Applying cognitive linguistics and task-supported language teaching to instruction of English conditional phrases
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: In this study, elements of cognitive linguistic analysis of English hypothetical conditionals (e.g., "If prices went up, I would sell my car, " (Werth, 1997) from Dancygier and Sweetser (2005) were incorporated into L2 learning materials.The design of the study was quasi-experimental, with three groups (total N=57) participating: two treatment groups (cognitive and task-supported) and one control group that did not receive any instruction on conditionals.The research questions explored the efficacy of different types of instruction (cognitive and task-supported as opposed to task-supported alone) for the L2 development of English conditional phrases, as measured by a posttest and a delayed posttest.Introspective data were collected using stimulated recall.T-test and ANOVA analyses were carried out to measure the progress made by subjects in acquisition of conditionals.Statistical findings (p=0.001)indicate that participants from the cognitive group outperformed the participants from the tasksupported and control groups and demonstrated a higher degree of understanding of conditional usage contexts.The analysis provides support for the benefits of using cognitive linguistic analysis of English hypotheticals in L2 learning contexts.v vii I would also like to thank other GWU colleagues who supported the data collection process in a number of ways: Dr. Charles Mueller, Sevtap Karaoglu, and Ikuko Turner.Being a non-native speaker of English and dealing with teaching of English conditionals, I had to ensure my intuitions and decisions regarding the contents of materials would reflect authentic usage patterns and would appear sensible to native speakers.My colleagues at the Center for Applied Linguistics were instrumental in helping in that regard.I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all CAL folks who supported me throughout the dissertation process and/or provided valuable
Author: Natalia Dolgova Jacobsen
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W637934827