ERIC Number: EJ1266918
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1017-7108
EISSN: N/A
Testing Usage-Based Approaches to Assessing EFL Learners' Development of English Argument Structure Constructions
Kim, Hyunwoo; Rah, Yangon; Hwang, Haerim
English Teaching, v75 suppl 1 p55-78 Sum 2020
Usage-based approaches to language acquisition explain language development as a gradual process of generalizing constructions through language experience. This study investigated second language learners' development of constructional knowledge from the perspective of usage-based language development. A total of 169 Korean EFL students at five grade levels completed a sentence-sorting and a translation task. Results of the sorting task showed stronger constructional sorting as the learners' grade level increased. Additionally, the sorting of intermediate-level learners was influenced by verb semantics such that the sentences including light verbs were more strongly clustered according to constructions than the sentences with heavy verbs, suggesting learners' reliance on light verbs in the early stages of constructional development. Results of the translation task demonstrated a higher translation accuracy with increasing proficiency, but with a significant amount of variation across individual constructions contingent on the constructions' syntactic and semantic complexity. Overall, our findings confirm the usage-based development of L2 learning.
Descriptors: Language Usage, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English (Second Language), Verbs, Translation, Task Analysis, Accuracy, Language Proficiency, Semantics, Syntax, Sentence Structure, Korean, Native Language, Elementary School Students, Middle School Students, High School Students, College Students, Generalization
Korea Association of Teachers of English. 6105 English Education Department, Chinju National University of Education, 369beon-gil 3, Jinyangho-ro, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, 52673, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82-42-629-7381; Fax: +82-42-629-7320; e-mail: katejournal29@gmail.com; Web site: http://journal.kate.or.kr/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; High Schools; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A