构式语法视角下的高中英语语法教学探究 89页

学校代码：１０２７０分类号：Ｇ４２３学号：１３２２００２郎％硕±学位论文构式语法视角下的高中英语语法教学探究学院：外国语学院专业？：课程与教学论硏究方向．：英语教学法？：變成硏究生姓名指导教师：束学卖完成日期—六年Ｈ月：二０ 本论文经答辩委员会全体委员审查，确认符合上海师范大学硕主学位论文质量要求。答辩委员会签名：公户—）心的诗知场主席。：群也职称：聲诚导师－：东嗦ｊ、 论文独创性声明本论文是帮个人在导师指导下进行的研巧工作及取得的研巧，不包成果。论文中除了特别加ｌｉｕ示注和致谢的地方外含其他人或机构己经发表或撰写过的研巧成果。其他同志对本研究的启发和所做的贡献巧己在论文中做了明确的声明并表示了谢意。日期：合３作者签名：雄或王论文使巧授权声明本人完全了解上海师范大学有关保留、使用竿位论文的规定’；長，允许论文被查陶和借阅Ｐ：学校有权保留送交论文的复印件、．内容，可臥采用影印缩印或其学校可［＾＾公布论文的全部或部分它手段保存论文。。保密的论文在解密后遵守此规定＇或日期：作者签名：裝导师签名东嗦如扛．以 OnEnglishGrammarTeachingatHighSchoolFromthePerspectiveofConstructionGrammarByFanChengSupervisor:ProfessorSongXuedongAThesisSubmittedtoForeignLanguagesCollegeShanghaiNormalUniversityInPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsforTheDegreeofMasterofEducationMarch2016 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationAbstractAbstractGrammarisanimportantpartofEnglishlanguagesystem.Itservesasatooltoproduceandanalyzenaturallanguages,andacriteriontoexaminethecorrectnessoftheirphrasesorsentencesaswell.GrammarteachingisanimportantpartofEnglishteaching,anditaffectsthedevelopmentoflanguageskillsincludinglistening,speaking,reading,writing,andtranslation.ThethesisstartswithaliteraturereviewoftheEnglishgrammarteaching,includingthedefinitionandscopeofgrammarinEnglishteaching,theimportanceofgrammarteaching,theprinciplesofgrammarteaching,andtheapproachesofgrammarteaching,andthengoestotheoverviewofConstructionGrammartheorybothabroadandathome.ItisfollowedbyananalysisofthebasicconceptsofConstructionGrammar,andtheviewsofConstructionGrammarontheformandmeaningoftheconstruction,secondlanguageacquisition.Onthepracticallevel,aquestionnaireisdesignedtoinvestigatetheattitudestowardsandunderstandingofstudentsonEnglishgrammarteachingathighschoolfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarandanexperimentalteachingbasedontherelatedteachingmethodsisconducted.Thepresentstudyisconductedbasedontheanalysisoftheresultsofpre-testandpost-testofthequestionnairetoshowthegreateffectofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.Basedontheempiricalresearchofsurveyresearch,andanalysesofexperimentaldataandresultsbySPSS,theauthorreachesthefollowingconclusions.Firstly,thetraditionalEnglishgrammarteachingcannothelpstudentslearngrammareffectively.Secondly,theteachingmethodsfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarcanovercomeproblemsstudentsface,andimprovetheefficiencyofEnglishgrammarteaching.Thirdly,teachersshouldchangetheirrolesinteaching,andmaketheirI AbstractShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationteachingbecomestudent-centeredanddiscovery-entailed.Teachersshouldalsoshiftfromteachinggrammarwithexcessiveemphasisonthecorrectnessoflanguageformstocommunicativeteaching,andstresstheimportanceoflanguagemeaningandthecommunicativenatureoflanguage.Keywords:ConstructionGrammar,grammarteaching,teachingmethodsII ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationAbstract摘要语法是英语知识重要的组成部分，语法提供给学生生成语言、分析语言、检测语言正确性的一个工具。英语语法教学也是英语教学的重要一环，影响英语听说读写译的语言能力发展。本文首先通过文献综述介绍了英语语法教学的情况，其中包括英语教学中语法的定义和范围，语法教学的重要性，语法教学的原则，语法教学的方法，接着介绍了国内外构式语法的理论概况。其次分析了构式语法的基本概念，构式语法在构式的形式、意义、二语习得方面的观点。接着在实践层面，通过调查问卷研究在构式语法观下的高中学生对英语语法教学的态度与认识，利用构式语法视角下的语法教学方法指导教学。通过实验班调查问卷前后测分析，揭示构式语法视角下的语法教学的巨大作用。本论文采用了问卷调查法的实证研究法，通过SPSS软件对实验数据和结果进行分析，作者得出以下结论：首先，传统英语语法教学难以帮助学生有效学习语法。第二，构式语法视角下的教学实践有助于克服高中英语课堂教学的种种困难，有助于提高英语语法教学的成效。第三，在教学方法方面，教师应努力转变观念，真正做到以学生为主体进行发现教学；改变过分注重语言形式准确性的教学，融入交际教学，关注语言意义的重要性，突出语言的交际性。关键词：构式语法；语法教学；教学方法III ContentsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationContentsAbstract..................................................................................................................I摘要......................................................................................................................IIIChapterOneIntroduction......................................................................................11.1Backgroundoftheresearch...............................................................21.2Significanceofthethesis...................................................................31.3Structureofthethesis.........................................................................4ChapterTwoLiteratureReview.............................................................................52.1Previousstudyofgrammarteaching..................................................52.1.1Definitionofgrammarandscopeofgrammarteaching.............52.1.2Importanceofgrammarteaching................................................82.1.3Principlesofgrammarteaching................................................102.1.4Approachestogrammarteaching.............................................122.2PreviousstudyofConstructionGrammar........................................152.2.1ThestudyofConstructionGrammarabroad............................152.2.2ThestudyofConstructionGrammarathome...........................182.3TheoreticalStructureofConstructionGrammar.............................192.3.1ThefoundationofConstructionGrammar................................192.3.2Twoaspectsoftheconstruction................................................262.3.3ConstructionGrammarandlanguageacquisition.....................332.4Summary..........................................................................................34ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethods.....................................363.1Subjects............................................................................................363.2Researchquestions...........................................................................373.3Designofthequestionnaire.............................................................373.4Reliabilityofthequestionnaire........................................................383.5Procedures........................................................................................393.6MethodsofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionIV ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationContentsGrammar403.6.1PrinciplesofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.................................................................................403.6.2StrategiesofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.................................................................................483.7AnEnglishgrammarteachingcase..................................................533.7.1Teachingpreparation.................................................................533.7.2TheEnglishgrammarteachingcase.........................................53ChapterFourResultsandDiscussion..................................................................564.1Studyanalysis..................................................................................564.1.1Chi-Squaretests........................................................................564.1.2AnalysisofEnglishtestresults.................................................644.2Discussionoftheresearchquestions...............................................67ChapterFiveConclusion......................................................................................705.1Majorfindings..................................................................................705.2Limitationsoftheresearch...............................................................705.3Implicationsforfutureresearch.......................................................71Bibliography........................................................................................................73Appendix..............................................................................................................77在读期间公开发表论文（著）及科研情况......................................................79Acknowledgements..............................................................................................80V ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterOneIntroductionChapterOneIntroductionManyexpertsonEnglishteachingandpolicymakingofEnglishcurriculumbelievethatgrammarteachingisanimportantpartofEnglishteaching.TheteacherteachesgrammarsothatstudentscangetasystematicknowledgeofEnglishmorphemic,phrasalandsyntacticstructures.ThisisespeciallytruewhenitcomestohighschoolEnglishteachingwheretheteacherisrequiredtoteachmorecomplexstructuresandrulestostudents.Nowwiththedevelopmentofcognitivelinguisticsandsecondlanguageacquisitiontheories,peoplebegintodoubtwhetherthepreviousstudyonEnglishlanguageandlanguageacquisitioniswrongorflawed.ConstructionGrammarhassprungupsincethe1980swithaboldconceptionthatknowingalanguageknowsnothingbutconstructions.ConstructionGrammarbelievesthatconstructionsareform-meaningpairswhoseformsormeaningscannotbepredictedfromitscomponents.WithregardstoEnglishgrammarteaching,fromtheviewofConstructionGrammar,theteachershouldputconstructionsatthecenterofthegrammarteaching.Moreimportantly,ConstructionGrammarproposedthatconstructionsputnoboundarybetweenvocabularyandsyntax,andanyform-meaningpairundersomespecificrequirementscanbecalledconstructions.ThecompetenceofEnglishlanguage,therefore,isnolongertwodatabases,vocabularyandgrammar,butconstructionsbythemselves.Inotherwords,EnglishteachersteachEnglishconstructionswhentheyteachgrammartothestudentsratherthanteachingphonemicorphrasalrulesandsentencestructuresinthetraditionalway.ConstructionGrammaralsoproposesadifferentapproachtolanguageacquisition,whichisgeneration-based,ratherthanthetraditionalprescriptiveone.ItencouragestheteachertopresentrichinstancesoftheconstructionsothatstudentscangeneratetheconstructionontheirownandmastertheconstructionthroughtheirowncontactwithEnglishlanguage.1 ChapterOneIntroductionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation1.1BackgroundoftheresearchIntheCurriculumStandardofEnglish(中华人民共和国教育部2003:7),grammarisamongthefivelanguageknowledgecomponents,whichisasubpartoftheoveralllanguageability.Still,thecurriculumstatesthatgrammarteachinginhighschoolisorientedatEnglishuse,andintegratedlanguageforms,meaningandusage.Studentsareguidedinthecontexttounderstandthefunctionofgrammarasitextendsmeaning.ThismeansthatEnglishgrammarshouldbetaughtforthepurposeofuse,andnotonlytheform,butalsomeaningandusageofgrammarareequallyadvocated.Still,contrarytotraditionalgrammarteaching,thenewcurriculumproposedaradicalnotionthatencouragesgrammarteachingtofacilitateEnglishuse,andthusthepragmaticpartofEnglishuseisalsostressed.Afterenteringhighschool,manystudentswouldfindEnglishgrammaranintimidatinghurdlehardtopassinlearningEnglish.ComparedwithEnglishgrammarinmiddleschool,highschoolEnglishgrammarhasmorecomplexstructuresandrules.ImproperwaysofgrammarinstructionareappliedtoEnglishgrammarteaching.Thoughstudentscanremembermanyofthestructuresandrules,theyfinditdifficulttounderstandthemeaningofthegrammaticalitems.Themainreasonisthattheyonlypayattentiontothecorrectnessoftheformandneglectthemeaningthatisinherentintheform.AlltheseleadtothepoorperformanceofgrammarlearningandEnglishuse.ThefactisthatmosthighschoolEnglishteacherssticktothetraditionalmethodofgrammarteaching.Theyteachgrammarasaknowledgeofstructuresandrulesthatneedsnoautonomousparticipation.Firsttheteacherpresentstheformofagrammaticalitem,andthenexplainsindetailthegrammaticalfunctionandtheusageofit,atlastrelatedgrammarexercisesarepracticed.Inaway,theclassisateacher-centeredone.Thestudentshavenoactiveexperience,probinginquisition,andliveintegrationwiththegrammaticalitem.Theyjustsitthereandtakedownthenotesofwhateverisimportant.Ithasbeeninaseriousconflictwiththestudent-centeredviewofteaching.2 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterOneIntroductionTheConstructionGrammarisalanguagetheorythatbelievesthelanguagecompetencelanguagespeakershaveareconstructions.Aconstructionisaform-meaningpairthatisnotfullypredictablefromitscomponents.ConstructionGrammarhasadifferentlanguageacquisitionpropositionthatlearnerslearnalanguagethroughgeneralization,notfromtherulesthatareinterlinkedthroughthemind,ormorespecifically,thelanguageacquisitiondevice(LAD).Inotherwords,thistheorydoesnotsupporttheinborncapacityoflanguagecompetence;itbelievesthatlanguageisacquiredthroughgeneralizationofexperienceofthelanguage.ThiscanbroadenthehorizonforthecurrentEnglishteachingandlearning,andarefitforthechangesthathavealreadytakenplaceintheEnglishcurriculumdevelopment,improvingclassroomteachingandcomprehensivelanguageskillsonthestudents‘partatthesametime.1.2SignificanceofthethesisGrammarteachinghasbeenintheheavenonce,andhasbeeninthehellforawhileinthehistoryofEnglishteachinginChina,butithasneverlostitsinfluenceonEnglishteaching.Thesadtruthisthatunderthecurrenttest-orientededucationalbackground,teachersandstudentshaveahardtimeadjustingtonewteachingmethods.Teachersareaffectedbythetraditionalteachingmethodsthattheywillnotchangeunlesstheeducationalinstitutionallowthemtodosowhentheythinktheyaretherightwaystoteach.Byreadingthethesis,theeducationalinstitutioncangetabetterideathatEnglishgrammarteachingisnotjustaboutpresenting,explainingandtrainingstudentstorememberthegrammaticalitems,butrather,itisurgentthattheyputthemeaningofthestructuresandrulesinthelight.Inthisway,studentscanhaveausage-basedmentalframeworkofform-meaningnetworkoflanguageknowledge.Finally,students‘overalllanguageabilitywillbegreatlyaidedbytheeasy-to-pick-uprepertoireofgrammarcompetence.3 ChapterOneIntroductionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation1.3StructureofthethesisThethesisiscomposedoffivechapters.Chapteroneisanintroduction.Itconsistsofbackgroundoftheresearch,researchquestions,andsignificanceofthisresearchandstructureofthethesis.Chaptertwoisliteraturereview.Itconsistsofthreeparts,onepartisaboutclassroomgrammarteaching,includingdefinitionandscopeofgrammarinclassroomteaching,theimportanceofgrammarteaching,principleofgrammarteaching,andcommonapproachestogrammarteaching,parttwoisaboutthestudyofConstructionGrammarabroadandathome.PartthreeisthetheoreticalframeworkofConstructionGrammar,includingfoundationofConstructionGrammar,ConstructionGrammarandmorphology,syntax,semantics,pragmaticsandlanguageacquisition.Allthediscussioninthischapteraimstolaythetheoreticalfoundationforthethesis.Chapterthreeisresearchdesignandteachingmethods.TheinvestigationisconductedbyusingaquestionnairetorevealthecurrenthighschoolgrammarteachingundertheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.TheprinciplesfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammararediscussed,andsomesuggestionsongrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarareproposedsothatthehighschoolgrammarteachingcanbemoreeffective.Thesuggestionsareaccompaniedwithdetailedexplanationandateachingcase.InChapterfour,thequestionnaireandtestresultsareanalyzedanddiscussed.Chapterfiveisaconclusionofthethesis.Themajorfindingsofthethesisaredrawnout.Thenthelimitationoftheresearchandsuggestionsforfuturestudyarediscussed.ItissuggestedthatteachersshouldlearnfromthetheoriesandprinciplesofConstructionGrammar,andapplythemtothegrammarteachinginhighschool.4 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewChapterTwoLiteratureReview2.1PreviousstudyofgrammarteachingThegrammarteachinghasbeenanimportantissueinEnglishteaching,andagreatnumberofresearchersandscholarsbothathomeandabroadhavedevotedthemselvestothestudiesofgrammarteaching.2.1.1Definitionofgrammarandscopeofgrammarteaching2.1.1.1DefinitionofgrammarGrammarinthedictionarydefinitionis―therulesbywhichwordschangetheirformsandarecombinedintosentences,orthestudyoruseoftheserules‖(Wesley1997:663).Ur(1998:4)definesgrammaras―thewayalanguagemanipulatesandcombineswords(orbitsofwords)inordertoformlongerunitsofmeaning‖.Lyonsdefinesgrammaras―thatbranchofthedescriptionwhichaccountsforthewayinwhichwordscombinetoformsentences‖(Lyons1971).Thesedefinitionsofgrammarshareaviewthatgrammarisasetofrulesofhowmorphemestransformtomakeupwords,andhowwordstransformtomakeupphrasesandsentences.Hallidaydefinesgrammaras―thestudyofhowsyntax(form),semantics(meaning),andpragmatics(use)worktogethertoenableindividualstocommunicatethroughlanguage‖(Halliday1985:43).ThissharesalotincommonwithLarsen-Freeman,whothinksgrammarincludesmorphosyntax(studyofform),semantics(studyofmeaning)andpragmatics(studyofuse)(Larsen-Freeman2005:34-38).Thisviewofgrammarisveryapproximatetothelinguistictheoryoflanguage,whichconsidersthatgrammarshouldembracetheunderstandingoflanguageusersabouthowlanguageisusedineverydaylife.Traditionally,thegrammaralanguagespeakerhasincommandisreferredtoas5 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation―rules‖.However,otherframeworksofgrammartheories,ConstructionGrammarandcognitivegrammarforexample,interpretinggrammarastohowgrammarisusedbypeopletoproduceorprocessthelanguage,thinkgrammarisnot―rules‖.Goldberg(2003),apioneerofConstructionGrammar,thinksthatconstructionsaretheknowledgeofthelanguageasawhole.Therefore,theconstructionsaregrammar.Thetheoriessuchastheabovearetheusage-basedkindandtheythinklanguageiscognitive,andthatlanguageconsistsofpairingsofformandmeaning.Thegrammarisintrinsicinthetinypiecesoflanguageitemsthemselves,whichwewilldiscussmoreonChapter3.2.1.1.1ScopeandsequenceofgrammarinclassroomteachingFormostprofessionalteachers,whataretobetaughtandtheorderofthegrammararepredeterminedbythesyllabusandpresentedinthetextbook.Evenifteachersdonotfollowthesuitofthetextbook,mostteacherswouldteachwithapreparedteachingplan,themostcommonofwhichhasalistofgrammaticalitems.Thornbury(2011:9)believesthegrammarinclassroomteachingiswhatisbeingcoveredandthesequenceofthesegrammaticalitemsandthatthecriteriaforselectinggrammaticalitemsaremainlythefollowingtwo,frequency,usefulness.Forfrequency,itisanimportantissue,becauseweneedtoknowtheform,meaningandusageofthefrequentlyusedgrammaticalitemsbecausetheyplayamoreimportantrolethanotheritemsinouruseofEnglish.CurriculumStandardofEnglish(中华人民共和国教育部2003)contendsineachlevelofthestandardstheimportanceofthegrammaticalitems.Forexample,inLevel2,therearetwomainstandards.Thefirstistobeabletounderstandthemeaningandusageofthelistedgrammaticalitems,andthesecondistobeabletounderstandthefunctionofthesegrammaticalitemsinrealuse.Thegrammaticalitemsarealsolinedupaccordingtoaspecificsequence,andthesequenceisunderthecriteriaofcomplexity,learnability,andteachablity.Bycomplexity,itmeansgrammarteachingshouldbeorganizedinahierarchyofstructurecomplexity.CurriculumStandardofEnglish(中华人民共和国教育部2003)6 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewhassetup9levelsfortheEnglishcurriculumfromtheprimaryschoolGrade1tothehighschoolGrade3.Thedifferentlevelsofstandardprovidegradualandincreasinglydemandingrequirements.Forexample,thepresentperfectiveprogressive(Shehasbeenreading)ismorecomplexthanpresentprogressive(Sheisreading),andfutureperfectprogressive(Shewillhavebeenreading)isevenmorecomplex.Thesegrammaticalitemsarearrangedinasequentialorderofcomplexity.Easytoform,grammaticalitemsshouldbetaughtformthesimplertothemorecomplexones.Theprocessofmorecomplexitemsaretransformedfromsimplerones,whichcanbeshownbythetransformationofthestatementtothequestiontoillustratethewaygrammarteachingcanbedonefromthesimplerpattertothemorecomplexpattern.Forexample,ifwetransform―JohnisEnglish‖to―IsJohnEnglish?‖theprocedureiseasyenough,aswejustneedtochangethepositionofthesubject―John‖andverb―is‖.However,forthetransformationof―JohnspeaksEnglish‖intoquestion,thereisonestepmorethanisneededinthepredecessor,whichis―JohnspeaksEnglish‖to―John[does]speakEnglish‖,andthen―Chris[does]speakEnglish‖to―DoesChrisspeakEnglish?‖Simplyproceedingfromtheoperationalviewoflanguageteaching,itislogicaltoteachfromthesimplertothemorecomplex,fromtheone-stepmanipulationtothemore-than-one-stepone.Learnability,asThornburyput,istraditionallymeasuredonthescaleofcomplexity,butwithresearchonnaturalsequenceforlanguageacquisition,though,theconventionalbeliefoflearnabilityhasbeenchallenged.Hefoundthatthegrammaticalitemsareacquiredinapresumablydeterminedorderindependentoftherulesofthesequenceoftheitemslearnersaretaughtofthislanguage(Thornbury2011:12).Murielpointsoutthat―thesecomplexitiesdonotappeartoinvalidateclaimsaboutorderofacquisition;evenwhenlearnersprofitfrommoreadvancedlevelsofinstruction,theyprogressthroughthesamedevelopmentalsequence‖(Muriel2012:82).AccordingtoThornbury,theproblemhereisthatdoesthis―naturalsequence‖shouldactasastakeholderofthedesignofgrammarinasyllabus.Adistinctionbetween―input‖and―output‖mustbemadefirst.Theresearchon―naturalsequence‖hasonlytoucheduponthesequenceofoutputlanguage.Evenifweaccept7 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationthatweacquirealanguagefollowingapredeterminedsequence,thisdoesnotmeanthatlearnersmustlearnaccordingly.Researchhasdemonstratedthatlearnersneedawidevarietyofinput,andthatthe―naturalsequence‖hypothesishasnodirectlinktothesyllabus,butrather,itdoesrelatetoattitudesofteachers.Thesefindingsshowedthatthoughsomegrammaticalitemstakemoretimethanotherstograsp,teachersshouldnotaskstudentstomasteragrammaritembeforeproceedingtomoredifficultones.Thethirdinfluencingfactorofgrammardesigninasyllabusisteachability.AccordingtoThornbury,hepresentprogressiveiseasytoexplain(Iamwalking,sheiswriting,etc.),andthereforeitcomesatanearlystageofthesyllabusforbeginners,althoughcomparedwiththesimplepresent(Iwalk,shewrites),thepresentprogressivesentencesoccurlessfrequently.Ontheotherhand,thearticle(a,the)isalsodifficulttodescribeorexplain,somostfrequentlyemployedgrammaticalitemthoughitis,thearticleisalwaystaughttolearnerswhentheyhaveprogressedtoarelativehighlevelofproficiency(Thornbury2011:13).2.1.2ImportanceofgrammarteachingGrammarteachinghasdiminishedinitsimportancewiththeimplementationofcommunicativesyllabus.Infact,grammarteachingandcommunicativeteachingareahybridthatworks.AccordingtoSavignon(2002:7),communicationcannottakeplaceintheabsenceofstructure,orgrammar,asetofsharedassumptionsabouthowlanguageworks.CanaleandSwain(1980)havedefinedgrammarcompetenceasacomponentofcommunicativecompetence.Grammarteachingisforlearnerstocreateaninter-languagethatisincreasinglyfluentandaccurateintheuseofEnglishstructuresinmeaningfulcommunication.Fluencyisasmuchagoalingrammarteachingasaccuracy.Sometimes,teachersshouldremindthemselvesofthatfluencydoesnotmeantheabilitytospeakpidginveryfast,andthatthegoalofgrammarteachingisforlearnerstobeabletocommunicatemeaningfullyinallskillareas.Inotherwords,thegoalsofgrammarteachingandcommunicativeteachingare8 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewfundamentallythesame.Theimportanceofgrammarteachingshouldbegivendueattentiontohelpstudentsimprovetheaccuracyoflanguagepatternsaswellasdevelopingtheircommunicativeskills.Tobeginwith,asolidgrammaticalfoundationisprerequisiteforuntrammeledlanguagecommunication.Communicativesyllabusstressescommunicationofalanguagewithpeopleindifferentsituations.Thecommunicativesyllabuscannotworkwithoutgrammarteaching.Grammarisamongthebasiccomponentsofalanguage.Ifwecomparethecultivationofcommunicationskillstobuildingahouse,grammarknowledgeisthecornerstoneandthestructureofahouse;themorerigidthecornerstoneandthestructureare,themoresturdyandbeautifulthehousewillbe.Althoughagoodmasteryofgrammardoesnotmeanagoodcommunicativeproficiency,lackofgrammarcompetencesurelylimitslearnersintheiruseofalanguage(柴金红2015).Aslearnersgraduatefromschoolandentertheworkingsites,theyarerequiredtouseEnglishjustappropriatetothesituation,whichisnodoubthighlydependentontheirgrammaticalbasis.Second,awell-foundedgrammaticalbasisisnecessaryforlearnerstopursuetheirlifetimelanguageproficiency.TheStandardforEnglishCurriculumhasstipulatedoneofthegoalstobethatstudentshavethebasiclanguageknowledgeandacquiretheskillsoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting,whichcollectivelyformtheircomprehensivelanguageskills.Asthestudentsleaveschool,gotouniversity,anddotheirjob,theywillberequiredtoexpandtheirsimplecommunicativecompetencytothelanguagerequiredfortheirmajors,ofwhichanabundantamountshalldependontheirself-study.Withoutasystematicgrammaticalknowledge,studentswillbegreatlyhamperedintheirfurtherlearning,nottosaylifetimelearning.Last,grammarteachinghelpsstudentscopewithsomeoftheobstaclestheyencounterinlearningalanguage.Thefinalgoaloflanguageacquisitionisforthelearnerstointernalizethegrammaticalrules.Aslearnersacquiretheirmothertonguethroughbeingtalkedtoandaskedtospeak,theyhavemasteredthecorrespondinglanguagerules.However,asforeignlanguagelearners,wecannotbeexposedto9 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationequallysufficientamountoflanguageinputtogainenoughlanguagestimulithatpromotelanguageacquisition.Therefore,teachersoughttoconsciouslyteachstudentssomefundamentalgrammartostudentsfortheiraccurateandmeaningfulunderstandingofalanguage.2.1.3PrinciplesofgrammarteachingManyscholarshavelaiddownprinciplesforgrammarteachingsincetheywillhelpusindevisingapproachestoteachinggrammar.AccordingtoThornbury(2011:26),ifdealingwithgrammarisonepartofclassroomactivities,thetimeleftfortheteacherisratherlimited;thus,itisextremelyimportantforgrammarteachingtobecarriedoutinaneffectivemanner,andby―effective‖,itcanmeanbeingsimple,easyandefficacious.Simplenessisakeycomponentofskilltraining,whichcanbebestillustratedinteachingpeopletodrive,whenlearnersperformbetteriftheyaretaughttosometheoreticalknowledgebeforehandwhiletoomuchteachingwillconfuselearners.Thesamerule,whichisbeingsimple,canbeappliedtolanguageteaching.Preparingforaclassshouldalsotakeeasinessintoconsideration.Easinessisforthesakeofteacherswhoarebusyhavingclassesandcannotsparemuchtimeonclasspreparation.Surely,teachersputtingalotoftimeandenergyintoclasspreparationaredoingsooutoftheircommitmenttotheirprofession.Preparingeffortlesslyforclasscannotlastlong.Aboveall,beingsimplewouldproveabettersolution.Efficacyisthemostdifficultfactortomeasure.Languageteachersrelymoreonintuitionratherthanhardstatisticsintheirteachingpractice.Sameaslanguage,learningresistsbeingmeasured.Wehavetests,though,whichcangivefeedbacktoteachersontheirteachingorlearningprocessonthepartofthestudents.However,theshortcomingsoftestingareobvious.Learningcomesfrompayingattentiontowhatistobelearned.Thus,theefficacyofgrammarteachingcanbemeasuredoverthedegreeoftheattentionbeingdrawntogrammaticalitems.Thismeansthatweshouldeliminateanydetailthatmightdigressfromlearninggrammar.Attentiondrawnwithoutunderstanding,though,wouldprove10 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewawasteoftime,soefficacyalsodependspartlyonthequantityandqualityofbackgroundinformation,explanationandcheckover.Last,understandingwithoutmemorizationstillprovesinefficacious,andthusefficacyshoulddependonhowmuchismemorized.AccordingtoThornbury(2011:33),learnersofeveryclasscanbedifferent,notonlyintheirneeds,interest,leveloflanguage,objectives,butalsointheirbeliefs,attitudes,andvalues.Thus,theefficacyforoneclassmaynotbeappliedtoanother,whichisbecauseitisinappropriate.Definingwhetherornotgrammarteachingisappropriatearelearners‘age,languagelevel,classsize,needs,studentsinterests,materialsandresourcesavailable,pastlearningexperiencesandcurrentexpectations,andculturalvaluesthatmayaffectlearnerattitudes,suchasattitudetowardteacher-centeredexplanationandteaching,andeducationalcondition,whetherprivate-ownedorpublic-owned,innerlandoroverseas.Teachingactivitieswithoutconsideringtheabovefactorswouldproveineffective.Learners‘ageisveryimportant.Researchhasdemonstratedthatchildrenpreferlanguagelearningactivitiesofacquisition-orientedratherthanlearning-oriented.Inotherwords,theyaregoodatlearninglanguagethroughacovertprocessinsteadofanovertprocesswherelanguageisperceivedasrule-governedstructure.Ontheotherhand,adultlearnerstendtodobetterinanalyticalandrecitation.Culturalfactorsalsodefineteachingsuccess.Someresearchershavedoubtedtherationalityofapplyingteachingmethodsofasettingtoanothersettingrandomly.CommunicativeLanguageTeaching(CLT)hasbeenamainattackingtarget.Amongotherthings,CLTislearner-centered,thatis,itofferslearnersmoreresponsibilityandparticipatingopportunities.Thisisoftencarriedoutthroughdiscovery-learningactivities(e.g.lookingforrulesbythestudentsthemselves)andgroupactivities,whichhasconsiderablediscrepancyfromtraditionalteacher-centeredactivities.CLThasexercisedarelativelyloosestressonaccuracy,andhasstressedmoreonmeaningthanform.Last,CLTinheritstheanthropologicalviewthatlanguageisakindofexpressionofhumanthoughts,ratherthanthatofculturecollectively.CriticismgoestoCLTweighsonthefactthatitisrootedonextremewesternizededucationalandlanguagebeliefs,andotherscriticizeCLTforits11 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationappropriatenesswheninsomeculturesteachersareregardedassourcesofboundlesswisdomandaccuracyismorestressed.Ofcourse,learningenvironmentcanchangewithtime,consultation,coordinationwithandtrainingoflearnerswillclearoutthemostradicalbeliefinlearners‘mind.2.1.4Approachestogrammarteaching2.1.4.1Grammar-TranslationlanguageteachingTraditionalgrammarteachingmethodinChina,especiallyinhighergrade,isapredominantlyGrammar-TranslationMethod.Liu(2008)concludedtheproceduresofthismethodasthefollowing.Theteacherfirstteachestheform,meaningandusageofthetargetedgrammaticalitemindeductivemethod.ThentheteacherasksthestudentstoreadtheexamplesentencesandtranslatethemintoChinese.Thelastphaseisthatthestudentsareaskedtodoreinforcementexercisestoconsolidatethegrammar.AccordingtoLi(2015),Grammar-TranslationMethodisgrammar-centered,andtakesmother-tongueasameansofteaching,andtranslationasameansofteaching.Itstressesreadingandwriting,andrecitinggrammarrulesandvocabularyasthemainlearningstrategy.TheGrammar-TranslationMethodiseasytoapplyintheclassroom,andcancultivateasolidbasisofEnglishlanguagecompetenceandstrongreadingskillsforthestudents.Thedemeritsareobviousinthatitstressestoomuchongrammaranalysisandtexttranslation,whichleadtoapoorcommunicativeskill,lackofinitiativeforthestudents,andlackoflivelinessoftheteaching.2.1.4.2Real-object-aidlanguageteachingReal-object-aidlanguageteachingisateachingapproachthatentailstheuseofrealobjects.AmericanlinguistLadoinhisbookLinguisticsacrossCulturesputsforwardhispropositionofpositivetransferandnegativetransferoflanguagelearning,whichpositsthatpositivetransferoccurswhenthelanguageitemsthatareinone‘sfirstlanguageareofthesameform,meaninganduseinthesecondlanguagewillbe12 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewtheeasiertopickupinlearning,andnegativetransferoccurswhenthoselanguageitemsinone‘sfirstlanguagethatareoverlappingwiththesecondlanguageoneislearningintheirform,meaninganduse(Lado1957).AsEnglishandChinesearetwodrasticallydifferentlanguagesinform,meaninganduse,aChineseEnglishlearnerwillencountergreatdifficultywhentheinterferenceofnegativetransferoccursinhislearning.Chen(陈萍2014)proposesthatpeoplecanrememberapicturebecauseithasmanyovertfeatures,andthatpeoplecanrememberarealobjectbetterthanapicturebecausearealobjectismoreabsorbing.Learnerscanrememberatahigherlevelwiththeuseofrealobjectsbecauselanguageiscodedintovisualandmeaning,whicheffectivelyovercomesthenegativetransferoflanguagelearning.Real-object-aidteachingavoidscomplicatedgrammaticalanalysisandexplanation,andcanfacilitateunderstandingandmasteryofgrammarcompetencewiththehelpofshortdialogues.2.1.4.3GraphlanguageteachingGraphlanguageteachingisalanguageteachingapproachthattheteacherorganizesandconcludestheinformationoftheteachingmaterialsintographs.Graphteachingcanactasabridgebetweenabstractlanguagepointsandunderstanding.AccordingtoChen(陈琦373),graphteachingapproachisaneffectivewaytohelpstudentslearnandreviewlanguagepoints,andconstructanetworkoflanguagesystem.Usinggraphstopresentandconcludelanguagepointsnotonlyexcitesstudents‘interest,butalsosystemizethescatteredknowledgepoints,makingthelinksanddifferencesofknowledgepointsmoreobviousandeasiertounderstandandgrasp.Graphexplanationiswellreceivedforitsvividnessanddirectness.Withgraphteaching,theteachercanhelpstudentsunderstandandmasterrelativelycomplicatedgrammarinawaythattheirinterestinlearninggrammarcanbestimulated.13 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation2.1.4.4CommunicativelanguageteachingCommunicativeteachingisanapproachthatiscenteredoncommunicativeactivitiesandisintendedtoimprovestudents‘communicativecompetence.Undoubtedly,communicativeabilityisoneimportantpartofEnglishlearning.AccordingtoThornbury,thecommunicativecompetenceconsistsofnotonlytheknowledgeoftherulesofgrammar,butalsoknowinghowtouseittoreachcommunicativegoalsandknowinghowtodothisinasociallyappropriateway(Thornbury2003:22).TheNewCurriculumStandardofEnglishhasdividedtheoveralllanguageabilityintofiveparts,amongwhich,thereisthelearningstrategy,andinit,thereisonestrategycalledcommunicativestrategy(中华人民共和国教育部2003:7).Asthecurrentgrammarteachingiscontextindependent,thestudentscannotconductsuccessfulcommunicationwiththegrammarknowledgetheyhaveinrealsituations.Theteachercanalwaysusecommunicationasameansofgrammarteachingsothatbothgrammarknowledgeandcommunicativecompetencecanbedeveloped.2.1.4.5Task-basedlanguageteachingThetask-basedteachingisateachingapproachthatisbasedoncommunicativeapproach.Thisapproachusestaskstoconductteaching.Nunandefinestask-basedlanguageteachingas―anapproachtothedesignoflanguagecourseinwhichthepointofdepartureisnotanorderedlistoflinguisticitems,butacollectionoftasks‖(Nunan1989:24).Nunanhasconcluded5characteristicsofgrammarteachingintask-basedlanguageteaching,emphasisoncommunicationthroughinteractioninthetargetlanguage,theintroductionofauthentictextsintothelearningsituation,theopportunityforlearnerstofocusnotonlyonlanguage,butalsoonthelearningprocessitself,anenhancementofthelearners‘ownpersonalexperiencesasimportantcontributingelementtoclassroomlearning,andanattempttolinkclassroomlanguage14 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewlearningwithlanguageactivationoutsidetheclassroom(Nunan1991).TheCurriculumStandardofEnglishprescribesthatEnglishteachingshouldstresslanguageuseandcultivatestudents‘comprehensivelanguageskillsofuse.Inthecurriculumstandard,itsetsdifferentlevelsofrequirementsintheformof―whatstudentscandowithEnglish‖(中华人民共和国教育部2011:29).Thepresentationandlearningofdifferentlanguagepointsshouldbeorientedfromthelanguageuse,andservethepurposeofenhancingstudents‘abilityto―useEnglishtodothings‖(中华人民共和国教育部2011:26).Theteachershouldcreatedifferentreal-lifecontexts,usethegradientlanguageactivities,andapplyteachingmethodsthatstressthelearningprocessandresultssuchastask-basedlanguageteachingtohelpstudents‘abilitytodothingswithEnglish.AccordingtoMeng,underthetask-basedlanguageteaching,studentsaremoreactiveingrammarlearning,morelikelytodevelopself-learningstyle,andbetteratgrammarproficiency(孟敬华,2013).Liuconcludesafterhistask-basedlanguageteachingexperimentthatmoststudentsthinkthismethodiseffectiveinhelpingthemimprovethecommunicativeabilitythroughgrammarlearning,andhaveabetterunderstandingofgrammarrules.Besides,studentsgethighergradeswiththetask-basedlanguageteaching,andshowgreatinterestintheactivities,becomeactivelearnersofEnglishandbraveintheclass(刘彦,2012).2.2PreviousstudyofConstructionGrammar2.2.1ThestudyofConstructionGrammarabroadConstructionGrammarwasbasedonthecriticismofTransformation-GenerativeGrammar,inwhichthebasicideaisthatlanguageisrule-based,multi-stratal,andtransformationalwithsurfaceanddeeplevels(Chomsky1957).ConstructionGrammardatedbacktoasearlyas1960s,whenFillmoreraisedtheruleforselectingthe―unmarkedsubject‖inhistheoryof―casegrammar‖(Fillmore1968).ItisregardedastherootofwhatisConstructionGrammartodayandinfluencedGoldberg15 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationinherstudyoftheargumentstructuresofsentencestructures(Goldberg1995).Lackoffgivesanearlyinterpretationofconstructions,whichhecalls―gestalts‖(Lackoff1977).Hearguesthatthecomponentsofthesentencestructure,likethesubject,theobject,component,etc.canonlybestudiedwithinthesentencestructure,andthusthesentencestructurecanbeinvariousforms.Theconstructionsthemselveshavemeanings.Themeaningofthewholeisnotthecompositionalmeaningofthepartsputtogether.Langackerproposestheconceptof―grammaticalconstruction‖,forwhichhemeansthatgrammarconcernsalargerdomainthansyntaxalone(Langacker1987).Thegrammaticalconstructioncanbeinstantiatedintomorecomplicatedsymbolicconstructures.Thegrammaticalconstructionisasymbolicallycomplexcomposedoftwocomposingstructures.Themeaningoftheconstructionisbasedonthespeechenvironment,purposeandbackground.Langckerbelievesthatlanguageisacomplexofregularityandidiosyncrasy.Thetraditionofstressingregularity,thussimplification,doesnotworkbecauseaspeaker‘sknowledgeofaconstructiondoesnotcomefromanyprototypicalorhigh-levelschema.Heencouragesstressingidiosyncrasyandcriticizessimplificationoflanguagestructures.Lackoff(1987)proposesthetheoryof―grammaticalconstruction‖inhispaperWomen,Fire,andDangerousThings:WhatCategoriesRevealabouttheMind.Inhiscasestudyof―There-Constructions‖,hepointedoutthattheTransformational-GenerativeGrammarcannotsolvetheproblemsthatexistwhenthemeaningofthecomponentinasentencestructurehasnoprincipleofcombination.Hemaintainedthatasconstructionslike―There-Constructions‖arecorrelatedbutslightlydifferentinmeaning.Transformational-GenerativeGrammarcannotexplainthisphenomenon,sotheyoughttobestudiedfromtheirforms,meaningsandfunctionsthoroughly.Fillmoreetal(1988)‘spaper―RegularityandIdiomaticityinGrammaticalConstructions:TheCaseofletalone‖markedamilestoneforConstructionGrammartheory.Theyproposetheconceptof―construction‖intheplaceofthe―rule‖astheunitofthegrammarentity.Byusingthecaseof―letalone‖,theauthorspointoutthe16 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewirregularityandfeaturesofidiomscannotbeexplainedbythestrategyof―exception‖ofTransformational-GenerativeGrammar.Theysaytheidiomsofalanguagearemorepowerfulandmoreextensivethanbelievedtobe,andthattheyaregenerativeandhighlystructuredsoshouldbecarefullystudied.Onthebasisofthis,theauthorsclaimsthatanewmodelofgrammarexplanation,whichassociates―semanticandpragmaticinterpretationprincipleswithsyntacticconfigurations‖.Theylistfourdifferencesoftheconstructionfromthephrasestructuresub-treeandthesentencestructuretreeoftheruletradition,(1)Constructionsmayextendoverthesententialtree;(2)Constructionsencompasssyntactic,lexical,semantic,andpragmaticinformation;(3)Lexicalitemsareconstructionsthemselves;(4)Constructionsmaybeidiomaticbecausethatalargeconstructionmayhavethesemanticmeaningorpragmaticmeaningthatisnotcalculatedformthecomponentmeaningsoftheconstructionaddedup.Goldberg(1995)inhispaper―Constructions:AConstructionGrammarApproachtoArgumentStructure‖,givestheclassicdefinitionoftheconstruction,andmaintainsthateachconstructionhasmeaning.Inthefiveconstructionsshestudies,shefurtherprovestheexistenceofthemeaningoftheconstructionbeyondthatofthecomponentscombined.Shealsogivesfourexternallinksbetweenconstructions,namely,polysemylinks,subpartlinks,instancelinksandmetaphoricalextensionlinks.Jackendoffstudiesthe―time-away‖Construction,andprovesthatthesyntacticandsemanticfeatureofthisconstructioncannotbepredictedfromconstructionswithrelatedmeanings.Hefurthergivestheassumptionthatconstructionscanbeusedtoexplainallthelanguagecompetencethespeakerhasincommand(Jackendoff1997).Fillmoreetal(1999)‘spaper―GrammaticalConstructionandLinguisticGeneralizations:TheWhat’sXdoingYConstruction‖studiesthe―What‘sXdoingY‖Construction,andarguesthatthepragmaticmeaningoftheconstructionisnotcontext-based,butconstruction-entailed.Theauthorshavesuccessfullytaken17 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationpragmaticsintothestudyoftheconstruction,andprovethattheconstructionhaspragmaticfunction.Therearetwoaspectsoftheconstruction,oneistheform,andtheotheristhemeaning.Gean(1958),Plag(2003:30),Booij(2010:2),Goldberg(1995)havediscussedthemorphologicallevelandsyntacticleveloftheformoftheconstruction.Goldberg(1995:50),Jackendoff(1997)havetalkedaboutthemeaningoftheconstruction.Fillmoreetal(1999)andLambrecht(1994)havediscussedthemeaningoftheconstructiononthecontextuallevel.ConstructionGrammarhasimplicationsforlanguageacquisition.GoldbergandCasenhiser(2005)havedoneexperimentstotesttheruleoflanguageacquisition,andhaveconcludedthefrequencyoftheconstructioniskeytotheacquisition.2.2.2ThestudyofConstructionGrammarathomeConstructionGrammarhasbeendevelopedthrough1980stothepresentday,andthestudyofConstructionGrammarinChinastartedfromtheintroductionofthistheoryin1999,andZhangBojiang(1999)translatesconstructioninto―句式‖,‖语法结构式‖,or―结构式‖inhisarticle.LiShujing(2001)followsZhang‘sversionof―构块式‖.AtthebeginningstageofConstructionGrammar,evenabroad,themajorpartofthestudyisonsentenceconstructions,thetranslationof―句式‖isconvincing.Withthedeepeningofthestudy,―构块‖seemsmoreappropriate.JiYunxiaetal(2002)uses―构块式‖.DongYanpingetal(2002)startedtouse―构式语法‖tointroducethestudyofConstructionGrammarabroad.StudiesofConstructionGrammarinChinaareintwomajorcategories.OneisonthetheoryandtheunitoftheConstructionGrammar,theconstruction,theotherisonConstructionGrammartheoryandsecondlanguageacquisition.DengYunhuaetal(2007),ChenManhua(2009),XiongXueliang(2009)havedonesomeintroductorystudyandcriticismonConstructionGrammar.DengandChenpointoutthelimitsofConstructionGrammarthattheextensionoftheconceptoftheconstructionresultsinthetediousnessofsentenceanalysis.Still,theythinkthat18 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewthepolysemyofaconstructionisaproblematicissue.LiShujing(2007)andXuShenghuan(2001)studytheEnglishconstructions,andLiYunjing(),YanChensong(2008),LiuYuhong,etal(2007),andZhangyi(2009)studytheChineseconstructions.ShiYuzhi(2004)andXiongXueliang(2007)docomparativestudyofChineseandEnglishconstructions.RenQingmei(2007),HuangJie(2008),ChenManhua(2009),LiXiaohuaetal(2010)studytheConstructionGrammarandsecondlanguageacquisitiononatheoreticallevel.Theyholdthatsecondlanguageteachingshouldbebasedontheperspectiveoftheconstructionatthecenter,andavoidthefossilizationofthegrammaticalruleinthecourseofteaching.LiXiaohuaetalpointouthatsecondlanguageacquisitionisalsobasedonthesequenceof―idiom‖,―low-scopepattern‖to―construction‖.DongYanpingetal(2004)andHuXuewen(2007)studythisapplicationonapracticallevel.Dongetalcomeupwiththeconclusionthatstudentswithhigherlanguageperformancetendtorelyonconstructionsmorethanthosewhoarelessachieved.HuXuewen‘sstudyrevealsthatthemistakesChinesestudentsoftenmakeonditransitiveconstructionareduetotheinterferenceoftheconstructionsoftheirmothertongue.2.3TheoreticalStructureofConstructionGrammar2.3.1ThefoundationofConstructionGrammarGrammarisabasiccomponentofthelanguageknowledge.IfwewanttoexplorefeasibleandscientificprinciplesandstrategiesforEnglishgrammarteaching,ascientificgrammartheoryshouldbestudiedfirst.Startingfromthispoint,wewillstudythefundamentallinguisticpropositionsofConstructionGrammartheory.Thenwewillgiveattentiontothelanguageacquisitionpropositionofit.BasedonthefindingsoftheresearchonConstructionGrammartheory,anexplanationoflanguagepropertiesandlanguageacquisitionbythistheorywillbemoreconvincing.19 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation2.3.1.1DefinitionoftheconstructionTraditionalgrammarteachingisbasedprimarilyonthestructuralismlinguisticsbySaussureandtransformational-generativelinguisticsbyChomsky.Theformerproclaimslangueandparoleasthesubjectsoflinguisticsresearch.Itisunderthedescriptivetraditionoflanguageresearchasitbelievesthatlanguageisasystemofstratalstructures.Chomsky,whoisthefounderofmodernlinguistics,inheritedthedescriptivetraditionofstructurismlinguisticsanddevelopedacognitiveviewoflinguisticsresearch,whichisrepresentedbyhisbookSyntacticStructures.Inthisbook,heproposedarule-governedlinguisticstheory,Transformational-GenerativeGrammar.―FromnowonIwillconsiderlanguagetobeasetof(finiteorinfinite)sentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.‖(Chomsky1957:13)Hebelievedthattheupper-leveloflanguagecompetence,sentences,areconstructedoutofafinitesetofrules,whichgovernthewayEnglishsentencesaretransformedandgenerated.Histheorycanbebestillustratedintheruleofhowdeclarativesentencesaretransformedintointerrogativeones,andhowtwosentencesaretransformedintoamainclauseattributedbyasubordinateclause.Still,wemaybewillinglyembracingtheviewthatasyntacticstructurecangenerateaninfinitenumberofsentencesthathavethesameconstruction.ConstructionGrammarisbasedonadifferentnotionfromChomsky‘sTransformation-GenerativeGrammar,andisbornwiththecriticismofTransformation-GenerativeGrammar.WhileTransformation-GenerativeGrammarisrule-based,ConstructionGrammarbelievesthatastogrammar,thelinguisticcompetencealanguagespeakerhasincommandareconstructions.Thetotalityofourknowledgeoflanguageiscapturedbyanetworkofconstructions:a‗construct-i-con‘(Goldberg2003:219).Thenetworkofconstructionscaptureourgrammaticalknowledgeintotal,i.e.it‘sconstructionsallthewaydown(Goldberg2006:18).ThetermconstructionisgenerallydefinedinthiswaybyA.E.Goldberg,whoisoneofthecentraldevelopersofConstructionGrammar:―CisaCONSTRUCTIONiffdefCisaform-meaningpairsuchthat20 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewsomeaspectofFiorsomeaspectofSiisnotstrictlypredictablefromC‘scomponentpartsorfromotherpreviouslyestablishedconstructions.‖(Goldberg1995:4)In2006,Goldberggivesanupdateddefinitionoftheconstruction:―Anylinguisticpatternisrecognizedasaconstructionaslongassomeaspectofitsformorfunctionisnotstrictlypredictablefromitscomponentpartsorfromotherconstructionsrecognizedtoexist.Inaddition,patternsarestoredasconstructionseveniftheyarefullypredictableaslongastheyoccurwithsufficientfrequency.‖(Goldberg2006:5)Thedefinitionofconstructiontellstwoimportantcharacteristicsofconstruction.First,aconstructionisalinguisticformwithmeaning.Thatistosay,aconstructionisnotthesameasthegrammaticalitemintraditionalsense.Thegrammaticalitemonlystipulatestheformationruleforwordstomakeupwords,phrasesorsentences.Aconstructionisaunitofknowledgethatislinkedtoone‘scognitiveunderstanding.Second,aconstructionisanon-predictableunitintermsofitsformormeaning.Bynon-predictableinitsform,itmeanstheconstructionisconflictingwiththephrasestructureruleorsentencestructurerule.Suchasthefollowingconstructions:-allofasudden-byandlarge-Themore,themerrier.Wecanfindsomenon-predictablecharacteristicsintheseexamples.Forallofasudden,itishardforustocategorize―sudden‖intoitspartofspeech.Ingeneralsense,suddenisanadjective,buthowcomeitseemstobeanouninthiscaseasitisfollowedbytheindefinitearticle―a‖?Inbyandlarge,wecanfindthatbetweenand,thereisbyandlarge,whichareprepositionandadjectiverespectively.Thisisdefyingthetypicalstructuralruleforand,forwearealwaystoldthattheelementsbesidesandshouldbelongtothesamepartofspeech.With―Themore,themerrier‖,thereisnotaverbinit,isn‘titarulethateachsentencehasatleastoneverb?Thenon-predictablemeaningistheotherimportantfeatureofconstructions.ThisfeatureismostcommonlydiscussedinidiomsinConstructionGrammarsuchastheconstructionsofidiominthefollowingsentences:21 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation-WillandJennyfinallytiedtheknot.-Histheoryistotallyoffthemark.-Let‘scallitaday.Theidiom,asweknow,isastringofwordsthatoughttobeunderstoodonlyasawholebutnotthecombinationofthemeaningsofitscomponentwords.Theidiominthefirstsentence,―tiedtheknot‖,isdefinitelynotthesamemeaningastheactoftyingaknotwithourshoelaces.Forthesecondexample,offthemarkisnotfarawayfromamarkyoudrawonthegroundorsomewhereelse.―Let‘scallitaday‖isnotevenlogicalifweunderstandthisidiomfromthecombinationofthelexicalmeaningofitscomponents.Ashasbeendiscussedabove,theconstructioncoversallthelinguisticknowledgelanguagespeakershastobeabletoapplythelanguageasatoolforitsuse.TheconstructionisabroadertermthanthegrammaticalitemsuchasthepastcontinuousweencounterinthetraditionalEnglishclass.Italsoincludeswordsandidioms.Moreimportantly,theconstructionisacognitiveterm;itisdirectlylinkedtoourunderstandingofthematerialandspiritualworld.Generalizationsacrossinstancesarealsomade.Memoryforindividualinstancesdecaysovertime,whilegeneralizationsthatarereinforcedgrowinstrength.Itcanbesaidthattheconstructionisageneralizationthatspeakersmakeacrossmanysimilarstructuredutterances.GeneralizationisalsoaveryimportantfeatureinConstructionGrammarresearch,whichwillbediscussedlaterinConstructionGrammarandlanguageacquisition.2.3.1.2TheclassificationofconstructionsAshasbeendiscussedbefore,constructioncapturesthewholeofaperson‘slinguisticcompetencewhichareform-meaningpairwitheithernon-predictableformormeaning.Itinvolvesmorphemes,words,idioms,phrasalandsyntacticstructures.Structurally,awordisnotthesmallestunitbecausemanywordscanbeseparatedintoevensmallermeaningfulunit(张维友1999:37).Morphemesareatraditional22 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewgrammaticalcategory,butthemorphemestalkedaboutintraditionalgrammaronlycoversalimitednumberofthewholemorphemefamilylike―-ed‖and―-ing‖forverbsindifferenttenses,and―-er‖incomparativestructures.Constructiongrammarisinterestedinvirtuallyallmorphemicitems.AsConstructionGrammarcoversallform-meaningpairswhosemeaningorformisnotfullypredictable,themorphemicconstructionswillbediscussedinamoredetailedmannerinthischapter.Wordsaretraditionallynotconsideredagrammaticalcategory,butbecauseoftheinclusivenessofConstructionGrammarandthecriterionfortheconstruction,wordsarecountedasconstructions.Inaway,wordsareidiosyncraticconstructionscomposedoflettersandthustheirmeaningorformcannotbepredictedfromitscomponents.Idiomsarenottobetalkedherebecausewehavediscusseditonthelastsection.Phrasalandsyntacticstructuresareconstructions.Thatistosay,phrasesandsentencesarenotconstructions.Phrasesandsentencesarecalledconstructs.Constructsarephrasesandsentencesthatinstantiateconstructions.Inthiscase,itisphrasalandsyntacticstructuresthatwecallconstructions.Forinstance,thesentence―Ienjoyplayingfootball‖isaconstructthatinstantiatestheSubject-PredicateConstruction.Still,thephrase―enjoyplayingfootball‖inthesentenceinstantiatestheTransitiveConstruction,whichiscomposedofatransitiveverb―enjoy‖andanobject―playingfootball‖.Furthermore,thephrase―playingfootball‖instantiatesthe―V-ing‖ClauseConstructioncombinedwiththeTransitiveConstruction,whichcanbecalledTransitiveV-ingConstruction.Last,―football‖instantiatestheNull-DeterminerNounConstruction.Toconclude,thatasentenceorphraseisnotaconstructionmeansthatanysentenceorphrasecanbeanalyzedasmoregeneralconstructions,whichwecallphrasalorsyntacticconstruction.2.3.1.3LinksbetweenconstructionsThetraditionalgrammartheory,suchasTransformational-generativeGrammar,believeslanguageisahierarchicalsystemthatsentenceisatthebottom,andthenthe23 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationnounphraseandtheverbphrasecomenext(Srule),andnextthenounphrasecanbedividedintothedeterminerandthenoun,theverbphrasedividedintoverbandnounphrasewhichcanbedividedagainintothedeterminerandthenoun,andatthebottomofthesentencesystemarethewordsthatcorrespondtoeachpartofspeech.ThesentencecanbelatertransformedwiththemoreinclusiveCPmatrixsothattheoriginalSrulecanbefurtherdevelopedintomorecomplexsentence,andasentencepatterncangeneratemoresentenceswithrichelementsofworldexperience.Aboveall,traditionalgrammarbelievesthatthebasiccomponentsoflanguage,suchasthewordandthephrase,areforthepurposeofcreatingsentences.Thus,thelinksbetweenbasiclanguagecomponentsarehierarchicallinksthatconnectthemtoformsentences.ConstructionGrammar,however,takesadifferentview.Asisconveyedbythedefinitionofconstruction,thebasiccomponentoflinguisticknowledge,theconstructionsareform-meaningpairs,andthereisnohierarchicalclaimthatdemandslowerlevelofthemorphemetobesubjecttotheword,orthewordtobesubjecttothephrase,andsoonandsoforth.Thelinksbetweenconstructions,however,arecalledinheritancelinks.Inheritancelinksaimstoorganizeconstructionsintoahierarchicalorder.Theyareinstancelinks,polysemylinks,metaphorlinks,andsubpartlinks.Instancelinks,asitsnamesuggests,meansomeconstructionsinstantiatemoreabstractones.Take―facethemusic‖forexample.Itisanidiom,andfromthedefinitionoftheconstruction,weknowitisaconstruction,becausewecannotpredictthemeaningoftheidiom―accepttheunpleasantconsequencesofone‘spreviousactions‖justfromthecomposingwordsintheidiom.Theidiominstantiatessomemoreabstractconstructions,suchasface+Objectconstruction,andonelevelabovethat,TransitiveConstruction.Still,aswordsarealsoconstructions.Wecanfindthatconstructionslike―jeep‖,―sedan‖,and―van‖instantiatesthemoreabstractconstruction"car",and―car‖thusinstantiatestheconstruction―vehicle‖.Therefore,theinstancelinksputconstructionsintoahierarchyinwhichthemoreabstractconstructionsareonthetop,andthemoreconcreteconstructionsareonthebottom.Polysemylinksmeanoneconstructioncontainingseveralconceptuallyrelated24 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewmeanings.Themostcommonlytalkedaboutconstructionofthiskindisditransitiveconstruction.ThecentralsenseforthisconstructionisactualtransferinwhichSubjectcausesObject1toreceiveObject2.Therearestillsensesforthisconstruction,includingintendedtransfer,inwhichSubjectintendstocauseObject1toreceiveObject2,futuretransfer,inwhichSubjectcausesObject1toreceiveObject2inansatisfactorycondition,enabledtransfer,inwhichSubjectenablesObject1toreceiveObject2,andblockedtransfer,inwhichSubjectcausesObject1nottoreceiveObject2.Herearetheexamplesforthem.-actualtransfer:MikegaveJohnanapple.-intendedtransfer:MikebakedJohnacake.-futuretransfer:MikepromisedJohnacar.-enabledtransfer:MikepermittedJohnachocolate.-blockedtransfer:MikedeniedJohnacake.Metaphorlinksmeanthedifferentmeaningsofthesameconstructionhavemetaphoricrelationship.Thespecialhallmarkofmetaphoricallinksisthatthetwoconnectedsensesrepresentthesourcedomainandthetargetdomainofaconceptualmetaphor(LackoffandJohnsen1980).TheCausedMotionConstruction(eg.Mikekickedtheballtothegoal)andtheResultativeConstruction(eg.Heatmadethewaterintosteam)areinfactthesameSubject+Verb+Object+PrepsitionSyntacticConstruction.Thechangesoflocation(causedmotionconstruction)andthatofstate(ResultativeConstruction)inthisconstructionarelinkedmetaphorically.Themetaphorlinkbetweenthetwoisthatlocationsarestates.Subpartlinksmeanconstructionsarerelatedinanoverlappingwayinmeaningorform.EveryTransitiveConstructioninstantiatesVerbPhraseConstruction+NounPhraseConstruction,andthusTransitiveConstructionarelinkedtoVerbPhraseConstructionandNounPhraseConstructionthroughsubpartlinks.25 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducation2.3.2Twoaspectsoftheconstruction2.3.2.1Theform(Fi)oftheconstruction2.3.2.1.1WordformationConstructionGrammarbelievesthatmorphemesareconstructions.Morphologyreferstothestudyoftheinternalstructureofwords,andtherulesbywhichwordsareformed.BerkoJeandidastudythatyoungchildrenwereguidedtoproducepluralformsofinventedwords,andthestudentswerelaterfoundtobeabletomasterthetask(Jean1958).ThisstudyshowsthatchildrenhaveformedageneralizationofhowtheEnglishpluralisformed.LinguistsinEnglishmorphologyhavestudiedthiskindofphenomenonwithmoregeneralpurposeoffindingthewordformationprocess.Plagproposedthatproductivewordformationprocessesareconcludedasmorphologicalrules(Plag,2003:30).Booijconcludedthatspeakersarethoughttogeneralizeoversetsofwordssuchasbaker,buyer,runner,seller,andspeakersothattheyformtheschemaxeronewhoVs,whichallowschildrentocoinnewwords(Booij2010:2).Wordformationprocessescorrespondtolinguisticgeneralizations,whichwewilltalkaboutmoreinthepartofConstructionGrammarandlanguageacquisitionwhenwewillfindoutthatspeakersgraduallyassociateaschematicformwithaschematicmeaningthroughhearingsimilarstructuredconstructsthatcorrespondtothesameconstruction.2.3.2.1.2SentencestructureTraditionalconceptionofgrammarisprimarilyaboutsyntax,andsyntaxisverbcentered.Thisideaofsyntacticstructurebelievesthateachverbislistedinthementallexicon.Ineachentrytheverbisspecifiedwithwhatsyntacticcontextstheverbcanoccur.Liketheverb―sweep‖,wehavethesyntacticcontextssuchasits―intransitive‖use,―transitive‖use,―transitiveplusresultantstateofadjective‖,and―transitiveplus26 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewpath‖asshowninthefollowingexamples.-Westillhavetosweep.-Westillhavetosweepthetiles.-Westillhavetosweepthetilesshinyclean.-Westillhavetosweepthemudoffthetiles.However,thereareproblemswiththislexicallyspecifiedsyntacticgrammar.Speakersuseverbscreatively.Inotherwords,theyspeakutterancesofsyntacticcontextsinwhichtheyhavenotheardaverbbefore.-Johnplayedthepianotopieces.-Hepulledhimselffree,onelegatatime.-Nomatterhowcarefullyyoulickaspoonclean,somestickystuffwillclingtoit.Ifthetraditionalviewofsyntacticstructurewasright,therewouldhavebeenentriesfortheverb―play‖,―pull‖,and―lick‖likethefollowinginthedictionary,whichisnotthecaseatall.-play:actingonanobjectinaviolentwaythatleadstoachangeofthatobject.-pull:gettinganobjectorpersonoutofsthinaneffort-takingwaythatleadstothechangeofthatobjectorperson.-lick:passingthetongueoveranobjectinathoroughwaythatleadtoachangeofthatobject.ConstructionGrammarbelievesthatthe―syntacticcontext‖dictatesacertaininterpretationoftheverb(Hilpert2014).Likethecasein―Johnplaysthepianotopieces‖,thetransitiveverb―play‖intheconstructionshouldbeinterpretedinthesyntacticstructureratherthanunderstoodbyitself.Ineachcase,theverb―play‖connectswithadirectobjectandapredicatethatexpressesaresultativestate.Thedirectobjectandtheresultativestateinthesentenceareargumentsoftheverb.Therefore,theconstructionasawhole,otherthantheverb,isthekeycomponentinunderstandingsentences,orsyntacticstructures.Also,ConstructionGrammarpaysmoreattentiontotheargumentstructuresinthesyntacticconstruction.Theparticipantsevokedbyaverbarecalledtheargumentsofit.Constructiongrammar27 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationbelievesthatargumentstructureconstructionsformpartofspeakers‘knowledgeoflanguage.Inthiscase,theResultativeConstructionisanargumentconstructionthatcontributestoapatientargumentandaresultargument.Itistheconstruction,orthetwoargumentsintheconstruction,ratherthantheverbitself,thatexpressesthemeaningoftheverbintheconstruction.2.3.2.2Themeaning(Si)oftheconstruction2.3.2.2.1ThemeaningoftheconstructionGoldbergpointsoutthatthecombinationofverbsandconstructionsarenotunconstrained(Goldberg1995:50).-Johnheardhisearsdeafwithheavymetal.-Johnsankhimselfdrowned.TheabovesentencesareconsideredwrongintheuseofEnglish.Therecomesasemi-principlethataverbcanbeinsertedintoagivenconstructiononlyiftheverbandtheargumentstructurematchsemantically.Thisiscalledthesemanticcoherenceprinciple,whichdisputesthatonlyrolesthataresemanticallycompatiblecanbefused,andthattworolesarecompatibleifonecanbeunderstoodasaninstanceofanother.Forexample,ifwewanttomakeasentencewithCaused-motionconstruction,theCaused-motionconstructioninvolvesanagent,atheme(主题),andapath,ifwewanttotestif―tickle‖issuitableformakingthissentence,wecanfindthattheverb―tickle‖evokesanagentandapatient.Asathemeisakindofpatient,itispossibletomakeasentencewithCaused-motionconstructionusing―tickle‖,asinthesentence―MarytickledJohnoutofthebed‖.Whilefortheexamplesabove,theyareallResultativeConstruction,whichinvolvesanagent,athemeandaresult,andtheverb―hear‖and―sink‖specifyanexperiencerandathemerespectively.Therefore,theseexamplesarenotacceptablesentencesinEnglish.ThishasinfactexplainedthereasonwhytheEnglishsentencesstudentsinChinahavemadearecorrectintheirform,butarenotacceptablefromtheconventionalprincipleofEnglishuse.Toknow28 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewalanguageisaboutknowingconstructionsfromConstructionGrammartheory,andasaconstructionisaform-meaningpair,itislogicaltothinkthatthegrammarlearningshouldneverbesufficedwiththerecitationoftheformsofthegrammaticalitems.Inthecaseofsyntaxandsemantics,thepointisthatthesetwopartsoflinguisticknowledgecannevertreatedseparately.Thesemanticcoherenceprinciplehassetthecriterionthathowsyntaxcanbehelpedtoexpressmeaningssuccessfully.2.3.2.2.2ThemeaningoftheconstructiononthecontextWeknowthatconstructionisatermthatrelatesformtomeaningandthatpragmaticsisthestudyofcontext-dependentmeaningsinlinguisticutterances.Therefore,themainpurposeofConstructionGrammarinitsrelationshipwithpragmaticsisorganizingandarrangingmeanings,relatingnewmeaningstooldmeaningsinsteadofconveyingmeaningsthemselves(Lambrecht1994:51).Lambrechtdefinestheoldinformationaspragmaticpresupposition,thesetofpropositionslexicogrammaticallyevokedinasentencewhichthespeakerassumestheheareralreadyassumestheheareralreadyknowsorisreadytotakeforgrantedatthetimethesentenceisuttered,andhedefinesthenewinformationaspragmaticassertion,thepropositionexpressedbyasentencewhichthehearerisexpectedtoknowortakeforgrantedasaresultofthesentenceuttered.Lambrechtalsobringsanewconcept―focus‖,whichistheelementofinformationwherebythepresuppositionandtheassertiondifferfromeachother.Inthiscase,constructionsthatareinthepragmaticdomainare―sensitive‖tothestructureofthecommunicativesituation,whathasbeensaidbefore,whathasnotbeensaidbefore,whatthehearercanbeexpectedtoknowalready.Whenspeakersusepragmaticconstructions,theymakeacommongroundguessastowhattheheareralreadyknows(Lambrecht1994:52).Q:Whatdoyouneed?A:WhatIneedisasheetofpaperandapencil.Intheconversation,―WhatIneedisasheetofpaperandapencil‖isanutterancewithpragmaticmeaning.Clearly,thepragmaticpresuppositionoftheansweris―the29 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationspeakerneedsX‖,andthepragmaticassertiondiffersfromthatpresuppositionin―Xisasheetofpaperandapencil‖,thefocusbeing―asheetofpaperandapencil‖,whichhascreatedthefocusrelationthatconnectsthepresupposition―thespeakerneedsX‖andtheassertion―Xisasheetofpaperandapencil‖.Itistherelationthathasconstitutedthemeaningofnewinformationinthecontextofoldinformation,thatis,thepragmaticmeaningofthesentenceasawholeiscreatedwiththepragmaticpresupposition,pragmaticassertionandfocus.Thepragmaticconstructionshelpsspeakerstoexpressmeaningsincertaincontexts,butthepragmaticpresupposition,pragmaticassertionandfocusalonewillnotsufficetheuseofpragmaticconstructionsattimes.ApragmaticconstructiontheConstructionGrammarpaysspecialattentiontoisthefamilyofCleftconstructions,whichwemayoftenconsidertobeincludedintheemphaticpattern.Cleftconstructionsarebi-clausalconstructionsthathaveacounterpartsimplemono-clause.Lambrechtgivesthefollowingdefinitionofcleftconstructions.Acleftconstructionisacomplexsentencestructureconsistingofamatrixclauseheadedbyacopulaorrelative-likeclausewhoserelativizedargumentisco-indexedwiththepredicativeargumentofthecopula.Takentogether,thematrixandtherelativeexpressalogicallysimpleproposition,whichcanalsobeexpressedintheformofasingleclausewithoutachangeintruthconditions(Lambrecht2001).-It-CleftConstruction:Itisthewifewhodecides.-Thewifedecides.-Wh-CleftConstrucion:WhatIwantisaginandtonic.-Iwantaginandtonic.-ReverseWh-CleftConstruction:ThatiswhatI‘mtalkingabout.-I‘mtalkingaboutthat.Thecleftconstructionisimportantinthatithasthesamepragmaticmeaningaswetalkedbefore.-It-Cleft:Itishappinessthathewantstopursue-Wh-Cleft:Whathewantstopursueishappiness.-ReverseWh-Cleft:Happinessiswhathewantstopursue.30 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewTheyallhavethesamepragmaticpresupposition,―hewantstopursueX‖,thesamepragmaticassertion:―Xishappiness‖,thesamefocus―happiness‖.Cleftconstructionsmaybeself-assuredifweconsiderallthesub-levelcleftconstructions,It-Cleft,Wh-Cleft,reverseWh-CleftConstructionsastheonlypragmaticconstructionwearediscussing.Ifseencarefully,theydohavesomedifferenceseventheyhavethesamepresupposition,assertionandfocus.Activationisatermofthatfurtherdifferentiatesthelevelofpragmaticpresupposition.Chafe(1987:26)hasinvestigatedtheactivationofthehearerofthepresupposition,whichhasaninfluenceonthespeakerofchoosingwhichconstructionhewantstouse.―Thoseconceptswhicharealreadyactiveforthespeaker,andwhichthespeakerjudgestobeactivefortheheareraswell,areverbalizedinaspecialway,havingpropertieswhichhaveoftenbeendiscussedintermsof‗old‘or‗given‘information.Thegeneralthingtosayisthatgivenconceptsarespokenwithanattenuatedpronunciation.Theattenuationinvolves,attheveryleast,weakstress.Typically,thoughnotalways,itinvolveseitherpronominalizationoromissionfromverbalizationaltogether.‖Chafealsoaddsatermsemi-activetodistinguishamongthepresuppositionsofdifferentactivelevel.-Excuseme;I‘mlookingfortheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;whatI‘mlookingforistheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;it‘stheBritishMuseumthatI‘mlookingfor.Thefirstsentenceisadeclarativesentencethatexpressesthesamemeaningasthefollowingtwo,butastothepragmaticpresupposition,assertionandfocus,whichwehavetalkedbefore,thenexttwosentencesarestillthesame.Inthesecondexample,thepresupposition―I‘mlookingforX‖isonlysemi-activeinthehearer‘smind,thustheWh-Cleftisappropriateinthecontextwheretheheareronlyknowsinavaguefashionthatthespeakerislookingforsomething.Whileinthethirdexample,thepresupposition,whichisthesameasthesecond,isstronglyactivatedinthehearer‘smind.Therefore,thespeakerwouldmakethethirdutteranceonlywhenheissurethehearerissufficientlyclearaboutthespeaker‘sintention,thatis,thepragmaticpresuppositionwheretheconversationistakenplace.31 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationTopicalityisanothertermthatinfluencestheuseofpragmaticconstructions.Topicalityisthedegreeofthetopictothesentence-levelutterance.Topiciswhatasentenceisabout,andthesubjectmatterofasentence.Thetopicmaynotevenbementionedinthesentence,butitisamediumthroughwhichthepragmaticassertionismade.Still,thetopicdoesnotnecessarilymatchthepragmaticpresuppositionaslongasitisunderstoodassomethingofcurrentinterest.-Q:Wheredidyoumeetyourwife?-A:ItwasinParisthatImetyourwife.-A:WhereImetmywifewasinParis.Intheconversationabove,bothIt-CleftsentenceandWh-Cleftsentenceareacceptable,becauseinthefirstanswer(A)andthesecondanswer(A),therelativeclauses,whichcorrespondtothetopicthatissetupbythequestion,makebothanswersreasonableandlogical.-Q:WhyareyousointerestedinParis?-A:ItwasinParisthatImetmywife.-A:WhereImetmywifewasinParis.Intheconversationabove,thetopicthatissetupbytheansweristhereasonwhythespeakerisinterestedinParis,butthistopicremotelymanifestsitselfinbothanswers(A).Thefirstanswer,withIt-Cleftconstruction,however,isstillacceptableintheconversation,whilethesecond,withWh-Cleftconstruction,isnot.Lambrechtanalysesthisphenomenon,andcallsIt-CleftConstructionwithnon-topicalityinformativepresuppositionclefts.ThespeakersofIt-Cleftdonotexpectthehearertohaveanyknowledgeoftheinformationthatiscontainedinthecorrespondingrelativeclause.TherelativeclauseintheIt-CleftConstruction,whichisonlyremotelyrelatedtothetopic,issemi-topicalinthecontextbecausethe―informativepresupposition‖isnottobechallengedbythehearer.Lambrechtlabelsthisphenomenonaspragmaticaccommodation(Lambrecht2001).32 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReview2.3.3ConstructionGrammarandlanguageacquisitionConstructionalGrammar,initslanguageacquisitiontheory,believesthathumansdohavebeeninnatelyequippedwiththeabilitytolearnlanguage;theylearnlanguagenotthroughapplicationofrules,butthroughgeneralizationofconcretelanguageitems.ThelanguageacquisitionofTransformative-GenerativeGrammarisprimarilyarule-basedtheory.Itproposesthatthereisaninnatelanguagecapacitythathumanbeingsarebornwiththatspecifiesgeneralgrammaticalprinciplesthattheyareguidedtotheacquisitionofspecificlanguageitems.Theinnatelanguagecapacityenablingmechanismiscalleduniversalgrammar.Knowingtheabstractprinciplesenablesthelearnerstocreatenewandinnovativeutterances.Foranexample,ifanEnglishspeakerproducesanutterance―Thetoweliswet‖,hemust,beforesayingit,knowswhatsentencestructureheisgoingtouseandthecomponentsofit.Thesentencestructureisthepredicativeadjectiveconstruction,andthestructureconsistsofasubjectnounphrase,acopula,andanadjective.Still,thespeakerknowswordclasses.Inordertoproduce―Thetoweliswet‖,thespeakerhastobeawarethattowelisanoun,andwetisadjective.Thatistosay,thespeakerhasmarkedupeachwordhelearnedintoitspart-of-speechcategory,sothathecaninsertthewordhewantsintotheschemaheisgoingtoapply.Transformative-GenerativeGrammarisonlyhypotheticalandproblematic,butitistheguidingprincipleforthecurrentlanguageteaching,whetherinelementaryschool,orinmiddleschool.ItisbelievedthatstudentshavetolearnandreciterulesofEnglishsothattheyknowhowtoputwordstogethertocreateutterances.Forlanguagelearners,theylearnlanguagefromstartingoutbymemorizingandrepeatingwordsandphrases.Aslearnersrecognizesimilaritiesacrossdifferentwordsandphrases,aprocessofschematizationsetsin.Herecomesastagethatisreversetothetraditionallanguageacquisitionwheninfactonlywhenlearnershaveencounteredmanyconcreteinstantiationsofaconstructiondopart-of-speechcategoriesandsyntacticconstructionsemergeasgeneralizationsoverconcretelanguageitems.Generalizationsgetincreasinglyabstract,untiltheyresembleadultgrammar.For33 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationexample,whenlearnershaveencounteredthephrasessuchasmorejuice,moreapples,andmorenoodles,theyseethesimilaritybetweenthem,andabstractfromthesephrasesapatternsuchasmoreX,whichcontainsaslotthatotherlinguisticelementscanbeinsertedin.Themechanismforlearningconstructionsorhowconstructionswithargumentstructures,thatis,sentences,arelearnedisstudiedbyGoldbergandCasenhiser.Theyconcludedthatlearningofconstructionsmightbeeasyifasyntacticstructureoccurswithoneparticularlexicalelement,whichtheycallasskewedfrequencyhypothesis(GoldbergandCasenhiser2005).Anexperimentonhowanovelsentencestructureconstructionislearnedshowedthattheacquisitionofsentencestructureconstructionsisrelatedtoahighlyfrequentverbthatthelearnershaveencountered.Moreover,forcomplexsentencestructureconstructions,thefrequencyofsuchconstructionsplaysagreatroleintheacquisition.Aboveall,thelanguageacquisitionfromConstructionGrammartheoryistwofold,oneisgeneralization,theotherisfrequency,includingskewedfrequencyofverbsforsimplesentencestructureconstructions,andfrequencyforcomplexsentencestructureconstructions.TheyaretwoimportantconceptsthatConstructionGrammarbelievetobethebasisoflanguageacquisition.2.4SummaryClassroomgrammarteachinghasalwaysbeenacontroversialissueanditshouldneverbeentamperedwithextremeapproaches.Theteachershouldnotputgrammarteachingasideandchoosenaturalapproach,andshouldnotteachgrammaronly,butplacegrammarteachingintomoreofadiagnosticapproachthanakindofknowledgelearning,whichistosupportandhelp.Still,theteachershouldbecreativeenoughtoimproveonteachingmethods,andtrytomakegrammarteachinganeffectivemeansofimprovingstudents‘comprehensivelanguageskills.ConstructionGrammar,withitssimplicityandinclusivenessoflanguagephilosophy,hasrevolutionizedpeople‘sunderstandingoflanguage.Theconstruction34 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterTwoLiteratureReviewisofaform-meaningpair,andanycomponentsoftraditionalgrammar,morphemes,words,idioms,phrases,andsentencestructurescanbeseenasconstructions.ThroughstudiesofConstructionGrammarandsecondlanguageacquisition,itisfoundthatpeopleofbetterlinguisticperformancearemoredependentontheconstructionintheirlanguagelearning,andsomeoftheconstructionsofone‘smothertonguehaveagreatinfluenceonlearningsomeconstructionsofEnglishlanguagethatareverydifferentinthestructure.HighschoolgrammarteachingisjustthetimewhenstudentshavearelativelyhighlevellinguisticperformanceandmaybeconfusedwiththeevergrowingconflictofChineseandEnglishlanguagestructuresintheirmind.ThestudentscanbehelpedtoovercomethedifficultyoflearningmoreadvancedEnglishgrammarandthebarrierofbeingconfoundedbythelanguagedifferencesintheconstructionlevelwiththeapplicationofConstructionGrammarintheirlearning.35 ChapterTwoLiteratureReviewShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsThoughteachinggrammarfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarhasstartedtodrawexperts‘attention,teacherswillhavedifficultyinapplyingtherelatedfindingsintopracticeinrealclassroomteaching.Alotofreasonsmayexplainthisphenomenon,suchasthecurrenttest-orientededucationalsystem,teacher‘sunwillingnesstoabandonthetraditionalwayofteachinggrammar,students‘familiaritywiththesystem,andsoon.Basedonpreviousstudy,weknowthatConstructionGrammartheoryisascientificgrammartheory.ThefollowingquestioniswhatthesituationofEnglishgrammarteachinginhighschoolislike.Isgrammarteachinghavingproblemsfromtherule-basedgrammartheory,arestudentsfacingproblemsoflearningformsandmeaningsofgrammar,aretheyacquiringthelanguageinaneffectiveway,andwhatkindofgrammarteachingmethodsdotheyprefer?Asurveyisconductedsothatwecanhaveaclearunderstandingofthecurrentsituationofgrammarlearninginhighschoolandgivepracticalsuggestionsandstrategiestogrammarteachinginhighschool.3.1Subjects80studentstookpartinthisinvestigation.Amongthem,therearetwoparallelclasses,Class3,with42students,19malesand23females,andClass10,with38students,21malesand17females,bothfirst-yearstudentsfromShanghaiNanyangModelHighSchool.36 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethods3.2ResearchquestionsBasedonthebackgroundresearch,thisthesisaimstoinvestigateandsolvetheproblemsinthehighschoolEnglishgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammartheory.Specificallyspeaking,thisthesisisdesignedtoanswerthefollowingquestions:A.WhataretheproblemsthatexistinhighschoolEnglishteaching?B.HowhighschoolEnglishgrammarteachingcanbeimprovedthroughtheapplicationofConstructionGrammartheory?C.WhatistheresultofapplicationofConstructionGrammartheoryinhighschoolgrammarteaching?3.3DesignofthequestionnaireInordertocollecttheinformationofthestudents‘attitudestoandunderstandingofgrammarlearningofEnglishgrammarteachinginhighschool,thequestionnaireisdesignedtogetthefivecategoriesoftheattitudestoandunderstandingofgrammarlearning：A.Whatkindofproblemsdotheyhaveingrammarlearninganduse?B.Howdotheydealwiththeformsthatarenotconventionalgrammarcategoriesintheclassroomlearning?C.Whatdotheythinkofthemeaningofthegrammar?D.Howdotheylearngrammar?E.Whatkindofgrammarteachingmethodsdotheysuggest?Inquestionnaireoneandtwo,question1and3aredesignedtogetanswerstoquestionA.Question1:Doyouagreethatyoufeeleasyinunderstandingtheformorthemeaningofgrammarpoints?Question3:Doyouagreethatgrammarteachingistoogeneralandnotpracticalinlanguageuse?Question2and4aredesignedtogetanswerstoquestionB.Question2:Doyoupayattentiontothosestructuresthatdefythegrammaticalruleslearnedbefore(orask37 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationtheteacherforhelp)?Question4:Intermsoflanguagelearning,doyouagreethatalllanguageformscanbeexplainedthroughthecurrentclassroomgrammarlearning?Question5and7aredesignedtogetanswerstoquestionC.Question5:Doyouagreeallthegrammaticalpointshavemeaning?Question7:Doyouagreethesethreesentencesaredifferentinmeaning.-Excuseme;I‘mlookingfortheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;whatI‘mlookingforistheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;it‘stheBritishMuseumthatI‘mlookingfor.Question6and8aredesignedtogetanswerstoquestionD.Question6:Intermsofgrammarlearning,whattobepresentedfirstwouldbebetterinyoureyes?Question8:Doyouagreethatthegrammarcanbelearntfromthediscoveringapproachofthestudents?Question9and10aredesignedtogetanswerstoquestionE.Question9:Whatisthebestwayforyoutolearngrammar?Question10:Whataretheadvantagesiftheteacheraddsmoreparticipantandintegrativeteachingmethodsintogrammarteaching?3.4ReliabilityofthequestionnaireAsthequestionnaireistotesttheattitudeofthestudentstogrammarteaching,theauthorchoosesCronbachαasthecriterionforthereliabilityofthequestionnaire.Totestthereliabilityofthequestionnaire,theauthorfirstassign1tochoiceA,2tochoiceB,3tochoiceC,4tochoiceDofalltheanswerstothequestions.TogettheCronbachαofthequestionnaire,theauthorusesSPSS16.0toanalyzethedata,andtheresultisthefollowing:ReliabilityStatisticsCronbach"sAlphaNofItems.8221038 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsItem-TotalStatisticsScaleCorrectedCronbach"sScaleMeanVarianceifItemItem-TotalAlphaifItemifItemDeletedDeletedCorrelationDeletedQ120.814836.478.462.811Q219.987736.387.467.810Q321.246938.088.397.816Q420.172837.395.361.822Q521.728441.250.213.803Q620.617334.839.527.804Q721.061734.034.754.780Q820.604933.892.692.785Q921.259334.344.727.783Q1021.395137.717.480.809TheCronbachαofthequestionnaireis0.822,whichisasoundresultforthereliabilityofaquestionnaire.ThesecondtableprovesthateachitemisnecessarybecausefromAlphaifItemDeleted,itcanbeseenthatwhenanitemisdeleted,itscorrespondingAlphaisloweredandbecomessmallerthanthetotalreliabilitycoefficient(0.822,indicatedbyCronbach‘sAlpha),whichmeansallquestionsinthisquestionnairearenecessaryandreliable.Forexample,theCronbach‘sAlphais0.811iftheitemofQ1isdeleted,whichissmallthan0.822sothatthisitemcannotbedeleted.Asaresult,thequestionnaireisacceptableforthetest.3.5ProceduresThestudentsofClass3,Grade1,whousetheOxfordHighSchoolEnglishtextbook,ShanghaiEdition,aretaughtwithmethodsfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarforoneterm.Theyaretheexperimentalclass.ThestudentsofClass10,Grade1,taughtwithtraditionalGrammar-TranslationMethod,arethecontrolclass.ThestudentsofClass3,Grade1aresurveyedwiththesame39 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationquestionnairebeforeandaftertheexperimentandtheresultswillundergoChi-SquareTestwithSPSS16.0tomeasuretheeffectsofEnglishgrammarlearningfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.ThestudentsofbothexperimentalandcontrolclassesarealsogiventwoEnglishgrammartestsbeforeandaftertheexperiment.TheresultswillundergoIndependentSamplesTestandPairedSamplesTestwithSPSS16.0totestthesignificantdifferenceinthescorethatmayhappentothetwoclassesaftertheexperiment.3.6MethodsofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarInthispart,theauthorwilldiscusstheprinciplesandstrategiesfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.Theycorrespondtothefivecategoriesofattitudestoandunderstandingofgrammarteachinginthequestionnaire,namely,first,theproblemstheyhaveingrammarlearninganduse,second,theproblemstheyhaveindealingwiththeformsthatarenotconventionalgrammarcategoriesintheclassroomlearning,third,theproblemstheyhaveinlearningthemeaningofthegrammar,fourth,theproblemswhentheylearngrammar,andlast,theproblemsinchoosinggrammarteachingmethods.In3.6.1,wewilltalkabouttheprinciplesthataddressthefirstfourproblems,and3.6.1.1isaboutthefirstcategoryofproblems,3.6.1.2isaboutthesecondcategoryofproblems,andthefollowinggoonlikethis.In3.6.2,wewilltalkaboutthestrategiesthataddressthelastcategoryofproblems.3.6.1PrinciplesofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar3.6.1.1TeachingfromtheconstructionalviewoflanguageThebiggestproblemmanystudentsfaceingrammarlearningtodayisthattheyareunabletounderstandthegrammaticaltermsteachersuse.Itisalsofoundinthe40 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsresearchthatstudentscomplainthatgrammarteachingisnotpractical,andtheyfinditdifficulttoapplythegrammarknowledgeintodailyuse,likespeaking,reading,listeningandwriting.Oftentimes,studentsbecomeclumsywhendealingwithsomerealEnglishlanguagesituations.ConstructionGrammarisconstruction-centered,anditaimstoexplainlanguagethroughtheconstruction.Thereisnoneedforstudentstorememberthegrammaticaltermsinthetraditionalway,butthestudentsonlyhavetoknowhowconcretelanguageitemsaregeneralizedandcategorizedintoconstructions.Thus,studentsgetmorecomfortablewhentheymeetnewlanguagematerials,becausetheyhavealreadybeenfamiliarwiththemthroughearlierlearning.Still,ConstructionGrammarfocusesonformandmeaningofaconstructionandconstructionsarebeingtaughtinaholisticway.Inthisprocess,studentslearnlanguagestructuresviaformandmeaningofconstructionsandconstructionalviewoflanguageteachingprovidestudentswithalanguageapplicationmechanismwheretheycanidentifyandcreateEnglishutterancesmoreefficiently.Also,inthedefinitionofconstructionofConstructionGrammar,themeaningofaconstructioninvolvesthesemanticmeaningoftheconstructionaswellasthepragmaticmeaning.TraditionalgrammarteachingpaysexcessiveattentiontothecorrectnessofEnglishstructures,andignorestheappropriatenessofstructuresinthecontext.Teachingfromtheconstructionalviewcaninfactimprovestudents‘understandingoftheformandmeaningofstructuresinawaythattheycanlearntoprocessandproducelanguageinamorecontrolledmanner.3.6.1.2TeachingwithequalattentionpaidtotheidiosyncraticgrammaticalitemsItisafactthathighschoolgrammarclasshasprovidedstudentswiththebasic,ifnotthewhole,grammaticalitemsforthemtohaveabasicEnglishlanguagecompetencebeforetheyentertheuniversityformoreadvancedEnglishlearning.However,manystudentshavenotattainedsuchaleveloflanguagecompetence,theycomplainthattheycannotprocessorproduceEnglishlanguageatease.Thebiggest41 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationproblemthestudentsarefacingisthattheyhavelearnedabigcollectionofgrammaticalrules,buttherearesomanyEnglishutterancesthatarenotundertherestrictionoftheserules.WehavediscussedtheidiosyncraticnatureofEnglishlanguageinthesecondchapter,andcontrarytothetraditionaldictionary-and-grammarmodeloflinguisticknowledgewhichweareusingnowingrammarteaching,ConstructionGrammarbelievesthat―theso-calledminororperipheralconstructionsofthesortwhichhasoccupiedusherewillhavetobepowerfulenoughtobegeneralizedtomorefamiliarstructures‖(Fillmore,KayandO‘Connor,1988).ConstructionGrammarhastaughtusthereasonwhythetraditionalgrammarclasscannotproducestudentswithsufficientlanguagecompetencetheyneedforthedevelopmentoflanguageskills.Traditionalgrammaremphasizestoomuchontherule-governedgrammarknowledgeinawaythatstudentshasgraspedsuchafine-tunedsystemofgrammaticalitemsthattheyhaveneglectedtheidiosyncraticgrammaticalitemsthatareequally,ifnotmore,importantasthe―proper‖grammarknowledge.Moreimportantly,idiosyncraticgrammaticalitems,especiallyidiomaticexpressionsinthestudyofConstructionGrammar,weseethat―idiomaticexpressionsaccommodatedifferentwordsandshowstructuralvariation,thetoolsforsuchananalysiswillhavetobesensitivetobothlexicalandgrammaticaldistinctions‖,andthat―thesetoolscanjustaswellbeusedforthemorefamiliarstructures‖(Hilpert2014:8).FromtheviewofConstructionGrammar,idiosyncraticgrammaticalitemsshouldbegivenequalattentiontobecausetheyarepartofthegrammarknowledgeonehastoknowbeforehecandevelophislanguageskills,andthattheyarepowerfultoaccommodatethe―proper‖grammaticalitems.Intermsofteaching,teachersshouldalsogiveequalattentiontoidiosyncraticgrammaticalitems.Currenthighschoolgrammarteachingtreatsidiosyncraticonesassomethingthatisappended,non-conventionalandtoanextenttrivial.Suchateachingmethodisdetrimentaltostudents‘grammarlearning,becausetheyhavereceivedaninputoflanguageknowledgethatispartialandmisleading.Studentsshouldbegiven―proper‖andidiosyncraticgrammaticalitemstreatedwiththesameamountof42 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsattention.Therefore,whenteachinggrammar,teachersshouldpayequalattentiontotheidiosyncraticgrammaticalitemsandteachthemindependentlyasconstructionsjustasimportantasthoseconventionalones.3.6.1.3Stressingtheconstructionalmeaning3.6.1.3.1StressingtheconstructionalmeaningofsyntacticconstructionsThedefinitionforaconstructioninvolvesthefactthatthemeaningoftheconstructionisnotpredictablefromitscomponentparts.Inotherwords,themeaningofthevocabularyinthesyntacticstructurecombinedcannotpredictthemeaningofthewholeunitofthesyntacticconstruction.Traditionalgrammarteachinghasaverb-centeredwayofdealingwiththesyntacticstructuresothattheEnglishsentencescanbeunderstoodaccordingly.Itdividestheclausestructureintosubjectpluspredicate,still,thepredicatecanbedividedintopredicateverb,object,complementandadverbial.Theseelementstogetherwiththesubjectmakethefiveclauseelements,whichcansubsequentlymakeupthesevenbasicclausetypes,SVC,SV,SVA,SVO,SVOA,SVOC,SVoO.Thisviewofstructuralanalysisdoescontributeinasensetothesemanticunderstandingofthecomplexblendingofthehierarchicalstructureofdifferentcomponentsthataremadeupofyetanothercomplexphrasalstructureconsistingofthebasicstructureofvocabulary.However,thisviewhasassignedtoomuchstressontheverbthatitsometimescannottaketofullyhelpunderstandthemeaningofthesentence.Wehaveknownthatthemeaningoftheverbdoesnotcomefromtheverbalone;themeaningcomesfromtheconstructionwhichincludestheparticipatingargumentsinit.Still,wehavetalkedthatthesyntacticandsemanticargumentshavetobecompatibletofittogether.ItisthusimportanttoknowthattraditionalstructuralanalysisisnotadequateforexplainingEnglishsyntacticstructures.Theteacher,therefore,needstobeartheanalysisofconstructioninmindwhen43 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationteachingsyntacticstructures.Theteachercannaturallyletthestudentsinducethemeaningoftheconstructionbecausethemeaningoftheconstructionisalsoanimportantpartoftheconstructionlearning,anditiseasilyattainedifstudentsaregivendueguidance.Studentscangraduallyunderstandthesyntacticmeaningisnotalwaysverb-centered.Rather,theargumentsintheconstructionplayamoreimportantroleintheconstruction.Anotherpointequallyimportantisthatthestudentsmakesentencesthatarenotacceptableconventionally,buttheymakesentenceswithcorrectsyntacticstructureuse.Thisisbecausethetraditionalgrammarteachinghasoverlookedthesemanticcoherenceprinciple.Studentsshouldbearinmindtheimportanceofthesemanticrolecompatibilityoftheargumentsoftheverbandthecomponentsofthesyntacticconstruction.Onlyinthiswaycanstudentsmakesentenceswithconventionalacceptance,whichisbasictogrammarlearningbecauseitismeanttofacilitatesuccessfulcommunication.3.6.1.3.2StressingthepragmaticmeaningofthegrammaticalitemsTheNewCurriculumStandardofEnglishhasencouragedthatEnglishgrammarteachingtakesintoaccountguidingstudentstowardstheunderstandingofthemeaningofgrammaticalitemsincontext(中华人民共和国教育部2003:65).Inlinguistics,thestudyofmeaningincontextispragmatics.WehavetalkedabouttheresearchofpragmaticsdonebyConstructionGrammarinChapter3,andwehaveknownthatConstructionGrammarstudiesthepragmaticmeaningofgrammaticalitemsofthesyntacticlevel.ConstructionGrammarreferstothoseconstructionswithcontextmeaningasinformationpackagingconstructions.Theseconstructionsaresensitivetothecommunicativesituation,andmorespecifically,whathasbeensaidbefore,whathasnotbeensaidbefore,andwhatthehearercanbeexpectedtoknowalready.Whenteachinggrammaticalitemsthathavetodowiththecontext,theteachercan,exceptelicitingthemeaningofthegrammar,bringinthedescriptionordiscussionofthecontextsothatstudentscanbeawareofthesensitivityofthe44 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsconstructiontothecontext.Forexample,whenteachingit-cleftorwh-cleftConstructions,theteachercanpresenttheexamplestothestudents.-Excuseme;I‘mlookingfortheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;whatI‘mlookingforistheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;it‘stheBritishMuseumthatI‘mlookingfor.AswehavediscussedinChapter3,theseexamplesaredifferentintheirpragmaticmeaningintermsofthedegreeofactivationofpresupposition.This,thoughacomplexconcept,canbetaughtinawayintheclassroomwithpreparedguidancesothatstudentscanunderstandtheattunedpragmaticdifference.Theteachercancreateasituationforthestudentstounderstandthepragmaticmeaningofthegrammaticalitem,likeimaginingyouapproachastrangerinaforeigncity,andaskwhatthestudentswillchooseforthequestion.Thestudentswillchoosethefirstonebecauseitisasimpledeclarativesentencethatdoesnotmakeanyassumptionaboutpreviouslyestablishedcommonground.Thewh-cleftorit-cleftConstructionsdomakeassumptionsthespeakersinthecommunicativesituationhaveshared.Thisiswheretheteachercanaddsomecommongroundthatcanbeusedtointroducethesituationinwhichthecleftsentencesshouldoccur.TheteacherasksthestudentstoimagineasituationwhenthehearerseethespeakerholdingamapofLondonup-side-down,havingabigcameradanglinginfrontofyou,andmaybewearingaT-shirtwithIloveLondononit.ThespeakerisundoubtedlyanewcomertoLondon,andthehearercangettheideathatthespeakerislookingforsomething.Theteachercanaskthestudentswhichonewillchoose,theanswerthestudentsareexpectedtochooseisthesecondone.Iftheteacheraretoteachwh-cleftConstruction,whichisthethirdone,theteachermaynotbeabletoaddsomethingtothissituationtomakeitworkbecausethepresuppositionintheit-clefthavetobestrongerthanwh-cleftConstruction.Bothpartiesneedtobesureabouttheplacethespeakerislookingfor,withthecurrentsituationwherethenewcomer,acompletestrangerthehearerhavenevertalkedto,theit-cleftisquiteunlikelyinthesituationevenwhenmoreconditionsareadded.Andthisisthetimetheteachercouldtellthestudentsthedifferencebetweenwh-cleftConstructionandit-cleftConstructionwithsimple45 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationdeclarativesentence,andthedifferencebetweenwh-cleftConstructionandit-cleftConstruction.3.6.1.4Teachingfromtheviewoftheacquisitionoftheconstruction3.6.1.4.1Teachingfromstudents-centeredviewTraditionalEnglishteachingistheteacher-centeredkind.Teachershavethesupremepowerovertheclasswherestudentshavenorightstodispute.Therigidteachingprinciplehasstrangledstudents‘autonomyandcreativityinlearningEnglish,andthusstudentslostinterestinlearning.AsConstructionGrammarproposesaviewthatconstructionsareeverythingstudentsneedtolearn,andthelearningprocessinvolvesgeneralizationofconcreteexamplesthatinstantiatetheconstruction,whichisthegrammaticalitemtobetaughtintraditionalsense,itcanputstudents-centeredviewintofullplayastoencouragestudentstoinferthegrammaticalitemtheyaregoingtolearn,andaskiftheycanproposeorreachapossiblemeaningofthatgrammaticalitem.Still,asthegrammaticalitemmayhavesomepragmaticmeaningindifferentcontexts,teacherscanaskthestudentstoinferthemeaningsunderwhatcontextsagrammaticalitemmeans.Inthisway,theclassisenlivenedbecausestudentstakefullandactiveparticipationingrammarlearningwhenlearningismosteffective.3.6.1.4.2TeachingfromconcreteinstantiationsoftheconstructiontotheconstructionFromclassroomobservationofgrammarteaching,weknowthattheteachinggoestheprocedureofpresentingthegrammaticalitem,explainingit,practicingit.Studentsoftenfinditdifficulttofollowthisprocedurebecausethiscontradictshowtheylearnnewskills,andEnglishlanguageskillisamongthem.Welearnaskillfromobservation,experience,practice,andlastsometheoryweconcludeonourown.46 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsWeknowthatconstructionsareausage-basedrepertoireofgrammarknowledgebecausetheyareschemasfromgeneralizations.Theyareform-meaningpairs,andtheycanbeeasilyidentifiedinlanguagecomprehensionandproductionastheyhavebeenexperiencedbylearnerswithsufficientinstantiationsofthem.Constructionalviewoflanguageacquisition,asisoftenreferredtoasitem-basedlearning,believesthatlanguagelearnersstartfrommanysimilarstructuredutterances,i.e.instantiationsoftheconstructionfromwhichtheyacquiretheconstruction.Therefore,ascientificwayforteacherstoteachgrammarisbyfirstshowingsufficientinstantiationsoftheconstruction,andthengeneralizingtheconstructionfromthem.Inthisway,studentsnaturallylearngrammaticalitemswithfullmentalexperiencewiththemandbyapplyingfollow-uppractices;thusstudentscanconsolidatetheconstruction.3.6.1.4.3TeachingwithskewedlanguageinputTraditionalgrammarfocusesonrule-dominatedgrammarteaching,whereteachersteachstudentsrulesforthemtoreciteinanexpectationthataslongasrulesarelearnedandremembered,asoundfoundationforadequatelanguagecompetenceintermsofgrammarislaidwell.However,thisideamayonlyfacilitatestudents‘performanceinsomebasic-levelgrammar-centeredexercisesortranslations.WhenitcomestomoredemandingEnglish-skills-basedexercises,studentsstruggletounderstandandproducesomeofthematerialsinthattheyhavenotacquiredausage-basedrepertoireofgrammarknowledgetheycaneasilyaccesstodealwiththeproblemstheyencounter.Mostimportantly,ConstructionGrammarbelievesthatskewedfrequenciesofcollocatesfacilitatethelearningofconstructions.Thatis,whenstudentsareexposedtotheinstantiationsofoneparticularconstructionwhereamostfrequentlyusedverbisused,theyaremorelikelytoacquirethatconstructioninaneffectivemanner.Asconstructionsareamoreinclusivetermthangrammaticalitems,teachinggrammarcanbedoneinthiswaywhenskewedlanguageinput,inwhichcase,agrammaticalitemisbeingtaught.Forexample,whenteachingto-infinitive,itissuggestedthat47 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationexamplescanbethebasicto-infinitivewiththesameverb―do‖asthemajorityofthem,whichcanbeusedacrosstheexamplesbecausemostconstructionshaveamostfrequentverb―do‖inthisconstruction.3.6.2StrategiesofgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar3.6.2.1TeachinggrammarcommunicativelyManyscholarsonEnglishteachingcontendthatEnglishteachersshouldalwaysrelateteachingactivitiestoreallife,andgivefullplaytothelivelinessofthecommunicativenatureintheseactivities.TeachingEnglishgrammarisnoexceptiontothis.ConstructionGrammaradvocatestheviewthatlanguageformandmeaningareequallyimportantandshouldbegivenequalattentionto.Still,communicationbringslanguageandlifeexperiencestogether.Inotherwords,languageformandmeaningaredisplayedinalivelymannerbecausereallifeisacommoninterestamongeveryoneofus.Therefore,whenteachingEnglishgrammar,teacherscanapplytheConstructionGrammartheorytocommunication,andthusgrammaristaughtinacommunicativeway.3.6.2.1.1CommunicativepresentationAsConstructionGrammarbelievesthatgrammarshouldbetaughtfrompresentingexamplestogeneratingrules,thefirststepforacommunicativegrammarclassshouldbepresentinggrammarpointsinmeaningfulexample-richcontext.Inthenextstep,theteacherdirectsthestudents‘attentiontothegrammarpoints.Lastly,theteacherexplainstothestudentsotherusesofthegrammarpoints.Thispresentationprocedureemploysfulluseofcommunicationingrammarteachingandthestudentscanhaveaclearpreviewofthetargetedconstructionsandtheirmeaningincontextbeforetheyentertheconsolidationstagewhenmore48 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodspracticeswillhelpthemdevelopbetterunderstandingandproficiencywiththegrammaticalitem.3.6.2.1.2CommunicativeconsolidationConstructionGrammarproposestheviewthattheacquisitionofconstructions,orgrammarinteaching,shouldbebasedontheviewthatgrammariswhatchildrengraduallybuildupbylearningconcretephrasesthatonlygraduallybecomeabstractandthusbecomesfixedintothemind.Fromthispointofview,wecansafelysaythatthegradualprocessthatiscrucialtolanguagecompetenceformationisonlypossiblewithsoundconsolidationprocess,whichinthecaseofteachingcouldbepracticesandactivities.Ascommunicationisthekeytotheconnectionofformandmeaning,whicharethecentralrolesofconstructions,wecansafelydrawtheconclusionthatcommunicativeconsolidationshouldbeappliedtogrammarconsolidation.Teachersshouldthinkofpracticesandactivitiesthatarebothcommunicativeandtypicalofthegrammaticalitemstobetaught.Thiscommunicativeconsolidationprocessiseffectiveforthestudentstodeveloptheirlanguagecompetenceintermsofthegrammaticalitems,andtheirlanguageperformanceaswellbecausestudentsconductrealcommunicationwiththegrammaticalitems.Thewholepointofgrammarlessonistomovefromunderstandinggrammartopracticinginactivitiesthatstressesgrammarfluencyinrealcommunication.Theteacherhasaclassofcommunicationofrealthingswhenstudentscantalkabouttheirlives.3.6.2.2ActivitiesassistingthelearningofgrammarAsinChina,studentsdonothaveanEnglishspeakingenvironment;theyhavetolearnEnglishallthroughtheEnglishclass.Inlearninggrammar,studentshavetheleastwillingnesstopracticethegrammaticalitems,sotheteacherneedstothinkof49 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationsomeactivitiestoassistthelearningofgrammar.ConstructionGrammarstressestheimportanceintermsoftheformandmeaningofconstructions,theteacher,therefore,shouldthinkcreativelytodosomeactivitiesthataddressthegrammaticalitemssothatthecoreofthegrammarispracticedandunderstoodonthepartofthestudents.3.6.2.2.1RetellingactivityRetellingisagoodwayforstudentstopracticeEnglishgrammarinthatanygrammaticalitemisaconstruction.Still,aconstructionisaform-meaningpair.Retellingisgenerallyabouttellingaboutwhatastory,adescriptivearticleoranexpositoryarticle,andasanypieceofarticleisforexpressingmeaning,itislogicaltopresumethatthefirststepofretellingcaninvitestudentstonaturallycomprehendwhatmeaningisinthearticle.Byretellingthewritingpiece,studentscanmapthemeaningbacktothelanguageusedinthearticletothebestoftheireffort,andeveniftheycannot,theycancomparethelanguagetheyusedwiththeoriginaltext.Throughthisprocess,theidiosyncrasyofformormeaningisnaturallykeptinstudents‘mind.Forexample,ifastudentcomesacrosstheconstruct―ThelongerIwaited,themoreworriedIbecame‖thatinstantiatesthe―The-er,the–er‖Construction,hemaybetoldtheinformedoftheidiosyncraticmeaningoftheconstruction,―越„„，越„„‖.Thestudentsmaynotbeabletorecitetheconstructionoreventheydo,theycannotproducethesentencewiththatconstructionwhentheyaretoldtoretellthesentencewiththatmeaning.Ifstudentsfindithardtoproducethesentencewiththeoriginalconstruction,andastheycomparetheirretellingversionwiththeoriginalversion,theirmemoryofthe―The-er,the–er‖Constructionwillbecomemoreintense.Inthisway,theywillkeepagoodknowledgeofthisconstruction.Furthermore,asaconstructionisaform-meaningpair,studentswillnaturallyrecognizetheconstructionintheirlanguageinputanditsmeaning,andproduceitwhentheconditionisrightforthemtousethatconstruction.50 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethods3.6.2.2.2TranslationactivityTranslationisalsoagoodwayforstudentstopracticeEnglishgrammar.Justaswhathasbeendiscussedabove,themappingofmeaningtoformiseffectiveforlearningconstructions.Allgrammaticalitemsareconstructions,andgrammaticalitemscanbelearnedbetterwiththelearningofthemeaningofthem.Theconstructs,whichinstantiatestheconstruction,canbeveryhelpfulforlearnerstogeneratetheconstruction.ConstructionGrammarstressesthegenerativenatureoflanguageacquisition.Constructsarealsoform-meaningpairs.Itisthatconstructswhichhavethesimilarstructurethatmakeslanguagelearnerstoconcludetheconstructionthatiscommonamongthem,andlanguageislearnedinthatway.However,teachingconstructsthatinstantiatetheconstruction,orthegrammaticaliteminclassroomteaching,arenotalwayssufficientforlearnerstoacquirethegrammar.Studentsinthehighschooloftenrelyonoverwhelminglytheirmother-tonguetoexpresstheirideas.Asconstructionsareform-meaningpairs,itisbestthatstudentsusetheirmother-tongueasamediumforthe―meaning‖part,andtheycannaturallyassociatetheirmother-tonguetothelanguagecomprehensionandproductionbecausetheyareveryfamiliarwithit.Themothertonguehasneverlostitsinfluenceonforeignlanguageteaching,andthisexplainswhythedirectmethodoflanguageteachinghasneverdominatedEnglishclassinChina.ThemothertonguecanfacilitateEnglishteachingbecauseaperson‘smothertongueismostcloselyconnectedtoone‘slifeexperiencewherethetargetforeignlanguagecantakeadvantageof.However,asChineseandEnglishhavedrasticallydifferentstructures,whetherintermsofmorphology,syntax,orpragmatics.Themostappealingpartoftraditionalgrammarteachingisthatitacknowledgesthedifferenceofthestructuraldifferenceofthesetwolanguages,andstudiesEnglishlanguagestructuresineverydetailedway.Theresultismoderatelysatisfactorybutthedemeritofthemethodisthelackofconnectionwithlanguageuse.ConstructionGrammaralsofocusesonstructures,especiallythoseidiosyncraticstructureswhicharelabeledconstructions,anditalsofocusesonthemeaningofthem.By51 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationidiosyncratic,itmeanstheconstructionsarenotpredictablestructures,andwemustlearntorecitethembeforewecanbecomfortablewiththislanguage.ThissurelybringsupthenecessitythatteachersaretobeencouragedtocompareEnglishandChinesestructures.Manystudentsproducetheso-calledChinglishbecausetheyhavenotinternalizedtheunpredictableconstructionsthataretypicaltoEnglish.Therefore,theteachingmaterialforgrammarclassshouldbecarefullypreparedtoselectthosegrammaticalitemsthatareidiosyncratictoChineselanguage.Forexample,theEnglishgrammaticalitem,ItisXforsbtodosthConstruction,isdifferentfromChinesestructureswhenthesamemeaningistobeexpressed,sothisshouldbeemphasizedandteacherscanaskstudentstocompareanddiscusstheconstructionwithteachersorontheirowntoenhancestudents‘understandingoftheconstruction.Bytranslation,theteachercanuseitinprompt,presentation,comprehensioncheckoftheclass.TheteachercanintroducethegrammaticalitembyaskinghowthecorrespondingChineseversionofitistranslatedintoEnglish.Theteachercanalsousetranslationinthepresentationstage.Forexample,iftheteacheristoteachtheadverbialclauseofcondition,theteachercanelicitthepresentingexamplesbyaskingthestudentsthecorrespondingChinesesentences.TheteacherdoesnothavetoexpectthestudentstoknowtheEnglishsentenceswiththecorrectuseoftheadverbialclauseofcondition.ThetranslationactivitiesaremeanttoshowhowmanystudentsalreadyknowhowtousethatgrammaticalitemandtoencouragestudentstohaveabasicunderstandingofwhatthepresentingEnglishsentencesareabout.IfthestudentsdonotknowthecorrespondingEnglishsentences,writethemontheboardandanalyzethemlater.Inthecomprehensioncheckstage,theteachercanaskstudentstotranslatecorrespondingChinesesentencestotheEnglishsentenceswiththetargetgrammaticalitem.TheteacherdoesnothavetoworryaboutthenegativeeffectoftheuseofChineseonclassroomgrammarteaching,becauseConstructionGrammarbelievesconstructions,orgrammaticalitemsinteaching,areform-meaningpairs.Therefore,anykindofEnglishteachingmethodthatfacilitatesthelearningorconsolidationoftheform-meaningpairsofgrammaticalitemsshouldbeencouraged.52 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethods3.7AnEnglishgrammarteachingcase3.7.1TeachingpreparationTheteachingcontentisOxfordEnglishHighSchoolGrade1,secondterm,ShanghaiEdition,Unit2,GrammarA,Infinitivesassubjects.Thelessonobjectiveistolearnanduseinfinitivesassubjects.Thestudentsarefromtheexperimentclass(EC),whichisClass3,Grade1,andtheclassisthefirstperiodofthegrammarlesson.3.7.2TheEnglishgrammarteachingcaseForclassroomgrammarteaching,thestudentsareexpectedtolearnandusegrammarasatooltoreflectontheirEnglishstudiesandbuildfluencyofEnglishuse.Ashasbeendiscussedin3.6.2,thegoalofagrammarlessonistopresentthegrammarcommunicatively,tocomprehendgrammar,andthenmovetopracticeforconsolidation,andConstructionGrammarhasasoundtheoreticalbaseforthisacquisitionprocess.Pre-class:Beginclass.Booksclosed.AskSstoanswerwhattheydoduringtheirsparetimeandhowdoestheyfeelbydoingthis.Elicitsentenceslike―Iplaytennisduringmysparetime.‖―Itmakesmeenergetic.‖―Iplaychessduringmysparetime.‖―Itmakesmewise.‖ThenaskSshowtomaketwosentencesintoone.Elicitproperanswers.Presenttheconstruction,orthegrammarpoint,andtellSsthattheycanusetodoXConstructionsassubjects,andthenpresentmoreexampleswith―todo‖,―nottodo‖,―tohavedone‖,―tobedoing‖,andaskSswhatXstandsfor,andelicitanswerslikeXisoriginalverbform.TellSsinmostcases,itisusedatthebeginningofthesentenceasanemptysubjecttorefertotheinfinitive,suchasItmakesmeenergetictoplaytennisduringmysparetime.Pre-classusestheteachingprinciplesofteachingfromtheviewofthe53 ChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationacquisitionoftheconstructionin3.6.1.4.Bypresentingexampleswith―todo‖,―nottodo‖,―tohavedone‖,―tobedoing‖,andaskingthestudentstogeneralizethesimilarity,thestudentsareatthecenterofthelearningprocess,andtheteachingisfromconcreteinstantiationsoftheconstructiontotheconstructionandwithskewedlanguageinput.Thisisnotonlyforthestudentstolearnontheirown,butmoreimportantly,forthestudentstolearnundertheguidanceoftheteachersothattheyknowhowtoself-studyaftertheclass.Pre-classalsousesthecommunicativepresentationthathasbeendiscussedin3.6.2.1.Byhavingclassinthisway,thestudentswillfeelthegrammarpointisrelativetothemandthatthegrammarpointcanbeusedintheirlives.Also,thestudentswillfeelthegrammarpointisimportanttothem.While-class:PracticetheexerciseinthetextbooktocheckSs‘sunderstanding.Checktheanswers.BrainstormwithalistofplacesSsliketogo.Forexample:People‘sSquare,YuyuanGarden,JinmaoBuiding,OrientalPearl‘ssquare.Ssinpairs.ExplainthatoneSsaysaplace,theotherstudenttellshimorherhowlongittakestogotherebyusinginfinitivesassubjects.ModeltheactivitywithaS.Thenhavepairsworktogether.Afterseveralminutes,askpartnerstoswitchroles.Inviteseveralpairstosharetheirroleplaywiththeclass.While-classusestheprincipleofteachingfromconcreteinstantiationsoftheconstructiontotheconstructionin3.6.1.4.Byfollow-uppractices,thestudentscanconsolidatetheconstruction.Also,itusestheprincipleofstressingtheconstructionalmeaningofsyntacticconstructionsin3.6.1.3.Byusingtheconstructionasawholetoexpressideas,thestudentsdonothavetolearnthepart-of-speechofthesentenceintraditionalgrammarteaching,andtheycanhaveaglobalunderstandingoftheconstruction.While-classalsousesthecommunicativeconsolidationthathasbeendiscussedin3.6.2.1.Thestudentscanbuildfluencythroughthisprocess.Justasdiscussedin54 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterThreeResearchDesignandTeachingMethodspre-class,thecommunicativeteachingmakesthestudentsawareoftheimportanceofthegrammarpointsandthattheycanusethemeveryday.Therefore,itisgoodforthestudentstobuildinterestinlearningEnglish.Post-class:Discussinasmallgroup.Discussthefollowingsituation,andgiveadvicebyusinginfinitivesassubjects.TheWongfamilyhasjustboughtahouse.Thehousehasnofurnitureatall.Also,itisfarfromMrWong‘sjob,andthefamilydoesn"thaveacar.Post-classusestheprincipleofteachingfromtheconstructionviewoflanguagein3.6.1.1.Thestudentsareaskedtotalkmorefreelybyusingtheconstructiontheyhavejustlearned.Theconstructionisaform-meaningpair,andonlybylettingthestudentsusetheformtoexpressideasthatarenotrestrictedcanthestudentsfullyintegratetheconstructiontotheirunderstanding.Post-classalsousesstrategyofteachingwithcommunicativeconsolidation.Thecommunicativeconsolidationistobuildthecompetenceofthelanguageandtheperformanceofthelanguageatthesametime.ConclusionListthegrammarpoint,ortheconstructionthatSshavelearnedtoday.Homework:Retellastorybyusinginfinitivesassubjects.DoChinese-Englishtranslationexercises.HomeworkisanimportantpartofEnglishgrammarlearning,itkeepsthestudentsreviewingandconsolidatingwhattheyhavelearned.Thehomeworktypeshavebeendiscussedin3.6.2.2andthereasonwhytheyareusedhavealsobeendiscussed.Afterdoingthehomework,thestudentscanconsolidatewhattheyhavelearnedandbuildconfidenceingrammarlearning.Asthestudentsgetconfidentingrammarlearning,itwillhelpthembemoresuccessfulintheirEnglishlearning.55 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsandDiscussion4.1StudyanalysisTheauthorgivesstudentsofClass3,Grade1inNanyangModelHighSchoolthequestionnaireofEnglishgrammarlearningfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar(SeeAppendix).Thequestionnairehas10questions.Theauthorfirstgivesthestudentsthequestionnaire,anddoesstatisticalanalysisbasedontheresultscollected.Aftertheexperiment,theauthorgivesthesamequestionnairetothestudents,anddoesstatisticalanalysisbasedontheresultscollected.TheauthorcomparesthedataanduseSPSS16.0forChi-SquareTests,anddoesanalysisandexplanation.4.1.1Chi-SquaretestsThestudentsofClass3,Grade1inNanyangModelHighSchoolaregiventhesamequestionnaireinandafterthetest,andthenumberforeachchoicehasundergoneChi-SquareTests.Theresultsarethefollowing:Table4-1Method*Question1CrosstabulationCountQuestion1NeverSometimesOftenAlwaysTotalMethodTraditionalMethod2883342ConstructionGrammar16715442Total441518784Table4-2Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aaPearsonChi-Square8.6893.023LikelihoodRatio9.0923.01956 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussionLinear-by-Linear4.8351.025AssociationNofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-2,wecanseethatforthefirstquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothblow0.05,0.023and0.019respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentshavebetterunderstandingintheformandmeaningofgrammarpoints.Table4-3Method*Question2CrosstabulationCountQuestion2NeverSometimesOftenAlwaysTotalMethodTraditionalMethod15166542ConstructionGrammar37161642Total1823222184Table4-4Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square55.1503.003LikelihoodRatio59.4743.002Linear-by-LinearAssociation48.9831.000NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-4,wecanseethatforthesecondquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothblow0.05,0.003and0.002respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentstendtopayattentiontothosestructuresthatdefythegrammaticalruleslearnedbefore.ThestudentsknowthatthegeneralrulesarenotenoughiftheywanttolearnEnglishwell.57 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationTable4-5Method*Question3CrosstabulationCountQuestion3StronglyStronglydisagreeDisagreeAgreeagreeTotalMethodTraditionalMethod81313842ConstructionGrammar01182342Total814313184Table4-6Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square20.4763.023LikelihoodRatio21.9133.025Linear-by-LinearAssociation18.5631.000NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-6,wecanseethatforthethirdquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothblow0.05,0.023and0.025respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentsfeelmorecomfortablewithgrammarpointsandusethemmorefreelyintheirlearning.Table4-7Method*Question4CrosstabulationCountQuestion4StronglyStronglydisagreeDisagreeAgreeagreeTotalMethodTraditionalMethod23131542ConstructionGrammar17125842Total40256138458 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussionTable4-8Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square2.9823.388LikelihoodRatio3.0333.376Linear-by-LinearAssociation2.0771.392NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-8,wecanseethatforthefourthquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothover0.05,0.388and0.376respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshownosignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,althoughthenumberofstudentsforeachchoicevaried,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentsstillthinkthatnotallgrammarpointscanbeexplained.ThismeansthatthestudentsneedmoreEnglishcompetenceuntiltheyknowthemeaningfulnatureofgrammarpoints.Table4-9Method*Question5CrosstabulationCountQuestion5StronglyStronglydisagreeDisagreeAgreeagreeTotalMethodTraditionalMethod16138542ConstructionGrammar1592742Total1718173284Table4-10Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square27.1153.000LikelihoodRatio29.3513.000Linear-by-LinearAssociation26.4661.007NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-10,wecanseethatforthefifthquestion,59 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationPearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothbelow0.05,0.000and0.000respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentsthinkgrammarhasmeaning.ThiswillmakethestudentsformahabitofthinkinginEnglish.Table4-11Method*Question6CrosstabulationCountQuestion6RealRulesExamplesSituationsituationsTotalMethodTraditionalMethod161013342ConstructionGrammar13916442Total311929784Table4-12Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square.7803.878LikelihoodRatio.6883.869Linear-by-LinearAssociation.6031.738NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-12,wecanseethatforthesixthquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothover0.05,0.878and0.869respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshownosignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentsmaystillfeeluncomfortablewheninrealsituations.Thismeansthatthestudentsmayneedsomepreparationworkforthemtoparticipateincommunicativeteaching.60 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussionTable4-13Method*Question7CrosstabulationCountQuestion7StronglyStronglydisagreeDisagreeAgreeagreeTotalMethodTraditionalMethod8215842ConstructionGrammar41881242Total1239132084Table4-14Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square2.4053.493LikelihoodRatio2.4223.490Linear-by-LinearAssociation2.1221.445NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-14,wecanseethatfortheseventhquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothover0.05,0.493and0.490respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshownosignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentsdonothavesignificantdifferenceinunderstandingthedifferenceofthegrammarpointsincertaincontexts.Table4-15Method*Question8CrosstabulationCountQuestion8StronglyStronglydisagreeDisagreeAgreeagreeTotalMethodTraditionalMethod3826542ConstructionGrammar01212142Total182322218461 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationTable4-16Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square15.1833.001LikelihoodRatio16.2843.003Linear-by-LinearAssociation14.9001.011NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-16,wecanseethatfortheeighthquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothbelow0.05,0.001and0.003respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentslikethediscoveringapproachofgrammarlearning.TheteacheroughttodesigninterestingactivitiestokeepthemlearningEnglishbydiscoveringtheregularpatterns.Table4-17Method*Question9CrosstabulationCountQuestion9CommunicativeExplanationPracticeActivitiespresentationTotalMethodTraditionalMethod93121842ConstructionGrammar0193242Total94215084Table4-18Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square16.4383.001LikelihoodRatio20.7513.000Linear-by-LinearAssociation15.6461.003NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-18,wecanseethatfortheninthquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothbelow0.05,0.001and0.00062 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussionrespectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentslikecommunicativeteachingthanthetraditionalgrammarexplanation.Thestudentsaremoreengagedinlearninggrammarincommunicativesettings,andtheycanlearnmoreinthissituation.Table4-19Method*Question10CrosstabulationCountQuestion10ArouseBettertoNoyouractivatetheadvantagesHelpfulinterestclassTotalMethodTraditionalMethod16516542ConstructionGrammar114111642Total1719272184Table4-20Chi-SquareTestsAsymp.Sig.Valuedf(2-sided)aPearsonChi-Square24.1603.013LikelihoodRatio39.2443.015Linear-by-LinearAssociation35.4531.027NofValidCases164Analysisoftheresults:FromTable4-20,wecanseethatforthetenthquestion,PearsonChi-SquareandLikelihoodRatioarebothbelow0.05,0.013and0.015respectively.Itshowsthataftertheexperiment,thestudentsshowsignificantdifferenceinallthechoicesaftertheexperiment,whichmeansafterthegrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentslikewantstoparticipateintheclassmore,andtheylikelearninggrammarmore.Fromtheaboveanalysesofresults,theauthorfindsthatthereare3questionshavenosignificantdifferenceinChi-Squaretest.Theyarequestion4,6and7.Thenumberofeachchoicevariesineachofthequestion,butthereisnosignificant63 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationdifference.Theother7questionshaveshowedsignificantdifferences.4.1.2AnalysisofEnglishtestresultsTheexperimenttakesthegrammarpartofthefinalEnglishexaminationpaperofthefirsttermof2014-2015schoolyearasthepre-test,andtheauthorusesSPSS16.0forIndependentSamplesTest.Aftertheexperiment,theauthorusesthegrammarpartofthefinalEnglishexaminationpaperofthesecondtermof2014-2015schoolyearasthepost-testexaminationpaper.Theresultsoftheexperimentalclass(EC)andthecontrolclass(CC)willundergoIndependentSamplesTestandPairedSamplesTest.(1)Ttestofpre-testresultsanalysisofexperimentalclassandthecontrolclassarethefollowing,Table4-21GroupStatisticsclassNMeanStd.DeviationStd.ErrorMeanPretestEC4221.3335.0300.7761CC3821.0532.8941.4695Table4-22IndependentSamplesTestLevene"sTestforEqualityofVariancest-testforEqualityofMeans95%ConfidenceIntervaloftheDifferenceSig.MeanStd.ErrorFSig.tdf(2-tailed)DifferenceDifferenceLowerUpperPretestEqualvariances15.247.374.30278.764.2807.9305-1.57172.1331assumedEqualvariances.30966.610.758.2807.9071-1.53002.0915notassumedFromTable4-21andTable4-22,wecanseethattheexperimentalclassandthecontrolclasshavesimilarmeanscores,21.333and21.033respectively,withthe64 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussiondifferencebeingonly0.3.Theexperimentalclasshasrelativelyhighermeanscores.TheIndependentSamplesTestbySPSS16.0showsthatthetwoclasseshavenosignificantdifferenceinfinalEnglishexaminationassignificancevalueis0.764,whichisover0.05.Inotherwords,theexperimentalclassandcontrolclasshavenosignificantdifference,andtheexperimentcanproceed.(2)Ttestofpost-testresultsanalysisofexperimentalclassandcontrolclassarethefollowing:Table4-23GroupStatisticsclassNMeanStd.DeviationStd.ErrorMeanPosttestEC4224.3333.1520.4864CC3821.2634.0114.6507Table4-24IndependentSamplesTestLevene"sTestforEqualityofVariancest-testforEqualityofMeans95%ConfidenceIntervaloftheDifferenceSig.MeanStd.ErrorFSig.tdf(2-tailed)DifferenceDifferenceLowerUpperPosttestEqualvariances2.957.0893.82578.0003.0702.80271.47214.6683assumedEqualvariances3.77970.134.0003.0702.81241.44994.6904notassumedFromTable4-23andTable4-24,wecanseethatthepost-testmeanscorefortheexperimentalclassandcontrolclassshowdifference,24.333and21.263respectively,withthedifferencebeing3.07.Theexperimentalclasshashighermeanscores.TheIndependentSamplesTestbySPSS16.0showssignificancevalueisequalto0.000,whichisbelow0.05.Thisshowsthataftertheexperiment,theexperimentalclassandcontrolclasshavesignificantdifference.Inotherwords,grammarteachingfromthe65 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationperspectiveofConstructionGrammarhasexertedpositiveinfluenceontheEnglishgrammarlearningfortheexperimentalclass.(3)Ttestofpre-testandpost-testresultsofexperimentalclassandcontrolclassarethefollowing,Table4-25PairedSamplesStatisticsStd.MeanNDeviationStd.ErrorMeanPairECPretest21.333425.0300.77611ECPosttest24.333423.1520.4864Table4-26PairedSamplesTestPairedDifferences95%ConfidenceIntervaloftheDifferenceStd.Std.ErrorSig.MeanDeviationMeanLowerUppertdf(2-tailed)PairEC1Pretest–-3.00004.0061.6182-4.2484-1.7516-4.85341.000ECPosttestFromTable4-25andTable4-26,wecanseethatthepre-testandpost-testscorefortheexperimentalclasshasconsiderablyimprovedfrom21.333to24.333.ThePairedSamplesTestshowsthatsignificancevalueis0.000,whichisbelow0.05.Therefore,aftertheexperiment,theexperimentalclasshasdisplayedsignificantdifferencecomparedwiththescorebeforetheexperiment,whichisasignificantimprovement.Table4-27PairedSamplesStatisticsMeanNStd.DeviationStd.ErrorMeanPair1CCPretest21.053382.8941.4695CCPosttest21.263384.0114.650766 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussionTable4-28PairedSamplesTestPairedDifferences95%ConfidenceIntervaloftheDifferenceStd.Std.ErrorSig.MeanDeviationMeanLowerUppertdf(2-tailed)PairCCPretest–CC-.21053.3785.5481-1.3210.8999-.38437.7031PosttestFromTable4-27andTable4-28,themeanscoresofthecontrolclassforthepre-testandpost-testare21.053and21.263respectively,theposttestscorebeinghigherthanthepre-testscoreby0.21.ThePairedSamplesTestshowsthatsignificancevalueis0.703,whichisover0.05.Therefore,aftertheexperiment,thecontrolclasshasdisplayednosignificantdifferencefromthescoresbeforetheexperiment,whichmeansnosignificantimprovement.4.2DiscussionoftheresearchquestionsFromtheresultsoftheChi-SquaretestandIndependentSamplesTestandPairedSamplesTest,wecancometofollowingdiscussion.FromtheTtestofpre-testandpost-testresultsofexperimentalclass,weknowthataftertheexperimentofteachingwiththeteachingmethodsfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thestudentsintheexperimentalclasshasdisplayedsignificantdifferencecomparedwiththescorebeforetheexperiment,whichisasignificantimprovement.FromtheTtestofpre-testandpost-testresultsofcontrolclass,weknowthataftertheexperimentofteachingwiththeteachingmethodsfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thecontrolclasshasdisplayednosignificantdifferencefromthescorebeforetheexperiment,whichisnosignificantimprovement.Therefore,theteachingwiththeteachingmethodsfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammariseffectiveinimprovingstudents‘scoresofgrammartest.FromtheresultsoftheChi-Squaretest,wecometothefollowingconclusion.First,aftertheexperiment,thestudentshavebetterunderstandingoftheform67 ChapterFourResultsanddiscussionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationandmeaningofthegrammarpointsandusethemusethemmorecomfortably(question1and3).Second,aftertheexperiment,thestudentshavebecomemorecomfortablewiththeunconventionalgrammarpoints.Thestudentsneedtoknowthatlanguageiscomposedofconventionalityandunconventionality(question2)Third,aftertheexperiment,thestudentshavebeenmorereceivingtotheideathatallgrammarpointshavemeaning(question5).Thus,thestudentscannaturallythinkinEnglish,andreflectontheirunderstandingofcertaingrammarpointswhentheylearnEnglish.Fourth,aftertheexperiment,thestudentsfinditbetterforthemtolearngrammarfromthediscoveringapproach(question8).ThisisinaccordancewiththelanguageacquisitionruleproposedbyConstructionGrammar,andhasbeenprovedtobemoreeffective.Fifth,aftertheexperiment,thestudentsprefermorecommunicativeandparticipantactivitieswhenlearninggrammar(question9and10).Guidedbythetraditionaltranslation-grammarteachingmethodandinfluencedbythecurrenttestingsystem,mostteachersbelieveitisbestthattheysticktothetraditionalwayofgrammarteaching.Asforthoseproblemsthatareintraditionalgrammarteaching,mostteachersareunabletofindagoodwaytodealwiththem.Withoutthehelpoftheteachers,thestudentswillnothavesoundandcomprehensivegrammarknowledge.Soitisnecessarytotakemeasurestogiveguidedprinciplesandstrategiesfortheteacherstohelpthestudentsenhancetheirunderstandingofgrammarteaching.Teachersarealwaysunderthepressureofimprovingstudents‘testingscores.Highschoolteachersoftenusegrammarteststoevaluateandconsolidatestudents‘understandingofgrammaticalitemseventhoughtheyknowitisimportantthatstudentsusethegrammaticalitemsinalesscontrolledmanner.Therefore,thechangeofthesituationofEnglishgrammarteachinginhighschoolneedstotakeplaceandfromtheresearch,wecanseethatbyteachinggrammarfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar,thegrammarteachingcan68 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFourResultsanddiscussionbemoreeffectiveandbringaboutbetterresults.69 ChapterFiveConclusionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFiveConclusion5.1MajorfindingsThroughthepreviousstudyongrammarteaching,wecanconcludethattraditionalgrammarteachingisnoteffectiveintheunderstandingofthegrammaticalitemsandtheconsolidationofthem.Moreimportantly,thepurposeofgrammarteachingistoteachstudentstousegrammarasatooltounderstandandexpressmeaninginEnglishunderthecorrectcontext.Throughtheinvestigationofthethesis,wecanfindthatgrammarteachingfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammarcansolvemanyproblemsinthecurrentgrammarteaching.Thecurrentsituationforgrammarteachingneedsachange,andevenanoverhaul,butmostteachersintheresearchareunwillingtochangeorimprovetheirgrammarteachingmethods.Therearemanyreasonsforthis.Teacherspaytoomuchattentiontothecorrectnessoftheformbecausethisyieldsniceexaminationscores,andtheypaylittleattentiontothemeaningofthegrammaticalitemsandtheiruseinrealcontext.Teachersshouldchangetheirrolesinteaching,andmaketheirteachingbecomestudent-centeredanddiscoveryteaching.Teachersshouldalsoshiftfromteachinggrammarwithexcessiveemphasisonthecorrectnessoflanguageformstocommunicativeteaching,andstresstheimportanceoflanguagemeaningandthecommunicativenatureoflanguage.5.2LimitationsoftheresearchDespitegreateffortsthathavebeenpaidonthisthesis;therearestillsomeunavoidablelimitationsfortheresearch.Thesampleofthesubjectsisnotbigenoughandthesubjectsmaynotrepresentthegeneralconditionforgrammarteaching.Therearetoomanyfactorsinfluencingtheresultsandtheauthorisunabletotakeallthese70 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationChapterFiveConclusionintoconsideration.Still,itisunrealistictojustdoanexperimentsothatproblemsingrammarteachingcanbeidentifiedandsolvedfromtheperspectiveofConstructionGrammar.Afterall,weshouldallbearinmindthefactthatgrammarteachingisareallycomplicatedthing;wemayneverfindatheory,aprinciple,orastrategythatsolveseveryproblemwehaveingrammarteaching.Thisdoesnotmeanweshouldstoptryingtomakeeveryefforttoimprovethecurrentgrammarteaching,butweshouldalwaysbuildourgrammarteachingonourpastexperienceofteachingandreviseineverypossiblewaytomakeitmoreeffectiveforstudentstoachieveasoundgrammarbasisforfuturelearning.Therearestillseverallimitationsoftheresearch.First,therearemanyfactorsinfluencingtheresultofgrammarteaching,suchasteachers‘professionalknowledge,students‘commitmentstability,observationabilityandsoon.Second,therearesomeincompatibilitiesofConstructionGrammartogrammarteachingbecausemostofthetheoriesofithavealimitationtofirstlanguageacquisition,whilegrammarteachingwearetalkingaboutinthethesisisontheforeignlanguagelearningbasis.Theauthorisunabletotakeallthesefactorsintoconsiderationwhiledoingtheresearch.Hopefully,futureresearchwillbedonetoincludethem.5.3ImplicationsforfutureresearchSeveralprinciplesandstrategieshavebeengiveninpreviouschaptersbasedontheunderstandingofConstructionGrammarandtheresultsofthestudy.Theyshouldbeappliedtogrammarteachingwithproperadjustmenttoachievedesirableresults.Therearetwosituationsthatgrammarteachingmustavoid.First,teachersshouldnevermakesomesummaryforgrammarrulesonstudents‘behalf.ConstructionGrammarstresseslearners‘constructionoftheirowngrammarknowledge.Thismeansteachersshouldnotusemakeanystatementonthegrammaticalitemsitselfbeforethestudentsbuilduptheconstructionsontheirown.Inthiscase,teachersusecommunicativemethodstohelpstudentstogeneralizegrammarknowledgefromtheirpriorknowledge,example-richpresentationandsoundguidance.Second,teachers71 ChapterFiveConclusionShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationshouldneverguidestudentstotheunderstandingthatlanguagecanbelearnedfromapplyinggrammarrulestosufficientlearning,evenifthecurrenttest-orientededucationissuchadrivingforce.ConstructionGrammarstressestheidiosyncrasyoflanguagestructures,andpositsitatthecenteroflanguagelearningandmakesittheclueforlanguagedevelopment.Languageisrulegovernedontheonehand,andidiosyncrasyontheother.Languagechangesallthetime,andnewwordsandchangedconstructionsfromtheolderoneshavealwaysmadeusawareofthefactthatlanguageisnotascientificallylogicsystem.Forteachers,theyshouldalwayscultivatestudents‘understandingofthenecessarygrammarknowledgeneededforthedevelopmentcomprehensivelanguageskills,andfacilitatepossibilitiesforstudents‘futurelearning,inwhichcase,thenatureoflanguageisoneinnerabilitystudentshavetograsp.Itcanbeshowninthequestionnairethatthemeaningofthegrammaticalitemshasbeenpaidtoolittleattentiontoingrammarteaching.Therefore,itoughttobeadvocatedamongteachersthatgrammarteachingisnotjustaboutform,butmeaningisasimportant,too.Thecurrentgrammarteachingcanbeimprovedwithmoreemphasisonthecorrectnessofthemeaningandmeaningincontext,orthefocusonthecorrectnessofformwillleadtostudents‘lackofinterestinEnglishlearning.Toconclude,teachersshoulddoalltheycantoimprovetheeffectivenessofgrammarteachingfromtheConstructionGrammar.Bydoingso,teacherscanhavebetterresultsforgrammarteachingandthestudentscanlayasoundbasisforlanguageskills.Consequently,students‘communicativeabilitycanbecultivatedinanall-roundedway.72 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ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationAppendixAppendix构式语法视角对当前语法教学的学生问卷调查Thisquestionnaireisdesignedtostudythecurrentsituationofgrammarteachingandlearningandtoproposegrammarteachingprinciplesandstrategiesonthisaspect.Allyouranswerstothequestionsaresecret,sofeelfreetoanswerthequestionsbasedonyourownsituation.Thankyouverymuchforyourkindcooperation!（这份调查问卷是为了研究构式语法视角下的当前语法教学情况，以及对当前语法教学提出语法教学的原则与策略。您对本问卷的回答均是秘密的，请根据您的实际情况填写。谢谢您的合作！）1Doyouagreethatyoufeeleasyinunderstandingtheformorthemeaningofgrammarpoints?A.NeverB.SometimesC.OftenD.Always2Doyoupayattentiontothosestructuresthatdefythegrammaticalruleslearnedbefore(orasktheteacherforhelp)?A.NeverB.SometimesC.oftenD.Always3Doyouagreethatgrammarteachingistoogeneralandnotpracticalinlanguageuse?A.StronglydisagreeB.DisagreeC.AgreeD.Stronglyagree4Intermsoflanguagelearning,doyouagreealllanguageformscanbeexplainedthroughthecurrentclassroomgrammarlearning?A.StronglydisagreeB.DisagreeC.AgreeD.Stronglyagree5Doyouagreeallthegrammaticalpointshavemeaning?A.StronglydisagreeB.DisagreeC.AgreeD.Stronglyagree6Intermsofgrammarlearning,whattobepresentedfirstwouldbebetterinyoureyes?A.GrammarrulesB.ExamplesofthegrammarC.Situationwherethegrammaritemmostoftenoccurs77 AppendixShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationD.Realsituations,suchastheclassroom7Doyouagreethesethreesentencesaredifferentinmeaning?-Excuseme;I‘mlookingfortheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;whatI‘mlookingforistheBritishMuseum.-Excuseme;it‘stheBritishMuseumthatI‘mlookingfor.A.StronglydisagreeB.DisagreeC.AgreeD.Stronglyagree8Doyouagreethatthegrammarcanbelearntfromthediscoveringapproachofthestudents?A.StronglydisagreeB.DisagreeC.AgreeD.Stronglyagree9Whatisthebestwayforyoutolearngrammar?A.ExplanationofthegrammarB.GrammarpracticeC.ActivitiesthatstresstheformandmeaningofthegrammarD.Communicativepresentationandconsolidation10Whataretheadvantagesiftheteacheraddsmoreparticipantandintegrativeteachingmethodsintogrammarteaching?A.NoadvantagesB.HelpfultousethegrammarinlanguageskillsC.ArouseyourinterestD.Bettertoactivatetheclass78 ShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationAppendix在读期间公开发表论文（著）及科研情况1.《世事洞明皆成学问：谈<文心雕龙>中“道之文”的启示》发表于语文学刊2015年第9期（68-69页），并收录于语文学刊(高等教育版)2015年第5期（68-69页）2.《<熵：一种新的世界观>读书报告》发表于青年文学家2015年第14期（165-167页）79 AcknowledgementsShanghaiNormalUniversityMasterofEducationAcknowledgementsIwouldliketothankeveryonewhohashelpedmefromtheverybeginningoftheconceptionofwritingonaninterestedsubjectofminetothefinalcompletionofthethesis.Greatthanksgotomysupervisor,ProfessorSongXuedong,whoseingeniousandinsightfulguidancepavedthewayformetoamoderateyetenlighteningwritingprocess.Thanksalsogotoafriendofmysupervisor,InstructorHan,who,thoughonlygavemeadviceonrevisingtheformatofthethesis,hascontributedalottothefinalrefinement.Still,WuCheng,theinstructorofthesubjectofEnglishteachingmethods,hascontributedtothepaperbecausehisquestionsofhowEnglishgrammarcanbetaughtinamoreeffectivemannertriggeredmythinkingoffindingoutmorescientificwaysofgrammarteachingfromnewperspectives.IthasbeenagreatpleasuretostudyatShanghaiNormalUniversity.IlearnedmoreanddeeperonEnglishandEnglishteachinghere,andthiswillhelpmeagreatdealtomyfuturelearningandteachingofEnglish.Finally,Iwouldliketoexpressmysincerethankstomyclassmatesandparents,withoutwhomIwouldnothavehadthesafeandcomfortableenvironmenttostudyandworkinhere.80