Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17234/Croatica.66.6
CONSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH AS THE BASIS FOR TEACHING CROATIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: TOWARDS A CONSTRUCTICON
Mateusz-Milan Stanojević
orcid.org/0000-0001-7221-5842
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In constructional approaches to language such as cognitive grammar, constructions play a key role. Constructions are patterns whose meaning and/or structure cannot be predicted based on their components, and they may have a completely or partially determined lexical or grammatical structure (e.g. What’s X doing Y?). In cognitive linguistics meaning (of constructions) is seen broadly and includes both semantic and pragmatic elements. Constructional approaches form a natural link with foreign language teaching and learning, because for successful communication in a foreign language, learners need to understand structural, semantic, and communicative characteristics of various constructions. This paper deals with the constructicon as a resource in foreign language instruction. I claim that a constructicon should combine elements of linguistic descriptions, pedagogical grammar and lexicographic practices aimed at foreign language learners. The main issue is how to strike the right balance between these elements. The paper discusses five principles that enable this: balance between realistic descriptions and not too much detail, structure geared towards user needs, including semantic and pragmatic information, providing informative constructional schemas and information of semantic roles, and referring to families of constructions. Based on a corpus study of seven Croatian constructions, I illustrate the principles by constructing possible entries for a future constructicon aimed at learners of Croatian as a foreign language.
Keywords
constructicon; cognitive grammar; teaching Croatian as a foreign language
Hrčak ID:
287151
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2022.
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