In how far are active and passive voice in English and German different from each other? What difficulties do learners of English as a second language have to face when they deal with “voice”, especially in academic writing? This paper intends to answer these questions by firstly dealing with the descriptions and comparisons of active and passive voice, and partly also middle voice, as far as they are presented in Understanding English-German Contrasts by König & Gast. In a second step, certain exemplary problems that L21 learners of English come across when dealing with active and passive voice will be picked from Hinkel’s Teaching Academic ESL Writing: Practical Techniques in Vocabulary and Grammar. These problems will then be examined by referring back to the text by König & Gast.
Table of Contents
1. Active and Passive Voice in English and German & L2 Learners’ Problems with Voice
Research Objective and Topics
This paper examines the linguistic differences between active and passive voice constructions in English and German, while simultaneously identifying the specific challenges German L2 learners face when applying these structures within the context of academic writing.
- Comparative analysis of active, passive, and middle voice structures.
- Grammatical and syntactic variations in passive formation between English and German.
- Stylistic and semantic functions of voice in academic discourse.
- Common difficulties for L2 learners, such as transitivity constraints and lexicalized structures.
- Contrastive examination of auxiliary usage (e.g., be/get vs. werden/bekommen).
Excerpt from the Book
Active and Passive Voice in English and German & L2 Learners’ Problems with Voice
In how far are active and passive voice in English and German different from each other? What difficulties do learners of English as a second language have to face when they deal with “voice”, especially in academic writing? This paper intends to answer these questions by firstly dealing with the descriptions and comparisons of active and passive voice, and partly also middle voice, as far as they are presented in Understanding English-German Contrasts by König & Gast. In a second step, certain exemplary problems that L2 learners of English come across when dealing with active and passive voice will be picked from Hinkel’s Teaching Academic ESL Writing: Practical Techniques in Vocabulary and Grammar. These problems will then be examined by referring back to the text by König & Gast. As this paper covers a rather general and introductory understanding of “voice”, the text by König & Gast will be taken as the basis for the discussion of the topic. Differing linguistic opinions about any linguistic features or terms that were mentioned in the “Contrastive Syntax” seminar will be indicated, but cannot – due to the briefness of the paper – be considered any further.
Summary of Chapters
1. Active and Passive Voice in English and German & L2 Learners’ Problems with Voice: This chapter introduces the comparative scope of the paper, outlines the theoretical reliance on König & Gast and Hinkel, and frames the study of voice within both linguistic contrast and L2 acquisition challenges.
Keywords
Active Voice, Passive Voice, Middle Voice, Diathesis, L2 Learners, Contrastive Syntax, English-German Contrasts, Auxiliary Verbs, Valency Reduction, True Patient, Academic Writing, Syntactic Criteria, Preposition Stranding, Unaccusative Verbs, Lexicalized Structures
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper provides a contrastive analysis of active and passive voice structures in English and German and investigates the specific hurdles that German learners of English face regarding these grammatical features in academic writing.
What are the central thematic fields covered?
The central themes include the syntactic construction of passives, the role of auxiliary verbs, stylistic differences between active and passive forms, and the influence of first language grammar on L2 acquisition.
What is the primary research objective?
The primary objective is to evaluate how linguistic differences in voice between German and English affect the performance and understanding of L2 learners when producing academic texts.
Which scientific method is employed?
The author employs a qualitative, contrastive linguistic approach, utilizing established theoretical literature by König & Gast and Hinkel to compare grammatical rules and identify pedagogical problem areas.
What is addressed in the main body?
The main body examines the grammatical changes during passive formation, the specific use of auxiliaries, semantic restrictions such as the "true patient" requirement, and common L2 learner challenges like idiomatic expressions and verb transitivity constraints.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include contrastive syntax, passive construction, L2 acquisition, valency, academic discourse, and cross-linguistic analysis.
How does the "get-passive" differ from the "be-passive" in English?
The "be-passive" is generally considered neutral, whereas the "get-passive" can imply partial responsibility of the patient for an action or convey an emotional or critical attitude from the speaker.
Why might German learners have fewer problems with English passives than other L2 learners?
Unlike speakers of some other languages, German speakers share similar linguistic concepts regarding the "true patient" requirement, making the structural logic of English passives more accessible, despite specific differences like preposition stranding.
What is the "bleiben Passiv" in German?
It is a special case of the "Zustandspassiv" used when the continuation or a change of a state is expected or under discussion, formed with "bleiben" and a past participle.
How does the author define the "middle voice"?
The author adopts the cross-linguistic definition provided by König & Gast, referring to cases where a transitive predicate is used in an intransitive way, such as in the example "This shirt washes well."
- Quote paper
- Christina Gieseler (Author), 2008, Active and Passive Voice in English and German & L2 Learners’ Problems with Voice, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/148682
