’ column has the entry for 1.20 pm ‘was seen in conversation with Miss Brown’, the ‘Ms White’ column has the entry for 1.20 pm ‘was seen on her way home’ and the ‘Violet’ column has the entry for 1.30 pm ‘was seen leaving with her bag’. The learners then have to read the witness reports and enter the information that they learn from them into the grid. For example, when the group ‘Miss Brown’ learns that Miss Brown saw the lunch lady, Ms White, near the classroom at 1.10 pm, they enter this information into the ‘Ms White’ column for 1.10 pm as ‘was seen next to the classroom’. And when the group ‘Rose’ learns that Rose looked for Violet at 1.10 pm but could not find her anywhere, which took about twenty minutes, they enter this information into the ‘Violet’ column both in the 1.10 pm and the 1.20 pm slots as ‘was looked for but not found’. The learners have to fill in all the information they can learn from their witness statement and then they can already speculate on the most likely suspect, but as their grids will show gaps, which can only be filled in via the other witness reports, they will not yet know the answer. At the beginning of the report phase, the teacher asks all groups whom they suspect most and then says “We’ll see-…”, turning on the overhead projector and showing the learners the same grid that was printed on their worksheets. S / he then asks the first group to read out their statements and then enter them into the grid (such as ‘was seen on the stairs’ or ‘was seen on her way home’ etc.). It is important that every group member reads out at least one statement. The solution can only be found once all the groups have entered their statements, although speculations can be uttered before this. The culprit is actually Violet, who claims in her statement to have been together with Rose from 1.10 pm onwards whereas Rose says she was looking for Violet from 1.10 pm onwards. Furthermore, Violet was seen next to the classroom in question at 1.10 pm and was furthermore seen leaving the school building with her bag <?page no="170"?> 169 9.4 The task cycle at 1.30 pm. The class then decides to send their partner class an email message saying “We believe that the money was stolen by Violet”. The teacher then starts with the language focus and writes on the left-hand side of the board “Violet stole the money” and on the right-hand side “The money was stolen (by Violet)”, adding the titles ‘active’ and ‘passive’ to the two halves of the board. S / he then asks the learners whether the two sentences focus on different situations. The learners will negate this and the teacher then wants to know why the sentences are different if both of them deal with the same situation. If the learners do not find an answer to this question, the expressions ‘Violet’ on the left-hand side and ‘the money’ on the right-hand side are circled in order to visualise the focus of each of the two sentences. The teacher explains that in a passive construction, the perspective from which a situation is described differs from that for an active construction and that therefore the word order in the sentence as well as the verb have to be changed. The learners can then draw a red arrow from ‘Violet’ in the left-hand sentence to ‘by Violet’ in the right-hand sentence and a yellow arrow from ‘the money’ in the left-hand sentence to ‘the money’ in the right-hand sentence in order to indicate the change of position. Then the verbs in the two sentences are compared-- the tense stays the same but in the passive construction, a form of ‘to be’ (in the same tense as in the active sentence, here: past tense, i. e., ‘was’) and a past participle have to be used. The teacher then asks some learners to add more sentences from their grids to the righthand side of the board, three more should be enough (such as, for example, “Ms White was seen (by Miss Brown)”). These passive sentences can then be transferred back into the active voice by using the information already provided-- and symbolised by the arrows and circles. For the above example, this would be “Miss Brown saw Ms White”. When all active and passive sentences are written down, the teacher asks which element is the most important one in the sentences on the board and gives the hint that in English the most important element of a sentence usually stands in front, in the subject position. At this point, it is a good idea to introduce the grammatical metaphor of the ‘spotlight’ (see previous sub-chapter) and the teacher should explain that the circles can be imagined as spotlights which give the circled word a special importance (or s / he can use her smartphone spotlight for this explanation) and that each language user can select what s / he wants to attribute importance to. S / he furthermore explains that the passive is frequently used when it is not clear who the agent of an action is, just as it was not clear at the beginning of the lesson who exactly stole the money-- all that could be said at that point was that “the money was stolen”. Therefore, the by-phrase is in brackets, as it can also be left out. If there is time left for a transfer, the learners can be asked to retell the story of the theft from another perspective, preferably an unusual one, such as the perspective of the stolen money. They may come up with sentences such as “the cupboard was opened”, “I was touched”, “I was counted”, “I was put into a bag” etc. Although the topic / word field is not changed in this case, as would be usual for a transfer, the learners still have the opportunity to create novel passive sentences and to not only insert fragments into a controlled sentence pattern. For homework, the learners are asked to write a short report of ten sentences for the school newspaper, starting with “Money was stolen from our partner class. Six persons were sus- <?page no="171"?> 170 9. The passive voice pected of the theft-…”. As newspaper reports frequently use the passive construction, this is a suitable genre in which to train the use of the passive voice. 9.5 Alternatives As there are not so many situations in which the passive is used in naturally occurring oral communication, not many alternatives can be offered. However, the transfer idea (change of perspective) from the last sub-chapter can also be used as a task. The learners can be told a story (containing only prototypically transitive verbs) and then get together in groups with the task to retell the story from a different perspective. If the story is, for example, about a cat that ran away and whose owners conducted a thorough search, the learners can retell the story from the perspective of the cat (“my name was called”, “I was hunted”, “my hiding place was detected” etc.). The learners have to ask themselves whether, for the cat, the being hunted as such is more important or the persons who are hunting it. The cat will presumably perceive the hunting as more important, which would then be a reason for the use of the passive voice. Another possibility, this time for more advanced students and meant as a reorganisation of their pre-existent knowledge about the active vs. the passive voice, is to look at current English newspaper or magazine articles, preferably on political unrest or demonstrations, as in these situations usually a certain amount of blame is attributed to at least one of the participating parties. Such articles usually present a mix of active and passive constructions and the learners can then be asked to try to discover the way in which the journalist wants the readership to understand the situation. On the basis of the usage of voice, they can find out which of the involved parties the journalist prefers and speculate on the motivation or ideology that the journalist has for presenting the situation in this particular way by profiling certain parts of the general action chain. In this way, the learners are not only trained in using and interpreting the passive voice, but they are additionally trained in detecting the manipulation potential of texts. Further reading Bielak, Jakub / Pawlak, Miroslaw / Mystkowska-wiertelak, Anna (2013): “Teaching the English active and passive voice with the help of cognitive grammar: An empirical study”. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 3 (4), 581-619. Chen, Liang / Oller, John W. Jr. (2008): “The use of passives and alternatives in English by Chinese speakers”. In: de Knop, Sabine / de Rycker, Teun (eds.): Cognitive approaches to pedagogical grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 385-415. Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Giovanelli, Marcello (2015): Teaching grammar, structure and meaning. London: Routledge. Langacker, Ronald W. (1991): Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. 2: Descriptive applications. Stanford: Stanford University Press. <?page no="172"?> 171 9.5 Alternatives Langacker, Ronald W. (2008): Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Roche, Jörg / Suñer, Ferran (2016): “Metaphors and grammar teaching”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 89-112. Scheller, Julija (2009): Animationen in der Grammatikvermittlung: Multimedialer Spracherwerb am Beispiel von Wechselpräpositionen. Münster: Lit. Talmy, Leonard (1988): “Force dynamics in language and cognition”. Cognitive Science 12, 49-100. <?page no="174"?> 173 9.5 Alternatives 10. Prepositions In English, prepositions are the most important system for describing spatial relations, usually between two objects. Prepositions, i. e., linguistic ways to speak about spatial and other relations, are a topic which is relevant for all levels of English teaching. Prepositions are already focused on in primary school when spatial relations need to be described (such as “The book is in the box / on the box / under the box” etc.). For more advanced learners, different uses than the spatial meanings of prepositions can be addressed (such as “I will see you in an hour” or “Let us meet on Monday”, “I don’t want to work under him” etc.), and the existing basic knowledge about prepositions can be reorganised in a systematic way by highlighting how the different meanings of a preposition are connected. Prepositions are highly frequent elements of language, Mueller (2016: 1, based on Francis / Kucera 1982: 547) even claims that they “account for 12 % of word class tokens and are thus more common than adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns”, the most frequent ones being of, in, to, for, with, on and at (cf. ibid.). Prepositions are sometimes perceived by learners to be randomly distributed all over the foreign language and therefore seem hard to learn. Generally, neither textbooks nor grammars make an effort at explaining prepositions in a systematic way. Tyler / Mueller / Ho (2011: 182) also state that “traditional accounts have represented the semantics of English prepositions as arbitrary”. This leads to the result that prepositions are frequently perceived as idiosyncratic and, consequently, also as difficult. Tyler / Mueller / Ho (ibid.) even report that “studies show that accurate use of spatial language is one of the last elements learned and many highly proficient L2 speakers never attain native speaker-like use”. Furthermore, prepositions are usually short, unstressed and perceptually weak (cf. Field 2008), which seems to entail that not much attention is paid to them. Additionally, they are presented as having a multitude of different meanings, which are traditionally presented to learners in the form of a list and then have to be learned by heart. As Cho states, mainstream language methodology makes little or no attempt at elucidating the potential links between the various senses and thus offers no alternative to learners but to try and memorize the different senses of a polyseme, as if they were distinct lexical items. (Cho 2010: 259) However, if a cognitive grammar approach to prepositions is pursued, their multiple meanings can be explained as polysemous elements of language 142 and the more marginal meanings can all be traced back to the prototypical meaning. In this way, the various meanings of a preposition can be explained as being related to each other, as “all the senses of a polyseme are considered to be semantically motivated and to form a network” (Cho 2010: 259). In other words: the acquisition of prepositions can be facilitated by making learners aware of the conceptual connections between their various meanings. 142 As a reminder: polysemy refers to the fact that an expression has multiple but related meanings. <?page no="175"?> 174 10. Prepositions 10.1 Form Prepositions appear as free morphemes. The numbers vary somewhat depending on the source, but there are about 150 prepositions in English. In traditional grammars, they are frequently presented in the way that also Crystal (1995: 213) uses, namely by describing them as “a relationship of meaning between two parts of a sentence, most often showing how the two parts are related in time and space”. Crystal then goes on by stating that most prepositions only consist of one word whereas others consist of more than one word (for example, ahead of, as far as, by means of etc.). Although he says that “most prepositions can be used in several different ways” (ibid.), and then enumerates some of these ways for the preposition over, no attempt whatsoever is made to systematise or to explain them. Learners are normally given the advice that there are hardly any rules for prepositions and that they therefore need to be memorised. Some examples are usually provided and the learners are told that a preposition is usually followed by a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun 143 and that the preposition together with the noun / pronoun following it makes up the so-called prepositional phrase. However, explanations of the form do not help the learners to use prepositions correctly. Hints concerning their usage are, as already mentioned, generally given in the form of lists. It is not surprising then that learners frequently have problems with prepositions, as not all their uses and meanings can be memorised without a clue as to how these uses and meanings are connected. 10.2 Meaning An important notion for a cognitive-grammatical explanation of the function of prepositions is that of ‘trajector’ vs. ‘landmark’. As already explained in detail in sub-chapter 3.2, the relation between a trajector and a landmark is asymmetrical, as the trajector is the smaller and more mobile entity in a scene and acts as the focus of attention, whereas the landmark is the bigger, usually more static locating entity. The trajector is foregrounded in a linguistic expression and the landmark stays in the background. When prepositions are used, the trajector is prototypically the entity in the subject position and the landmark is prototypically the entity referred to in the prepositional phrase, i. e., following the preposition. In an expression such as “the book on the table”, the book is the trajector. It is foregrounded, smaller and more easily movable, whereas the table, i. e., the landmark, is static and backgrounded. Although there may be exceptional contexts in which an utterance such as “the table under the book” might make sense (for example, when there are different tables in a furniture showroom and the speaker wants to point out that s / he is talking about that one specific table on which a book has been placed), it is not the usual way in which the relation between a book and a table is conceptualized. Language users are, however, free to select the viewing arrangement from which they want to describe an event and prepositions help them to present the relations between entities exactly as they want them to be understood. 143 This is already indicated by its name, as a preposition is positioned before (pre) the noun / pronoun it refers to. <?page no="176"?> 175 10.2 Meaning As already shown in the previous case studies, cognitive grammar explanations of grammatical phenomena focus on meaning and not only on form. This is true for a cognitive grammar view on prepositions as well. Prepositions are analysed as having a prototypical meaning and all their additional meanings can be traced back to this core meaning, which entails that they can be explained via the prototype. If learners are acquainted with the basic meaning of a preposition, they already possess a valid guideline for the interpretation of its extended meanings, which has also been argued by Tyler (2012: 72), when she states that “mastering the central sense first seems to facilitate learning the extended sense”. In this way, the meanings and uses of prepositions can be represented as systematic and motivated, which may help learners in their acquisition. 10.2.1 Metaphorization In order to explain the systematicity of prepositional meanings, the concept of metaphorization needs to be evoked again. As Radden / Dirven (2007: 304) state, “most prepositions denote spatial relations as their basic and historically primary meanings, and their uses in abstract domains are metaphorical extensions of spatial meanings”. It has already been mentioned in chapter 3.1 that one of the most important research areas within cognitive linguistics relates to the ubiquitous phenomenon of metaphor- - not the poetic metaphors that are analysed in literature 144 but everyday metaphors used in everyday communication. Lakoff / Johnson (1980) have developed Conceptual Metaphor Theory, which maintains that people do not only speak in metaphors but that also their thought processes are organised by metaphor. Conceptual metaphors are image-schematic ideas in people’s minds, which they can access in order to produce an utterance, i. e., a linguistic metaphor which is in accordance with the overarching conceptual metaphor. For example, the conceptual metaphor buildings are theories 145 yields the linguistic metaphors “he constructed an argument against me”, “he demolished my theory” or “the foundation of her idea is shaky” etc. The conceptual metaphor is in the language user’s mind and is in most cases never uttered itself, but the linguistic utterances which relate to this conceptual metaphor transport its essence. There is no end to a language user’s creativity when it comes to producing novel linguistic metaphors. Conceptual metaphors are used to provide understanding, especially the understanding of highly abstract domains such as time, life, love, death and emotions. There are no concrete expressions for these domains, therefore expressions are taken from more concrete domains (the so-called source domains) and mapped onto the abstract domains (the so-called target 144 Lakoff / Turner (1989) actually argue-- and prove-- that all poetic metaphors ultimately rely on the same conceptual metaphors used by all people of the culture in question. Poets and writers are just better at producing innovative and outstanding linguistic metaphors than the common person. If poets’ and writers’ conceptual metaphors underlying their linguistic metaphors were not known to the audience, it would be difficult to understand literary texts. 145 As a convention, conceptual metaphors are always written in small capitals. <?page no="177"?> 176 10. Prepositions domains). In these mappings, not the totality of meanings from the source domain is used but only those aspects that are relevant. For example, the conceptual metaphor life is a journey (suggesting that people move on a certain path in life) maps certain features of the concrete source domain ‘journey’-- a concept which everybody has certain experiences with- - onto the abstract target domain ‘life’. The domain of ‘life’ is extremely hard if not impossible to describe without resorting to metaphors. The features mapped onto the target domain of ‘life’ from the source domain ‘journey’ feature, for example, its ongoingness, its having a start and a destination, the fact that travellers are involved, that obstacles can temporarily block one’s way etc., which are then expressed by linguistic metaphors such as “he has reached his final destination”, “life must go on”, “I don’t know where to go from here”, “I am at a crossroads” etc. It is not the case that there is only one conceptual metaphor for each of the abstract domains, as various alternative conceptual metaphors can exist and are used according to what a speaker wants to express or what s / he believes. For instance, life cannot only be seen as a journey but also as a play, as bondage, as a burden and so on (cf. Lakoff / Turner 1989: 222). However, the number of conceptual metaphors is limited, unlike the number of linguistic metaphors, which is endless and added to on a daily basis. Metaphorization also occurs in grammar, one of the most prominent examples-- but by far not the only one (see Panther / Thornburg / Barcelona 2009)-- being prepositions, along with phrasal verbs 146 . The following paragraphs explain the metaphorization of prepositions in more detail, using the prepositions at, on and in as examples. Cognitive grammar posits that people’s basic bodily experiences are spatial ones, as humans come into life and move in space. Therefore, the basic prepositions represent spatial relationships. These spatial meanings can then be metaphorised in two ways, as, on the one hand, the meaning extensions have generated temporal meanings, and, on the other hand, abstract meanings have developed. The temporal and abstract uses of the prepositions rely on their basic, spatial meanings, and the mappings keep these meanings partially intact. Thus, if one knows the basic meaning, one can deduce the metaphorical meanings with relative ease. This can be exemplified by focusing on three of the most frequent prepositions, namely at, on and in. Although a full-fledged analysis of all their meanings cannot be offered here, the meaning differences are sketched on three levels, namely concerning the basic meanings and concerning the metaphorised meanings of these prepositions on a temporal as well as on an abstract level. This is exactly what is different in a cognitive grammar approach as compared to more traditional approaches: the prepositions are not all discussed at the same level, but there is a distinction between their so-called basic (i. e., spatial) uses and their extended metaphorised uses. Starting with the basic spatial uses, at can be characterised as zero-dimensional, as it is seen as a precise point in space (examples: at the station, at school, at home). It can only designate non-human entities, i. e., one cannot say *“He waited at Helen”, whereas “He waited at the station” is correct (cf. Radden / Dirven 2007: 311). 146 Please consult sub-chapter 11.2 for a cognitive grammar perspective on phrasal verbs. <?page no="178"?> 177 10.2 Meaning On is oneor two-dimensional, depending on whether it is seen as a line or as a surface, because two objects are in contact with or at least in very close vicinity of each other (examples: (the picture) on the wall, (the book) on the table, (the town) on the border). Finally, in is three-dimensional, because one object encloses another (examples: (the wine) in the bottle, (the spider) in the shower, (the burglar) in the flat). Therefore, the basic meanings of these three prepositions can be explained as ‘point / target’ (at), ‘coverage / contact’ (on) and ‘containment / enclosure’ (in). The three prepositions can also be used temporally, i. e., metaphorically, the conceptual metaphor behind the temporal usages being time is space. Examples for temporal at are: at noon, at dinner time, at 7 pm. Temporal at is seen as a precise point on the timeline, i. e., the preciseness and the zero-dimensionality have been mapped from the spatial usage onto the temporal usage and have thus been kept intact. Examples for temporal on are: on Sunday, on my birthday, on Christmas Eve. In English, the day is seen as the most prototypical time unit expressing a stretch of time, as people’s routine activities in life are mainly organised around days. Temporal on preserves the meaning of coverage (covering a stretch of time, i. e., a day) that on already has in its basic, spatial sense. Finally, examples for temporal in are: in a minute, in 1920, in the evening. All time units longer or shorter than a day use in. Temporal in preserves the notion of enclosure that is present in spatial in. A time span is conceptualized as a container which encloses certain events, i. e., boundaries are perceived (unlike with on). This conception, of course, is possible only with durations, i. e., bounded time units in the past or in the future, as the present is regarded as a precise point on the time line and is therefore referred to by temporal at (at present, at this moment). It is interesting that the German language does not use a comparable zero-dimensional temporal metaphor for referring to the present moment but instead uses “im Moment”, i. e., a metaphor that relates to three-dimensionality and thus to the concept of containment / enclosure. This leads to the hypothesis that for native German speakers “ein Moment” is longer than a moment is for native English speakers, as the use of “im Moment” conveys the notion of a container and thus of (time) content. If German speakers of English are not aware of this difference, they tend to use the wrong preposition in English to refer to the present moment. A similar trap exists concerning the expressions “at the beginning / end” vs. “in the beginning / end”, which are frequently confused by German speakers of English, even by very advanced ones. Again, at refers to a precise point on the timeline (“at the beginning of the lesson” or “at the end of the lesson”), whereas in relates to a longer stretch of time which possesses ‘temporal content’ (“in the beginning, God created the world”-- which takes quite some time- - and “in the end, he realised that his arguments were too weak”- - said after a longish discussion). What is especially important in the cognitive-grammatical view of prepositions is that the spatial and the temporal uses are closely connected in meaning and that they share the abstracted meaning features of point / target (at), coverage / contact (on) and containment / en- <?page no="179"?> 178 10. Prepositions closure (in). Thus, the meaning aspect is highlighted, and if learners internalise the basic meanings of prepositions, they need not learn all prepositional uses by heart. These abstracted meanings also stay intact in the second kind of metaphorization that can be found with prepositions and which is somewhat more complex, namely the abstract use of prepositions. The abstract domains have been enumerated by Radden / Dirven (cf. 2007: 304 ff.) as circumstance, cause, reason, purpose, subject matter and area. The rationale for this second metaphorization is that language users do not have too many linguistic strategies for all they want to express, so they extend the basic notions that are already present in the language. However, fewer characteristics of the spatial prepositions are taken over in the mappings onto the ‘abstract’ prepositions than in the mappings from spatial prepositions onto temporal prepositions. Nevertheless, there are common denominators. The use of abstract prepositions depends to a large extent on the accompanying verb or adjective. Examples for the abstract use of at are “At Peter’s flattering remark, Helen blushed” or “We laughed at his story” (a short bout of laughter, in contrast to ‘laugh about’, which takes longer). Abstract at still refers to a specific event which tends to be very short, comparable to a point in space or a point in time. Another usage of abstract at is to refer to a target which is conceived of as a point (i. e., pointing to something), as in “He is good at tennis”. Examples for abstract on include “participants should pay on arrival”, “a talk on birth control” or “you are always on my mind”. Abstract on retains the notion of close contact or even of coverage (in this case: of a metaphorical surface), as the payment is supposed to happen immediately after the participants have arrived and as the talk covers the area of birth control-- thus, the notion of coverage or close contact is kept intact. In the third example, the speaker thinks about the other person a great deal and these thoughts rather refer to problematic issues, which makes the speaker feel the weight of the thoughts as if his / her mind is covered by them. This stands in contrast to “You are always in my mind”, which rather hints at positive thoughts filling (in = containment) one’s mind completely. Other examples for abstract in are, for instance, “We were caught in the snowstorm”, “I am interested in horses” or “I am in love”. In all these examples, abstract in retains the meaning of enclosure, as in the first example, the persons in question are more or less kept in their present situation because they are enclosed by the snowstorm. In the second example, the speaker delves deeply into a certain topic (in this case: horses) because his / her interest keeps him / her immersed inside this topic. In the third example, the speaker feels dominated and surrounded by certain circumstances to which s / he surrenders completely and from which s / he cannot easily or does not even want to get out. To sum up, in the basic sense as well as in the metaphorical senses of the three prepositions, the same meaning schemata are at work, namely point / target for at, coverage / contact for on and containment / enclosure for in. This is also the case for the other prepositions, although not all prepositions have developed both types of metaphorised meanings, sometimes only one of the metaphorizations has occurred. The differences between certain prepositions may sometimes seem to be subtle, but they all have different meanings. For instance, the basic meaning of the direction prep- <?page no="180"?> 179 10.2 Meaning osition to is that of a goal 147 , whereas the meaning of the direction preposition at is that of a target, i. e., a point-like goal (cf. Radden / Dirven 2007: 311). This becomes evident when the following two sentences are compared: “Anne threw the apple to Kim” (=-Kim is the goal) vs. “Anne threw the apple at Kim” (=-Kim is the target). Both to and at are zero-dimensional, but whereas to suggests reaching a goal (referring to the first example sentence above: Kim now has the apple), at only refers to the intention of reaching a goal, but does not suggest that the goal is actually reached, it is only ‘pointed at’ (referring to the second example sentence above: Kim was not necessarily hit by the apple). With is also zero-dimensional and its meaning is that of accompaniment, which becomes obvious in its basic meaning (“Anne came to the party with Kim”, focusing on actual company) as well as in its abstract meaning 148 (“I don’t sleep well with all that noise from next door”, focusing on the ‘company’ of the music all night long) 149 . 10.2.2 Proto-scenes A different, although related, approach to the explanation of prepositions is offered by the ‘principled polysemy model’, developed by Tyler and her coworkers (cf., for example, Tyler / Evans 2003). According to Tyler (2012: 132), “a fundamental assumption of the principled polysemy model is that the multiple meanings associated with each preposition form a motivated meaning network organised around a central sense”. This central sense is always spatial, and Tyler (2012: 133) claims that “the various additional meanings associated with each preposition were ultimately derived from the preposition’s central spatial scene”. In the additional, extended meanings the spatial sense may no longer be active, they can, however, be traced back to it. In this way, the systematicity of prepositional meanings can be reproduced, made transparent and be explained. Due to the fact that the principled polysemy model relies on relatively abstract explanations and features quite schematic illustrations, it may not be directly useable in teaching but would have to be adapted and simplified to a certain extent. Tyler calls the basic meaning of a preposition a ‘proto-scene’. This proto-scene is located at the centre of a semantic network of meanings. All extended meanings of a preposition are grouped around the proto-scene. Some of these meanings are more closely connected to each other and can be grouped together, they therefore stand closer to each other than to further extended meanings. More recently, Tyler (2012) has adapted the principled polysemy model for teaching purposes (cf. figure 5), but it is still not exactly self-explanatory and the pictures, which have replaced the schematic drawings, are sometimes hard to interpret, especially without example sentences. 147 The meaning of to is also important for the topic of verb complementation, as one of the complementisers is the to-infinitive, cf. chapter 12.2.2. 148 The preposition with has not developed a temporal meaning. 149 For more information on all prepositions in their basic as well as in their extended meanings, please consult Radden / Dirven 2007 (chapter 12). <?page no="181"?> 180 10. Prepositions Several prepositions have been analysed according to the principled polysemy model. As an example, the meaning of to, as reported in Tyler (2012: 136 ff.), is briefly summarised 150 . In its central sense, to denotes a goal (as already explained in the previous sub-chapter) or the endpoint of motion or a movement, such as in “Gina went to the playground”, where the playground is the goal of Gina’s motion. The extended meanings of to have been grouped into clusters of similar meanings, among them the ‘receiver sense’ (such as in “Gina gave the cake to Daniel”). The receiver sense is quite closely related to the central sense, as it also indicates the endpoint of a movement. In the example, the endpoint of the movement of giving has been reached when Daniel has received the cake. In this case, the endpoint is a human being instead of a location, as was the case for the central sense. Another example for the receiver sense involves metaphorization, as in “He gave all his love to her”, in which the emotion of love is metaphorised as an object (the conceptual metaphor being emotions are objects). Again, the receiver of the emotion is conceptualized as the endpoint of the ‘transaction’. A further extended sense is the ‘receiver of experience’ sense, such as in “Gina is nice to Daniel”, referring to a behaviour or to experiences that affect other persons. According to Tyler (2012: 139), “English speakers talk about behaviour as an object that moves from A to B”, with to indicating the receiver of the behaviour or of the experience. A third type of receiver sense, namely the ‘receiver of perception’ sense, can be found in examples such as “This ice cream looks appetizing to me”, indicating the result of a sensory experience. The conceptual metaphor underlying this use is experiences are objects, i. e., perception is experienced as an object “moving along a path from the external world to our conceptual world” (Tyler 2012: 139), with the perceiver as the metaphorical endpoint. This sense can also be used with more abstract meanings, namely when the perceived entity is no longer a real object but a plan or a situation, such as in “Your idea sounds good to me”. The person who makes such a judgment is then seen as the receiver of the mental conclusion that was drawn. The different receiver senses are seen as having developed from each other (receiver → receiver of experience → receiver of perception) and therefore rely on each other. They are getting more metaphorical the further they move away from the central sense (see figure 5 below). Another cluster of extended senses relates to “the physical experience of reaching a goal” (Tyler 2012: 140), one of these senses being the ‘limit sense’. Tyler (ibid.) explains that “a goal represents a limit on the activity you engage in. When you reach the goal, you cannot go any farther”. The limit sense is apparent in examples such as “Don’t push me to my limit”. This sense is very similar to the ‘contact sense’, in which the focus is on the contact with the targeted goal, such as in “cheek to cheek”. It is also very similar to the ‘attachment sense’, as in “The car is attached to the tow truck”, because one of the consequences of closeness can be attachment, in a literal and also in a more abstract, figurative sense, such as in “I am quite attached to my horse”, or also in “Kim has become engaged to Daniel”, where to indicates the ultimate contact with the endpoint, be it literal or emotional. 150 Further analyses of to can be found in Evans / Tyler 2004 as well as in Tyler / Mueller / Ho 2011. <?page no="182"?> 181 10.2 Meaning The different senses relating to ‘the physical experience of reaching a goal’ have also developed from each other (limit → contact → attachment) and therefore also depend on each other, as described above for the other cluster of extended senses. Figure 5: The meaning map of to according to the principled polysemy model (T yler / M u eller / h o 2011: 189) Similar principled polysemy analyses exist for a number of other prepositions, which cannot all be dealt with at this point. The analyses can be looked up in the relevant literature. Tyler / Mueller / Ho 2011 as well as Tyler 2012 not only analyse to, but also at and for. Evans / Tyler 2004 focus on through, Tyler / Evans 2004 describe the semantic network for over, Evans / Tyler 2005 present their analyses of in, over, above, under and below and Mueller 2016 analyses for. Suffice it to say that the previously introduced metaphorization view (see sub-chapter 10.2.1) on prepositions focuses on the differences between spatial, temporal and abstract meanings, whereas the principled polysemy approach rather focuses on the explanation of the various meaning extensions that have developed over time for the single prepositions. However, these two approaches are not incompatible, as metaphorization is also addressed in the principled polysemy model when it explains the extended senses, it is just not used as a distinctive feature. Both models offer themselves for visualisations which might be used for teaching purposes. The principled polysemy model works with arrows, little pictures and so-called meaning maps (see figure 5), whereas the metaphorization model outlined in the previous sub-chapter rather works with meaning schemata which can be visualised with simple symbols (see figure 6). For beginning learners, the metaphorization model is probably more helpful as in this <?page no="183"?> 182 10. Prepositions way the teacher can restrict himself / herself to spatial prepositions at the very beginning, introduce their schematic meanings, and then work his / her way to temporal and abstract prepositions, keeping the schematic meanings intact and thus making the learners aware of the systematicity of prepositional usage. For more advanced learners who are interested in the different meaning nuances of prepositions, the principled polysemy model is probably more helpful, as all the extended prepositional meanings outlined by it can be traced back to the central meaning of the preposition in question. Another advantage of the metaphorization explanation is that it can quite easily be connected to the explanation of the meanings of phrasal verbs, as outlined in chapter 11, which is not the case for the principled polysemy model, because its explanations are too specific to be transferred to the particles of phrasal verbs. For instance, in refers to containment not only when it is used as a preposition but also when it is used in a phrasal verb such as “eat in”, which means to eat at home (i. e., inside one’s flat or house), in contrast to “eat out” (i. e., leaving the house and eating at a restaurant). In the principled polysemy model, the explanations for to-- as shown above-- stay within the constraints of its use as a preposition, whereas the metaphorization model explains the meaning of to as ‘goal’, an interpretation which can be transferred to the use of to as a complementizer 151 (with the follow-up situation as a goal, as in “he told her to leave”, i. e., first he told her with the aim that she might leave and then she left, which means that the goal of the telling has been reached). To can furthermore be interpreted as a goal in constructions such as ‘going to’, signalling an intention or a future goal, as well as in modal verbs such as ‘ought to’ or ‘need to’, which indicate goals as well (cf. sub-chapter 7.2.1). In other words, the schematic explanations of the metaphorization model can explain the meaning of the morpheme to in all its linguistic manifestations, which the principled polysemy model does not seem able to do. 10.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction The question remains how the cognitive grammar perspective can be used in the classroom and how learners can profit from the systematicity that can be found with prepositions. Some experiments with learners have been conducted for a number of prepositions, most of them with the result that a cognitive explanation helps learners to understand and use prepositions more correctly (cf. Matula 2007, Cho 2010, Tyler / Mueller / Ho 2011, Almuoseb 2016). The aim of using a cognitive grammar approach to teaching prepositions should be to convey the basic notions motivating the prepositions in question. Referring to the examples analysed in the previous sub-chapter, these basic notions are point / target for at, coverage / contact for on and containment / enclosure for in, which are relatively easy to understand. In this way, learners can become aware of the meaning aspect of prepositions as well as of the connection between their different uses. This procedure may then help the learners to understand the spatial concepts behind the basic prepositions and it also explains how these basic uses are related to the metaphorizations of the prepositions. As several studies have shown 151 Please consult chapter 12 for an account of verb complementation. <?page no="184"?> 183 10.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction (e. g., Verspoor / Lowie 2003, Csábi 2004), raising learners’ awareness of the basic spatial meaning of a word significantly facilitates their learning of extended meanings. This can be accomplished, for example, via visualisations of the meaning schemata on all three meaning levels. For instance, the visualisation for at can be an arrow (pointing, for example, at a town on a map for the spatial meaning in “I was at Brighton last year”, or at a specific time on a watch for the temporal meaning in “Let us meet at 10 am”, or at a certain subject in a school report for the abstract meaning in “good at maths”). AT •ooint, target We often spend our holidays at Brighton. (spatia/ ) During the holidays, 1 prefer to get up at noon or later. (temporal) My school report shows that I am good at maths. (abstract) 1 music I sports I English I maths ON •surface, contact We often spend our holidays on the English coast. (spatial) On Sundays, 1 usually sleep long. (temporal) 1 Mon I Tue I Wed I Thu I Fri I Sat I Sun 1 This problem is constantly on my mind. (abstract) IN •containment, enclosure We often spend our holidays in England. (spatial) 1 don't like to get up early in the morning. (temporal) � \61 We were trapped in the snowstorm. (abstract) Figure 6: Visualisations of the basic, temporal and abstract meanings of at, on and in <?page no="185"?> 184 10. Prepositions For on, the visualisation can refer to the contact between a book and a table for the spatial meaning in “the book on the table”, or to the contact between a day and events on this day for the temporal meaning in “on my birthday I had a lot of visitors”. Concerning the abstract level, a problem that is weighing “heavily on my mind” can be visualised by putting the problem directly above and in close contact to a person’s head. Finally, the different uses for in can be visualised by referring to the liquid contained by a bottle for the spatial meaning in “water in the bottle”, or, for the temporal meaning, by referring to a watch on which the area “in the morning” (i. e., from 8-12 am) is circled as contained within the rest of the day, or by drawing people caught in a snowstorm as being completely surrounded by the storm for the abstract meaning. All of these uses are prototypical, and therefore they help make the concepts clear. More marginal examples can follow subsequently. This approach may be a valid way of either building up the learners’ knowledge about prepositions and / or restructuring their knowledge and helping them see the motivation behind the various usages. Meaning connections can be highlighted by showing the network of preposition meanings in a visual way, as suggested above, especially for learners who have problems with more abstract explanations. Learners could then work on example sentences, taken from actual usage, and explain the reasons for the writer’s / speaker’s choice(s) of preposition. In this way, they will be encouraged to pay more attention to the meaning aspect of grammar and will see that grammar is as important as lexis, and that a structuring principle such as metaphorization can be found in similar ways on both ends of the lexis-grammar continuum. As prepositions are very frequent in natural language use, there is a large choice of communicative situations. The chosen situation for the following sub-chapter relates to the introduction of the first spatial prepositions for (pseudo-) beginners in a fifth grade in secondary school. Alternatively, this task can be used in a third or fourth grade 152 in primary school, if English has been taught there on a regular basis. In any case, the learners will not be totally unfamiliar with prepositions, as the teacher will already have used them many times before (for example, when telling the learners to put their books on their tables, to take something out of their bags, to open their books at page X, to come to the board etc.). The aim of the lesson is to make learners aware of the different locative meanings of a number of frequent spatial prepositions and to furthermore make them aware of the image schemata connected to their use. This may not seem important for the spatial prepositions, as they are quite easily understandable without the underlying image schemata, however, it has an important function as a preparation for the introduction of the metaphorised uses of the prepositions later on. As prior knowledge, the learners should be able to form simple English sentences and they should furthermore be familiar with the word fields of furniture, household implements and decorative items. The prepositions focused on in the lesson described in the next sub-chapter 152 If English is only taught from the third grade onwards, as is the case in the majority of the German federal states, then prepositions should only be systematised in the fourth grade. If, however, English is taught from the first grade onwards, the introduction of the spatial prepositions is already possible in the third grade. <?page no="186"?> 185 10.4 The task cycle are on / under / in front of / behind 153 / in, five of the most frequently used prepositions, which enable the learners to describe spatial relations in their environment. The topic is therefore also relevant for the use of the foreign language outside of the classroom. Among the five prepositions to be introduced, there are two contrastive pairs, as it is easier to understand the meanings of prepositions when they are presented in contrastive pairs. 10.4 The task cycle As usual, the pre-task is meant to introduce the communicative situation, which focuses on the arrangement of furniture, household implements and decorative items in a room. The teacher should use the grammatical structure to be introduced already during the pre-task, but as a general rule, the learners do not yet use it. For the topic of prepositions, however, it is quite possible that some prepositions will already be used by the learners, as they will have heard the teacher use them many times before. The teacher might enter the classroom, yawn and comment on the fact that s / he had a terrible night and did not sleep too well. S / he woke up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare, in which s / he had dreamt that somebody or something has devastated his / her complete flat. Everything in the flat was different than before: the toaster was in the fridge, the TV was on the kitchen table, the coffeemaker was under the sofa, the CD player was behind the curtains, the computer stood in front of the bathroom door etc. 154 The teacher asks the learners where they think the furniture and items really belong-- does the toaster belong in the fridge, is the CD player supposed to be hidden behind the curtains etc.? S / he then continues by asking the learners which items and pieces of furniture they have in their rooms at home and where exactly these items are. For instance, s / he might ask “Who of you has a computer at home as well? Where in your room is it? On your desk? ” and the learners will either just say “yes” or else try to be more specific. “What else do you have in your room? Perhaps books? Where are they, on shelves or under your bed? ”. This procedure is meant to freshen up the learners’ knowledge of the word fields which are necessary for the upcoming task. Furthermore, it focuses on a topic that is important and relevant for the learners also outside of the classroom, namely to be able to describe one’s belongings and one’s environment. The teacher can attach flashcards of the items mentioned to the board or put them on the wall in order to help and inspire the learners, especially the less advanced ones, during the task to follow. The task itself is based on group work. The learners get together in groups of five 155 and each group receives a worksheet with the header ‘our dream room’, which shows a drawing of an 153 Interestingly enough, both in front of as well as behind refer to body parts (the front and the buttocks, respectively) and are therefore examples of embodied meaning. 154 In case the past tense has not yet been introduced, the report can also use the present tense, which makes it more lively (cf. sub-chapter 5.2.2): “Imagine: the toaster is in the fridge, the TV is on the kitchen table etc.” 155 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. In this case, it would be a good idea to let the learners draw snippets with pieces of furniture on them, so that there is a ‘group bed’, a ‘group wardrobe’, a ‘group table’, a ‘group mirror’ and a ‘group chair’, for instance. <?page no="187"?> 186 10. Prepositions empty room, in which only a window and a door are discernible. Additionally, little picture cards can be distributed which show furniture items, household implements and decorative items such as vases, plants, posters / paintings, musical instruments, sports paraphernalia and the like. The learners are supposed to furnish the room in a way which all the group members like. Having to find a joint solution sparks discussion and presumably also the use of the targeted prepositions, as the locations of the chosen items need to be agreed on. The learners have to take turns in suggesting a suitable place for an item and then have to place the item on the drawing, glue it in and describe the location of the item in a sentence. Five example sentences containing the five prepositions in question, such as “the bed is under the window”, “the picture is on the wall” etc. are provided on the worksheet. Every group has to come up with at least ten sentences, so that every learner can read out two sentences during the report phase. The groups may use the little picture cards but they can also draw further items into the room plan. In the report phase, the groups hold up their pictures and describe them to the rest of the class. The teacher can ask questions such as “why is the bed under the window and not in front of the door? ” or “Will you put a plant on the table or rather on the window sill? ” in order to elicit more prepositions from the learners. The rest of the class is also encouraged to ask questions about the rooms designed by the others. In the language focus, the teacher asks each group to write one of their sentences on the board. For this purpose, the board already contains a grid and one of the example sentences from the worksheet. The grid has four columns, the first of them contains ‘the bed’, the second one contains ‘is’, the third one contains ‘under’ and the fourth one contains ‘the window’. The learners are supposed to enter their sentences into the grid by following this structure. The board should then feature all the targeted prepositions in the third column (if a preposition is missing, an additional sentence can be entered). The learners are then asked what the third column expresses and they might understand that the prepositions express the locative relations between the nouns in the left-hand and those in the right-hand columns. The different prepositions show that different kinds of relations can exist and that the choice of the correct preposition determines the sense of the utterance. In order to illustrate this, the teacher might give an example of an absurd sentence by saying something like “the bed is in the window”. Using a transparency, the teacher can then consolidate the learners’ knowledge by showing-- or better still, developing together with the learners-- schematic drawings of the basic meanings of the prepositions in question, as, for example, coverage / contact for on, containment / enclosure for in (for inspiration, please see figure 6), an arrow pointing downwards from an object / ‘lower than’ for under, an arrow pointing forward from an object / ‘on the front side’ for in front of and an arrow pointing backwards from an object / ‘on the back side’ for behind. The ‘object’ could be a box, for instance, as it needs to be three-dimensional in order to also cater for the preposition in. The finalised transparency can also be given to the students as a paper copy. In any case, the teacher should not forget to mention that there are a number of other prepositions in the English language, which will be added to the learners’ repertoire one by one. <?page no="188"?> 187 10.5 Alternatives If there is time for a transfer, the game ‘Simon says’ can be played. In this game, the teacher gives a command, for instance “Simon says: stand on your chairs”, “Simon says: crawl under your tables” etc. Whenever a command is uttered without the preceding ‘Simon says’, the learners are not supposed to obey the command. If they do so anyway, they are out of the game. In this way, the preposition meanings are physically enacted, which further adds to their double coding. The teacher can insert questions in order to elicit the verbal production of the prepositions, such as “Where are you sitting right now? ”, the answer being “under my table”. The teacher can also hand the leading role over to the learners, so that they can take turns in giving the commands. For homework, the learners have to describe their own rooms in an email to a pupil from an English partner class, in at least ten sentences, each of them using prepositions. 10.5 Alternatives As already mentioned, there is a multitude of situations that can be used for integrating prepositions into the learners’ language. As a further possibility for (pseudo-) beginners, and quite similar to the suggestion outlined in the previous sub-chapter but going somewhat beyond it as not only the word field of furniture is targeted, four to six spatial prepositions can be chosen, for instance in, under, on, in front of and behind. The teacher can start with a pre-task in which s / he tells the learners that his / her cat has disappeared and then tell the class where s / he searched for the cat by saying “I looked under the table, on the upper shelf, behind the curtains, in front of the house, in the refrigerator-- but it was nowhere”. This can be visualised by pictures of the (imaginary) cat at the locations mentioned by the teacher. The learners can then advise the teacher where else s / he could have looked for the cat. The task itself consists of a game, which is played in partner work. Each pair gets a game plan with a grid which looks like a bingo form. On the left margin, the prepositions in question are enumerated and above the grid five pictures show classroom objects. The learners additionally receive little picture cards which they can put into the boxes of the grid. One partner starts by saying “The schoolbag is on the desk” and the other partner puts the picture of the schoolbag in the right place. Turns are taken until the game plan is filled. One of the picture cards can carry a big question mark, which means that the learners can invent an entity, for instance, a cockroach or a spider. When the game is over, the learners have to write their five favourite sentences underneath the game plan. Alternatively, beginning learners can be greeted by the teacher’s story of a visit to the zoo. The teacher describes where the animals s / he saw were located (“on the tree”, “in the cage”, “under a bush”, “behind a stone” etc.) and the learners contribute their own stories about visits to the zoo, which animals they saw there and where these were sitting or hiding. Every learner then gets a map of a fictive zoo and five animal cards which have to be glued onto the map. Then they work in partner work again, sitting back to back, and tell each other where they put their animals. The locations of the partners’ animals then have to be marked on a second map with a second set of animal cards (of a different colour). Again, a fantasy creature can be drawn, located and marked by the partner as well. The maps can then be compared and, <?page no="189"?> 188 10. Prepositions if necessary, corrected, and finally everybody writes the location of the partner’s animals underneath the map. Slightly more advanced learners could plan a treasure hunt with the help of a high-resolution map of a specific area, for example for the next excursion or for a joint trip with a partner class. The learners prepare snippets with hints where to find the next snippet until at the end the ‘treasure’, which may consist of a box of candy bars or similar, is detected. For these snippets, they need to prepare sentences such as “Look under the third tree on the right side of this road, and you will find the next snippet hidden by some leaves” or “Look behind the rosebush”. The map helps the learners to plan the route that the treasure hunters have to take and to decide where to hide the snippets and the treasure itself. They need to use at least one preposition per snippet sentence. The first sentence is provided by the teacher as a guideline for the learners, for example “Go into the direction of the bus stop and look at the lampposts, you will find the next snippet on one of them”. After the basic prepositional uses have been introduced in class, the temporal uses should follow. Once these are understood, the teacher can move on to the abstract uses, always drawing a connection to the basic meanings and the visualisations which were introduced for the spatial prepositions. Advanced learners can then work on the task of explaining the temporal as well as the abstract uses of prepositions with the help of the image schemata extracted from their knowledge about the spatial uses. For instance, groups of learners could receive short authentic texts, perhaps song texts, which contain all kinds of prepositions, basic and metaphorized, and get the task to visualise these, so that, for example, “in love” is drawn as a container full of little hearts, in which a tiny person can be detected. During the report phase, these pictures are then presented to the other classmates, who have to guess their meanings, and may even be hung up on the classroom walls. This procedure is not only fun for the learners but also enhances the process of double coding (cf. Clark / Paivio 1991). Further reading Almuoseb, Anwar (2016): “A lexical-semantic analysis of the English prepositions at, on and in and their conceptual mapping onto Arabic”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 211-234. Cho, Kanako (2010): “Fostering the acquisition of English prepositions by Japanese learners with networks and prototypes”. In: de Knop, Sabine / Boers, Frank / de Rycker, Antoon (eds.): Fostering language teaching efficiency through cognitive linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 259-275. Clark, James M. / Paivio, Allan (1991): “Dual coding theory and education”. Educational Psychology Review 3 (3), 149-170. Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Csábi, Szilvia (2004): “A cognitive linguistic view of polysemy in English and its implications for teaching”. In: Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 223-256. <?page no="190"?> 189 10.5 Alternatives Evans, Vyvyan / Tyler, Andrea (2004): “Rethinking English ‘prepositions of movement’: The case of to and through”. In: Cuyckens, Hubert / De Mulder, Walter / Mortelmans, Tanja (eds.): Adpositions of movement. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 18, 247-270. Evans, Vyvyan / Tyler, Andrea (2005): “Applying cognitive linguistics to pedagogical grammar: The English prepositions of verticality”. Revista Brasileira de Linguistica Aplicada 5 (2), 11-42. Field, John (2008): “Bricks or mortar: What parts of the input does a second language listener rely on? ” TESOL Quarterly 41 (3), 411-432. Francis, W. Nelson / Kucera, Henry (1982): Frequency analysis of English usage: Lexicon and grammar. Boston, MA : Houghton Mifflin. Lakoff, George / Johnson, Mark (1980): Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Lakoff, George / Turner, Mark (1989): More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Matula, Suzanne (2007): Incorporating a cognitive linguistic presentation of the prepositions on, in and at in ESL instruction: A quasi-experimental study. Doctoral dissertation. Washington: Georgetown University. Mueller, Charles M. (2016): “A semantic account of the English preposition for based on a cognitive linguistics framework”. The Bulletin of the Faculty of Humanities, Fuji Women’s University 53, 1-24. Panther, Klaus-Uwe / Thornburg, Linda L. / Barcelona, Antonio (eds.) (2009): Metonymy and metaphor in grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Tyler, Andrea (2012): Cognitive linguistics and second language learning: Theoretical basics and experimental evidence. London: Routledge. Tyler, Andrea / Evans, Vyvyan (2003): The semantics of English prepositions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tyler, Andrea / Evans, Vyvyan (2004): “Applying cognitive linguistics in pedagogical grammar: The case of over”. In: Achard, Michel / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive linguistics, second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 257-280. Tyler, Andrea / Mueller, Charles M. / Ho, Vu (2011): “Applying cognitive linguistics to learning the semantics of English to, for and at: An experimental investigation”. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 8, 181-205. Verspoor, Marjolijn / Lowie, Wander (2003): “Making sense of polysemous words”. Language Learning 53 (3), 547-587. <?page no="192"?> 191 11.1 Form 11. Phrasal verbs Phrasal verbs and prepositions are closely connected grammatical phenomena, as a number of the particles used in phrasal verbs (e. g., in, on, off, (a)round, over, through, by, along) can also act as prepositions. In contrast to prepositions, the topic of phrasal verbs is not suitable for beginners but can only be introduced for more advanced learners who have already mastered the English prepositions. However, “even advanced students often show a poor command of phrasal verbs and use them rarely” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 3). Alejo González (2010: 54) quotes examples of studies which have shown that “a clear distinction between native ( NS ) and non-native speakers ( NNS ) of English in the use of PV s has been found”, or, in other words: non-native speakers tend to avoid the use of phrasal verbs. This fact is not necessarily connected to the learners’ proficiency levels, as, for example, Siyanova / Schmitt (2007) have found out that there is no difference in the avoidance behaviour of learners with different proficiency levels. Phrasal verbs are multi-word verb units that are used very frequently in native speaker communication. There are thousands of phrasal verbs in English and Crystal (1995: 212) even calls them “one of the most distinctive features of English syntax”. They cannot be seen as strictly ‘lexical’ and they cannot be seen as strictly ‘grammatical’ either. Instead, they can be seen as residing in the middle of the grammar-lexicon continuum argued for by cognitive linguistics (cf. sub-chapter 3.1.2). What learners find problematic, though, and what often causes them to avoid the use of phrasal verbs, is that the meaning of a phrasal verb is more than the meanings of its individual components taken together. Furthermore, phrasal verbs display a certain degree of idiomaticity, some of them more so and some of them less so. For instance, in “pick up an accent”, no literal picking is involved. This is generally seen as difficult by learners. An additional difficulty specifically for German learners is the fact that the German language does not have phrasal verbs, but that German verbs instead add prefixes (‘runterkommen’, ‘raufgehen’, ‘aufnehmen’ etc.). Traditionally, it has been recommended to EFL learners to learn phrasal verbs by heart, which-- as already stated for prepositions-- is not the best way to understand and use them correctly. The systematicity of the meanings of phrasal verbs, which they display in a similar way as prepositions do, is hardly ever pointed out and explained to learners. 11.1 Form Phrasal verbs have traditionally either been seen as phraseological units or as multi-word constructions and their meanings have been called non-compositional and / or opaque. As multi-word verb constructions, phrasal verbs consist of a verb followed by one or two further elements. Three types of multi-word units have traditionally been differentiated (cf., for example, Quirk et al. 1985): <?page no="193"?> 192 11. Phrasal verbs ▶ phrasal verbs: a verb + particle construction (such as, for example, give away, grow up, calm down) ▶ prepositional verbs: a verb + preposition construction (such as, for example, rely on, eat out, give in) ▶ phrasal-prepositional verbs: a verb + particle + preposition construction (such as, for example, face up to, turn away from, come down with) Cognitive grammar does not follow this traditional tripartition but calls all of these instances ‘phrasal verbs’. Dirven (2001: 5) points out “that most particles in phrasal verbs can also function as prepositions, but not vice versa-(…)” and adds the observation that monofunctional prepositions, i. e., prepositions which cannot be used as particles in phrasal verbs (such as, in alphabetical order, above, against, amongst, at, below, beneath, beside, between, from, into, near, next to, onto, out of, to, under, underneath, with), mainly denote zero-dimensional points in space, whereas the multifunctional prepositions, i. e., prepositions which can be used as particles in phrasal verbs (such as, in alphabetical order, about, across, along, around, by, down, in, off, on, out, over, through, up), relate to oneor more-dimensional space and can therefore develop the notion of physical or abstract motion (cf. ibid.: 5 f.). In other words: metaphorization is only possible if the basic schematic meaning of a particle allows for it 156 . This argument may actually not be completely correct, as there are, after all, phrasal verbs which include monofunctional particles (such as relate to, for instance), but it is indeed the case that the vast majority of prepositional items to be found in phrasal verbs are multifunctional ones. There are certain syntactic restrictions on the usage of phrasal verbs. This is mainly due to the fact that the verb and the particle / preposition together form a meaningful unit. Such a unit may not be torn apart in all cases. As stated by Rudzka-Ostyn (2003: 1), “the more figurative a phrasal verb is, the more it forms a tight unit, and the less verb and particle can be split”, which is why *“he picked the Birmingham accent up in no time” is ungrammatical, as in this case pick + up are not separable. Almost all verbs used with particles are verbs of motion. This motion can be performed literally or metaphorically (cf. Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 2). An example for literal, physical motion is “he ran up the hill”, whereas “he ran up expenses” is a metaphorical extension (cf. ibid.). However, not all researchers would see “run up a hill” as a phrasal verb but rather call it a non-figurative construction of a verb followed by a directional preposition, as it is generally argued that a phrasal verb needs to involve some kind of figurative meaning, which is not the case in this example. However, for learners to be able to make sense of a phrasal verb, knowledge of the literal meaning of the verb is not enough, although it often helps to make sense of an extended mean- 156 This argument should not be mixed up with the fact that zero-dimensional prepositions can indeed metaphorize (see sub-chapter 10.2), as motion is no conceptual ingredient of a preposition which is necessary for its metaphorization. It is, however, necessary for the particles in phrasal verbs to be conceptually compatible with the verbs themselves, and the vast majority of the verbs used in phrasal verbs are verbs of motion and therefore need particles that can refer to physical or abstract motion. <?page no="194"?> 193 11.2 Meaning ing of the same verb. In the case of run up, the meaning of ‘moving quickly’ (i. e., running) indicates that the metaphorical running (up) happens reasonably quickly as well, but this is of course not the whole story and the meaning of the phrasal verb additionally depends on the meaning of the particle. The majority of researchers in cognitive grammar has focused on analysing the particles in phrasal verbs and has neglected the verbs to a large extent, which has been criticised by, for example, Mahpeykar / Tyler (2015). However, for teaching purposes it is much more useful to make the learners aware of the underlying meanings of the particles because there is only a restricted number of them, as compared to the nearly endless number of verbs. Especially for very bland and frequent verbs, such as put, get, have, make etc., the meaning of the particle is essential, as the verbs themselves hardly contribute anything to the meaning of the phrasal verb. These bland verbs usually collocate with lots of different particles (for instance: get off, get down, get up, get away, get along with, get over, get in, get out, get by, get across, get around to, get back etc.), which hints at the fact that the particle meaning is more decisive for the phrasal verb meaning than the meaning of the verb itself. In contrast, verbs which are used with fewer particles usually contribute to the overall meaning of the phrasal verb. This can, again, be seen as a continuum of meaning with a prototype in the middle (a phrasal verb in which the verb as well as the particle contribute to the overall meaning, such as, for example, wipe off), and less prototypical members at the extreme poles of the continuum, with a whole lot of cases in between. These extremes are, on the one hand, very bland verbs which do not contribute any of their own meaning, such as put down (in the meaning of ‘to euthanise’), and, on the other hand, infrequent verbs which contribute quite a lot of conceptual information to the overall meaning, such as leak out, which would not be understandable without knowing what ‘to leak’ means. 11.2 Meaning In contrast to traditional and more syntactically oriented approaches, which see phrasal verbs as idiomatic chunks of meaning and claim that they have to be learned by heart, cognitive grammar focuses more on the meaning aspect of phrasal verbs and claims that they “are not simply opaque and unanalysable language items but that their usage is conceptually motivated” (Kohl-Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz 2016: 195). Within cognitive grammar, there are various approaches to phrasal verbs, most of them focusing on the meanings of the particles and / or prepositions. As Kohl-Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz (2016: 195) correctly claim, “a clear-cut distinction between preposition and particle is inadequate as even in very opaque phrasal verbs the sense of the adverbial particle is motivated and related to the prototypical spatio-temporal sense of the preposition”. There is an ongoing debate in linguistics about whether particles are a category in their own right or whether they are prepositions (cf. Cappelle 2005). For the learner, this debate does not matter, therefore the following paragraphs only use the term ‘particle’ and do not differentiate between particles and prepositions as parts of a phrasal verb. <?page no="195"?> 194 11. Phrasal verbs Similar to what was already explained for prepositions, the notions of trajector and landmark are important for understanding the relations in phrasal verbs. In contrast to prepositions, where the trajector and the landmark are frequently static entities, in phrasal verbs the (more mobile) trajector is the moving entity and the (more static) landmark is the place towards which this entity moves. Human cognition generally tends to focus more on the moving entity, i. e., the trajector, and not so much on the background, i. e., the landmark. The trajector can either be a concrete person or a concrete object (such as in “Peter got over the loss of his girlfriend” or “This useless telephone is getting on my nerves”), or-- in a metaphorised way-- it can also be a feeling, a thought, an intuition etc. (such as in “My bad mood has gone away” or “This idea really messes me up”). The ‘place’ that the landmark refers to can be a point, a line, a surface or a container. Another notion that is important for prepositions as well as for phrasal verbs is that of conceptual metaphor. As this has already been described in detail in sub-chapter 10.2.1, a brief reminder will suffice at this point. For phrasal verbs, metaphorization can concern the verb as well as the particle. Similar to what was described for prepositions, also word classes such as verbs and particles have radial networks of meaning with a clearly defined prototype in the middle and extended meanings distributed around the prototype. As mentioned before, cognitive grammar assumes that all extended meanings can be explained via the prototype. Thus, a verb like ‘hold’ in its basic meaning designates the physical process of having something in one’s hands and thus possessing it, at least for the moment. Although the expression ‘hold an office’, in which ‘hold’ is used in an extended meaning, no longer refers to a physical process (as an office cannot be held in one’s hands), the notion of possession, in this case of a non-physical object, stays intact. In a similar way to the verbs, the particles of phrasal verbs also have a basic, prototypical meaning as well as extended meanings. This is outlined in some detail in the following two sub-chapters. 11.2.1 Semantic networks of the particles The particles of phrasal verbs build semantic webs of meanings, which can help to lend the phrasal verb system some degree of semantic transparency. In these radial networks of meaning, the basic, spatial meaning of the particle has a central position, and all the extended meanings can be traced back to it. This was already explained for the prepositions at, on and in in sub-chapter 10.2. Probably the best-known cognitive linguistic publication on phrasal verbs is Rudzka-Ostyn 2003, which is meant as a self-study book and which has not remained without criticism. Still, the approach that the author uses is understandable and can, in an adapted form, also be used for teaching purposes. The book focuses on the central as well as on the extended meanings of fifteen particles. As the following sub-chapter explains four of these particles (up, down, out and in) in detail, the other ones are only briefly commented upon below. Rudzka-Ostyn begins her book with a drawing of a container in which the different <?page no="196"?> 195 11.2 Meaning particles (and prepositions, as into and inside cannot act as particles) are shown in their central functions (see figure 7). Each chapter of the book is devoted to one particle and the chapter titles indicate the basic meanings of the particles in question. All chapters first explain the central meanings and continue with a discussion of several clusters of extended meanings. The particles and their basic meanings are listed as follows: ▶ out is leaving a container (e. g., “she is going out tonight”) ▶ in is entering or being inside a container (e. g., “she is staying in tonight”) ▶ up is positive verticality (e. g., “stand up for your rights”) ▶ down is negative verticality (e. g., “he stepped down from his presidency”) ▶ off is breaking contact (e. g., “drop me off at the supermarket”) ▶ away is disappearing (e. g., “he gambled away all his money”) ▶ on is contact (e. g., “she is hooked on painkillers”) ▶ over is higher than and close to (e. g., “I need to get over him”) ▶ back is returning (e. g., “he pulled back from the arrangement”) ▶ about is dispersion (e. g., “don’t worry about this problem”) ▶ (a)round is vicinity or circular motion (e. g., “I haven’t seen her around recently”) ▶ across is motion to the opposite side (e. g., “his remark came across as rude”) ▶ through is crossing a container (e. g., “they went through a rough time”) ▶ by is vicinity or path (e. g., “drop by when you are in town”) ▶ along is parallel path or entity (e. g., “I get along well with him”) (all chapter titles taken from Rudzka-Ostyn 2003) Figure 7: Spatial meanings of particles and prepositions (r udzk a -o S T yn 2003: 4) <?page no="197"?> 196 11. Phrasal verbs 11.2.2 Analyses of the particles up, down, out and in The following paragraphs are devoted to an exemplary analysis of the networks of the four particles which are used in the task described in sub-chapter 11.4, namely up, down, out and in. The explanations are partly based on Ruzdka-Ostyn 2003, partly on Mahpeykar / Tyler 2015 and partly on Kohl-Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz 2016. According to Rudzka-Ostyn (cf. 2003: 75), up is the most frequently used particle in the English language. She explains this frequency by alluding to the embodied positive notion that humans have with upwards positions and upwards motion. In fact, orientational metaphors in which the notion up is used are generally positive ones. This has to do with the fact that “upward orientation tends to go together with positive evaluation, while downward orientation with a negative one” (Kövecses 2010: 40). When people are alive and kicking, they are frequently in an upright position, and this upright body posture is therefore positively connoted. This positive connotation is then transferred to a number of other spheres of life. Another embodied experience that accounts for the positive meaning of up is simply that if a glass is filled, the level of the liquid inside goes up the more liquid is poured in. Furthermore, if persons are happy they frequently smile, which means that the corners of their mouths go up. Examples for conceptual metaphors with up, based on the embodied experiences just mentioned, are good is up (with its linguistic instantiations “I’ve got a top position”, “He does high-quality work”, “things are looking up” etc.), more is up (with its linguistic instantiations “prices rose”, “speak up, please”, “a high number of mistakes” etc.) or happy is up (with its linguistic instantiations “this lifted my spirits”, “I’m experiencing an all-time high”, “I’m feeling up” etc.) as well as a number of other related conceptual metaphors (cf. Lakoff / Johnson 1980). Rudzka-Ostyn (2003: chapter 4) describes the meaning of up as ‘positive verticality’ and as consisting of a basic meaning and three further meaning clusters 157 . She also provides schematic drawings for all of these meanings, but these are so abstract that they are not really helpful for an understanding of these meanings 158 . The basic meaning of up is either a “position at a high place or moving up to a higher one” (ibid.: 75), relating to spatial upward motion, as, for example, in “We all stood up when the teacher entered” or “My son is ill and has to throw up all the time”. In the first example, the body position changes to a more upright one if one stands up from a chair, and in the second example something moves up inside one’s throat, so that a physical upwards movement is involved here as well. A slightly less central meaning cluster relates to “aiming at or reaching a goal, an end, a limit” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 77). These notions are no longer spatial but abstract, i. e., the spatial particle is used metaphorically. In these cases, the place where the landmark is located 157 Rudzka-Ostyn actually mentions four additional meaning clusters, but the explanations for the fourth meaning cluster are relatively unconvincing, which is why this fourth cluster (‘covering an area completely / reaching the highest limit’ with examples such as “we need to leave, finish up your drink” or “the government is covering up the scandal”) can be subsumed under the first cluster of extended meanings (‘reaching a goal, an end, a limit’). 158 This is not only my personal impression but also that of a number of my students who worked with Rudzka-Ostyn’s book. <?page no="198"?> 197 11.2 Meaning becomes the goal of the motion. If this concept is extended a little further, the goal becomes conceptualized as the limit or as the endpoint. Examples are “She walked up to me and asked me how to get to the station” (=-goal) for the first meaning and “I am fed up with your nasty behaviour” (=-limit) as well as “I have given up smoking” (=-endpoint) for the second meaning. Concerning the second cluster of extended meanings, Rudzka-Ostyn (2003: 80) states that up signifies “moving to a higher degree, value or measure”, which are again more abstract and therefore metaphorised notions. In these cases, the meaning of up is extended to indicate abstract motion to a higher point on a scale, for example for “temperature, higher prices or quality, higher level of knowledge, demands, conditions, speed or higher values in general. Metaphorically-(…), all these and many others are like a higher place or location” (ibid.: 81). Examples are “The management wants us to speed up production” or “the political campaign is currently heating up”. The third meaning cluster refers to uses of up which relate to the fact that “higher up is more visible, accessible, known” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 85). This visibility or accessibility is due to the fact that something that is higher is noticed more easily. This is true for concrete objects as well as for abstract entities to which attention is drawn, as “what was hidden or unknown becomes visible or known” (ibid.: 86). Examples are “do not bring up this issue again” or “lots of people showed up / turned up for the event last night”. Figure 8: The central meaning and the extended meaning clusters of up according to r udzk a -o S T yn (2003: 103) Mahpeykar / Tyler (2015: 5) criticise Rudzka-Ostyn’s approach and lament its “failure to provide a methodology of identifying the central sense of the particle. Nor does she account in any systematic way for how the different meanings are extended from this basic sense”. <?page no="199"?> 198 11. Phrasal verbs Instead, the authors recommend their own principled polysemy model with its proto-scenes (see sub-chapter 10.2.2). For up, the principled polysemy model (cf. Tyler / Evans 2003) proposes a central sense and a cluster of extended senses, the so-called ‘quantity cluster’. The central sense of up refers to a relation in which “the TR (=- trajector) is directed towards the top of an oriented LM (=-landmark)” (ibid.: 136). The meanings of up in the quantity cluster “are mostly non-spatial in nature, but are inherently grounded in spatial scenes related to the central sense” (Mahpeykar / Tyler 2015: 17). The quantity cluster contains the ‘more sense’ and the ‘completion sense’. For the ‘more sense’, “an increase in upward orientation correlates with greater amount” (ibid.), such as in “fill up the glass”. If something is higher, as, for example, the level of the liquid in a glass, it is usually quantitatively more, and people know from their physical experience that ‘more’ can frequently be associated with ‘better’. Concerning the ‘completion sense’, the authors argue that a “consequence of increasing in amount is that, in some cases, a limit or an endpoint is reached and the increase in quantity is complete” (Mahpeykar / Tyler 2015: 17), such as in “gas up the car before your trip” or “my phone has stopped working, I must have used up the battery”. This can be attributed to human physical experience as well, because if a glass is completely filled with liquid, then a state of completion has been reached (cf. Tyler / Evans 2003: 139 f.). Therefore, as argued by Kohl-Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz (2016: 199), “up can also adopt the meanings more (e. g., to turn up the volume), better (e. g., to be dressed up) and complete (e. g., to be fed up with something), which are distinct from the core meaning but related to it”. Although it sounds tempting to be dealing with just the central meaning and one meaning cluster with two sub-meanings (or three, if adopting the typology proposed by Kohl- Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz), not all of the examples mentioned for Rudzka-Ostyn’s meaning clusters can be transferred to the typology suggested on the basis of the principled polysemy model. This is why both typologies have been briefly characterised. For the purposes of teaching, however, the typology suggested by Kohl-Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz (see figure 9) is probably the most learner-friendly one, because although it does not cover all possible uses of up, it covers at least the most frequent ones. Down typically expresses the opposite notions to those expressed by up. Just as up, down also plays an important role in orientational metaphors, just Figure 9: Sample of teaching material for up, taken from k ohl -d i e Trich / J uch eM - G rund - Mann / S chnoT z (2016: 200) <?page no="200"?> 199 11.2 Meaning that the notions for down are generally negative ones. The experiential basis for these meanings can again be found in the physical world. When people are in a downward position, they could be ill or dead. Furthermore, when people do not feel well, they usually adopt a drooping posture. Examples for conceptual metaphors with down are bad is down (with its linguistic instantiations “our friendship is at an all-time low”, “there is a downside to everything”, “the quality of the food is very low” etc.), less is down (with its linguistic instantiations “she is underage”, “his income fell last year”, “the number of errors he made is astonishingly low” etc.) or sad is down (with its linguistic instantiations “I’m feeling down today”, “he fell into a depression”, “my spirits sank” etc.) as well as a number of other related conceptual metaphors (cf. Lakoff / Johnson 1980). In line with Lakoff / Johnson’s analysis, Rudzka-Ostyn refers to down as ‘negative verticality’ (2003: chapter 5) and distinguishes between a central meaning and three clusters of extended meanings for down 159 . The central meaning relates to a “movement from a higher to a lower place” (ibid.: 104), such as in “be careful when you climb down the stairs” or “why don’t you lie down for a while? ”. According to Rudzka-Ostyn (ibid.: 105), the central meaning also applies when “(1) only part of the object changes the position (e. g. sit down, kneel down) and (2) when no motion takes place but the object is placed lower than it usually is, or its position is more horizontal than vertical”. The first cluster of extended meanings relates to “time and geographically orientated motion” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 106), as, for example, in “Trump’s presidency will go down in history”, where time is metaphorically seen as a surface and what is ‘up to date’ today will be in a lower position in the years to come, or in “let’s drive down to the South and see the sun”, where the geographic location is seen as if it were displayed on a map, on which the South is usually represented below the North. The second meaning cluster designates a “decrease in intensity, quality, quantity, size, degree, value, activity, status, strength-…” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 107). Again, these meanings are metaphorical, as all of them relate to abstract domains. Examples are “don’t put me down in front of the others”, where put down means that the social position of the person in question is lowered, or “don’t get so excited, calm down”, referring to a decrease in the intensity of the excitement. The third meaning cluster is called “reach a goal, completion, extreme limit down the scale” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 111), such as in “I am down with pneumonia” or “my friend had her horse put down”. The examples point to the fact that nothing worse can either be imagined (as pneumonia is a dangerous illness and people suffering from it feel very weak) or is even possible (euthanasia means the end, i. e., the completion of life, and thus the extreme limit). 159 Rudzka-Ostyn mentions four additional meaning clusters for down. However, her fourth meaning cluster refers to “movements of eating or writing” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 112), such as in “he wrote down every word I said” or “he gulped down a whole litre of water”. These meanings are not metaphorical but relate to physical actions and involve an actual downward movement (the position of the pen and the way the food / drink has to take for ending up in the stomach). Therefore, they can be subsumed under the central meaning. <?page no="201"?> 200 11. Phrasal verbs Due to the fact that Mahpeykar / Tyler (2015) do not discuss the particle down, one can only assume that it would be the counterpart to their analysis of up. Kohl-Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz (2016), however, include down in their analysis and as their analysis is partly identical to the models outlined in various publications by Tyler et al., figure 10 visualises their- - and presumably Tyler’s- - perspective on down. Parallel to the three meaning clusters that were presented for up, down is also presented as having three meaning clusters next to its central meaning, namely ‘less’ (such as in “sales have gone down”), ‘worse’ (such as in “his bad mood always gets me down”) and ‘complete’ (such as in “the house burnt down completely”). Again, although this perspective is simplified and does not cover all possible uses of down, it is learner-friendly and well-suited for the foreign language classroom. When turning to out (and in), the idea of a three-dimensional container is necessary for an explanation. Out refers to “leaving a container” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: chapter 1) and is, “after up, the most frequently used particle / prefix / suffix in English. It combines with several hundred distinct verbs; most verbs express motion” (ibid.: 14). If used in its central sense, out refers to an entity (i. e., the trajector) which moves out of a (metaphorical) container (i. e., the landmark). In the spatial sense, this container can be any kind of enclosed area (such as in “throw out the trash”, “the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteor” or “He invited me out for dinner”). Apart from the central sense, there are five clusters of extended meanings for out 160 . Rudzka-Ostyn (2003: 19) calls the first one of these “sets, groups are containers” and explains that “sets or groups (of objects, people) are viewed as containers inside which there are members or elements” (ibid.: 20). Such containers are metaphorical containers and therefore the meanings relating to them are by definition metaphorical as well. The members or elements of the sets or groups can then move out of the set or group (or be moved out from them), such as in “try to sort out your problems”, “the athlete was kicked out of the team for doping” or “I am not going to participate-- count me out”. In the second cluster of extended meanings, “bodies, minds, mouths are viewed as containers” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 20). This view refers to the embodied experience that a human body is filled with something (organs, blood, muscles etc.), that a mind is filled with thoughts, 160 Again, Rudzka-Ostyn actually mentions six clusters of extended meanings, the first one of them being ‘eat or inviting to eat away from home’. As this sense is not metaphorical and as a ‘real’ container (the house, the home, the flat) is involved, this sense has been added to the central sense in the explanations above. Figure 10: Sample of teaching material for down, taken from k ohl -d i e Trich / J uch eM - G rundMann / S chnoT z (2016: 200) <?page no="202"?> 201 11.2 Meaning emotions and ideas and that words come out of a mouth. Whenever something is uttered verbally, this ‘something’ translates an idea, thought, emotion etc. (which has left the mind) into a phonetic sequence (which has left the mouth), such as in “she cried out all her anger”, “my best friend poured out her heart to me last night” or “the politician spoke out against new tax laws”. The third cluster of extended meanings is quite similar to the second one, just that it- - instead of on bodily entities- - focuses on the idea that “states / situations are containers” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 22). Rudzka-Ostyn (ibid.) explains that “states of existence, work, duty, knowledge, consciousness or awareness, possession, accessibility, visibility etc. are seen as entities with boundaries around them, i. e. as containers”. The use of out indicates that such states cease to exist, such as in “during my stay abroad, I ran out of money”, “the boxer was knocked out after two rounds” or “when I was home alone, all the lights went out”. The fourth cluster of extended meanings relates to the fact that “non-existence, ignorance, invisibility also function as containers” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 25). This cluster of meanings is the exact opposite to the third cluster-- at first, the trajector is not visible or existent, but then comes out of this state of non-visibility and becomes visible or existent, as, for example, in “we found out that he was a liar”, “the sun came out” or “she brought out the best in me”. The third and the fourth cluster could actually also be collapsed into one cluster which refers to a change of state or situation. The fifth and final of Rudzka-Ostyn’s clusters relates to “trajectors increasing to maximal boundaries” (2003: 32). Concrete as well as abstract objects can be extended to their maximal size, as in “spread out the map on the table and let me have a look” or “I am afraid my job will make me burn out”. As outlined before for up, Mahpeykar / Tyler (2015) have a slightly different typology of the diverse meanings of out with less clusters of extended meanings. In their view, “the central meaning of out designates a relation in which the TR (=-trajector) is exterior to a bounded LM (=-landmark)” (Mahpeykar / Tyler 2015: 25). For them, “out denotes the functional element of ‘non-containment’” (ibid.). Apart from the central sense, they identify two meaning clusters for out, which they call the ‘location cluster’ and the ‘vantage point exterior cluster’. The location cluster either refers to a place where a person usually is and states that the person is not there, as in “She’s out for lunch”, or to something that used to be inside a ‘container’ but is no longer there, as in “I’m out of luck”. The vantage point exterior cluster refers to the state of visibility, as in “the sun came out”, or of knowledge, as in “They figured out the truth” (cf. ibid.: 27), when something becomes ‘visible’ in an abstract sense and therefore counts as known. In both meanings, the speaker’s vantage point (or perspective) is outside the bounded landmark (the container) and allows the speaker to see the trajector. Both of these analyses are important for understanding the network of related meanings of the particle out but are again too complex to be used with learners, which is why Kohl- Dietrich / Juchem-Grundmann / Schnotz (2016: 201) have come up with a simplified and more learner-friendly illustration of out, leaving out the majority of Rudzka-Ostyn’s clusters of extended meanings and only visualizing the central sense and the second meaning cluster: <?page no="203"?> 202 11. Phrasal verbs Figure 11: Sample of teaching material for out, taken from k ohl -d i e Trich / J uch eM - G rundMann / S chnoT z (2016: 201) The final particle to be briefly discussed is in, which is the counterpart of out. In “is the fourth most frequently used particle (after up, out, off)” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 48). Similar to out, the notion of in presupposes the concept of a concrete or metaphorical container, just that for in, and in contrast to out, containment / enclosure is focused upon 161 . A person or a concrete or abstract object (=-trajector) either moves into the container (=-landmark) or is already inside it. According to Rudzka-Ostyn (2003: 48), the central sense for in “is entering or being inside a container”, such as in “sorry, no, I’m staying in tonight”, “have you packed in enough underwear? ” or “if you’re in the area, pop in”. In most cases, the concrete container is not explicitly mentioned but is evident from the context. In the first example, the container is the house / flat, in the second example, it is a suitcase or a bag and in the third example, it is the residential area as well as the house / flat. Additionally, Rudzka-Ostyn has identified five clusters of extended, i. e., metaphorical meanings. However, the following analysis only includes two of them, as the other three are seen as problematic because they do not refer to the use of in as a particle in a phrasal verb but instead to the use of in as a preposition 162 . 161 Please also consult the analysis of the preposition in, see sub-chapter 10.2.1. 162 The meanings of the preposition in and those of the particle in are identical, so Rudzka-Ostyn’s analyses do make sense. However, they are out of place in a chapter on phrasal verbs. For her meaning cluster of ‘atmospheric circumstances as containers’, Rudzka-Ostyn gives examples such as “I hate walking in the rain” or “we got lost in the dark” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 51). Following Dirven’s definition of phrasal verbs (2001), these examples do not contain any phrasal verbs (which need to have a certain degree of idiomaticity) but instead feature verb + preposition constructions (i. e., abstract uses of the preposition in, cf. sub-chapter 10.2.1). The same applies to Rudzka-Ostyn’s cluster of meanings called <?page no="204"?> 203 11.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction The first cluster of extended meanings refers to “situations, circumstances as containers” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 55 f.), such as in “you need to put in a lot more work” or “the new president was sworn in”. Rudzka-Ostyn (ibid.: 56) explains that “not only physical conditions but also activities, situations, circumstances, relations, which affect a given object are conceived as containers”. In the first example, a project-- or a job to be done-- is the container, and in the second example, the presidency is the container. The second meaning cluster relates to “psychological, physical states viewed as containers” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 57). Metaphorically, also states, knowledge, conditions, attitudes, activities and language can be seen as containers (cf. ibid.: 58 f.), such as in “she spoke so fast that I could not get a word in” or “the garden needs to be fenced in”. As has become obvious, the particle in and the preposition in share their meanings, which is why nothing much needs to be explained to learners when the preposition is already known. 11.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction As the meanings of the particles are reasonably similar to those of the prepositions, it is a good idea to either deal with prepositional meanings before tackling the topic of phrasal verbs or to reactivate the knowledge about prepositions before starting on phrasal verbs. In traditional grammar lessons, phrasal verbs are hardly focused on at all, and if they are, they are either presented in lists or are grouped according to grammatical markers (such as, for example, transitive vs. intransitive) or else are organised around topics such as ‘relationship problems’ or ‘family’, none of which is helpful for learners because the approaches are either simplified or incorrect or both (cf. Kurtyka 2001: 31) and as no systematic analysis underlies any of them. Phrasal verbs are generally called ‘idiomatic’, i. e., “they are said to be impossible to understand on the basis of their constituting elements-(…) and would therefore have to be learned one by one, an arduous, time-consuming and not very rational task” (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 3). Similar to what was stated for prepositions, visualisations are important for helping the learners to make sense of the meanings of the particles. These visualisations should, however, not be too abstract but rather consist of arrows, i. e., similar simple symbols as for the prepositions can be used. In the case of up and down, the arrows can indicate the respective directions (see figures 9 and 10), and for in and out, a container is needed (which can be drawn as a twoor three-dimensional box, depending on the teacher’s artistic skills) and the arrow either points from the outside to the inside (for in) or from the inside to the outside (for out), see figures 7 and 11. As outlined before, these basic meanings stay intact also for the metaphorical uses. For more ideas about the visualisations of further particles, figure 7 can be consulted 163 . ‘time viewed as a container’ (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003: 52) with examples such as “I will go there in a few days” or “it happened in 1968”. Again, these are no phrasal verbs but verb + preposition constructions (temporal uses of the preposition in, cf. sub-chapter 10.2.1). Lastly, the cluster of ‘sets or groups viewed as containers’ (ibid.: 55) does not refer to phrasal verbs either but again to prepositions. 163 Figure 7 does not show the particle in, for whatever reason, but Rudzka-Ostyn (2003: 4) has chosen to display inside instead. However, in can be found at exactly the same place as inside. <?page no="205"?> 204 11. Phrasal verbs The students will already be implicitly familiar with phrasal verbs, as these are used very frequently. The teacher will have employed countless phrasal verbs before, and the learners will have encountered them in texts and in songs. The lesson for this case study will therefore not be an introduction to phrasal verbs but rather focus on raising the learners’ awareness of them. Furthermore, the lesson aims at systematizing the learners’ knowledge about phrasal verbs. For the first lesson focusing on such a systematization, it is advisable to draw the learners’ attention especially to the meanings of the particles. For the example lesson, four particles have been chosen (in, out, up, down). These four particles come in contrastive pairs, as it is easier for the learners to understand the meanings of the particles when these are presented in opposition to each other. The learners are meant to become aware of the meaning potential of the particles and are guided into relying more on the particle meanings than on the verb meanings. The verbs are of course not unimportant, but the interpretation of the phrasal verbs used in the lesson outlined in the following sub-chapter relies more on the particle meanings than on the verb meanings. Furthermore, the inclusion of the particle in offers the teacher the possibility to remind the learners of the meaning systems behind prepositions, which has already been discussed. The other particles used for the lesson cannot function as prepositions, which means that the learners cannot rely on their prior knowledge in these cases. As a precondition for the lesson in question, the learners are expected to know the meaning system of prepositions, i. e., that their basic meanings stay intact throughout both types of metaphorization, because this knowledge is also valid for the particles. As the target group consists of advanced learners, tense, aspect and modality should not present any problems to them. There is no shortage of communicative situations that could be chosen for the lesson, as phrasal verbs are used in nearly every conceivable communicative situation, at least by native speakers of English. This, however, means at the same time that there are no specific situations in which it would be absolutely necessary for the learners to employ phrasal verbs, as was the case for most of the previous case studies. As stated before, learners often tend to avoid phrasal verbs, which is why they need some guidance during the task and a communicative environment that is more controlled than is usual in task-based teaching. For this reason, the learners will not be allowed to use phrasal verbs freely because this might result in an avoidance of the target structure, as they are only implicitly familiar with phrasal verbs up to this point. The situation that has been selected for the task described in the next sub-chapter focuses on dreams, but-- as mentioned before-- any other situation can be used as well. The teacher needs to prepare this lesson meticulously, which includes that s / he has to select a number of suitable phrasal verbs containing the four targeted particles, so that the learners do not have to build or retrieve these phrasal verbs on their own but just have to use them in an adequate way in a story that is written collectively. <?page no="206"?> 205 11.4 The task cycle 11.4 The task cycle As usual, the teacher should use the targeted grammatical phenomenon during the pre-task phase, so that the learners already have some input which they can possibly use as a model later on during the task. The teacher could enter the classroom and tell the learners enthusiastically about a dream s / he had the night before. In this dream, the teacher went to the bank to get some money and all of a sudden two bank robbers came in and shouted “Everybody get down! On the floor! Get down! Now! ” Everybody did as the robbers said, except for the teacher whom the criminals did not see as s / he was hidden by a cash machine. Suddenly, when the teacher put his / her hand into the pocket of his / her coat, s / he noticed a toy pistol which his / her little son must have put in there. S / he grabbed the pistol, went towards the bank robbers and said “Hands up! Hold up your hands! Up with your hands! Hold them up! ”. Then s / he opened the door to one of the office rooms and told the robbers to enter this room: “Get in there! Quick! I said get in there! ” When the robbers did as s / he had said, s / he locked the door and called the police. They arrived within a few minutes and when s / he saw them, s / he shouted “Come in, please! Quick! Come in! Come in! ” and told them what had happened. The police officers opened the door to the office room in which the robbers were locked up and yelled “This is the police! Give up! Come out with your hands up! Now! Get out of there! ” and arrested the bank robbers. At this point, the teacher woke up. The story should be told with a lot of emphasis on the phrasal verbs and be supported by gestures (pointing upwards, downwards, outside, inside) and facial expressions. In between, the learners should be asked what they would have done, what they would have shouted, or whether they would have obeyed the robbers. Would they have held up their hands, for example? Would they have sat down on the floor? The phrasal verbs used in the pre-task phase should be repeated as frequently as possible. Most of these phrasal verbs are used with their central meanings, which is a good starting point for the first systematic encounter with this phenomenon. The teacher then continues by inquiring whether the learners always remember their dreams and asks some volunteers to share the topics of their dreams. S / he then announces that the task has to do with dreams as well. Each group is supposed to write up a dream, as an exercise in creative writing. Groups of five are formed by letting all learners draw a title snippet and those who have the same title go together. Each group then gets an envelope containing ten phrasal verb snippets 164 and additionally draws ten noun snippets and ten adjective snippets from two different containers. The story should be written in the past tense (so as not to create potential aspect problems) and consist of at least fifteen sentences. All the snippets that were drawn need to be used in the story, although every snippet can be used more than once. Furthermore, the learners are encouraged to use direct speech in their stories, in order to enable them to use the teacher’s pre-task story as a model, and they are supposed to make their stories maximally interesting for their other classmates. They are allotted fifteen minutes for the task. 164 The phrasal verb snippets are not drawn but all groups get the same ten phrasal verbs, all in their central meanings. This allows for a more systematic structure of the language focus. <?page no="207"?> 206 11. Phrasal verbs Possible texts for the title snippets are, for example, ‘My worst nightmare’, ‘My funniest dream’, ‘My dream holiday’, ‘My most absurd dream’, ‘My rise to fame’, or ‘My most dangerous adventure’. Possible entries for the phrasal verbs snippets (all used in their central meanings) are, for example, get in(to), get out, get up, get down, go in(to), go out, go up, go down, put down, hold up. Possible entries for the noun snippets can (at least partly) be quite absurd, in order to allow for interesting stories, as, for example, alien, baby, blood, boots, broom, bus stop, candle, cellar, cockroach, dentist, elephant, fool, football, gnome, hairdresser, hotel, ice cream, laptop, lipstick, lighthouse, lorry, loudspeaker, melon, monster, mosquito, motorbike, music, newspaper, pen, perfume, pistol, police station, pony, post office, pillow, president, prince, princess, rhinoceros, ribbon, rocket, safari, smartphone, sneakers, soap, sofa, spider, steak, sunglasses, surgeon, swimming pool, teacher, tennis, tent, tiger, train station, unicorn, vampire, watch, witch. Possible entries for the adjective snippets are American, amusing, ancient, Australian, awesome, awful, beautiful, black, British, cloudy, cold, colourful, creepy, dangerous, dirty, enormous, exciting, exotic, expensive, fat, fluffy, foggy, funny, German, gigantic, giggling, glorious, grumpy, horrible, huge, modern, monstrous, nervous, new, old, powerful, prehistoric, rainy, red, rotten, shiny, silly, slimy, small, stinky, strong, sunny, tall, terrible, terrific, thin, tiny, toothless, torn, ugly, warm, weird, wild, wonderful, young. As usual, the teacher keeps in the background while the learners are working on their task, but is available for questions and queries. During the report phase, the groups come to the front and read out their dreams to the classmates. The teacher needs to make sure that every learner reads at least three sentences. S / he should ask questions about the stories, especially concerning those sentences that contain the phrasal verbs. The other learners should also be encouraged to ask questions. Once all the groups have presented their stories, the teacher turns to the blackboard for the language focus. The board shows four equally large segments, each of them displaying one of the four targeted particles as headers. The learners are asked to write down some of the sentences with phrasal verbs that they used in their reports (two sentences with the particle up, two sentences with the particle down, two sentences with the particle out and two sentences with the particle in) into the appropriate segments and underline the verb + particle combinations. When all eight sentences are on the board, the teacher asks what the meaning of each particle is and the learners should be able to answer, as only the basic spatial meanings are involved. Simple arrows (and containers for in and out) can be drawn next to the particles in the headers of the segments. In a follow-up lesson, the particles should be extended to their non-spatial usages and then the visualisations discussed in sub-chapter 11.2.2 can be used for a schematic explanation in order to point out the commonalities between the basic and the extended meanings. If there is still time for a transfer, the particles should be used with other verbs. For this purpose, the teacher can ask the learners to complete sentence beginnings with the four particles, such as, for example, “In the morning, I jump-…? ” The learners might offer different solutions, such as “I jump out of bed”, “I jump down the stairs”, “I jump into the shower”, “I <?page no="208"?> 207 11.5 Alternatives jump up and down”. Other possible sentence beginnings are “In the evening, I fall (into bed, down because I am tired, up the stairs), “When I have finished school, I will move (out of my parents’ house, in with my best friend, down to the South, up to the North)”, “When my grades are bad, I put (in more energy, down my books and forget about everything, up with the situation) or “When my parents complain about me, I break (down, out in tears, up with them)”. The sentence completions by the learners may partly involve non-spatial uses of the particles, but this is only discussed if somebody asks about it. For homework, the learners have to compose a short poem or song text using all of the targeted particles (as parts of phrasal verbs) at least once and they need to prepare visualisations of the phrasal verbs that they used, so that, for instance, walk out is shown as somebody leaving a house, symbolised by an arrow which points from the inside to the outside of the house. 11.5 Alternatives Alternatively, pop song lyrics (freely available on the internet) can be chosen as authentic teaching material which is motivating for the learners and engages them emotionally. Frequently, learners listen to pop music in their spare time, so that the task relates to the learners’ interests and is therefore also relevant outside the foreign language classroom. Generally, pop songs- - similar to natural communication- - contain a high number of phrasal verbs. The aim of the lesson is again to make the learners aware of the target structure. In group work, they can focus on one verse per group in which the phrasal verbs are already highlighted. The learners are expected to figure out what the phrasal verbs mean, and should try to find paraphrases for them. A disadvantage of this approach is that the teacher is not able to control how many different phrasal verbs appear in a given song text, as not too many particles should be introduced at once. Furthermore, it may not always be possible to only focus on the basic meanings of the particles, as the songs may contain particles with an extended meaning. Another possibility is to give the learners sentences with phrasal verbs and ask them to visualise these phrasal verbs on a transparency, which can then be shown to the other learners during the report phase. This is best done in partner work. After the reports, the learners who worked on the same phrasal verbs can decide on the most convincing visual explanation. This approach is not only useful for the central meanings of the particles in question but also for the extended meanings, as the basic underlying meanings, and therefore the basic schematic visualisations, stay intact also for the metaphorical usages. For this purpose, visualisations of different phrasal verbs using the same particle can be grouped together in order for the learners to notice that the (schematic) meaning of the particle does not change, no matter which verb it is used with. Furthermore, and as shown in the case study, any task involving creative writing can focus on the use and on an explanation of phrasal verbs, as they are so very frequent in native speaker communication. <?page no="209"?> 208 11. Phrasal verbs Further reading Alejo González, Rafael (2010): “Making sense of phrasal verbs: A cognitive linguistic account”. AILA Review 23, 50-71. Cappelle, Bert (2005): “The particularity of particles, or why they are not just ‘intransitive prepositions’”. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 18, 29-57. Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dirven, René (2001): “English phrasal verbs: Theory and didactic application”. In: Pütz, Martin / Niemeier, Susanne / Dirven, René (eds.): Applied cognitive linguistics, Vol. II : Language pedagogy. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 3-28. Kohl-Dietrich, Dorothee / Juchem-Grundmann, Constanze / Schnotz, Wolfgang (2016): “Conceptual motivation as a tool for raising language awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom-- does it enhance learning outcomes? Insights from an empirical study”. In: Goschler, Juliana / Niemeier, Susanne (eds.): Cognitive approaches to L2 teaching and learning. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 193-209. Kövecses, Zoltán (2010 2 ): Metaphor: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kurtyka, Andrzej (2001): “Teaching English phrasal verbs: A cognitive approach”. In: Pütz, Martin / Niemeier, Susanne / Dirven, René (eds.): Applied cognitive linguistics, Vol. II : Language pedagogy. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 29-53. Lakoff, George / Johnson, Mark (1980): Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Mahpeykar, Narges / Tyler, Andrea (2015): “A principled cognitive linguistics account of English phrasal verbs with up and out”. Language and Cognition 7, 1-35. Rudzka-Ostyn, Brygida (2003): Word power: Phrasal words and compounds. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Quirk, Randolph / Greenbaum, Sydney / Leech, Geoffrey / Svartvik, Jan (1985): A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London: Longman. Sadri, Elham (2012): Applying cognitive linguistics to teaching English phrasal verbs. Saarbrücken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. Siyanova, Anna / Schmitt, Norbert (2007): “Native and non-native use of multi-word vs. one-word verbs”. IRAL 45, 119-139. Tyler, Andrea / Evans, Vyvyan (2003): The semantics of English prepositions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. White, Benjamin J. (2012): “A conceptual approach to the instruction of phrasal verbs”. The Modern Language Journal 96, 419-438. <?page no="210"?> 209 12.1 Form 12. Verb complementation Verb complementation is a topic for advanced learners of English. As Taylor (2002: 428) explains, “a clause which is ‘embedded’ inside another clause, and which functions as a participant within the containing clause, is commonly referred to as a ‘complement clause’, and the process by which one clause is embedded in another is called ‘complementation’”. In other words: verb complementation refers to the construction of complex sentences involving more than one situation, as, for example, in “he heard her enter the house”, “he remembered to lock the front door”, “she remembered dancing in the rain” or “she remembered that Peter was ill”. Although the two situations are integrated with each other in all of the example sentences, the degree of integration depends on the complementizer (i. e., the linking element) used. The topic of verb complementation is not fully explained in any German EFL textbook. Although some complementizers are presented and explained, such as, for example, the gerund, the different complementizers are never related to each other. Therefore, the system of meaning underlying these constructions is usually unknown to learners (and teachers), although it is meaningful and thus also explainable. Even if textbooks tend to ignore this topic, it nevertheless merits discussion, especially because it can be seen as a very important and error-prone area of grammar and because its mastery is a precondition for a native-like use of English. 12.1 Form If two situations are integrated with each other in one sentence, this integration can be loose or tight. A very loose integration is the use of juxtaposition, i. e., two sentences following each other, as in “I saw him. He opened the door”. Juxtaposition is a very weak link because the two situations are separated from each other through the use of punctuation and by a falling intonation towards the end of each of the sentences, which makes them appear as two independent grammatical units. The link gets slightly stronger when the sentences are coordinated by ‘and’, such as in “I saw him and he opened the door”, where the two sentences are no longer separated by a punctuation mark or by a falling intonation at the end of the first sentence. The link between the two situations gets even stronger when subordination is used, as in “I saw him as he opened the door”, where the subordinating link has a temporal meaning. As Radden / Dirven (2007: 55) state, “the subordinate as-clause always describes the event that began first” and “the main clause describes the event following it. The sequential order of events described by main clause and subordinate clause is thus grammatically fixed” (ibid.). Radden / Dirven (2007: 55) explain that “the tightest conceptual link between two clauses is established by complementation”. When complementizers are used to connect two situations, then the conceptual and grammatical link between them is quite strong because a complement clause is fully integrated into a main clause. <?page no="211"?> 210 12. Verb complementation As already mentioned, complex sentences usually consist of two situations. In verb complementation, the first situation is mentioned in the main clause and the second situation is mentioned in the complement clause. Thus, the second situation is construed as a participant in the first situation and the second verb functions as the object of the first verb. The two situations are linked by a so-called complementizer. The different complementizers have different abstract meanings, which need to be compatible with the verbs used. In some cases, only the use of one specific complementizer is possible for a verb, however, other verbs can take more than one complementizer. In this case, each complementizer results in a different meaning. In fact, as Taylor (2002: 433) states, “most verbs do allow a range of complementation patterns”. In English, there are eight complementizers, each with a distinct if fairly abstract meaning (see also Hamawand 2002: 12: “every grammatical constituent has a meaning which contributes to the meaning of the whole”): ▶ the bare infinitive (as in “I saw him open the door”) ▶ the to-infinitive (as in “I told him to open the door”) ▶ the gerund (as in “I have never been good at opening doors smoothly”) ▶ the that-clause (as in “I know that he opened the door”) ▶ for-…to + infinitive (as in “I arranged for him to open the door”) ▶ the present participle (as in “I saw him opening the door”) ▶ whetherand if-clauses (as in “I wonder whether he opened the door”) ▶ other wh-clauses (as in “I don’t know who opened the door”) This chapter only deals with the first four complementizers, because they are most frequently used in EFL classrooms and are presumably also the most frequent ones in native speaker communication. 12.2 Meaning Native speakers of English (and also advanced learners of English) tend to express what they want to say not only in simple juxtaposed or coordinated sentences but also in complex sentences. As mentioned above, complex sentences can be constructed by using a coordinator (and), or by using a subordinator (such as when, as, while, after etc.), or by using a complementizer-- the degree of conceptual and linguistic integration of the described situations is gradually getting stronger in this sequence. As the meaning aspect of the various possibilities of verb complementation relies to a large extent on the principle of iconicity, which is an important notion in cognitive linguistics (see sub-chapter 3.2), this principle is focused on in some more detail before the meanings of the four complementizers are discussed. <?page no="212"?> 211 12.2 Meaning 12.2.1 Iconicity The notion of iconicity stems from semiotics, where signs are seen as having three different types of meanings, i. e., indexical, iconic and symbolic meanings. An indexical sign points to its meaning (like an arrow pointing in a specific direction), an iconic sign provides an image of its meaning (like a departing or landing plane on a sign displayed in an airport), and a symbolic sign has no link to its meaning but depends on a cultural convention within a cultural community (like the wedding ring as a sign for the state of being married). This typology is not only valid for non-linguistic signs but also for linguistic ones, among them grammatical constructions. Although language largely consists of symbolic signs 165 , indexical and iconic principles play an important role within this system of symbolic signs. Cognitive linguistics differentiates between three iconic sub-principles, namely those of “linguistic expressions related to sequential order, distance and quantity” (Dirven / Verspoor 2004: 8). These sub-principles are not rigidly separated from each other and can overlap to a certain extent. The sub-principle of sequential order relates to the linearity of language, i. e., the linearity of sounds in spoken language and the linearity of words in written language, as, for example, in fixed binary expressions such as ‘now or never’, ‘drink and drive’, ‘to see Naples and die’ etc. When the sequence of the word elements in the examples is turned around, the expressions do not make sense anymore, because the correct sequence mirrors the chronology of the events described. For instance, if somebody dies first, it becomes impossible for him / her to go and see Naples. In the same vein, the sentences “Nancy found a partner and got pregnant” and “Nancy got pregnant and found a partner” describe quite different situations- - in the first sentence, Nancy first found a partner and then got pregnant and in the second sentence, she first got pregnant and then found a partner. In other words: language is understood as mirroring the chronology of events in an iconic manner 166 . The sub-principle of proximity / distance “accounts for the fact that things which belong together conceptually tend to be put together linguistically, and things that do not belong together are put at a distance” (Dirven / Verspoor 2004: 10). For instance, if the two sentences “Mary gave Peter a sweater” and “Mary gave a sweater to Peter” are compared 167 , the linguistic distance between ‘Mary’ and ‘Peter’ in the first sentence is smaller than that in the second sentence, and therefore the conceptual distance between the two participants is also smaller in the first sentence. The first sentence says that Peter was the recipient of the sweater, that it was meant for him and that he is now the new owner of the sweater. The second sentence, however, does not explicitly say that Peter is the new owner of the sweater, as Mary may just have given it to him temporarily, because she had too many other things to hold, and Peter 165 Some exceptions are, for instance, onomatopoetic words, i. e., words which imitate the sounds that they describe, as, for example, in bow-wow or cuckoo, and which are therefore seen as iconic, because they provide an acoustic ‘picture’ of their meanings. 166 The chronology of events can of course be turned around by using temporal conjunctions like ‘before’ or ‘after’. 167 This is the so-called ‘dative alternation’ in English. <?page no="213"?> 212 12. Verb complementation may give it back to Mary later. This becomes even more obvious when inanimate objects are involved, such as in “Mary gave the door a new coat of paint”-- it is ungrammatical to say *“Mary gave a new coat of paint to the door”, as the door cannot only temporarily be painted and afterwards give the paint back to Mary (cf. also Dirven / Verspoor 2004: 85). The sub-principle of proximity / distance also explains the iconicity in the different kinds of verb complementation, because the distance between the two verbs involved in a complex sentence consisting of two situations mirrors the degree of influence that the first verb has on the second verb. This is explained in more detail in the next sub-chapter. The third sub-principle of iconicity is the principle of quantity. It “accounts for our tendency to associate more form with more meaning and, conversely, less form with less meaning” (Dirven / Verspoor 2004: 11). To give an example: the plural- -s counts as iconic because a pluralized noun consists of two morphemes, the lexical morpheme and the grammatical plural morpheme (such as in ‘house-s’). If more morphemes are used, there is also more meaning, so in this case more than one house is referred to 168 . The same applies when somebody tells a longish and boring story and somebody comments “that was a loooong story”. The lengthening of the vowel in ‘long’ also relates to the principle that ‘more form is more meaning’ and therefore, the meaning of ‘long’ is no longer only temporal but the meaning of ‘boring’ is added by the iconicity of the phonological issue of vowel lengthening. The quantity principle is also at work in politeness strategies, as a polite request prototypically uses more words than an impolite one. If somebody says “Give me your mobile phone”, this is acceptable from a good friend but not from a stranger, who would have to say something like “I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but could I perhaps borrow your mobile phone for just a minute? ” in order to achieve the desired result. All sub-principles of iconicity illustrate the fact that grammatical constructions, at least to a certain extent, reflect the meaning of an utterance, although in a relatively abstract way. The following sub-chapter mainly focuses on the second sub-principle, namely that of proximity / distance, as this is what influences the meanings of the different complementizers. 12.2.2 The complementizers The four complementizers which are discussed and compared in this sub-chapter are the bare infinitive, the to-infinitive, the gerund and the that-clause. The bare infinitive = simultaneous situations The bare infinitive, as in “I saw him open the door”, is also called the zero-complementizer because it does not add any lexical material. It describes two simultaneous situations, as the 168 This becomes even more obvious in pidgin and creole languages which have not yet developed a plural morpheme but instead rely on reduplication. For instance, in the Papuan language Tok Pisin ‘tok’ means ‘to talk’ and ‘tok-tok’ means ‘to chatter’, i. e., to talk a lot; and in Indonesian, ‘pohon’ means tree and ‘pohon pohon’ means ‘wood’, which necessarily consists of more than one tree. <?page no="214"?> 213 12.2 Meaning speaker’s act of ‘seeing him’ and ‘his opening the door’ in the above-mentioned example are co-occurring events. The bare infinitive expresses the direct involvement of the subject of the verb in the main clause (which is also called the ‘matrix verb’). The degree of conceptual integration is very high, as the two situations are happening at exactly the same moment and therefore present one joint scenario. The main clause does not only want to express the fact that the speaker saw somebody else, but it expresses additionally that the speaker saw somebody else while this somebody else was doing something, namely closing the door. The fact that no linguistic material is inserted between the two parts of the complex sentence- - and that the two parts are therefore not separable- - can be seen as iconic. The absence of a conjunction or of an intonation break (in spoken language) signals that there is no conceptual distance between the two situations involved. Furthermore, the complement clause is not grounded, i. e., it has no tense of its own as it is completely dependent on the tense of the matrix verb. The two situations are so tightly linked that there is “no need for separately grounding the complement event in time- - it is already grounded by the main clause” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 56). Although the verb in the complement clause has no tense, it is still marked for aspect. The explanations for the progressive vs. non-progressive aspect 169 apply in this case as well. In the example “I saw him open the door” the focus is on a completed action, i. e., a bounded situation which is seen in its entirety-- which means that the first seconds of the door swinging open as well as the door being completely open are part of the speaker’s viewing frame. If only the middle part of the ‘opening the door’ event is witnessed, the sentence has to be changed to “I saw him opening the door” in order to signal unboundedness. In this case, neither the initial moments of the door being opened nor the completely open door participate in the speaker’s viewing frame. This becomes even more obvious when examples such as “I heard her play a Mozart sonata” vs. “I heard her playing a Mozart sonata” are compared-- in the first case, the piano player played the complete sonata from its beginning to its end, whereas in the second case, the speaker only heard something from the ‘middle part’ of the sonata and definitely neither the beginning nor the end. The to-infinitive = follow-up situations The to-infinitive, as in “I told him to open the door”, refers to two situations which are consecutive, i. e., which follow each other. The situation in the complement clause is a so-called prospective situation, which-- taking the perspective of the situation in the main clause-- lies in the future. In other words: verb complementation using the to-infinitive involves a prior moment from which one looks forward to a later situation. In the example mentioned above, the telling happens first and the opening happens later (if at all). The to-infinitive expresses a less direct or clearly indirect involvement of the subject of the matrix verb, because the degree of control that the speaker has over the person mentioned in the complement clause is quite weak-- telling somebody to do something does not necessarily 169 Please consult chapter 6.2 for a discussion of the meaning of aspect. <?page no="215"?> 214 12. Verb complementation mean that the other person will indeed do it. Therefore, the conceptual integration is weaker for the to-infinitive than for the bare infinitive. The iconicity effect of the to-infinitive thus refers to a lower degree of conceptual integration, signalled by the insertion of the grammatical morpheme ‘to’, which creates some conceptual distance. This meaning of to is closely related to the meaning of the preposition to, which refers to a goal 170 . Wierzbicka (1988) claims, for example, that the goal-directed basic sense of to as a path preposition is still present when it is used as a complementizer. In a similar vein, Hamawand (2002: 95) calls the complementizer to a “path towards a goal”, and Traugott (1992) argues that the original spatial sense of to / towards has extended to purpose / path imagery when to is used as a complementizer. In other words: to retains its basic meaning, independent of its use as a preposition, or as a particle, or as a complementizer. This means that learner knowledge from previous grammar lessons just needs to be reactivated and that not each single use of to needs to be learned separately. The meaning of the to in the to-infinitive relates to mental motion, which can be seen as metaphorised spatial motion. Referring again to the example mentioned above, this motion would then follow an imagined path from the speaker’s wish (“I told him”) to the potential fulfilment of this wish (“to close the door”). Just as stated for the bare infinitive, the complement clause of the to-infinitive does not have tense, i. e., is not grounded, and is therefore conceptually dependent on the main clause, although to a lesser extent than the bare infinitive. Aspect is of no relevance for the to-infinitive, due to the fact that the situation in the complement clause has not yet happened at the time of speaking and can therefore only be seen in its entirety-- what has not yet happened cannot have a ‘middle phase’. A number of verbs can take both the bare infinitive and the to-infinitive, but the resulting sentences then differ in meaning. One of these verbs is ‘help’: the use of the bare infinitive in “She helped the old man climb the stairs” means that the helping and the old man’s climbing happen simultaneously, for example by the woman’s taking the old man by the hand or by her shoving him up the stairs, whereas the use of the to-infinitive in “She helped the old man to climb the stairs” refers to two consecutive actions and thus indicates that the help happens before the old man’s climbing, for example by the woman’s act of pushing aside some obstacles that happen to lie on the stairs or by her switching on the lights so that the old man can see the stairs better. In this context, Taylor (2002: 432) speaks about causation and claims that “causation can differ with respect to its directness. One can ‘directly’ coerce a person into doing something or one can influence their behaviour indirectly, by means of verbal instructions, recommendations, or advice”. He goes on to explain that the degree of (in)directness correlates with the distance between the main verb and the verb in the complement clause. A comparison of the examples “I made him leave” and “I persuaded him to leave” shows that the first sentence involves direct causation, as ‘he’ definitely left, whereas the second sentence is more indirect and does not necessarily entail that ‘he’ actually left. Thus, the iconicity effects are different 170 This is described in more detail in the chapter on prepositions (cf. especially sub-chapter 10.2). <?page no="216"?> 215 12.2 Meaning for these two examples, as in the first sentence, due to the fact that “the more direct causation lacks the intervening morpheme to” (ibid.), the conceptual distance and therefore the strength of the speaker’s influence are more pronounced than in the second sentence. The gerund = generalised situations The gerund, such as in “I have never been good at opening doors smoothly” prototypically relates to a generalised situation, which is seen as atemporal and therefore as always valid. The use of the gerund suggests that an event actually occurred, that it is a fact-- this is the so-called ‘factive use’ of the gerund. Furthermore, the gerund prototypically has an iterative construal (cf. Kaleta 2012), i. e., the situation in question has occurred more than once and therefore counts as generalised. This is why the gerund does not so much denote individual occurrences of an event or state but rather the ‘kind’ of event or state. Hamawand (2002: 65) explains that “the -ing gerund designates an imperfective simple atemporal relation, which views only the internal configuration of the process and conceptualizes it as unchanging through time”. Some textbooks call the gerund a ‘verbal noun’, as it can, for example, take a possessive pronoun (such as in “His opening the door woke me up”), and can be modified by an adjective (such as in “Her constant complaining is very annoying”), just like a noun can. Gerunds function like mass nouns, which means that they cannot normally pluralise and can only take those determiners which are taken by mass nouns 171 (such as in “Some complaining is acceptable, but not this much”). Also Kaleta (2012) claims that the gerund has certain noun-like properties, for which she uses the term ‘reification’ 172 , i. e., a verbal element becomes more ‘thing-like’. Thus, on the verb-noun continuum, the gerund is located somewhere in the middle between verbs and nouns. On the one hand, it has some nominal properties, but on the other hand, it has also preserved some relational and processual aspects of the original verb it was derived from, as it includes, for example, the notions of a beginning, a duration and an end. When compared to the bare infinitive and the to-infinitive, it is evident that the conceptual integration is weaker for the gerund than for these other two types of verb complementation. This is due to the fact that it is no longer the case that two temporally profiled situations interact with each other, but instead two temporally undetermined situations interact with each other. This is why the gerund cannot refer to any tense, as it is ‘atemporal’, which can be attributed to its noun-like properties. Interestingly enough, the--ing morpheme used for building the gerund keeps up the stative meaning of unboundedness / ongoingness that it also possesses when it is added to a process verb in order to build the progressive aspect 173 . This explains why the gerund can be called a ‘generalised’ situation, which means that it is valid for an extended period of time. Similar 171 For an account of count nouns vs. mass nouns, please see chapter 14.2.2. 172 ‘Reifications! are defined by Radden / Dirven (2007: 84) as “ontological metaphors, which allow us to understand relational concepts or situations in terms of things”. 173 The same can be said about the present participle, which also takes the--ing morpheme, such as in ‘the dancing queen’ or ‘the sleeping child’, which both relate to unbounded ongoing processes. <?page no="217"?> 216 12. Verb complementation to process verbs used with the progressive aspect, the beginning and the end of the situation are defocused and therefore irrelevant from the speaker’s perspective. Once again, it becomes obvious here that the grammatical morphemes have an abstract meaning which they keep up in all their uses (as has already been claimed some paragraphs ago for the meaning of to). The that-clause = mental representations A that-clause, as in “I know that he opened the door” refers to a mental representation of the content of the complement clause, it does not directly denote a situation as such. Radden / Dirven (cf. 2007: 56) claim that the use of a that-clause as complement clause focuses on its ‘factuality’, i. e., the complement clause states a fact and the main clause states that this fact is mentally processed by the speaker. Taylor (2002: 429) adds that “although that appears to be optional, there are distinct preferences”, which is why that is used in most cases. But even if it is left out, as in “I know he opened the door”, this sentence would still count as a that-clause. Verspoor (2000: 220) explains that “a that clause-(…) may occur even when the subject has not directly perceived or experienced the event expressed in the complement clause” and that “the subject knows about this event through a process involving rational thought or hearsay” (ibid.). Compared to the other three complementizers discussed above, the that-clause shows the weakest form of conceptual integration, as its two situations exist independently of each other. The fact that a that-clause is temporally grounded in its own right (in the example mentioned above, the past tense ‘opened’ is used in the complement clause, whereas the main clause uses the present tense) and that it is separated by ‘that’ from the main clause shows that it is not only grammatically independent but also conceptually independent from the second situation. Radden / Dirven (2007: 56) confirm that “the wider conceptual distance between the two situations is reflected in the use of the intervening particle that and the use of tense in the complement clause”. Concerning the iconicity effect, it is evident that more linguistic ‘material’ is used between the two clauses than for the other three complementizers. In this way, the grammatical as well as the conceptual distance between the main clause and the complement clause is highlighted. There is no direct link between the matrix verb and the complement, only a mental contact. This mental contact / representation is the reason why the matrix verbs prototypically use the experiencing schema (cf. Dirven / Verspoor 2004: 81 f.), i. e., they are so-called ‘mental verbs’, such as verbs of perception (hear, feel etc.) or of cognitive processing (think, know, dream etc.). Consequently, that-clauses primarily have to do with the acquisition and possession of knowledge and information. As mentioned before, many verbs can take various complementizers. However, the use of different complementizers for the same matrix verb results in different meanings because “the different syntactic patterns do in fact correlate with semantic distinctions” (Taylor 2002: 433). This becomes obvious by a comparison of the two sentences “he stopped to smoke” (=-he stopped the car because he wanted to smoke”) and “he stopped smoking” (=-he quit, he <?page no="218"?> 217 12.2 Meaning stopped altogether), which transport quite different meanings. The first sentence has a future orientation (first the instance of stopping, then afterwards the instance of smoking), whereas the second sentence refers to a generalised situation and not to one particular instance of smoking. In a similar way, the three examples with ‘remember’ used in the first paragraph of this chapter all have different meanings: “he remembered to lock the front door” means that he first remembered that he needed or wanted to lock the front door and then he did it, “she remembered dancing in the rain” refers to a generalised situation for which no specific time frame is indicated and which may have happened more than once in the past, and finally, “she remembered that Peter was ill” relates to a thought that the subject of the main clause had, or, in other words, to a mental representation of this situation. Verspoor (1996: 424) argues for a cause-effect relationship between the main clause and the complement clause and sums up the different abstract meanings of the complementizers by explaining that the complement structures seem to “make a rather simple distinction in their conceptualization of these causal chains: those that are construed as very direct, those that are construed as more complex and therefore less direct, and those that are construed as not causally related”. In other words: the bare infinitive refers to a direct causation of the event in the complement clause (as in “I made Peter leave”, where the speaker exerts control directly) and the to-infinitive refers to less direct causation of the event in the complement clause (as in “I told Peter to leave”, where the speaker’s control over the other person’s action is more indirect). For the gerund, it is the other way around, as the cause for the event in the main clause can be found in the complement clause (as in “I like leaving”, where my previous experiences of leaving are the reason for the fact that I like it) 174 , and in the that-clause there is no causal relationship whatsoever (as in “I believe that I left early”, where the leaving is not the cause for the believing or vice versa). In all these examples of verbs that can take more than one complementizer, iconicity contrasts (and thus meaning contrasts) can be shown up. If one compares the two sentences “Mary saw Peter leave” and “Mary saw that Peter had left”, it is obvious that in the first example, Mary sees Peter at the moment of his leaving, whereas in the second example, Mary’s perception is more indirect and she did not directly witness Peter’s leaving but may instead only have seen the consequences of Peter’s leaving, i. e., that he is gone, that his suitcase is missing, that his car is no longer parked in front of the house etc. That-clauses are finite, i. e., the verb in the complement clause is tensed in its own right and does not depend on the tense of the matrix verb. Therefore, the use of tense in the that-clause example shows that the act of ‘leaving’ (which is in the past perfect) took place before the act of ‘seeing’ (which is in the past tense). This conceptual distance between the two situations involved correlates with the grammatical distance between them. 174 This is why Egan (2008) calls these constructions ‘backward-looking constructions’. <?page no="219"?> 218 12. Verb complementation 12.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction There are plenty of communicative situations that can be chosen for a lesson on verb complementation, as these grammatical constructions are used whenever integrated and complex situations are verbalised. However, no specific communicative situation is discernible in which the grammatical construction in question has to be used by necessity. In contrast to all the other case studies in this book, it does not seem reasonable to include an introduction of all four complementizers in one single lesson, therefore this case study suggests a sequence of lessons: an introductory lesson for each of the four complementizers and a final lesson contrasting the meanings of all four complementizers. The lesson described in detail in sub-chapter 12.4 is the last one of this sequence, i. e., the one focusing on the contrast between all four complementizers, and the previous lessons are only briefly described in this sub-chapter. The lesson on the contrasts between the four complementizers uses the framework of creative writing, focusing on the description of events in which two situations interact. The examples for all the five lessons need to be chosen carefully, so that the meanings of the four complementizers can be clearly contrasted for the learners. This means that only prototypical examples should be used for this first introduction to the conceptual and grammatical differences between the different complementizers. The learners are not completely free to produce whatever they want as their language production is controlled and guided by the teacher, at least to a certain extent. The aim of the teaching unit and especially of the final contrasting lesson is to raise the learners’ language awareness and to contribute to their language competence by enabling them to formulate complex utterances, which can be seen as a precondition for more complex discourse types, as, for example, descriptions, discussions, academic discourse etc. As prior knowledge, the learners should be familiar with the use of the English tenses and aspects. Ideally, they should also be aware of the cognitive explanation of prepositions (especially of the goal preposition to) and they should already have gained some experience with the construction of complex sentences in juxtaposition as well as in subordination. The four initial lessons, each of them devoted to one of the four complementizers, should include visualisations in order to provide some mnemotechnical help for the learners. In each of the four lessons, a story is discussed with the learners during the pre-task phase, and for the task they are then asked to visualise some of the events from the story in group work. The descriptions of these events need to contain the complementizer that is in focus. For example, when the bare infinitive is discussed, the learners need to visualise events such as “Peter saw Mary close the car with the remote control”, “Mary heard the ambulance arrive” or “Peter helped Mary climb into the ambulance”. Discussing potential visualisations lets the learners process the underlying meaning of each complementizer more deeply. In their reports, the learners present their visualisations to the rest of the class and explain their reasons for having produced them. Presumably, the learners will come up with pictures which show the two events in question as happening at the same time. <?page no="220"?> 219 12.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction During the language focus, the teacher can either select one of the learners’ pictures or present his / her own picture. As mentioned several times before, visualisations foster retrieval, help the learners to achieve double coding (cf. Clark / Paivio 1991) and, in this special case, signal the iconicity effect of each of the complementizers. The bare infinitive, which focuses on two simultaneous situations, should be shown in one single picture, iconically highlighting the fact that the two situations are happening at exactly the same time. This simultaneity is the abstract meaning of the bare infinitive that the learners are meant to recognise. The teacher can help by asking, for instance, when exactly the situations in question happened. I saw him open the door. Figure 12: Illustration of the bare infinitive The lesson introducing the to-infinitive has a similar structure to the previous lesson, just that in this case the story contains a number of examples of the to-infinitive and the learners are asked to visualise examples such as “Mary asked Peter to call her parents”, “Peter wanted to kiss Mary goodbye” or “Mary told Peter to leave”. Again, in the report phase, the learners present their drawings and explain them. For the language focus, the teacher has prepared an illustration with two pictures and an arrow in between, which symbolises the meaning of to. As the learners’ illustrations will presumably consist of only single pictures, the teacher’s illustration should be used in this case. What the learners may have elaborated is of course not necessarily ‘wrong’, but showing two pictures for the to-infinitive, instead of the one picture shown for the bare infinitive, highlights the fact that two consecutive situations are involved and that these two consecutive situations are less integrated than those expressed by the bare infinitive. Additionally, this procedure visualises the iconic and temporal distance (see also sub-chapter 12.2) between the two situations involved when the to-infinitive is used. In other words: not only the temporal sequence of the two situations but also the growing conceptual and grammatical distance between the situations is indicated by the number of pictures used. The learners are meant to become aware of the consecutiveness of the two situations. Again, this can be fostered by the teacher’s questions about the exact times when the two situations happened. I told him to open the door. Figure 13: Illustration of the to-infinitive <?page no="221"?> 220 12. Verb complementation For the gerund, the procedure is quite similar. A story containing a number of gerunds is told and the learners are again asked to visualise several examples, such as “Peter likes cycling”, “Mary was never good at singing” or “They remember their friends dancing in the rain”. The learners will possibly come up with drawings of the situations described in the complement clauses, but may encounter problems when trying to visualise the situations in the main clauses (in the examples used above: ‘like’, ‘be good at’, ‘remember’). Therefore, after the report phase, the teacher starts the language focus by showing three pictures of one and the same situation and a time line. When questioned when these situations happened, the learners may understand that these are atemporal situations which normally apply at any given moment. If somebody was never good at singing, for instance, s / he will probably not be good at singing in ten years from today either. It may seem somewhat counterintuitive to illustrate atemporal situations with a timeline. However, this can be accepted as part of the necessary didactic reduction, as it is important to visualise the gerund with three pictures, on the one hand, in order to illustrate that the situation does not change over time and is therefore unbounded, and on the other hand, in order to iconically underline the growing grammatical and conceptual distance. The learners are meant to become aware of the fact that the gerund relates to generalised and atemporal situations. I‘ve never been good at opening doors smoothly. Figure 14: Illustration of the gerund The fourth lesson focuses on the that-clause. As before, the learners work on a story which contains quite a number of that-clauses and they are again asked to come up with visualisations for the situation in the main clause as well as for the situation in the complement clause, such as in “Peter remembered that he had left his phone at home”, “Sometimes Mary thought that Peter was an idiot” or “Their friends knew that Peter was in Mary’s room”. The learners may find the task to produce visualisations for these examples quite tricky, but as they will remember from the previous lessons that they can draw more than one picture they may do so in this case as well. The verbs used in the above examples are mental verbs (remember, think, know), so probably the learners will draw thought bubbles to represent the meanings of these verbs. After the learners have explained their drawings to their classmates, the teacher shows his / her illustration for the that-clause. Producing such an illustration is somewhat difficult, as four pictures are needed to account for the weakest degree of integration. The first picture <?page no="222"?> 221 12.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction symbolises the experiencer’s (=-subject of a mental verb) knowledge (or thoughts, or memory etc.), the second picture shows a fact which is not causally related to the first picture, the third picture shows a thought bubble filled with the mental concept of this fact (contact between conceptualizer and fact), and the fourth picture shows the final conclusion (in the case of the example used for the illustration: the door is closed). The fact that four pictures are used is meant to show iconically that the conceptual and grammatical integration for the that-clause is very weak. Obviously, the use of the four pictures is not completely congruent with the grammatical meaning of the that-clause, but using increasing numbers of pictures for highlighting the increasing conceptual distance works on a mnemotechnical level, and the learners will presumably remember the increasing or decreasing conceptual and grammatical distance once they move along the integration continuum. For the that-clause, the learners are meant to understand that it deals with mental pictures of specific situations and not with the situations themselves. Furthermore, the language focus should explain that the two situations in the main clause and in the complement clause are not causally related and that-- in contrast to the other three complementizers-- they are grammatically independent as the tenses used in the two clauses may be different. The next and final lesson of this teaching unit, which is outlined in detail in the following sub-chapter, focuses on the contrast between the four complementizers, which so far have only been used isolated from each other. The different meanings of the four complementizers that the learners should be made aware of in the teaching unit originate from their different locations on the integration continuum (figure 16), which should be visible for the learners throughout the final lesson: bare infinitive to-infinitive gerund that-clause Figure 16: Integration continuum I know that he closed the door. Figure 15: Illustration of the that-clause <?page no="223"?> 222 12. Verb complementation This continuum not only relates to the different strengths of conceptual and grammatical integration but also to the degree of finiteness of the verb in the complement clause, as in the first three cases the complement clause possesses a non-grounded and therefore non-finite verb, whereas the fourth type of complement clause, the that-clause, features a grounded and therefore finite verb. These features seem to go hand in hand, as also stated by Verspoor (2000: 203), who claims that “the complement clause becomes more finite and less integrated as the two events are further removed in time and space and consequently in implicativity and control”. It is furthermore advisable to hang up the illustrations that were used in the explanations for the single complementizers (figures 12-15) so that the learners can be inspired and / or informed by them during their work on the task of the final lesson. The competence aimed at in this teaching unit-- and especially by the final lesson-- is for the learners to understand the abstract meanings of the four targeted complementizers and to use them correctly: ▶ strongest integration: simultaneous situations (bare infinitive) ▶ second-strongest integration: prospectivity / follow-up situations (to-infinitive) ▶ second-weakest integration: generalised situations (gerund) ▶ weakest integration: mental contact (that-clause) 12.4 The task cycle As usual, the pre-task concentrates on establishing the communicative topic of the lesson. As the aim of this lesson consists of the learners’ production of a story, the pre-task focuses on a story as well. This story should be told in an interactive way, not only to get the learners into a ‘story mood’ but also to enhance their speaking time, and it should contain lots of examples of verb complementation. These examples are mainly provided by the teacher, but may also come from the learners, as they have already been made familiar with all the four complementizers in the previous lessons. The teacher enters the class and immediately begins with his / her story. Due to the fact that the story which has to be produced by the learners during the upcoming task is a crime story, it makes sense for the teacher to focus on a (kind of) crime story as well. Therefore, the teacher tells a story about having gone shopping the day before with his / her little son and having witnessed the arrest of a shoplifter. After the arrest, all customers were questioned and had to tell the police what they witnessed. The teacher should dramatise the story to a certain extent in order to keep up the learners’ interest and motivation. S / he should also take care to ask the learners for their opinions and advice whenever possible. The story could go like this: “Yesterday I went to the supermarket with my little son. I told you already that he is six years old (=-that-clause) and that he likes shopping (=-that-clause and gerund). Do you also enjoy shopping (=-gerund)? ”-- learners answer-- “We were at the fruit stand when we saw a man run towards the exit (=-bare infinitive). Suddenly, a man yelled “stop the thief ” and ordered the other clients to help him (=-to-infinitive) in his chase. Have you ever experienced such a situation as well? ”-- learners answer-- “All of a sudden, the thief stumbled and the next thing we saw was that he was lying face-down on the floor (=-that- <?page no="224"?> 223 12.4 The task cycle clause). I thought that he looked terrified (=-that-clause) and not at all criminal. But what does a criminal actually look like? ”-- learners answer-- “He tried to get up (=-to-infinitive) and I heard him groan (=-bare infinitive). My son, who has never been good at waiting (=-gerund), wanted us to go home (=-to-infinitive) immediately but I told him that we were not allowed to leave (=-that-clause + to-infinitive) before the arrival of the police. They arrived quickly and ordered us to stay on (=- to-infinitive) for some questions. They first asked us politely whether we wanted to help (=-to-infinitive) the police. They also asked whether we had seen the suspect put anything (=-bare infinitive) inside his pockets. We told them that we had not seen (=- that-clause) anything like that. Have you ever been a witness to a criminal act? ”- - learners answer-- “Soon afterwards we were told that we could leave (=-that-clause) and we went home. Now my son swears that (=-that-clause) he does not like shopping (=-gerund) anymore. But wait until I tell him that we will go (=-that-clause) and hit the candy shop-… What shops do you like best? ”-- learners answer. After the introductory story, the teacher gives the task instructions. The learners have to get together in groups of five 175 and jointly compose a ‘criminal’ story. The ‘crime’ can be chosen by the groups themselves. Each group receives an envelope which contains twenty snippets with basic events (such as, for example, avoid, be good at, enjoy, hear, help, hide, imagine, leave, let, like, love, order, run away, say, see, tell, think, try, want, witness). All these verbs have to be used at least once in the story, but can of course be used more than once. The learners are also told that they have to use all types of verb complementation at least three times. The illustrations for the different types of verb complementation (from the previous lessons, see figures 12-15) as well as the integration continuum (see figure 16) are visible throughout the task, so that the learners can consult them when in doubt. In their groups, the learners first need to agree on a storyline and then work on the story itself. They are also informed that they have to take turns when reading their stories to their classmates during the report phase, so that every single group member will say something during that phase. As usual, the teacher keeps in the background while the groups are working, but is available for questions. During the report phase, the groups read out their stories. The teacher and the classmates can ask questions after each story. If verb complementation is used incorrectly, the teacher can point to the illustrations and ask the learners when exactly the events in question happened, how they are temporally related or which type of situation is described. For the language focus, four rectangles have been drawn on the board, each of which has one type of verb complementation as its header. The teacher asks the groups to fill in their example sentences. Two sentences per rectangle should be enough. When all the rectangles are filled and the two verbs in each sentence have been underlined, the teacher asks the learners to describe the relation between the main clause and the complement clause for each type. In an ideal case, the learners use the keywords from the previous lessons, namely ‘simultaneous situation’, ‘follow-up situation’, ‘generalised situation’ and ‘mental contact’. These keywords 175 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. As only four types of verb complementation are introduced and as there will presumably be more than four groups, the types of verb complementation can hardly be used on the snippets that have to be drawn for finding out one’s work group. Instead, colours or numbers can be used. <?page no="225"?> 224 12. Verb complementation are then added to the rectangles. If there is enough time, the teacher can guide the learners towards noticing the iconicity effects of the different types of verb complementation, namely that the more grammatical distance is noticeable, the more conceptual distance is involved and, consequently, the lower is the degree of integration (and vice versa). The teacher should have prepared a handout showing the illustrations, the keywords and the example sentences, which the learners can then take home. Should there still be time for a transfer, one learner can draw two of the snippets from the task and hand them to another learner of his / her choice, who has to form a meaningful sentence. This learner then draws two other snippets and asks a third learner to form a sentence and so forth. Although this exercise is somewhat similar to the task, it is different nevertheless, as each learner has to work on his / her own and cannot turn to the group for support and as there is no prescribed topic for the sentences. For homework, the learners are asked to work out a dialogue between a police officer and a witness, based on the stories they wrote in their groups. This is meant to be a transfer from descriptive language to direct speech, as of course verb complementation is not only a feature of written language. 12.5 Alternatives As mentioned before, the use of verb complementation is part of all authentic texts and conversations, which is why basically any communicative situation can be chosen. However, as the focus of this case study is on the differences between the four types of verb complementation and not so much on the creation of native-like oral or written texts, the four types need to be contrasted. An alternative possibility to the one outlined above is to reverse the task described in the previous sub-chapter and-- instead of creative writing-- deal with texts which already exist. This can be embedded in a teaching unit on the analysis of literary texts. The learners can work in pairs and each pair receives a text excerpt. The instances of verb complementation have to be found in the texts and the learners have to explain why the author has chosen a specific type of verb complementation. Another possibility is to give comic strips to the learners, which frequently show quite complex situations, and ask them to verbalise these situations by using all four types of verb complementation. This, of course, presupposes that the teacher finds suitable comic strips. The learners can furthermore be asked to explain different types of verb complementation for a single verb, such as outlined above for ‘help’ or ‘remember’. In an ideal case, the learners use the abstract meanings of the complementizers and / or the keywords in their explanations. In this way, the learners are made aware of the subtle differences that grammar allows them to express. If there is not enough time to focus on verb complementation for five consecutive lessons, the teaching unit can also be shortened. Instead of devoting a complete lesson to each of the types, two types can be introduced within one lesson. Half of the learners can work on one type and the other half works on the other type. During the report phase, they have to inform each other about their results and explain their illustrations. The language focus then deals <?page no="226"?> 225 12.5 Alternatives with both types instead of just one, as described before. However, the last lesson, i. e., the lesson on contrasting the four different types, should stay intact. Further reading Clark, James M. / Paivio, Allan (1991): “Dual coding theory and education”. Educational Psychology Review 3 (3), 149-170. Dirven, René (1989): “A cognitive perspective on complementation”. In: Jaspers, Dany et al. (eds.): Sentential complementation and the lexicon. Dordrecht: Fortis, 113-139. Dirven, René / Verspoor, Marjolijn (2004 2 ): Cognitive exploration of language and linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Egan, Thomas (2008): Non-finite complementation: A usage-based study of infinitive and -ing clauses in English. Amsterdam: Rodopi. Duffey, Patrick J. (2006): The English gerund-participle: A comparison with the infinitive. Frankfurt am Main: Lang. Hamawand, Zeki (2002): Atemporal complement clauses in English: A cognitive grammar analysis. München: Lincom Europe. Horie, Kaoru (ed.) (2000): Complementation: Cognitive and functional perspectives. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Kaleta, Agnieszka, (2012): “The English gerund vs. the to-infinitive: The case of aspectual constructions”. Selected Papers from UK - CLA Meetings. http: / / uk-cla.org.uk/ proceedings Vol 1: 323-341. Langacker, Ronald W. (1991): Foundations of cognitive grammar II . Stanford: Stanford University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (1992): “Prepositions as grammatical(ized) elements”. Leuvense Bijdragen 81, 287-305. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Taylor, John R. (2002): Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Traugott, Elizabeth (1992): “Syntax”. In: Hogg, Richard M. (ed.): The Cambridge history of the English language I: Old English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 168-289. Verspoor, Marjolijn (1996): “The story of -ing: A subjective perspective”. In: Pütz, Martin / Dirven, René (eds.): The construal of space in language and thought. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 417-454. Verspoor, Marjolijn (2000): “Iconicity in English complement constructions”. In: Horie, Kaoru (ed.): Complementation: Cognitive and functional perspectives. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 199-226. Wierzbicka, Anna (1988): The semantics of grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. <?page no="228"?> 227 12.5 Alternatives 13. Pronouns The topic ‘pronouns’ can-- at least in part-- already be introduced to less advanced learners of English. Especially personal pronouns need to be introduced very early, as they are important for referring to persons without always having to repeat their names and as they are the most frequent pronouns in the English language. The same applies for possessive pronouns, as possessions or affiliations (‘my bike’, ‘my friend etc.) are topics that speakers generally like to talk about. Furthermore, interrogative pronouns are necessary nearly from the very beginning of learning English, so that the learners are enabled to ask questions. In a similar vein, demonstrative pronouns are grammatical structures that need to be taught quite early, in order to facilitate object reference. Relative pronouns and reflexive pronouns can follow somewhat later. As its name already implies, a personal pronoun (“pro” = “for”) is a substitute for a noun phrase 176 or for several noun phrases. As Crystal (1995: 210) states, “the meaning expressed is much less specific than that in phrases containing nouns”. Personal pronouns have the same functions as nouns and noun phrases, because they can function as subjects (such as in ‘she saw Peter’) and as objects (as in ‘The girl saw him’), but unlike nouns they cannot be modified (*‘a small she’). Pronominal systems can be found in most, if not all 177 , languages of the world. In some languages, such as the Indo-European ones-- to which English as well as German belong-- they appear as single words (i. e., as pronouns), whereas in other languages, as, for example, Algonquian languages, they appear as pronominal affixes. The NSM approach 178 , which aims at identifying semantic universals in all languages (cf. Goddard 2011), lists two personal pronouns (‘I’ and ‘you’) and one demonstrative pronoun 176 Although most traditional grammars claim that a personal pronoun refers to a noun, this is not correct, as a pronoun always refers to a complete noun phrase and never to a single noun. A noun phrase can consist of a proper name (i. e., ‘Heathrow Airport-- it is a magic place’), of a determiner + noun (i. e., ‘That man-- he is dangerous’), of a determiner + one or more adjectives + noun (i. e., ‘this nasty waitress-- she has ruined my day’), of a determiner + adverb(s) + adjective(s) + noun (i. e., ‘this very nasty waitress-- she has ruined my day’), or of a determiner + adverb(s) + adjective(s) + noun + complement (i. e., ‘this very nasty waitress at the pub-- she has ruined my day’). 177 There is an ongoing debate among linguists what exactly counts as a pronoun. Taken in its strictest definition, languages such as Japanese, Korean, Thai, Burmese, Malay, Javanese and similar languages do not have pronouns. Wider definitions define these languages as ‘borderline’ cases, as their pronominal systems differ from most other languages, because pronouns in these languages are an open class (and not a closed one, as, for example, in English) and partly act like nouns, as they can be modified by adjectives, demonstratives and possessives, i. e., they are rather lexical than functional language elements. 178 The NSM approach (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) tries to identify semantic primes by the method of reductive paraphrase. Primes are defined as expressions which exist in all languages, either as lexemes or as affixes or as phrases. Currently, the list of semantic primes contains about 60 entries, which cannot be reduced any further and which are considered to be translatable into every other language without any cultural bias. Expressions which are not on the list of semantic primes (i. e., the vast majority of expressions) are seen as culture-specific concepts, which can only be translated in a culture-free way <?page no="229"?> 228 13. Pronouns (‘this’) among its sixty-odd candidates for the status of a universal semantic prime, as they exist in all languages analysed so far. This points at the enormous world-wide importance of these pronouns. Due to the fact that the case study in this chapter focuses on two groups of pronouns which belong to the so-called central pronouns, namely personal pronouns and possessive pronouns, these two groups of pronouns also play the most important role in the sub-chapters on form and meaning. 13.1 Form English has diverse types of pronouns, which, however, do not all follow the same rules. The so-called ‘central pronouns’ all express contrasts of person, number and gender: ▶ Personal pronouns identify speakers, addressees and third parties. They can appear as subjects (I like donuts, you (singular) like tennis, he / she / it likes chocolate, we like rock music, you (plural) like travelling, they like cats). ▶ Personal pronouns can also appear as objects (Mary likes me, Mary likes you (singular), Mary likes him / her / it, Mary likes us, Mary likes you (plural), Mary likes them). ▶ Possessive pronouns express ownership or affiliation, either in a material or in an immaterial sense. They come in two varieties, either as determiners (my brother, your (singular) dog, his / her / its toy, our holidays, your (plural) interests, their house) or as an attribution, in which case they stand alone, without a noun or noun phrase (this is mine, this is yours (singular), this is his, this is hers, this is ours, this is yours (plural), this is theirs). ▶ Reflexive pronouns always end in- -self / - -selves and reflect the meaning of a noun or pronoun that was used earlier in the clause (I wash myself, you wash yourself, Peter washes himself, Mary washes herself, the child washes itself, we wash ourselves, you wash yourselves, Peter and Mary wash themselves). The following groups of pronouns belong to the less central pronouns: ▶ Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about personal and non-personal entities (Who did this? Whom did you see? Which car did they drive? Why did they do it? Where did they come from? What did they say? ). ▶ Demonstrative pronouns express the contrast between proximal and distal entities (this house / these houses vs. that house / those houses), but also have several extended uses, e. g., this can introduce a new topic in colloquial speech (as in “I saw this dress which-…”, indicating that the topic is ‘close’ to the speaker), whereas that can express a negative attitude (as in “That idiot! ”, indicating that the speaker is emotionally ‘distant’ from the person referred to). when they are broken down into semantic primes. For more information on the NSM approach, please consult, e. g., Goddard 2011. <?page no="230"?> 229 13.2 A cognitive-linguistic perspective on pronouns ▶ Relative pronouns link a subordinate clause to the main clause, while both clauses have the same subject (“the man who told me this story”, “the man whom you saw yesterday”, “the man whose daughter you have met”, “the story which / that you heard”). ▶ Reciprocal pronouns express a two-way relationship (each other, one another). ▶ Indefinite pronouns express a notion of quantity. There are two main types of indefinite pronouns. The first type are so-called compound pronouns, consisting of two elements (every-, some-, anyor noplus -thing, -one or -body, as, for example, in nobody or anything). The second type are so-called of-pronouns, such as in “I’ve drunk all of the wine / few of the wine / none of the wine”. Other exemplars belonging to this category include each, much, many, more, most, less, fewer, some, neither (cf. Crystal 1995: 210). 13.2 A cognitive-linguistic perspective on pronouns In cognitive linguistics, pronouns are only rarely dealt with under this umbrella term, as their explanations from a cognitive-grammatical perspective differ according to the type of pronoun discussed. As Langacker (cf. 2013: 122) argues, pronouns should actually be in the same word class as nouns due to the fact that the same descriptions apply to both of them, “hence these are most reasonably seen not as a disjoint form but as belonging to the class of nouns, being distinguished from “lexical” nouns by their additional, special properties”. As the term ‘pronoun’ is not accepted as a cover term in cognitive grammar, certain types of pronouns are usually singled out and analysed. Analyses of personal pronouns top the list of publications on pronouns (see sub-chapter 13.3 below), but there is also research on demonstratives, determiners and possessives as well as on relative and reflexive pronouns. This sub-chapter briefly comments on two types of pronouns, namely demonstrative and relative pronouns, while the personal pronouns as well as the possessive pronouns are dealt with in more detail in the following two sub-chapters. According to Langacker (2008: 124), demonstratives “serve to ground the profiled thing by relating it to the context of speech”. Furthermore, for explaining the meaning of demonstratives, the proximity / distance schema 179 needs to be evoked again. In this context, Laczkó (2012: 296) argues that “the choice between ‘near’ and ‘far’ is basically determined by where (under what spatial conditions) the entity referred to is located in relation to the speaker”. The listener can then mentally take over the speaker’s position and thus interpret the speaker’s utterances correctly. This and these are used for objects (in the singular and in the plural) closer to the speaker’s position, such as in “this dress looks particularly flattering on you” or “these apples are the best you can buy”, whereas that and those are used for objects (again, in the singular and in the plural) which are further away from the speaker’s position, such as in “that dress (over there) does not suit you” or “those apples (over there) are not exactly delicious”. This is not only valid for concrete objects but also for abstract entities, such as in “I 179 For more details, please consult sub-chapter 12.2.1. <?page no="231"?> 230 13. Pronouns do not like this idea”, which focuses on the idea ‘closest’ to the speaker, for instance, the idea last mentioned or the idea which is currently dominant in the speaker’s mind. Additionally, demonstratives can be used in a metaphorical way. Laczkó (cf. 2012: 297 f.) explains that the use of a proximal demonstrative can also signal a positive attitude on behalf of the speaker, whereas a distal demonstrative rather signals a negative attitude. In the examples “This is an interesting idea”, the speaker expresses a certain positive attitude towards the idea in question, and in “That is an interesting idea”, the speaker’s attitude is somewhat negative. This contrast can be explained by the notion of embodiment 180 , as people normally try to keep a certain distance to entities they do not appreciate, and vice versa. Briefly turning over to relative pronouns: a relative pronoun can refer to the subject or to the object of the main clause, as, for example, in “The man, who was old, saw the burglar”, where the relative clause refers to the subject ‘the man’. In contrast, in a sentence such as “The man saw the burglar, who was old” the relative pronoun refers to the object ‘the burglar’. The major difficulty that learners seem to have with relative clauses is to differentiate between restrictive (also called ‘necessary’) and non-restrictive (also called ‘non-necessary’) relative clauses. In restrictive clauses (such as in “the man who gave you the money is old”), the whole utterance is typically manifested as one single intonation group, whereas in non-restrictive clauses (such as in “the man, who gave you the money, is old”-- which can be glossed as “the man-- who, by the way, gave you the money-- is old”, adding extra information which is not in the focus of the utterance) the utterance consists of separate intonation groups. In written language, this intonation break is symbolised by the use of punctuation for non-restrictive relative clauses. According to Radden / Dirven (2007: 161), a restrictive relative clause “narrows down the range of possible referents to just one which, by its uniqueness, becomes accessible to the hearer”, which means that restrictive clauses “help to identify a referent situationally-(…) or to categorise a thing” (ibid.: 167). In contrast, a non-restrictive relative clause “does not serve to narrow down a range of referents, since the referent- (…) is already definite; hence, this type of relative clause only serves to provide purely additional information about an already defined referent” (ibid.: 161). Radden / Dirven (2007: 163) actually claim that “the term relative pronoun is a misnomer because a pronoun does not stand for a noun but for a whole noun phrase”, but they suggest to use it nevertheless, as it is so well entrenched. They further state that “the function of relative pronouns is to mark the relative clause within the structure of a complex sentence” (ibid.). There are different possibilities of marking. In restrictive relative clauses, who(m) is used for humans and which is used for non-human entities, whereas that and the zero-form (i. e., leaving out the relative pronoun, such as in “That’s all I can do for you”) are unmarked, i. e., semantically neutral. However, “the zero-form is limited to sentences in which the relative clause is clearly recognisable” (ibid.). In non-restrictive relative clauses, only the relative pronouns who(m) and which can be used, while that is not acceptable. 180 For more information on embodiment, please consult sub-chapter 3.1. <?page no="232"?> 231 13.3 Personal pronouns 13.3 Personal pronouns The term ‘personal pronoun’ is actually a misnomer, as these pronouns cannot only refer to persons but also to objects. Personal pronouns, especially I and you, are used very frequently in all languages, as human beings are naturally concerned with themselves and their situations in life. According to Puckica (2013: 83), they are “the most basic pronouns”. In English, the personal pronouns are differentiated according to case, number and gender 181 . This differentiation in form is not further discussed in the following sub-chapter, as cognitive grammar is primarily interested in the meaning of grammatical constructions and less so in their form. However, the focus on meaning is slightly complicated for the personal pronouns because they do not bear meaning in themselves due to the fact that their meanings crucially depend on the context. According to Crystal (1995: 210), personal pronouns “are called ‘personal’ because they refer to the people involved in the act of communication”. The speaker or writer of a message refers to himself / herself either as I or me or in the plural as we or us. The addressee of a message is referred to as you, and third persons, who are not participating in the communication act, are referred to as he or him (when male), as she or her (when female), as it 182 (when neutral) or as they or them (when pluralized). There are some additional uses to the prototypical ones listed above, for example, when people in general or a specific group of people in society are referred to by the use of you or they (such as in ‘you never know’ or ‘they have no idea’), although there is no particular addressee. Furthermore, we can be used metonymically 183 , such as when a nurse includes herself in the question to a patient “How are we today? ”, which can be seen as a positive politeness strategy. The same can be said about the use of we to talk about third persons (such as in “We are in a nasty mood today, aren’t we”, said by a mother to her child) or the use of the so-called ‘royal we’ (such as in “We are not amused”, uttered by the Queen). 13.3.1 Meaning Langacker (cf. 2013: 122) states that pronouns profile “things”, just as nouns, articles, demonstratives, quantifiers and nominals do. Personal pronouns generally 184 refer to the meanings of preceding noun phrases and therefore take over their meanings, cf. also Langacker (ibid.: 59), who states that “a personal pronoun-(…) carries the supposition that its intended referent is established, salient, and uniquely identifiable in the current discourse space”. However, a pronoun does not transport exactly the same meaning that is taken over from the noun phrase which the pronoun refers to, because if an entity has already been mentioned 181 Pronouns are the only instance in which gender becomes visible in the grammar of English, cf. König / Gastreich (2012: 64), who claim that the gender system of Modern English “is semantically motivated, and moreover restricted to pronouns”. 182 Although it can also refer to non-personal entities, it is nevertheless included with the personal pronouns because it behaves in the same way as the other personal pronouns. 183 Please consult sub-chapter 3.2 for more information on metonymy. 184 For an exception, please consult the paragraphs on the anaphoric use of personal pronouns further down. <?page no="233"?> 232 13. Pronouns before, this facilitates the listener’s mental access to it and it becomes more accessible and therefore “conceptually closer” (Van Hoek 2007: 893). In other words: a pronoun refers to something that has already been spoken about and which is therefore present and accessible in the speaker’s and hearer’s minds. Therefore, according to Van Hoek (ibid.), “a pronoun accesses a notion that is relatively easily retrieved, such as the conception of a person already under discussion or physically present”, whereas a noun phrase “indicates that the person or thing it refers to requires relatively more effort to access” (ibid.). Langacker (2000: 235) describes the difference between noun phrases and pronouns in a similar way by stating that “semantically, a pronoun portrays its referent as being immediately accessible in the current, shared discourse context, whereas a full nominal implies the contrary”. Another difference between nominals and pronouns is the fact that … for nominals, grounding elements include the demonstratives, the articles, and certain qualifiers. Personal pronouns and proper names occur without such elements because a specification of their relation to the ground (person and definiteness) is inherent in their meaning. (Langacker 2000: 271) Personal pronouns are seen as deictic 185 , as they rely on the speaker’s viewpoint. “Deixis is-(…) a linguistic operation drawing on participants’ contextual knowledge that comes from their mental processing of the spatial, temporal, and interpersonal relations of the speech situation” (Laczkó 2012: 289). In other words: many expressions are not understandable in isolation but only make sense when aspects such as the communicative situation, the relation between the speakers, the time and place when the communication takes place etc. are taken into account. For example, on finding a scrap of paper on the street on which ‘please come to my party tomorrow’ can be read, presumably nobody would go to this party, as it is unclear when it takes (or possibly took) place, where it takes (or took) place and who is the host. The scrap of paper can have been lying around for days, weeks or even longer, and the meaning of ‘tomorrow’ can only be interpreted once it is known on which day it was said or written. The same applies to the meaning of ‘my’, which can only be accessed if it is known who the writer of this message is. When this type of contextual knowledge is not available, the sentence is not interpretable. The same is true for pronouns. Their meanings can only be interpreted correctly when the communicative situation is known. For example, when the discourse participants are Mary and Peter and one of them says “I love you”, the speaker needs to be known in order to understand this utterance correctly. If Mary is the speaker, then I refers to Mary and you to Peter, but when Peter is the speaker, I refers to Peter and you to Mary. Langacker (2008: 78) argues that “with the firstand second-person pronouns (I, you, we, and their variants), the speaker and the hearer are profiled, explicitly mentioned, and objectively construed”. This is confirmed by Verhagen (2007: 50), who mentions personal pronouns in the context of his discussion of construal and sees I and you as “identifying participants in the conceived situation as communicative participants and third-person pronouns as identifying situation participants as not participating in the communicative process”. 185 In this context, Croft/ Cruse (2004: 59) speak of “person deixis”. <?page no="234"?> 233 13.3 Personal pronouns Although personal pronouns relating to third persons do not refer to any of the discourse participants but to people who do not actively participate in the communicative act itself, the discourse participants need to have shared knowledge about these third persons in order to be able to correctly interpret the pronouns which are used for them, therefore, as Van Hoek (2007: 895) claims, “even a third-person portrays its referent as conceptually close to the discourse participants by being shared knowledge understood by both”. Human beings are egocentric, at least in their use of language. As Laczkó states (2012: 290), “discourse participants encounter and mentally process the physical world around them using themselves, their own bodies, as a point of departure”. When it comes to deixis, every speaker is his / her own deictic and referential centre, as people speak from their own perspectives and use expressions such as I, me, myself, mine for themselves, here for the location where the discourse participants are at the moment of speaking, and now for the time they are speaking at. Such expressions are only interpretable in their relationship to the deictic centre, i. e., the speaker. This allows the listener to process and correctly interpret what the speaker says as embedded in the speech situation. This process is called ‘grounding’ (cf. Brisard 2002). The speaker is always the central participant and the listener(s) as well as third persons are defined with respect to the speaker. However, the speaker may project this role onto the listener or to a third party, when s / he takes somebody else’s point of view, a process which is called ‘deictic projection’. Langacker (1985) has compared discourse to a stage, and the speaker and the listener are likened to an audience watching a play. The speaker puts his / her ideas and concepts ‘on stage’. According to Van Hoek (2007: 893), “a pronoun places onstage a conception that is identifiable only through an association with an offstage participant”, the offstage participant being the noun phrase to which the pronoun refers. She continues by explaining that, for example, “the pronouns I and you-(…) focus attention on conceptions identified as the discourse participants” (ibid.). Discourse participants normally 186 do not use their own names in the discourse, but use I and you instead. For referring to third persons, the use of a name is possible, although “speakers frequently use full names when they wish to express ridicule or disapproval of a person, even in contexts where a pronoun could have been used with no loss of clarity” (Van Hoek 2007: 895). If the full name is used nevertheless, this signals conceptual distance. This notion of distance ties in with the notion of the lower degree of accessibility mentioned above. Van Hoek (ibid.: 896) explains that “a full noun is appropriately used only in a context in which its referent is not highly accessible”. 186 Van Hoek (2007: 894 f.) mentions some exceptions, for example, when the speaker wants to get the listener’s attention, but does not yet have it, s / he would normally call him by his / her name (“Mr Smith, I am talking to you! ! ”), or when the speaker wants to show the listener that s / he has the speaker’s sympathy (“I am so sorry for your loss, Peter”). All other uses of “full noun phrases imply that the referent is construed as distant, “held at arm’s length” from the offstage audience” (ibid.). This is the same principle that parents often use with their children, for instance, when telling them for the third time that they need to tidy up their room by using their last name “Mr Jones, will you please get around to tidying up your room? ” <?page no="235"?> 234 13. Pronouns As Langacker (2000: 239) mentions, “by itself a pronoun merely contributes the notion of a salient reference point and thereby creates the expectation that the context will provide one”. This potential of personal pronouns for the construction of deictic reference points can be analysed as consisting of a prototype (as explained above, the pronoun refers to a noun phrase which has already been mentioned) and less prototypical instances. One of these less prototypical instances relates to the fact that pronouns are not infrequently used anaphorically. This means that the pronoun does not refer back to a noun phrase but precedes the noun phrase, such as in “in front of him, Peter saw a dog”, where him refers to Peter, who was not mentioned before the pronoun was used. If the two person references were exchanged, yielding the sentence “in front of Peter, he saw a dog”, the understanding would be that a third person saw Peter and also saw a dog in front of Peter, i. e., the personal pronoun he would not refer to Peter anymore. The anaphoric use of personal pronouns can be explained by the fact that in the first example, Peter is the subject, i. e., the reference point for the rest of the sentence, including the pronoun him, because him is understood as referring to the subject. In the second (inacceptable) example, he is the subject and therefore at the same time the reference point for the rest of the sentence, however, a pronoun cannot be referred back to by a name (Peter). If a pronoun is used anaphorically, i. e., if it precedes the noun phrase it refers to, this implies that the discourse participants are able to establish mental contact with the intended referent in the current discourse-pragmatic context (cf. Langacker 2000: 235). It is even possible for a personal pronoun not to refer to any noun phrase that was explicitly mentioned in the current speech context, because “a pronoun can be used felicitously even when there is no explicit antecedent at all, the reference point being supplied by the extra-linguistic context” (Langacker 2000: 279), as, for example, when two persons see a man running towards a bus stop while the bus is already leaving and then comment on this situation by saying something like “he will not manage to catch the bus”. In this case, the situation that both discourse participants have observed serves as an extra-linguistic reference point for the use of the personal pronoun he. Summing up, personal pronouns do not have the same expressivity as the noun phrases they refer to, as the entity in question must already have come up in the discourse before a pronoun can be used. The discourse participants must be in a position to be in mental contact with this entity, either linguistically or non-linguistically. The entity needs to be already “onstage” and is therefore more easily accessible. This view also explains certain restrictions in the use of noun phrases and pronouns. If, for instance, a noun phrase is used when a pronoun would be sufficient, this use of a noun phrase has an additional meaning of distance or it signals speaker attitude, as already mentioned above. 13.3.2 Communicative situation and didactic reduction There are uncountable communicative situations in which personal pronouns are used. Every single time that a person or an object is named, the follow-up sentence normally includes a personal pronoun. Therefore, knowledge about how to apply these pronouns is necessary to <?page no="236"?> 235 13.3 Personal pronouns communicate with others about ‘third parties’ (cf. Crystal 1995: 210) and should be imparted as early as possible. For a class of beginners, it should be enough to introduce the two third person pronouns he and she, focusing on gender differentiation. This should not be overly complicated for native speakers of German, as the situation in German is similar. On the one hand, the learners should be made aware of the fact that English pronouns differentiate between the genders, and on the other hand, they should also be made aware of the fact that it is enough to use a noun phrase or a proper name once and that the follow-up sentence uses a pronoun which refers to its antecedent. As mentioned in the previous sub-chapter, the repetition of a full noun phrase or a proper name when it is not really necessary (unintentionally) adds extra information to the sentence, at least for native speakers of English. Furthermore, the learners need to become aware of the fact that the pronoun replaces a full noun phrase, i. e., either the article plus the noun (as in ‘the boy is singing’-- ‘he is singing’), or the article plus one or more adjectives plus the noun (as in ‘the German boy is singing’-- ‘he is singing’), or a proper name (as in ‘Peter is singing’-- ‘he is singing’). The pronoun takes over the place as well as the meaning of the previous noun phrase. The personal pronouns introduced in the lesson described in the next sub-chapter should be used prototypically, i. e., not anaphorically or loaded with extra information. Additionally, the pronouns should be used as subjects and not yet as objects. When used as objects, the pronouns change their form, which might confuse beginners. The third person singular pronoun it can of course be introduced together with he and she, but can just as well be left aside and only be introduced in a follow-up lesson. The plural pronouns should also be left out for the time being, but should be added soon afterwards, so that the paradigm of the English personal pronouns can be completed. The learners will already be familiar with the first and second person singular personal pronouns from the very beginning, as these are used to make statements about oneself (‘I am German’, ‘I am a boy’, ‘I live in Berlin’ etc.) and as they themselves are addressed as you by the teacher and also address each other as you, in the singular as well as in the plural (‘Sandra, could you please come to the board? ’, ‘Could all of you please pay attention? ’, ‘What you said is correct, Sandra’, ‘Sandra, I mean YOU , please pay attention’ etc.). These pronouns may not yet have been systematised, but are certainly understandable for and used by the learners. The lesson outlined in the next sub-chapter focuses on the description of persons and leaves aside the use of personal pronouns for objects. As the persons to be described are the learners themselves (at a younger age), the task focuses on the learners’ interest in each other and in what everybody looked like when they were younger, and can therefore be seen as extremely motivating for young learners. As a precondition for the lesson, the learners should be able to form simple assertive sentences and be familiar with the word fields of body parts, clothing, accessories and colours as well as with the chunk ‘I am / you are wearing’, which is then extended into ‘he / she is wearing’. <?page no="237"?> 236 13. Pronouns 13.3.3 The task cycle During the pre-task, the teacher should use as many personal pronouns as possible. On entering the class, s / he should show the learners a photo showing himself / herself at kindergarten age and then ask the learners who they think the person in the photo is. S / he calls the person ‘the mystery person’ and starts to describe him or her: “Look, the mystery person is blond. S / he has blue eyes and short wavy hair. S / he is wearing jeans and white sneakers. What else can you see? ” Through the teacher’s use of gender-appropriate personal pronouns, the learners will already be made aware of the mystery person’s sex and will reasonably quickly find out that the person in the picture is their teacher. The teacher can then show them other pictures of himself / herself and ask the learners to describe them. As the learners are not yet familiar with the third person singular personal pronouns, they will probably use the second person singular and may answer “You are wearing a brown jacket” or “You are wearing glasses” etc. The teacher has asked the learners to bring pictures of themselves from their kindergarten years for this lesson. S / he collects the pictures and tells the learners that they will work in pairs. First, every pair draws one of the pictures 187 , then has to guess which classmate it shows and finally has to describe the person in at least four short sentences 188 . In order to help the learners to formulate their sentences, every pair receives a worksheet which starts with two examples. These examples consist of drawings of a boy and of a girl and the captions read ‘This is Sally. She is wearing red trousers.’ and ‘This is Paul. He has brown hair.’. Further down, the worksheet carries the headline ‘The mystery person is-….’, followed by four numbered lines, the first one of these being partially filled in with ‘-… is wearing-…’, while the other three lines are completely empty. The slot for the personal pronoun in the first of these lines should be small, so that the learners are not tempted to insert the mystery person’s full name. As usual, the teacher keeps in the background while the learners are working on their task, but is available when they have problems or questions. During the report phase, as many pairs as possible come to the front, hold up their picture and say “The mystery person is (Sandra)”. Sandra can then confirm or negate this statement. If she confirms it, the description is read out. If Sandra denies being the mystery person, the whole class can then guess who the person in the picture is, and only then does the pair read out their description. The teacher can also add comments on details that were not yet mentioned, taking care to use the personal pronouns he and she. For the language focus, the two drawings from the example on the worksheet are attached to both halves of the blackboard and the persons’ names are written next to the pictures (Sally and Paul). It is not recommended to use the learners’ examples from the task because then certain learners would be singled out at the expense of others, which might result in feelings of jealousy. Underneath the proper names, descriptions of the persons are added, e. g., for Sally ‘she has brown hair’, ‘she is wearing red trousers’ and ‘she has green eyes’ and for Paul ‘he has blond hair’, ‘he is wearing jeans’ and ‘he has blue eyes’. The learners are then asked to spot the difference between the sentences on the right-hand side of the board and those on the left- 187 If the picture shows one of the partners, they need to put it back and draw another one. 188 The number of four sentences guarantees that every learner can read out two of them. <?page no="238"?> 237 13.3 Personal pronouns hand side of the board. The personal pronouns are underlined and the learners are encouraged to utter their hypotheses on why the pronouns are different, which should be relatively easy for them, given the fact that this difference is present in the German language as well. If there is still time for a transfer, the third person singular pronouns can be contrasted with the first and second person singular pronouns. The learners are asked to compare their own appearances and outfits to those of their neighbours and also to those of other classmates by saying, for example, “I have brown hair and you have blond hair”. Another learner is asked whether this statement is correct and comments on the utterance by saying “Yes, this is correct, he has brown hair and she has blond hair” and then adds a further comparison. For homework, the learners are asked to describe their favourite female singer and their favourite male singer in three sentences each. They are encouraged to add pictures of the singers, which makes it easier and more logical to describe their outfits. These pictures and descriptions can also be used as the basis for a quiz in the follow-up lesson, similar to the mystery person game. 13.3.4 Alternatives One alternative is to additionally focus on the gender-neutral personal pronoun it by not only talking about persons but also about objects, for example clothing. The learners can again work in pairs and prepare advertisements for a piece of clothing that they are allocated by the teacher 189 , such as, for example, “I have a brand-new sweater. It is pink, it is cheap and it is beautiful” or “Peter has a brand-new t-shirt, he loves the t-shirt. It is black, it is modern and it is stretchy”. If the third person singular-s has already been introduced to the learners, they can also interview each other about their likes and their habits. This task is best done in pair work, with the learners taking turns in being the interviewer and the interviewee. They can, for example, ask each other “Do you drink milk for breakfast? ”, “Do you like ice cream? ” or “Do you love cats? ”. The interviewers have to find out at least three things that the interviewed person likes. If the answer to a question is ‘no’, a further question has to be asked. This goes on until three likes and / or habits can be determined. Later on, the interviewers report their findings to the rest of the class: “Jessica likes ice cream, she drinks milk for breakfast and she loves music” or “Paul likes pizza, he drinks tea for breakfast and he loves candy”. Alternatively, the findings about the learners’ likes and habits can be entered into a grid which shows how many pupils in this class drink milk or like ice cream, for example. 189 It would certainly be more motivating for the learners to give them the free choice which article of clothing they want to describe, but as many articles of clothing feature the plural (such as trousers, sneakers, socks, shoes etc.) and would therefore need the third person plural pronoun, the teacher should take care to only use expressions that are in the singular (such as belt, t-shirt, dress, blouse, sweater, shirt, coat etc.). <?page no="239"?> 238 13. Pronouns 13.4 Possessive pronouns Langacker (2000: 174) calls possessives “a basic and universal linguistic category”, which means that they exist in every language. He furthermore argues that “linguistic possession implies nothing more than the existence of some association or relationship between possessor and possessed” (Langacker 2009: 81). Obviously, the notion of ‘possession’ in a wide sense is very important for human beings and can be expressed in various ways in English. Apart from possessive pronouns, there are the two genitive constructions (the of-genitive as in ‘the roof of the house’ for inanimate entities and the ‘s-genitive for animate possessors as in ‘Peter’s car’), possessive verbs and prepositional phrase modifiers. However, the following paragraphs only deal with possessive pronouns. 13.4.1 Meaning According to Evans / Green (2006: 574), “possessive determiners do not only inflect for number, but also for person features of the possessor”. Thus, in English, possessive pronouns are differentiated according to number and gender and can be used in the subject position as well as in the object position of a sentence without a change of form (such as in “My aunt was coming to visit me” vs. “I saw my aunt arrive”). Possessives are deictic and can “only be interpreted in the context of the speech situation” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 84). This means that the noun or the person that the possessive pronoun refers to needs to have been mentioned before in order for the possessive pronoun to be ‘grounded’. Grounding relates an event to the speaker’s experience of reality (i. e., time and place of speaking, participants in the speech event and their shared knowledge). Furthermore, possessives and the nouns they determine have an irreversible word order, which “reflects the intrinsic asymmetry of a reference point relationship, where conceiving of one entity makes it possible to mentally access another” (Langacker 2013: 84). The process of mentally scanning from the reference point (the possessive pronoun) to the target (the noun) is unidirectional and does not work the other way around, as by definition the reference point needs to be known first, and then makes the target accessible. There are two variants of possessive pronouns in English: the so-called ‘weak’ possessives, such as my, your, her, our, their, and the so-called ‘strong’ possessives, such as mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs. Historically, both variants “originated as genitive case forms of the Old English personal pronouns” (Puckica 2013: 68), and “the distinction between weak and strong possessives was, by and large, a Middle English innovation” (ibid.). The former type of possessives is used prenominally, i. e., in front of a noun and replaces the determiner (as in “my car is brand-new”), whereas the latter type of possessives is used pronominally, i. e., instead of a noun, similar to an adjective 190 (as in “this is mine, don’t touch it”), where the reference point is provided by the linguistic or extra-linguistic discourse context. 190 Although older grammar books have sometimes called the strong possessive pronouns ‘adjectives’, they are no adjectives, as on the one hand they cannot be modified by adverbs (*“this is very mine”) and on the other hand their forms hint at the fact that they belong to a pronominal paradigm (e. g., I, me, my, <?page no="240"?> 239 13.4 Possessive pronouns In the last example, either the car has already been mentioned before, or the speaker makes a pointing gesture towards the car to indicate what s / he is talking about. Only his and its do not have different forms in these two uses. The meanings of the weak and the strong forms are absolutely identical, as both of them determine a possessor of an entity. Syntactically, though, they are in complementary distribution, one being used only prenominally and the second being used only pronominally. Langacker (2000: 237) calls the typical possessive construction “local”, as it is only valid concerning one single nominal. If the notion of possession needs to be stretched over several nominals, the possessive pronoun has to be repeated, as in “I want you to see my house, my yacht, my sports car and my polo pony”. In its basic meaning, the notion of ‘possession’ 191 refers to the relation between a human possessor and a material possession, but in its extended metaphorical meanings 192 it can also refer to non-physical possessions, such as mental objects (ideas, thoughts etc., such as in “You want my thoughts on this? ”), affections (illnesses, preferences etc., such as in “My recent heart attack has taught me to pay more attention to my health”), part-whole relations (body parts, e. g., “His eyes were blue”), kinship relations (e. g., “My mother called and said-…”) as well as other kinds of relations (e. g., “My connections to the government allow me to-…”). Interestingly enough, the strong possessives seem to concentrate a lot more on the prototypical notion of possession (i. e., a human possessor and material possession) than the weak possessives, as one can say “this is mine” about a car, but not, for example, about an illness (*“this heart attack is mine”) or about one’s relatives (*“This father is mine”). Puckica (2013: 81) argues as well that the notion of possession is highly schematic, more so for the strong form than for the weak form. When a weak possessive pronoun is used, “the adjacent nominal expression provides additional information for identifying the intended referent”, whereas for a strong possessive “what is designated is to be identified with some salient entity in the CDC (=-current discourse context) but the identification is then almost entirely context-dependent”, i. e., without context, understanding an utterance such as “take mine” (for example, when somebody asks for a pen) is hard to interpret, whereas the use of the weak possessive, such as in “take my pen”, is easy to understand. This seems to be the reason why weak possessives are used far more often than strong possessives 193 . Langacker (2008: 79) explains that “possessives manifest our capacity for invoking one conceived entity as a reference point in establishing mental contact with another, i. e. for mentally accessing a target via and in relation to the reference point”, and in a later publication he even claims that “there is good evidence that a reference point relationship represents the mine). Furthermore, a strong possessive pronoun can be replaced by a genitive phrase, which is impossible for an adjective (compare “This car is mine” and “This car is Peter’s”). 191 Please also see cf. Dirven / Verspoor’s (2004: 82) explanation of the ‘having’ schema. 192 Langacker (2000: 175) speaks about the “extraordinary variety of relationships coded by possessive determiners”. 193 Puckika (2013: 81, footnote 16) has searched the BNC and found 145 250 occurrences of my vs. only 6067 occurrences of mine. <?page no="241"?> 240 13. Pronouns essential meaning of a basic possessive construction” (Langacker 2013: 84). Taking kinship terms as an example, this means that … the very purpose of a kinship term is to situate people-- socially and genealogically-- with respect to a reference individual (“ego”). Only in relation to a particular “ego” does it make sense to call someone a cousin, an uncle, a sister or a stepson; a person is not a cousin or an uncle autonomously. (Langacker 2000: 176 f.) The same goes for part-whole relations, as a ‘part’ cannot be determined without the reference point of the ‘whole’ it belongs to. If, for example, the expression “my thumb” is used, the mental image which appears first in the listener’s mind is that of a hand and only via this mental image the thumb is accessed. The status of the thumb depends on its function and location in relation to the hand, as nobody would imagine an isolated ‘context-free’ thumb. From the concept of ‘hand’, the complete person (the speaker) is then evoked next. In other words: part-whole relationships can have several layers, as the reference point or points are evoked along with the target expression. This is why mental images of a hand and a person appear although only the thumb was mentioned. To sum up: the term ‘possessive’ is somewhat misleading because the relations established between a possessive pronoun and its noun only prototypically refer to possession (in the sense of ‘ownership’), while many other metaphorically extended relations can apply (partwhole, kinship etc.). What possessive pronouns do, and the weak forms much more so than the strong forms, is to provide a reference point and thus an easier access to the meaning of the complete expression. For instance, if a speaker mentions ‘a dog’, then there are many potential referents, as the number of dogs in the world is high. If the speaker, on the other hand, says “my dog”, s / he limits the number of referents to one specific referent and the listener can understand which dog is meant. Therefore, possessive pronouns provide listeners with hints for a correct interpretation by specifying exactly which entity is meant. 13.4.2 Communicative situation and didactic reduction If possessive pronouns are introduced to learners for the first time, only the weak forms should be used in order not to confuse the learners. The strong forms can come at a later time. As possessive pronouns are very important for communication, they should be introduced quite early, either in primary school or at the latest in early secondary school, as learners like to talk about themselves, about their material possessions (‘my book’, ‘your smartphone’, ‘her coat’ etc.) and also about affiliations in their families and their social environment (‘my family’, ‘your friend’, ‘his neighbour’ etc.). Although the number of weak possessive pronouns is not very high, only the singular should be introduced in a first step and the plural should be introduced in a follow-up lesson. The neutral form its can be included, but can just as well be added at a later point in time, as the learners are most interested in talking about themselves and each other and their ‘possessions’ (in the widest sense). In the lesson described in the next sub-chapter, the neutral form is left out, as it does not fit into the chosen communicative context. This results in four forms that the learners are confronted with: my, your, his and <?page no="242"?> 241 13.4 Possessive pronouns her. As German also has gendered pronouns, the learners should not have any problems in this respect 194 . The aim of the lesson consists in the learners’ correct use of the four targeted possessive pronouns. The learners are meant to understand the reference potential of the possessives and, concerning their form, they need to realise that possessive pronouns always stand in front of a noun and that there is a gender difference for the third person. The communicative situation chosen for the lesson described in the following sub-chapter relates to the most prototypical usage of possessive pronouns, namely referring to material possessions in the framework of descriptions. As preconditions for the lesson, the learners should be able to form simple sentences, they should know the present tense and its -s inflection as well as the present tense forms of the irregular verbs to be and to have. In an ideal case, the learners have already met the progressive aspect, but if it has not yet been introduced, they can work with the chunk ‘X is wearing Y’. Additionally, the learners should already have dealt with the topic of personal pronouns. Furthermore, they should be familiar with the word fields of clothing, accessories and colours, including hair colours. The topic chosen for the lesson relates to the description of persons in the framework of a ‘fashion show’. In the age of ‘Germany’s Next Top Model’, this topic should, on the one hand, be familiar to the learners and can thus be seen as catering to their interests beyond the classroom. On the other hand, the topic should also be motivating and enjoyable for the learners. In the age range for which the lesson is designed, learners normally still enjoy role plays and activities. The learners work in groups. One person per group is selected as a fashion model and the others have the task of describing the fashion model’s appearance as exactly as possible. The fashion model needs to dress up. For this purpose, the teacher has brought a bag full of clothing items and accessories, but the learners are also allowed to add their own items to the fashion model’s outfit. When the ‘fashion reporters’ describe the fashion model’s outfit during the report phase, they would normally only use the pronouns her or his, therefore, the model itself also has to comment on his / her appearance (using the pronoun my) and additionally, questions can be asked by the rest of the class (using the pronoun your). 13.4.3 The task cycle As usual, the lesson starts with a pre-task phase, during which the teacher already uses the targeted structures while the learners are not yet expected to use them. The pre-task phase is meant to introduce the communicative situation, namely talking about fashion and fashion shows. In entering the classroom, the teacher should walk like a fashion model. When the learners start laughing, s / he should ask who of the learners also watched ‘Germany’s Next Top Model’ the night or the week before and how they like the show. The teacher then says that 194 This is somewhat different for native speakers of a language which does not have gendered possessive pronouns, such as Spanish (mi manzana (f.) = my apple vs. mi libro (m) = my book). <?page no="243"?> 242 13. Pronouns in his / her dream from the night before, s / he was a top model at a fashion show and starts to describe his / her outfit: “My long dress / suit is white, my shoes are white as well, my socks are white-… so maybe I am an angel? ” and ask the learners whether they can imagine themselves in a fashion show as well. S / he might ask questions such as “In this imaginary fashion show, are your shoes black or white? Is your jacket a winter jacket or a summer jacket? ” in order to introduce the possessive pronouns for the first and second persons. Short learner answers like ‘winter’ are of course acceptable, as the possessive pronouns have not yet been introduced systematically. Then the teacher should ask a volunteer to step forward. S / he then takes a hat from his / her bag of clothes and accessories and puts it on the volunteer’s head while saying “Look! This is top model Alicia 195 ! Look at her! Her brown hair is shiny and beautiful! Her dress is red and made by Dior! Her high heels are black and absolutely stunning! Look, her handbag is black as well and her sunglasses are from the brand-new collection by Prada! ”. Then s / he asks for another volunteer, this time from the opposite sex, and says “Look! This is top model James! His blond hair is cut fashionably short! His jeans are destroyed and his biker boots are amazing! His sweater is navy blue and his watch is a Rolex! ”. In between the teacher’s comments, the learners should be asked for their opinions (for example: “Do you also like her dress? ” or “Do you like the colour of his sweater? ”) and be encouraged to offer further descriptions. For the actual task, the learners get together in groups of five 196 . Each group receives a worksheet, on which the learners can note down the descriptions of ‘their’ top model. On top of the sheet, the task instruction says ‘Please select a name for your top model and describe what the top model is wearing in at least five sentences! ’ As help for the learners, two sentences, which should relate to the pre-task phase (e. g., ‘Alicia: her dress is red’ and ‘James: his sweater is blue’), are given as examples. As a next step, every group takes some pieces of clothing or some accessories from the bag that the teacher brought and the group decides jointly what their top model is going to wear. Additionally, the top model can wear clothing items or accessories which belong to the other group members. Jointly, the learners prepare the descriptions for the report phase. If necessary, they can ask the teacher for help. The report phase is a combination of role play and language production. Those learners who are the ‘top models’ of their work groups come to the front, one after the other, accompanied by the other group members. The ‘top models’ should actually pretend to be models and move and turn around in a (presumably) exaggerated way, and the other group members pretend to announce and describe what the models are wearing. The teacher introduces each model by asking for the name and by employing the possessive pronouns in the first and second persons, as the group members will presumably only use the third person pronouns. 195 It is usually quite amusing for the learners if boys play female models and girls play male models, however, the teacher needs to decide whether this is possible in his / her class. 196 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. For this task, the learners could draw snippets with clothing items on them, so that ‘group dress’, ‘group jeans’, ‘group sweater’ etc. can be formed. One snippet per topic group additionally says ‘top model’, meaning that this person has to appear ‘on the catwalk’ during the report phase. The learners could certainly also decide within their groups who is going to take over this role, but pre-determining it saves time and avoids potential quarrels. <?page no="244"?> 243 13.4 Possessive pronouns The teacher could say, for instance, “This is top model Anna-- applause, please! Anna, your outfit is fascinating. My own outfit isn’t-…” and then the other group members take turns in describing the model’s outfit. The teacher asks questions, such as “What about your watch? Is that platinum? ” and the top model can say “Yes, my watch is very expensive”. The other classmates are also encouraged to ask questions. Once the improvised fashion show is over, the teacher turns to the board and writes down the four personal pronouns I, you, he and she with coloured chalk into four prepared rectangles. Then s / he selects sentences from the reports which contain the corresponding possessive pronouns. The learners write these sentences into the rectangles and circle the possessive pronouns with the same coloured chalk that was used for the personal pronouns. The teacher asks the class what the meaning of these pronouns is and the learners will recognise that they express the notion of possession or ownership. When the nouns following the possessive pronouns are underlined in the same colour, it should become obvious that a possessive pronoun always needs a noun to which it refers, in contrast to the personal pronouns, which cannot be followed by a noun. Should there still be time for a transfer, this should focus on the first and second person possessive pronouns, as these were used less frequently during the lesson than the third person possessive pronouns. Furthermore, no prototypical material possession should be used (as in the task) but a less prototypical entity. The teacher can start by saying “My favourite song is ‘I love my life’ by Robbie Williams-- what is your favourite song, Peter? ” and Peter answers and then asks another learner and so forth. For homework, another less prototypical use of the possessive pronoun is targeted, because the learners are asked to describe their families (‘My brother is ten, he is called Ben. My sister is twelve and she is called Patricia etc.’) as well as their best female friend’s family (‘her brother is six and is called Paul’) and their best male friend’s family (‘his sister is sixteen and is called Maria’). It is important to point out that the gender of the possessive pronoun always relates to the ‘possessor’ and never to the ‘possessed’, as this is handled differently in German, where both the ‘possessor’s’ gender and the gender of the ‘possessed’ entity need to be taken into account (cf. ‘ihre Schwester’ vs. ‘ihr Bruder’ and ‘seine Schwester’ vs. ‘sein Bruder’). 13.4.4 Alternatives There are plenty of communicative situations where the notion of ‘possession’ (in the widest sense, i. e., including kinship and other social relations, part-whole relations etc.) is referred to. Therefore, nearly any topic can be chosen as long as the vocabulary which is necessary for talking about this topic is already known to the learners. Instead of talking about items of clothing, the learners could, for instance, interview each other concerning their families and friends (‘My brother is ten. How old is your brother? ’ etc.), concerning their favourite pop songs and pop singers (‘my favourite song / singer is-…’-- ‘What’s your favourite song / singer? ’, ‘His / her voice is fantastic’ etc.), or concerning other personal likes (‘my favourite TV series is-…’, ‘my favourite food is-…’). If the interview results are later on reported to the rest of the class, the third person singular possessive pronouns his and her need to be used. Alternatively, <?page no="245"?> 244 13. Pronouns the interview results can be written on a piece of paper (it is not allowed to use names, just pronouns) and thrown into a container, from which every learner draws one of the folded-up pieces of paper during the report phase, reads it out aloud and guesses to whom of the classmates it refers. If the use of the neutral third person possessive pronoun its is to be included, the task could also focus on pets (as in ‘the dog and its bone’), as pets are generally referred to in the neutral form, although if the gender of the pet is known the pet can of course also be referred to as female or male (as in ‘my dog Percy and his toy’ or ‘my cat Sally and her toy’). In this case, the teacher can start the lesson by telling the learners a funny story about his / her own pet. In this story, s / he uses as many possessive pronouns as possible, such as in “My cat Ginger is a little crazy. It detests its cat food, but is especially fond of dog food. Look here, its fur is reddish and you can see its favourite toy, a little plastic mouse” etc. While telling the learners about his / her pet, the teacher should show pictures of it and involve the learners by asking them whether their pets would also behave in a similar way. For the task itself, the learners were asked in the previous lesson to bring pictures of their favourite pets (either their own pet or somebody else’s pet, as not every learner will have a pet at home). The learners then work in pairs and describe the behaviour of their pets as well as their accessories to each other in a question-and-answer format, taking turns in asking questions and answering them. They will presumably use first and second person possessive pronouns in their oral descriptions (such as in ‘Is this your dog? ’-- ‘Yes, this is my dog’). The person who asks the question has to write down the answer, as it will be used during the report, in which the learners have to present their partners’ pets. This procedure ensures that the learners use third person possessive pronouns in their reports. The learners are also told that they have to use at least five possessive pronouns in their descriptions. During the report phase, every learner then describes their partner’s pet, so that the possessive pronouns are used for both the humans and the animals, such as in “Peter has a dog. His dog is called Humpty Dumpty. It has brown fur and its paws are huge. It loves to steal cookies but does not like its normal dog food too much. Peter adores his dog and loves to touch its fur”. After each report, the other learners are invited to ask questions about the pet that was just presented and the teacher asks questions as well, taking care to elicit answers which contain a possessive pronoun. Further reading Brisard, Frank (2002) (ed.): Grounding: The epistemic footing of deixis and reference. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Croft, William / Cruse, D. Alan (2004): Cognitive linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crystal, David (1995): The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dirven, René / Verspoor, Marjolijn (2004 2 ): Cognitive exploration of language and linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins. <?page no="246"?> 245 13.4 Possessive pronouns Evans, Vyvyan / Green, Melanie (2006): Cognitive linguistics: An introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Goddard, Cliff (2011 2 ): Semantic analysis: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. König, Ekkehart / Gastreich, Volker (2012): Understanding English-German contrasts. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag. Langacker, Ronald W. (1985): “Observations and speculations on subjectivity”. In: Haiman, John (ed.): Iconicity in syntax. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 109-150. Langacker, Ronald W. (2000): Grammar and conceptualization. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, Ronald W. (2007): “Constructing the meaning of personal pronouns”. In: Radden, Günter / Köpcke, Klaus-Michael / Berg, Thomas / Siemund, Peter (eds.): Aspects of meaning construction. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 171-187. Langacker, Ronald W. (2008): Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2009): Investigations in cognitive grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, Ronald W. (2013): Essentials of cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Laczkó, Krisztina (2012): “Spatial deixis and demonstrative pronouns in Hungarian”. Selected Papers from UK - CLA Meetings. http: / / uk-cla.org.uk/ proceedings Vol 1: 289-301. Puckica, Jérome (2013): “The English possessives and the determiner v. pronoun distinction”. Cercles 29, 67-97. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Van Hoek, Karen (2007): “Pronominal anaphora”. In: Geeraerts, Dirk / Cuyckens, Hubert (eds.): The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 890-915. Verhagen, Arie (2007): “Construal and perspectivization”. In: Geeraerts, Dirk / Cuyckens, Hubert (eds.): The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 48-81. <?page no="248"?> 247 13.4 Possessive pronouns 14. Articles Just like the previous case study, this last case study also focuses on a topic which can be taught to beginning learners of English. As articles occur very frequently in English right from the very beginning, the learners need to be able to differentiate between the use of the definite article and the use of the indefinite article. On the other hand, this topic is also relevant for more advanced learners, for instance, when they deal with the differences between count and mass nouns. One might assume that the English articles do not present much of a challenge for German learners 197 , as they seem to be less complex than the German articles, which differentiate between case, gender, and number, but this is actually not the case, as can be judged from the frequent mistakes that even advanced learners of English make concerning article usage (cf. Król-Markefka 2010). Toader (2010: 92) even states that the “appropriate use of articles is one of the last aspects of English grammar mastered by non-native speakers, no matter what their first language is”. In both the Germanic and the Romance languages, articles have developed from demonstrative pronouns. Whereas the Romance articles stem from Latin, the Germanic definite articles go back to a Proto-Germanic demonstrative stem (*de- / da-), and the indefinite articles developed from the numeral ‘one’ (eins- - ein, eine, einer in German, one- - a(n) in English). Proto-Germanic articles-- and also Old English articles, having developed from Proto-Germanic-- were differentiated for case, number and gender (as is still the case in German today), but these inflections disappeared during the Middle English period. From this point onwards, the has become the only definite article in English, whereas that (originally the nominative / accusative singular neuter form of the definite article) has become a demonstrative pronoun. Additionally, the unstressed form of the Old English numeral ān (‘one’) developed into the indefinite Modern English article a(n) with a shortened vowel. During the Middle English phase, the final n disappeared before consonants, but not before vowels (cf. Barber 2002). Its origin in the Old English numeral for ‘one’ already indicates that the indefinite article a(n) can only be used for singular count nouns. Many learners do not pay much attention to articles, as they do not seem to be “communicatively important, i. e. inappropriate use can rarely seriously distort the message” (Król-Markefka 2012: 97). This may be partly true, but it should not be forgotten that mastering the English articles contributes to the aim of foreign language teaching, which is near-native proficiency. Therefore, correct article usage is indispensable for all learners of English. 197 Certainly, the English articles present even more of a problem for learners of English whose native language does not use articles, such as Vietnamese (cf. Verspoor / Huong 2008) or Serbian (cf. Dimitrijeviç 2013). <?page no="249"?> 248 14. Articles 14.1 Form English has the articles a(n), the, some and the zero article (i. e., nouns without an article). Articles always accompany nouns. Traditionally, English has been said to have two types of nouns, namely proper nouns (names) and common nouns (all the rest), which can be further subdivided into count nouns and mass nouns. Articles have been described as the most common kind of determiner which precedes nouns, and have been taught by using the concepts of familiarity and identifiability. The terminology that is frequently used for differentiating between the different kinds of articles distinguishes between the concepts of ‘definiteness’ and ‘indefiniteness’. ‘Indefiniteness’ relates to the fact that a new entity is introduced into a conversation when the indefinite article is used, such as in “Yesterday, I saw a man who resembled Peter”. In contrast, ‘definiteness’ relates to the fact that the entity in question needs to already have been mentioned before and only then can the definite article be used, such as in “The man I told you about resembles Peter”. In the first example, the man in question has not been mentioned before, whereas in the second example, he has already been mentioned. The change from the indefinite article to the definite article for the same entity establishes textual and cognitive coherence. This seems to be quite a clear-cut rule. However, textbooks and learner grammars frequently also present long lists of exceptions, a fact which does not exactly facilitate the learning (and teaching) of articles. A further concept that is widely used in traditional explanations of the definite article is that of ‘unique identifiability’. This means that it needs to be obvious for both the speaker and the hearer that a specific entity is meant. For instance, if only one man is visible, he can be referred to as ‘the man’ even if he was not mentioned before. In the same vein, the can be used to refer to a class as a whole, as in ‘The kangaroo is a marsupial’, even if no kangaroo was mentioned before, as this utterance does not refer to a specific kangaroo but to the whole class of kangaroos. Proper names are not accompanied by articles because they are inherently definite. Proper names either relate to people (‘Let me introduce Sam’), to temporal names (‘Easter is in spring’) or to place names (i. e., countries, cities etc., as in ‘Paris is called the city of love’). However, in some cases definite articles can be found with proper names as well, for instance, if the article is part of the name (as, for example, in The Empire State Building or The Hague) or if the name is postmodified, as in ‘The Peter I told you about yesterday, not the other Peter’, which focuses on the mental contact with the person in question, which was established by a previous speech event. The nominal ‘Peter’ is thus grounded by the use of the definite article and therefore fulfils the criterion of identifiability, as mentioned above. In this case, ‘Peter’ is no longer treated as a proper name but is instead treated just like any other common noun and the speaker refers to a subset (i. e., the specific Peter in question) of the group of Peters. Another example is ‘The London I used to know does not exist anymore’, which does not refer to the whole of London but only to a part of it, i. e., to a subset of the different parts London consists of. Furthermore, proper names can also have an indefinite article, as in ‘A Peter Miller phoned while you were out’, which signals that the speaker is not in mental contact with the specific <?page no="250"?> 249 14.1 Form person who called, and who therefore remains indefinite, as there will be a number of persons with the same name. The kind of noun that is preceded by an article, i. e., the fact whether it is a count noun or a mass noun, determines the choice of article. What is more, the differentiation between count nouns and mass nouns not only decides about article usage, but also about pluralization. A count noun ▶ refers to individually perceptible entities (book, girl, car etc.) ▶ can be counted (as its name already implies) ▶ is always preceded by either an article, i. e., a(n) or the in the singular and the in the plural (e. g., an apple, a girl, the girl, the girls), a demonstrative (e. g., this girl, that apple, these girls, those apples) or a quantifier (e. g., ten girls, many apples etc.) ▶ allows pluralization A mass noun, in contrast, ▶ refers to non-individualised concepts (salt, water, money etc.) ▶ cannot be counted ▶ occurs with the zero article (e. g., We’re out of money), or the unstressed determiner 198 some (e. g., I need some money) or the definite article the if the noun is postmodified by a relative phrase (e. g., Please give me back the money you borrowed from me) ▶ does not pluralise To briefly mention pronunciation: if a noun that is preceded by an article starts with a vowel sound 199 , both the indefinite as well as the definite article undergo a change. The indefinite article adds an n, in its spoken as well as in its written form, in order to make pronunciation easier (e. g., an apple, an orphan), and the definite article changes the pronunciation of its vowel sound to an / i/ sound (e. g., the apple, the orphan) for the same reason, although the spelling stays the same. Notwithstanding the fact that articles are treated as determiners in this book (and elsewhere), it should be mentioned that there is no agreement among linguists about the word class of articles. Some see articles as determiners, others see them as pronouns. According to Puckica, for the articles a(n) and the, there are also reasons to analyse them as pronouns. The first is historical: articles are often derived from pronouns, notably in Germanic and Romance languages. English a(n) is a weakened form of OE numeral án ‘one’ and the is ‘the reduced and flexionless stem of OE demonstrative se, seo ( OED )’, from which PDE (present-day English) that also developed. The demonstrative ‘force’ of the may still be felt in expressions such as nothing of the kind or something of the sort. (Puckica 2013: 91) 198 If some is stressed, as in “I only want some money, not much”, it is a called a ‘quantifier’. 199 It is important to realise that this is not valid for a vowel letter but only for vowel sounds, as, for example, in ‘a university’ and not ‘*an university’. Only the sound is important in this respect, not the letter-- the noun ‘university’ starts with the consonant sound / j/ and therefore takes the article a. <?page no="251"?> On the other hand, Puckica (cf. 2013: 83) also states that the most basic determiners-- the articles-- cannot be used pronominally, i. e., instead of a noun phrase (*‘the is good’), but are limited to prenominal use only (cf. also Hudson 1990: 269). 14.2 Meaning According to Dimitrijeviç (2013: 68), cognitive grammar “offers support for the claim that the English article system is completely coherent, it is not arbitrary and does not consist of a variety of rules meant to be memorized”. As mentioned in the previous case studies, cognitive grammar explanations focus on the meaning of grammatical phenomena. Król-Markefka (2012: 105) states that “at the heart of a cognitive grammar analysis of articles is the assumption that articles- (…) are mainly responsible for establishing the so-called parameters of scene construal”. Following this line of argumentation, it can be claimed that the definite article and the indefinite article are responsible for different construals of the same scene, because … in choosing an article, the speaker, rather than predicting what may be familiar / identifiable to the hearer and adjusting the linguistic devices to the assumed hearer’s knowledge, gives the hearer guidelines as to how to conceptualize the referent. (Król-Markefka 2012: 106) For Langacker (cf. 2000: 271), articles belong to the grounding elements in language, along with demonstratives and certain quantifiers. Articles ground nominals, i. e., they single out a thing or a process and relate it to the current discourse, namely to the speech event, its participants and its context. From a cognitive grammar perspective, there are two important notions which play a major role in the understanding of the grammatical phenomenon of articles, namely the notion of ‘definiteness vs. indefiniteness’ and the notion of ‘boundedness vs. unboundedness’, both of which are discussed in more detail in the following two sub-chapters. 14.2.1 Definiteness vs. indefiniteness Similar to what traditional explanations claim, the notion of ‘definiteness’ seems to be the most important concept for describing articles also from a cognitive grammar perspective. Langacker (1991: 307) describes definiteness as a factor of topicality, which is “mostly subjective, for it does not pertain to the inherent nature of a participant, but rather to the highly extrinsic property of whether the speaker and hearer have succeeded in establishing mental contact with it” 200 . In other words: articles are used as clues during a speech situation which are given by the speaker in order to orient the hearer’s focus towards the entity that is spoken about in the current discourse situation. Thus, joint attention as well as joint identification is established. 200 Langacker even states elsewhere (2000: 179) that he came up with the notion of ‘mental contact’ specifically for describing the meaning of the definite article: “In fact, I devised the notion ‘mental contact’ for the specific purpose of characterizing the definite article, which-- very roughly-- indicates that the speaker and addressee have each established mental contact with the same instance of the relevant nominal class (which is specified by the remainder of the noun phrase).” <?page no="252"?> 251 14.2 Meaning The presence or absence of ‘mental contact’ relates to the question whether the addressee is aware or unaware of the entity mentioned by a noun phrase (article + noun). If a speaker assumes that the hearer has mental access to the entity 201 to be mentioned or that the nominal alone is enough to establish mental contact, definite reference, i. e., a definite article, is used, which “instructs the hearer to construe the referent as definite (familiar, specified, identified, known to the speaker)” (Król-Markefka 2012: 106). However, if a speaker assumes that the hearer does not yet have any mental access to the entity to be mentioned, the indefinite article is used, as it does not rely on an already established mental contact on behalf of the addressee with the entity mentioned but instead introduces it for the first time, in this way enabling the hearer to establish mental contact. “The use of the indefinite article is an indication for the hearer to think about any instance of the type specified by the noun” (Król-Markefka 2012: 106). In other words: the hearer thinks of the concept ‘man’ if s / he hears ‘a man’, but not (yet) of any uniquely identifiable man. The zero article 202 is even more schematic than the indefinite article. It “carries the most general meaning specifications, and, as such, is used only in cases when the image evoked is that of the type in general, and not of any of the type’s instances” (Król-Markefka 2012: 112). This can be illustrated with the help of the example ‘Cancer is frequently not curable’, which does not refer to any specific instance of cancer (such as in ‘the cancer that killed my aunt’) but to the broad notion of this type of disease. According to Verspoor / Huong (2008), definiteness can be seen as a prototype category and it can be imagined as a continuum. The most prototypical instance of definiteness is the zero article, which is used with proper nouns and names (as, for example, in Peter or San Francisco Airport), as these entities only exist once and are therefore inherently definite. In other words: in these cases, definiteness does not need to be established by the use of the definite article but it is already present. Common nouns which are preceded by the definite article are slightly less definite, although not all common nouns have the same level of definiteness. The most definite common nouns are nouns which refer to concepts that are “unique to the world” (Tyler 2012: 65) and only exist once, such as the sun or the moon. It is not possible to use the indefinite article in these cases due to the fact that it would refer to any arbitrary instance of the type mentioned, whereas in these cases there is only one possible referent 203 . On the scale of definiteness, the highly definite common nouns which are ‘unique to the world’ are followed by “other definite entities that are unique to the speaker and hearer within 201 ‘Entity’ is used here in a very wide sense, encompassing individual objects as well as classes of objects. 202 Taylor (cf. 2002: 358) is not fond of the expression ‘zero article’, as-- according to him-- it might indicate that this morpheme has semantic content but no phonological expression, although there is no semantic content whatsoever involved in this case. Instead, he prefers to speak of ‘nominals which lack a determiner’. 203 Langacker (2008: 286) explains that “often the referent singled out by the is unique in a practical sense though not in absolute terms. This happens when a particular instance is so prominent as to be the only one that counts in normal circumstances. That is why we talk about the moon despite there being many instances of moon in our solar system”. In a different context, e. g., a science fiction novel, it is of course equally possible to refer to a sun or a moon, as these may no longer be seen as unique. <?page no="253"?> 252 14. Articles the particular discourse context” (Tyler 2012: 65), such as the man or the apple 204 , which are still clearly definite but somewhat less so than the previous group of nouns. This is due to the fact that there are other potential referents than the ones the speaker refers to, although these other potential referents lie outside the contextual scope of the current conversation. In this context, Radden / Dirven (2007: 103 ff.) differentiate between ‘qualified uniqueness’ and ‘framed uniqueness’. According to them, ‘qualified uniqueness’ refers to a speaker’s act of establishing the uniqueness of a referent by the use of modifiers, such as in “No, my car is the red one” (i. e., singling out one’s car from the mass of other cars), or by the use of superlatives, such as in “the most elegant dress I’ve ever seen” (as logically there can be only one dress which is the most elegant one), amongst other possibilities, which all share the basic agenda of identifying one specific entity from a mass of similar entities. ‘Framed uniqueness’, on the other hand, relates to the speaker’s establishing of a referential frame which allows the hearer “to infer the identity of a referent” (Radden / Dirven 2007: 104). If, for example, somebody says “Could you please open the window? ”, the frame that can be inferred is a room with only one window 205 , and if a student says “The summer term has just started”, the frame that is established is that of the university, where there is only one summer term per year. A correct understanding of such instances of framed uniqueness, however, presupposes that the interlocutor is familiar with the frames that the speaker refers to. If a speaker cannot rely on the fact that the hearer can effortlessly access the necessary frame, s / he can also previously establish this frame, as, for example, in “We went to a wedding yesterday but the party was quite boring”. In this example, the wedding is the frame and it activates the cognitive model of a wedding together with its constituting parts, e. g., that a party is held, and the party is then understood as belonging to the wedding mentioned before. Due to the fact that the frame has already been provided, “the party” has to be used although there was no prior mention of a party. To come back to the scale of decreasing definitiveness mentioned in Tyler (2012: 65), more marginal exemplars of definiteness need to be mentioned as well. These relate to inferences which a speaker makes concerning the hearer’s background knowledge and world knowledge, as in “Shall we go to the park? ” without having mentioned the park before. In these cases, the speaker assumes that the listener is able to identify the entity mentioned (the park) as being unique to the speaker, for example, because the speaker always goes to this specific park or because there is only one park in the area. 204 As Tyler (2012: 65) correctly notes, traditional accounts see these nouns as the most definite ones. However, cognitive grammar disagrees with this view, as it works with prototypicality and not with rigid rules and as there are more definite entities than those called “definite” by traditional textbooks, as explained above. 205 If the room has more than one window, the speaker would have to say “Could you please open a window? ”, using indefinite reference, as the window was not spoken about before, or s / he would have to specify the window and say, e. g., “Could you please open the window on the right-hand side? ”, thereby establishing the frame of the row of windows in a room, which in turn leads to the use of the definite article. <?page no="254"?> 253 14.2 Meaning The least prototypical degree of definiteness relates to entities which the speaker construes as being highly salient, as in “Watch out for the snake behind you” (Tyler 2012: 65), which relates to the immediate situation and its imminent danger. To briefly sum up: the scale of decreasing definitiveness contains the following instances (the higher on the scale an instance is, the more definite it is): ▶ the zero article for proper nouns and names ▶ nouns which are ‘unique to the world’ (the moon, the Queen of England) ▶ nouns which are unique in the discourse context (the man over there; the story I told you yesterday) ▷ framed uniqueness (room frame: ‘Could you open the window? ’) ▷ qualified uniqueness (superlatives: ‘This is the best song I have ever heard’) ▶ inferences concerning the hearer’s background knowledge (‘Let’s take a walk in the park! ’) ▶ high degree of salience, as seen by the speaker (‘Watch out for the crocodile behind you! ’) If no definitiveness is involved, English has several possibilities to signal this: ▶ either the indefinite article a(n) is used (only with count nouns, such as in ‘There is a girl I want you to meet’) ▶ or the zero article is used (also for mass nouns and for the plural, such as in ‘Water is good for you’ or ‘Horses are fascinating animals’). The zero article refers to an unspecified quantity of any size, which can even extend to the maximal quantity of the reference mass, e. g., the utterance ‘Horses are fascinating animals’ refers to all horses. ▶ or the determiners some or any are used (for mass nouns and for the plural, such as in ‘Give me some time to think it over’ or ‘I don’t want any beer’). In this case, some is unstressed and refers to a limited quantity of a mass, whereas any refers to the fact that there is no quantity whatsoever of the entity in question. The scale of definitiveness outlined above relates to the force of the grounding potential of the articles used, i. e., the stronger the grounding function is (or, in other words, the more the speaker thinks that it is easy for the listener to establish mental contact with the entity mentioned), the more definitiveness is involved. It is important to point out that-- in cognitive grammar-- articles are not hearer-oriented, as was generally assumed to be the case in traditional accounts, but are instead seen as being speaker-oriented, as “it is the speaker who decides on the construal and chooses the linguistic means which will establish its parameters most accurately” (Król-Markefka 2012: 107). It is not even always necessary for the hearer to be able to identify the referent to which a definite article refers, as the hearer is rather expected “merely to accept that there is one specific and definite referent familiar to the speaker” (ibid.: 110). For instance, if somebody says ‘I need to go to the supermarket’, the hearer normally does not know which exact supermarket is meant but assumes that it is the one which the speaker uses on a regular basis. <?page no="255"?> 254 14. Articles 14.2.2 Boundedness vs. unboundedness When analysing articles, an important concept is that of boundedness vs. unboundedness, which also plays a major role in the distinction between the progressive and the non-progressive aspect (see chapter 6). It has become evident in the previous sub-chapter that knowledge about the status of boundedness / unboundedness of an entity that is newly introduced into the discourse is not only important when dealing with definiteness but also when dealing with indefiniteness. As already mentioned before (see sub-chapters 3.1 and 6.2), the notion of boundedness vs. unboundedness relates (among other issues) to the distinction between count nouns and mass nouns. Count nouns prototypically designate objects, whereas mass nouns prototypically designate substances. It is important to point out that the notions of ‘object’ vs. ‘substance’ are only valid for prototypical members and not for all members, as non-prototypical count nouns include lexical items such as question, complaint, dream etc., none of which refers to any object, whereas non-prototypical mass nouns include expressions such as nonsense, pride, wealth etc., which can hardly be described as ‘substances’. Count nouns prototypically designate concrete, three-dimensional entities, have a clear contour or boundary and are individualised (such as ‘cat’ or ‘computer’), i. e., they are bounded and can therefore be counted, as each instance of this class of entities can stand on its own and is separated from the other instances by its boundaries. If a part of ‘a cat’ is taken away, the rest may still marginally be called ‘a cat’, but the part that was taken away is by no means ‘a cat’. In contrast, mass nouns refer to non-individualised entities (such as ‘water’ or ‘salt’) without any clear boundaries, which are seen as homogeneous entities, i. e., they are unbounded and cannot be counted, as frequently their individual parts are too small to be easily discernible by the human eye. If some part of ‘water’ is taken away, the rest is still ‘water’ and the part taken away is ‘water’ as well. It needs to be kept in mind, however, that the prototypical boundedness / unboundedness status of an entity is subject to cultural conventions. For instance, ‘rice’ is a mass noun in English (as well as its German counterpart ‘Reis’), but the equivalent term in Japanese refers to a countable individuated entity (cf. Tyler 2012: 65). There are even differences between the reasonably closely related languages English and German, for instance, ‘Hafer’ is a mass noun in German and its English equivalent ‘oats’ is a count noun. Why this is the case can only be speculated about, possibly ‘oats’ were more frequent in the English culture than ‘Hafer’ ever was in the German culture. In their prototypical usages, count nouns and mass nouns display different grammatical behaviours, as mentioned in sub-chapter 14.1, in that they take different articles 206 . Most nouns can, however, be used non-prototypically as well. Thus, nouns which prototypically appear as count nouns, as in ‘I have a cat’, can also appear as mass nouns, as in ‘After the accident, there was a lot of cat on the road’. In the latter case, the entity ‘cat’ has lost its contour, i. e., its boundaries, and has become a homogeneous mass. This also works the other way around, for instance, when nouns which prototypically appear as mass nouns, such as in the general 206 For more detailed information, please also see Niemeier 2008. <?page no="256"?> 255 14.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction statement ‘I love wine’, appear as count nouns, such as in ‘Waiter, two wines, please’. In this case, the speaker has mentally constructed boundaries in the form of two glasses, which each contain a portion of wine. Therefore, there is no strict separation between count nouns and mass nouns, as most nouns can appear in both ways and the notions of ‘count noun’ and ‘mass noun’ just designate the prototypical usages of the nouns in question. The separation between boundedness and non-boundedness, however, is a strict either / or contrast depending on the speaker’s construal. 14.3 Communicative situation and didactic reduction Drawing on Verspoor / Huong’s (2008) research, Tyler (2012: 64) points out their two crucial conclusions concerning the positive effects that a cognitive grammar-inspired way of teaching articles may have on learners. On the one hand, it manages “to emphasize the use of articles as cues to help signal the speaker’s construal of the status of information in the ongoing discourse”, and, on the other hand, it is meant “to indicate the speaker’s conceptualization of an entity being bounded or unbounded”, as outlined in the last two sub-chapters. Learners’ article errors can be considered as proof that many learners do not understand the meaning of the English article system. Although article errors normally do not severely impact communication, they should still be avoided. For this reason, teaching learners the meaning behind the English article system should be taken seriously, as articles are an important and ever-present grammatical structure. Learners need to become aware of what articles in general contribute to scene construal and they need to understand in particular what each type of article means. However, this topic is not frequently addressed in current foreign language classrooms. The teacher should be aware of the fact that article usage is not completely parallel in German and English and should therefore, in order to keep the two language systems apart, try to avoid comparisons with German or translations from or into German. To give an example: in German, professions are mentioned without an article (e. g., ‘Rebecca ist Lehrerin’ or ‘Peter ist Sänger’), whereas in English they need an indefinite article (e. g., ‘Rebecca is a teacher’ or ‘Peter is a singer’). The definite article, however, can be used in both languages if the context allows it, i. e., if the noun in question is singled out by the speaker as uniquely identifiable, for example by postmodification (as in ‘Rebecca ist die Lehrerin meiner Tochter’ or ‘Peter is the singer I like best’). It is furthermore important to remember that article usage is discourse-dependent. This is due to the fact that articles always refer to the context and / or to the setting of the speech event, and a presentation of articles without such context (as is frequently the case in current textbooks) is quite useless, as in such a case “the use of the correct article could prove to be not more than a guessing game, since these examples of nominals can often lack in grounding predication” (Dimitrijeviç 2013: 74). Therefore, the articles should be presented (and-- during the task-- produced by the learners) in the framework of a simple story. <?page no="257"?> 256 14. Articles As the number of common nouns by far surpasses that of proper nouns and as the learners will therefore encounter common nouns much more frequently, the lesson described in the next sub-chapter only focuses on common nouns. Proper nouns, however, should be dealt with as soon as possible after the common nouns have been introduced, as the learners also use names on a regular basis. The fact that the native language of (presumably) most of the learners will be German makes the learners’ task of realizing that proper nouns-- at least in their prototypical usage-- are not preceded by an article somewhat easier, as this applies to the German prototypical usage as well. On the other hand, it is quite common in German, and even more so in certain dialectal areas, to say something like ‘Der Peter hat das erzählt’ or ‘Ich bin der Peter’, which is impossible in English. Should such a misguided transfer happen during the lesson on articles, the teacher has to intervene and to point out how proper names are used in English, even if this is not (yet) the topic of the lesson. In the task-based lesson outlined in the following sub-chapter, the learners are meant to understand that the English article system is coherent and that the articles carry meaning because they either indicate entities of which the speaker thinks that they are identifiable for the hearer (definiteness) or they indicate entities which are not yet identifiable for the hearer and therefore need to be introduced into the discourse by the speaker (indefiniteness). Due to the fact that the lesson is meant for beginners of English, either in primary school or very early in secondary school, the linguistic terms ‘definiteness’ and ‘indefiniteness’ can of course not be used. As an alternative, the teacher can speak about ‘known’ (i. e., definite and identifiable from the discourse context) and ‘unknown’ (i. e., indefinite and not identifiable from the discourse context) things (and, should the need arise, about ‘names’). Only singular count nouns are used in the lesson. These nouns should not start with a vowel in order to avoid an introduction of the difference between a and an and of the different vowel sounds in the. If the learners nevertheless use nouns which start with a vowel sound, the differences in writing and pronunciation should be briefly explained. As these differences relate to the form and not to the meaning of the two types of article, they are not in the focus of the lesson but can be explained later on. First of all, it is important that the learners grasp the differences in meaning and use. For this reason, the plural forms are also left out for the moment (again, if learners use a plural form this should certainly be accepted and- - if necessary- - corrected and briefly explained). Furthermore, less prototypical instances of count nouns becoming mass nouns and vice versa, based on the speaker’s construal, should be left aside until the learners have developed a solid grasp of the notions of definiteness and indefiniteness. Due to the fact that the meanings of articles can be understood more easily on the discourse level than on the sentence level, the articles should not be presented in isolated sentences. Therefore, as already mentioned above, the articles appear in a simple story in order for the notions ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ to make sense. The notions of boundedness and unboundedness are not explicitly introduced but should be dealt with at a later point (for examples of how this can be done, see Niemeier 2008), but they are certainly implicitly present. In order not to confuse the learners, however, the nouns selected for the lesson described in the next sub-chapter are prototypical instances of singular <?page no="258"?> 257 14.4 The task cycle count nouns. Mass nouns as well as proper nouns can be contrasted with count nouns in a follow-up lesson. When proper nouns are discussed later on, they should be introduced in their two different uses, i. e., in their use as proper names which do not carry an article because they are already definite enough and therefore their definiteness does not need to be marked by the (as in ‘Jennifer is late today’) as well as in their use as common nouns, where they behave in an identical way to singular count nouns (as in ‘A Jennifer called to say she will be late’, which entails that there are different Jennifers who might have called, or as in ‘I am not referring to the Jennifer who lives next door but to the Jennifer who lives in the city centre’, which focuses on unique identifiability). It is important to differentiate between these two uses, as otherwise there might be interferences from the German language. As preconditions for the task-based lesson outlined in the next sub-chapter, the learners should be able to form simple English sentences in the present tense and they should be familiar with the word field of food and beverages. It is also expected that the learners know the method of story-telling, i. e., are able to follow a story line even if they may not understand every single word (‘listening for gist’). The story itself relates to a picnic situation, which is presumably part of the life experience of quite a number of students and therefore relates to their lives outside of the classroom. In this picnic situation, the learners surprise each other by what they packed into their picnic baskets (i. e., ‘unknown’ items which need an indefinite article) and once they have shown these items to each other (i. e., once the items have become ‘known’ items) they can talk about them by using the definite article. 14.4 The task cycle As usual, the pre-task is devoted to the introduction of the communicative topic, which in this case focuses on preparing a picnic and simulating a picnic conversation. The teacher starts the lesson by telling the learners that the weather was so wonderful over the previous weekend that s / he planned a picnic with his / her family. His / her children (or friends, or family etc.) loved the idea but insisted on a surprise picnic, meaning that each of them packed their own picnic baskets. Once the picnic had started, they all began to take the items they had packed out of their baskets. When these items are introduced, they are unknown to the listeners (the other picnic participants), which is why the indefinite article has to be used. Once the items have been mentioned, the definite article has to be used for them. The teacher could tell a story along the following lines: “I had my first picnic of this year on Sunday! I just love going for a picnic but it was too cold before last weekend. My children love picnics as well. Do you love picnics? ”-- learners answer-- “Do you frequently have picnics? ”-- learners answer-- “What do you like to eat and drink when you are having a picnic? ”-- learners answer- - “Anyway, my children insisted that everybody packs a surprise picnic basket. So we did not know what we would have to eat and to drink. We went to the park, sat down on a blanket and took turns in presenting the items from our picnic baskets to each other. My daughter said ‘Look, I have a banana’ and my son immediately asked whether he could have the banana, as he is so fond of bananas. Then it was my son’s turn and he said ‘Look, I have a cheese sandwich’ and I said I would like to eat the cheese sandwich. My children also pre- <?page no="259"?> 258 14. Articles sented a Mars bar, a bottle of ice tea, a bag of potato chips and many other things and then we discussed who could have the Mars bar, the bottle of ice tea and the potato chips. When it was my turn, I said ‘Look, I have a chocolate cake’ and everybody immediately wanted to eat the cake. Luckily, it was big enough so that everybody could have a slice.” In between, the teacher can involve the learners by asking, for instance, whether they would have wanted the Mars bar, the banana, the bag of potato chips etc. If possible, flashcards showing the food items that were mentioned are attached to the board, so that the learners can use them for inspiration during the upcoming task. After this introduction, the learners are given the instructions for the task. First, every learner receives a worksheet entitled ‘My picnic basket’, which provides an example (‘In my picnic basket, there is a bottle of lemonade’) and underneath shows four lines, the first one starting with ‘In my picnic basket, there is-…’, the other lines being completely empty. Everybody has to compile a list of four food items which they would pack into their surprise picnic baskets. Then the learners get together in groups of four 207 and take turns to present the items in their picnic baskets to each other, using the chunk ‘Look, I have a XXX ’. In a second step, the learners are meant to negotiate the distribution of these food items on the occasion of a joint picnic. Everybody can select two of the items from the individual lists. The teacher distributes a second worksheet, which is entitled ‘Our picnic’ and which shows four boxes, one for each learner in the group. The sheet also contains an example box in order to show the learners what to do. The example box shows the teacher’s name and a sentence such as ‘I would like (to eat) the cheese sandwich’. Every learner fills in one of the other boxes by writing his / her name on top of the box and by then entering their culinary wishes for the picnic, e. g., ‘Peter: I would like (to eat) the banana’ or ‘Jessica: I would like (to drink) the bottle of lemonade’. During the report phase, the groups present their selections by saying ‘In our picnic basket, there is (a banana, a bottle of lemonade, a carrot, a peach, a box of sweets, a cheese sandwich, a hamburger, a bag of potato chips)’, if possible by holding up the flashcards of the items in question which were previously attached to the board. Each group member should present four items, so that everybody gets the chance to speak. Immediately afterwards, the groups inform the other classmates about who eats what (‘Jessica would like the hamburger and the bottle of lemonade, Peter would like the banana and the box of sweets etc.’). Everybody has to talk about one of the other group members. Should the learners use the wrong articles, the teacher should intervene by repeating the sentence with the correct article. For the language focus, the teacher has prepared the board with the headings from the two worksheets, namely ‘My picnic basket’ and ‘Our picnic’. S / he then selects some of the learners’ utterances from the report phase and asks the learners in question to write their sentences on the board, so that-- in the end-- there are three utterances such as ‘Jessica has a bottle of lemonade’, ‘Peter has a hamburger’ and ‘Marc has a cheese sandwich’ on the left-hand ‘My picnic basket’ side, whereas on the right-hand ‘Our picnic’ side there are three utterances 207 For advice on how to form learner groups, please see sub-chapter 2.2.2. For this task, the learners could draw snippets with potential picnic food on them, so that ‘group carrot’, ‘group banana’, ‘group cheese sandwich’ etc. can be formed. <?page no="260"?> 259 14.5 Alternatives with the same nouns as on the left-hand side, such as ‘Peter would like (to drink) the bottle of lemonade’, ‘Marc would like (to eat) the hamburger’ and ‘Jessica would like (to eat) the cheese sandwich’. In a silent impulse, the teacher circles the indefinite articles in red and the definite articles in blue and asks the learners why different articles are used. As the German language, at least in this respect, treats articles in a similar way, it should not be difficult for the learners to find out the reason. The teacher should then point out that if a thing has not yet been mentioned and is therefore ‘unknown’, it takes the indefinite article, and if a thing has already been mentioned and is therefore ‘known’, it takes the definite article. The terms ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ should then be written underneath the examples, in the colours with which the articles were circled (red for ‘unknown’ and blue for ‘known’). The aim of the language focus is to make the learners understand the difference between the use of the definite vs. the use of the indefinite article. Therefore, the teacher might also want to point out that the ‘thing’ in question always stays the same, but that the speaker formulates his / her utterance according to the hearer’s assumed familiarity (or absence of familiarity) with this ‘thing’. If there is still enough time, a speech chain can be started by the teacher. The teacher selects a noun, for instance, ‘bus’, and says “I am thinking of-… a bus”, and a learner needs to say something about the noun in question, for example “The bus is red”, and then needs to mention another noun, such as “I am thinking of-… a dog”, and the next learner says “The dog is dangerous” and continues with “I am thinking of a house” etc. This goes on until the lesson is over. For homework, the learners have to describe their rooms by enumerating at least six pieces of furniture, as, for example, “In my room, there is a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, a shelf, a chair, a lamp” and say something about each of the six items, as, for instance, “The bed is in the corner, the wardrobe is dark blue, the desk is in front of the window-…”. In this way, a transfer to another word field is initiated. 14.5 Alternatives Instead of selecting the picnic situation, the learners can alternatively be asked to plan a fruit salad for an upcoming class party. They need to figure out the ingredients (‘for our salad, we need a banana, a pineapple, a pear-…’) and the best fruit salad recipe can then be voted for and will be prepared for the party. In this case, it is harder than in the previously described lesson to avoid plural forms, as a number of fruits will not be bought in the singular (grapes, strawberries, cherries, raspberries etc.). It is also harder to avoid expressions that start with a vowel (apple, orange, apricot etc.). Therefore, when using this alternative communicative situation, the focus of an introduction of the articles needs to be shifted to the difference between the singular and the plural as well as to the difference between words starting with a vowel and those starting with a consonant. In this case, the distinction between the indefinite and definite articles has to be postponed to the following lesson in order not to overwhelm the learners. <?page no="261"?> 260 14. Articles Still another word field that can be used is that of farm (and other) animals. The well-known song ‘Old McDonald had a farm’ can be introduced (or repeated). The song text says that Old McDonald has a cow, a sheep, a horse and lots of other animals on his farm. The students can then select two or three of the animals and describe them, for example ‘Old McDonald has a cow. The cow is called Liza. It is black-and-white.’ Other animals than those mentioned in the song can of course be added, as Old McDonald could just as well have a tiger, a snake or a crocodile on his farm. The topic of articles can also be connected to the topic of pluralization, due to the simple fact that if the articles are introduced in the singular and the plural, the nouns for the plural use need to be pluralized. However, not all these topics should be dealt with in one lesson, instead, a well-balanced sequence of lessons which build upon each other should be chosen. The teacher has to decide with which of the topics to start, as there are quite a number of topics involved: the meaning difference between the definite and indefinite articles, the difference between articles in the singular and in the plural as well as noun pluralization. The difference between count nouns and mass nouns is a further topic that has to be dealt with at one point, but it is more suitable for more advanced learners. The aim of such a lesson is to make the learners see the difference between an entity that is conceptualized as having clear-cut boundaries (prototypically an object-- however, the term ‘object’, which is used by quite a number of textbooks, is utterly misleading and should not be used as explanation in class, as also the expressions idea, thought etc. are count nouns, although they do no refer to objects) or as having no clear-cut boundaries (prototypically a substance such as water or sand). In this context, the notion of ‘boundaries’ can also be exploited visually, as the learners can be asked to draw boundaries around entities which are prototypically used as count nouns (an easy task) and also around entities which are prototypically used as mass nouns-- by drawing a boundary, these mass nouns are then changed into count nouns. For instance, people may love cake (‘cake is delicious’, i. e., in general, without any boundaries), but when people bake a cake, this cake is a specific cake, has a contour and can be counted (‘the cake is delicious-- can you also bake one for me? ’). Further reading Barber, Charles (2002): The English language: A historical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dimitrijeviç, Marta (2013): “Applying cognitive linguistics to teaching the English article system in the EFL classroom”. Od nauke do nastave: Zhornik radova sa konferencije Nauka i savremeni univerzitet 2. Nis: Filozofski facultet, 66-76. Hudson, Richard (1990): English word grammar. Oxford: Blackwell. Król-Markefka, Agnieszka (2012): “Pedagogical rules for the use of English articles: An evaluation and suggestions for improvement”. Studia Linguistica Universitatis Jagellonicae Cracoviensis 129, 97-115. <?page no="262"?> 261 14.5 Alternatives Król-Markefka, Agnieszka (2010): Metalinguistic knowledge and the accurate use of English articles: Effects of applying cognitive grammar in second language teaching. Unpublished PhD dissertation: Jagiellonian University Kraków. Langacker, Ronald W. (1991): Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. II : Descriptive application. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Langacker, Ronald W. (2000): Grammar and conceptualization. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, Ronald W. (2008): Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Niemeier, Susanne (2008): “The notion of boundedness / unboundedness in the foreign language classroom”. In: Boers, Frank / Lindstromberg, Seth (eds.): Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary and phraseology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 309-327. Puckica, Jérome (2013): “The English possessives and the determiner v. pronoun distinction”. Cercles 29, 67-97. Radden, Günter / Dirven, René (2007): Cognitive English grammar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Taylor, John R. (2002): Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Toader, Diana (2010): Mastering the English article. PhD dissertation. Editura Sfantul Ierarh Nicolae (public Ebook site). Tyler, Andrea (2012): Cognitive linguistics and second language learning: Theoretical basics and experimental evidence. London: Routledge. Verspoor, Marjolijn / Huong, Nguyen Thu (2008): “Cognitive grammar and teaching English articles to Asian learners”. In: Lapaire, Jean-Rémi (ed.): From grammar to mind: Grammar as cognition. Bordeaux: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 249-268. <?page no="264"?> 263 14.5 Alternatives 15. Conclusion This book has tried to raise awareness for the fact that grammar can be explained quite differently than it has been explained traditionally and, consequently, can also be taught quite differently from what many of the readers of this book have experienced so far. It can only be hoped that the book has managed to change the concept of ‘grammar’ that a number of readers will still have had, resulting from their own grammar instruction at school and partly at university. Instead of seeing grammar as some kind of torture, one can just as well see it as a structured system which helps speakers organise their communication and without which language essentially does not work. Grammar is definitely equally important as vocabulary-- cognitive linguistics sees these two aspects not in opposition to each other anyway, but locates them on a continuum ranging from more concrete meanings (vocabulary) to more abstract meanings (grammar), and argues that the same organizational principles (such as, for instance, metaphorization, categorization, boundedness vs. unboundedness) apply to both vocabulary and grammar. At the end of this book, the goals that were pursued by writing it need to be highlighted again. The book has three major goals: first, it tries to point out that the task-based approach is very suitable for integrating grammar instruction without losing sight of its original communicative focus, although the way in which grammar is treated in task-based grammar teaching differs quite substantially from the traditional way that grammar has been dealt with. Grammar is seen as a tool in the learners’ hands which enables them to say exactly what they want to express and to make their subjective perspectives clear. Second, the book argues that the cognitive grammar approach with its explanatory potential allows learners to understand how the foreign language works and why it works this way, instead of making them memorise rules (and exceptions). On the one hand, insights from cognitive grammar elucidate the systematicity of language and provide the teacher with explanations for phenomena which so far could not be explained in a satisfactory and understandable way (or could not be explained at all), and, on the other hand, cognitive grammar explanations lend themselves well for an integration into task-based grammar lessons, in which they stand side by side with a suitable communicative topic. Thirdly and finally, the book hopes to have shown that grammar teaching can indeed be motivating and interesting, in contrast to what many learners (and teachers) have experienced so far. After a task-based grammar lesson, the learners will presumably not say that they learned grammar but will instead mention the task, its results and their own involvement. From this point of view, the language that was used during the task and the subsequent report is nothing but a tool, but it should of course be correct. Grammar is not taught (and learned) for grammar’s sake, but contributes to the meanings of the learners’ utterances. By necessity, the number of grammar topics in this book had to be restricted. Furthermore, those grammar topics which were described in detail are not necessarily transferable to the English classroom one-by-one, as every classroom situation is different. They are rather meant <?page no="265"?> 264 15. Conclusion as suggestions and examples- - every teacher can be inspired by them and use them in an adapted way or else, teachers can use their own creativity to come up with comparable lessons. Additionally, there is a large number of topics which are relevant for the English classroom and which have not been dealt with in detail, as, for example, indirect speech, the future, the perfective aspect, relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, reflexive pronouns, interrogative pronouns, pluralization, negation, the gradability of adjectives- - to name just a few. However, once a teacher has become acquainted with task-based grammar teaching and has tried it out, it should be reasonably easy to construct lessons by following the examples and principles outlined in this book and by using them as models. Although task-based grammar teaching cannot yet be seen as an established approach, this book hopes to have encouraged its readers to try out this new approach in their own classes whenever a grammar topic is to be introduced. If learners connect grammatical structures with usage situations and not with grammar drills, much has already been achieved. Should similar situations come up again, either in further lessons or in real life, the connection between the task situation and the grammatical structure is reactivated and used correctly, at least in an ideal case. Maybe the bad reputation that grammar currently still has can be lost over time and grammar can be ‘rehabilitated’-- not only in the learners’ view but also (and especially so) in the teachers’ view. Grammar is and will always be an ever-present asset in the foreign language classroom, so why not make it more motivating and more memorable? If this book has managed to kindle a new interest in grammar teaching in its readers as well as a desire to try out the way of teaching described throughout the practice chapters, then the effort of writing it-- sharing knowledge and insights which were possibly not related to each other before-- was worth it. Grammar is never an end in itself, it always has the ultimate aim of facilitating communication. And if communicative competence is defined as a person’s ability to say exactly what they want to say, then the notion of ‘construal’ becomes crucial, as there are always several different ways to express something. If learners have been provided with the tools to differentiate between different construals and know the meaning differences between them, their communicative competence is enhanced, mainly through the mastery of grammar-- insofar, grammar and communication are not opposed to each other, but are basically like the two sides of a coin-- inseparably interconnected. This book has tried to show that grammar lessons need not be boring and old-fashioned, but that they can be interesting and communicatively relevant. Therefore: enjoy your grammar lessons and make your learners enjoy them as well! ISBN 978-3-8233-8130-3 The focus on communication in TBLT often comes at the expense of form. In this book, the task-based approach is enhanced and coupled with insights into (cognitive) grammar, an approach which sees grammar as meaningful. The book shows how grammar teaching can be integrated into a communicative lesson in a non-explicit way, i.e., “by the backdoor”. The learners are involved in situations that they may also encounter outside their classrooms and they are given communicative tasks they are to work on and solve, usually with a partner or in small groups. What teachers need to invest for preparing such lessons is their own creativity, as they have to come up with communicative situations which guide the learners into using a specific grammatical structure. The book first discusses the didactic and the linguistic theories involved and then translates these theoretical perspectives into actual teaching practice, focusing on the following grammatical phenomena: tense, aspect, modality, conditionals, passive voice, prepositions, phrasal verbs, verb complementation, pronouns, articles. Niemeier Task-based grammar teaching Task-based grammar teaching of English Susanne Niemeier Where cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching meet <?page no="266"?> ISBN 978-3-8233-8130-3 The focus on communication in TBLT often comes at the expense of form. In this book, the task-based approach is enhanced and coupled with insights into (cognitive) grammar, an approach which sees grammar as meaningful. The book shows how grammar teaching can be integrated into a communicative lesson in a non-explicit way, i.e., “by the backdoor”. The learners are involved in situations that they may also encounter outside their classrooms and they are given communicative tasks they are to work on and solve, usually with a partner or in small groups. What teachers need to invest for preparing such lessons is their own creativity, as they have to come up with communicative situations which guide the learners into using a specific grammatical structure. The book first discusses the didactic and the linguistic theories involved and then translates these theoretical perspectives into actual teaching practice, focusing on the following grammatical phenomena: tense, aspect, modality, conditionals, passive voice, prepositions, phrasal verbs, verb complementation, pronouns, articles. Niemeier Task-based grammar teaching Task-based grammar teaching of English Susanne Niemeier Where cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching meet