Incorporating a cognitive linguistic presentation of the prepositions on, in, and at in ESL instruction: A quasi-experimental study.

摘要

Cognitive linguistic research has developed semantic network analyses of prepositions, in which extended senses are motivated from a central or proto-sense (Beitel et al., 2001; Deane, 2005; Dewell, 1996; Evans & Tyler, 2004; Kreitzer, 1997; Lakoff, 1987; Taylor, 1988; Tyler & Evans, 2003, 2004; Vandeloise, 2003). These networks allow multiple senses of prepositions to be presented as a unified network, rather than as arbitrary and unrelated.; This contrasts with traditional presentations in ESL instruction, in which the multiple senses are presented as unrelated, using rules, which often do not account for everyday language use. Perhaps as a result, even advanced English language learners experience difficulty with prepositions, especially their non-spatial uses (Celce-Murcia & Larsen Freeman, 1999; Lindstromberg, 1998; MacLennan, 1994). Given this difficulty, cognitive linguistic research has been argued to have value for language instruction (Boers & Demechleer, 1998; Deane, 1988; Dirven et al., 1989; Lindstromberg, 1998; Taylor, 1993b; Tyler & Evans, 2004).; This study explores the effect of incorporating a cognitive presentation of the spatial and temporal senses of the English prepositions on, in and at in ESL classroom instruction. Intermediate level learners (n=20) in two intact classes received instructional treatment on the prepositions based on either a cognitive linguistic or a more traditional presentation. The cognitive treatment included an introduction to tools which were used to motivate the extended senses of the prepositions from the spatial sense, emphasizing the functional aspect of the prepositions.; Performance was measured with pre-, post- and delayed post-tests (with multiple tasks), and introspective data. The data were analyzed on both a group and individual basis. The results did not demonstrate an overall benefit for the cognitive presentation; neither group significantly outperformed the other on all measures. However, the results suggest positive effects of the cognitive presentation including more consistent increases in correct use across the senses and tasks. They also indicate the presence of cognitive aspects for the non-cognitive group participants, suggesting a heuristic value for language learners. It is argued that these results demonstrate a value of a cognitive presentation in classroom instruction, and support the pedagogical applications of cognitive linguistic theory.