Teaching the English active and passive voice with the help of cognitive grammar: An empirical study

• Authors: Mirosław Pawlak , Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak , Jakun Bielak
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Functionally-oriented linguistic theories, such as cognitive grammar (CG), offer nuanced descriptions of the meanings and uses of grammatical features. A simplified characterization of the semantics of the English active and passive voice grounded in CG terms and based on the reference point model is presented, as it is the basis of the instructional treatment offered to one of the groups in the quasiexperimental study reported in the paper. The study compares the effects of feature- focused grammatical instruction covering the form and meaning/use of the English voices based on CG with those of teaching based on standard pedagogical grammar rules. The results point to relatively high effectiveness of both instructional options in fostering the use of the target structures in both more controlled and more spontaneous performance, with traditional instruction being more successful than that based on CG with respect to the latter. A possible explanation of this superiority is that the subset of the participants (n = 27) exposed to the traditional explanations found them simple and easy to apply, contrary to the situation in the other group.

Keywords

EN

pedagogical application of cognitive grammar; active and passive voice; reference point model; subject; topic

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 581-619

Dates

cover

2013-12

Contributors

author

Mirosław Pawlak

• Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland
• State School of Higher Professional Education, Konin, Poland

author

Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak

• Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland
• State School of Higher Professional Education, Konin, Poland

author

Jakun Bielak

• Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland
• State School of Higher Professional Education, Konin, Poland

Identifiers

ISSN

2083-5205

DOI

10.14746/ssllt.2013.3.4.7