Pedagogical construction grammar: The case of collocations and collostructions in foreign language instruction

Maryam Pakzadian
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

The concept of constructions has become increasingly important in theories of language acquisition and use during the last 20 years. Constructions are form-meaning pairings that are learned and stored as pieces of linguistic knowledge. Fillmore, Kay, and O’Conner (1988), and Goldberg (1995, 2006, 2019) were among the first linguists who paved the way for this alternative constructivist view on grammar. Since then, Construction Grammar (CxG) has become a widely accepted descriptive and processing model that is based on a large body of scientific research (e.g., Herbst, Schmid, & Faulhaber, 2014; Herbst, 2016; Hilpert, 2019; Hoffmann, 2022; Stefanowitsch, 2011). However, it is only recently that linguists have addressed the question of whether second/foreign language learners’ linguistic competence depends on constructions (e.g., Boas, 2022; De Knop & Gilquin, 2016). If CxG is widely recognized in the branch of first language acquisition, it is also indispensable to transfer this concept to Applied Linguistics to design suitable teaching materials and methods. Drawing upon the proposition “foreign language learning is construction learning” (Ellis, 2001; Herbst, 2016), this article aims to suggest a proposal for teaching English collocations following Herbst’s (2016) seven principles of Pedagogical Construction Grammar (PCxG). In particular, this article aims to suggest ways to apply these principles to developing supplementary teaching materials, activities, and tasks for teaching English collocations and collostructions.

Publication history

Date received: 12 August 2022

Date accepted: 4 January 2023

Published online: 15 February 2024

Table of contents

Years after the advent of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which was in vogue in the late ‘90s, it is still the latest advancement in modern language pedagogy. Furthermore, the Task-based approach (TBL) as a strong version of CLT offered rather imprecise alternatives that may not be applicable in many contexts where there is limited opportunity to use the L2 outside the classroom. However, Cognitive Grammar offers great instructional ideas that have not been fully explored (Niemeier, 2017).

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price. Direct PDF access to this article can be purchased through our e-platform.

References

Achard, M.
(2018) Teaching usage and concepts: Toward a cognitive pedagogical grammar. In A. Tyler, L. Huang, & H. Jan (Eds.), What is applied cognitive linguistics? (pp. 37–62). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ambridge, B., Theakston, A. L., Lieven, Elena V. M., & Tomasello, M.
(2006) The distributed learning effect for children’s acquisition of an abstract syntactic construction. Cognitive Development, 21 (2), 174–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aston, G.
(2002) The learner as corpus designer. In B. Kettemann & G. Marko (Eds), Teaching and learning by doing corpus analysis (pp. 9–25). Rodopi. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bahns, J., & Eldaw, M.
(1993) Should we teach EFL students collocations? System, 21 (1), 101–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Basal, A.
(2019) Learning collocations: Effects of online tools on teaching English adjective- noun collocations. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50 (1), 342–356. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Behrens, H.
(2011) Grammatik und Lexikon im Spracherwerb: Konstruktionsprozesse. In S. Engelberg, A. Holler, & K. Proost (Eds.), Sprachliches Wissen zwischen Lexikon und Grammatik (pp. 375–396). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bencini, G. M. L., & Goldberg, A. E.
(2000) The contribution of argument structure constructions to sentence meaning. Journal of Memory and Language, 43 (4), 640–651. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boas, H.
(2022) Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and teaching (with) constructions. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
(2022) From construction grammar(s) to pedagogical construction grammar. In H. Boas (Ed.), Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and teaching (with) constructions (pp. 3–44). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J.
(2010) Language, usage and cognition. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Çelik, S.
(2011) Developing collocational competence through web-based concordance activities. Novıtas Royal Research on Youth and Language, 5 (2), 273–286.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chambers, A.
(2005) Integrating corpus consultation in language studies. Language Learning & Technology, 9 (2), 111–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chan, T.-p., & Liou, H.-C.
(2005) Effects of web-based concordancing instruction on EFL students’ learning of verb - noun collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18 (3), 231–251. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cowie, A.
(1981) The treatment of collocations and idioms in learner’s dictionaries. Applied Linguistics, 2 , 223–235. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daskalovska, N.
(2015) Corpus-based versus traditional learning of collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 28 (2), 130–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Knop, S., & Gilquin, G.
(2016) Applied construction grammar. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
De Knop, S., & Mollica, F.
(2022) Construction-based teaching of German verbless directives to Italian-speaking learners. In H. Boas (Ed.), Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and Teaching (with) Constructions (pp. 123–160). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Knop, S., & De Rycker, T.
(2008) Cognitive approaches to pedagogical grammar: A volume in honour of René Dirven. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Durrant, P., & Schmitt, N.
(2010) Adult learners’ retention of collocations from exposure. Second Language Research, 26 (2), 163–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eddington, D., & Ruiz de Mendoza, F.
(2010) Argument constructions and language processing: Evidence from a priming experiment and pedagogical implications. In S. De Knop, F. Boers, & A. De Rycker (Eds.), Fostering language teaching efficiency through cognitive linguistics (pp. 213–238). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N.
(2001) Memory for language. In R. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 33–68). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
(2003) Constructions, chunking, and connectionism: The emergence of second language structure. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp.63–103). Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013) Construction grammar and second language acquisition. In T. Hoffmann & G. Trousdale (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of construction grammar (pp. 365–368). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N., & Cadierno, T.
(Eds.) (2009) Constructing a second language. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 7 , 111–290. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N., & Wulff, S.
(2015) Second language acquisition. In E. Dabrowska & D. Divjak (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 409–431). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evert, S.
(2008) Corpora and collocations. In A. Lüdeling & M. Kytö (Eds.), Corpus linguistics: An international handbook (extended manuscript of Chapter 58) (pp.1–53). Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fan, M.
(2009) An exploratory study of collocational use by ESL students – A task based approach. System, 37 (1), 110–123. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fang, L., Ma, Q., & Yan, J.
(2021) The effectiveness of corpus-based training on collocation use in L2 writing for Chinese senior secondary school students. Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning, 1 (1), 80–109. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fillmore, C. J., Kay, P., & O’Connor, M. C.
(1988) Regularity and idiomaticity in grammatical constructions: The case of let alone. Language, 64 , 501–538. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Firth, J. R.
(1957) Modes of meaning. In J. R. Firth, Papers in linguistics 1934–1951 (pp. 190–215). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Francis, G., Hunston, S., & Manning, E.
(1996) Collins COBUILD grammar patterns, 1: Verbs. Harper CollinsGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Friginal, E.
(2018) Corpus linguistics for English teachers: Tools, online resources, and classroom activities. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gemmell Hudson, M.
(2022) Teaching second year German using frames and constructions. In H. Boas (Ed.), Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and teaching (with) constructions (pp. 265–304). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilquin, G.
(2022) Constructing learner speech: On the use of spoken data in applied construction grammar. In H. Boas (Ed.), Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and teaching (with) constructions (pp. 73–96). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilquin, G., & Granger, S.
(2010) How can data-driven learning be used in language teaching? In A. O’Keeffe & M. McCarthy, The Routledge handbook of corpus linguistics (pp. 359–370). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glass, C.
(2019) Collocations, creativity and constructions: A usage-based study of collocations in language attainment. Narr Francke Attempto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, A. E.
(1995) Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
(2003) Constructions: a new theoretical approach to language. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7 (5), 219–224. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2006) Constructions at work: The nature of generalization in language. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
(2019) Explain me this: Creativity, competition, and the partial productivity of constructions. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Gries, S.
(2022) On, or against? (just) frequency. In H. Boas (Ed.), Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and teaching (with) constructions (pp. 47–72). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. T., & Wulff, S.
(2005) Do foreign language learners also have constructions? Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 3 , 82–200. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009) Psycholinguistic and corpus-linguistic evidence for L2 constructions. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 7 , 164–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hausmann, F.-J.
(1984) Wortschatzlernen ist kollokationslernen. Zum lehren und lernen französischer wortwendungen. Praxis des neusprachlichen Unterrichts, 31 (1), 395–406.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hausmann, F. J.
(1985) Kollokationen im deutschen wörterbuch. Ein beitrag zur theorie des lexikographischen Beispiels. In H. Bergenholtz & J. Mugdan (Eds.), Lexikographie und Grammatik. Akten des Essener Kolloquiums zur Grammatik im Wörterbuch (pp.118–129). Niemeyer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hausmann, F.
(2007) Die kollokationen im rahmen der phraseologie – Systematische und historische darstellung. Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 55 (3), 217–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbst, Thomas
(2014) The valency approach to argument structure constructions. In T. Herbst, H. J. Schmid, & S. Faulhaber (Eds.), Constructions – collocations – patterns (pp.167–216). Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbst, T.
(2016) Foreign language learning is construction learning: Principles of pedagogic construction grammar. In S. De Knop & G. Gilquin (Eds.), Applied construction grammar (pp. 21–52). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
① ② ③
(2018) Is language a collostructicon? A proposal for looking at collocations, valency, argument structure and other constructions. In P. Cantos-Gómez & M. Almela-Sánchez (Eds), Lexical collocation analysis. Quantitative methods in the humanities and social sciences (pp.1–22). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbst, T., Heath, D., Roe, I. F., & Götz, D.
(2004) A valency dictionary of English: A corpus-based analysis of the complementation patterns of English verbs, nouns and adjectives. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbst, T., Schmid, H. J., & Faulhaber, S.
(Eds.) (2014) Constructions-collocations-patterns. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Hilpert, M.
(2019) Construction grammar and its application to English (2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Hoffmann, T.
(2022) Construction Grammar. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Holme, R.
(2010) A construction grammar for the classroom. De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Howarth, P.
(2013) Phraseology in English academic writing: Some implications for language learning and dictionary making. Niemeyer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jablonkai, R. R., & Csomay, E.
(Eds.) (2022) The Routledge handbook of corpora and English language teaching and learning (1st ed.). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jespersen, O.
(1954) A Modern English grammar on historical principles, Part VI: Morphology. Bradford and Dickens.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, W.
(1944) Studies in language behavior: I. A program of research. Psychological Monographs, 56 , 1–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kettemann, B., & Marko, G.
(Eds.) (2016) Teaching and learning by doing corpus analysis. Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kilgarriff, A., Rychlý, P., Smrž, P., & Tugwell, D.
(2014) The Sketch Engine: Ten years on. Lexicography, 1 , 7–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kjellmer, G.
(1991) A mint of phrases. In K. Aijmer & B. Altenberg (Eds.), English corpus linguistics. Studies in honour of Jan Svartvik (pp. 111–127). Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W.
(1987) Foundations of cognitive grammar. Vol. 1: Theoretical prerequisites. CSLI.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008) Cognitive grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lehecka, T.
(2015) Collocation and colligation. In F. Brisard, P. Gras, S. D’hondt, & M. Vandenbroucke (Eds.), Handbook of pragmatics (pp. 1–20). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lewis, M.
(Ed.) (2000) Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach. Language Teaching Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, J., & Schmitt, N.
(2010) The development of collocations use in academic texts by advanced L2 learners: A multiple case study approach. In D. Wood (Ed.), Perspectives on formulaic language: Acquisition and communication (pp. 23–46). Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindstromberg, S., & Boers, F.
(2008) Teaching chunks of language. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Littlemore, J.
(2009) Applying cognitive linguistics to second language learning and teaching. Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liu, D.
(2010) Going beyond patterns: Involving cognitive analysis in the learning of collocations. TESOL Quarterly, 44 (1), 4–30. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marks, J. A., & Wooder, A.
(2007) Check your vocabulary for natural English collocations. A&C Black Publishers.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCarthy, M., & O‘Dell, F.
(2005) English collocations in use: How words work together for fluent and natural English: Self-study and classroom use. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mckeown, K. R., & Radev, D. R.
(2000) Collocations. In R. Dale, H. Moisl, & H. Somers (Eds.), A handbook of natural language processing (pp. 507–523). Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mukherjee, J., & Götz, S.
(2019) Learner corpora and language teaching. John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nagy, T.
(2020) On the nature of collocations and ways of teaching them in foreign language classes. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, 10 (1), 16–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nesselhauf, N.
(2004) Learner corpora and their potential for language teaching. In J. Sinclair (Ed.), How to use corpora in language teaching (pp. 125–152). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005) Collocations in a learner corpus. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Niemeier, S.
(2017) Task-based grammar teaching of English: Where cognitive grammar and task-based language teaching meet. Narr Francke Attempto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pakzadian, M.
(2012) The effect of L1 on learning new L2 vocabulary among intermediate proficiency level students. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2 (6), 1147–1152. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Palmer, H. E.
(1933) Second interim report on English collocations. KaitakushaGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Partington, A., Morley, J., & Haarman, L.
(Eds.) (2004) Corpora and discourse. Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S.
(2001) Approaches and methods in language teaching (2nd. ed). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmid, H.-J.
(2010) Does frequency in the text instantiate entrenchment in the cognitive system? In D. Glynn & K. Fischer (Eds.), Quantitative methods in cognitive semantics: Corpus-driven approaches (pp.101–133). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sinclair, J.
(1991) Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1996) The search for units of meaning. Textus, 9 , 75–106.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1998) The lexical item. In E. Weigand (Ed.), Contrastive lexical semantics (pp.1–24). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003) Reading concordances. Pearson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004a) Trust the text: Language, corpus and discourse. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004b) How to use corpora in language teaching. John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stefanowitsch, A.
(2011) Keine Grammatik ohne Konstruktionen: Ein logisch-ökonomisches Argument für die Konstruktionsgrammatik. In A. Holler & K. Proost (Eds.), Sprachliches wissen zwischen lexikon und grammatik (pp. 37–70). Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
①
Stefanowitsch, A. & Gries, S. T.
(2003) Collostructions: Investigating the interaction between words and constructions. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 8 (2), 209–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sun, Y-C., & Wang, L-Y.
(2003) Concordancers in the EFL classroom: Cognitive approaches and collocation difficulty. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 16 (1), 83–94. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sung, M., & Yang, H.–K.
(2016) Effects of construction-centered instruction on Korean students’ learning of English transitive resultative constructions. In S. D. Knop & G. Gliquin (Eds.), Applied construction grammar (pp. 89–114). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thornbury, S.
(2002) How to teach vocabulary. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Uhrig, P., Faulhaber, S., Dąbrowska, E., & Herbst, T.
(2022) L2-words that go together – More on collocation and learner language. In H. Boas (Ed.), Directions for pedagogical construction grammar: Learning and teaching (with) constructions (pp. 97–120). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Waller, T.
(1993) Characteristics of near-native proficiency in writing. In H. Ringbom (Ed.), Near-native proficiency in English (pp. 183–193). Abo Akademi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Webb, S., & Kagimoto, E.
(2009) The effects of vocabulary learning on collocation and meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 43 , 55–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Widdowson, H. G.
(2000) On the limitations of linguistics applied. Applied Linguistics, 21 (1), 3–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wray, A.
(2002) Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wulff, S., & Gries, S. T.
(2011) Corpus-driven methods for assessing accuracy in learner production. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Second language task complexity (pp. 61–88). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar

Dictionaries

Macmillan collocations dictionary
(2010) Macmillan Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hornby, A. S., & Crowther, J.
(1995) Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar

Corpora

BNC The British National Corpus
Distributed by Oxford University Press Computing Services on behalf of the BNC Consortium. http://​www​.natcorp​.ox​.ac​.uk/
 
Authentication
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-dark jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-light jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold prag Twitter_Logo_Blue