The following paper consisting of three main parts, namely an analytical, a didactic and an empirical section, seeks an approach to second language learners’ acquisition and comprehension of certain word-formation rules. The study is based on questionnaires filled in by students of the grammar school Martin-Luther-Schule Marburg who are taking English as their special subject. The thirteenth graders are all German native speakers who have been taught English since the fifth grade. If word-formation is integrated into school lessons – at least to some extent – as curriculum and pedagogical literature demand the students, being advanced learners should have some analytical knowledge about the features of common English affixes and be able to apply their skills to the three tasks they are given in the questionnaires. These tasks demand receptive and productive skills which will be illustrated in detail in the empirical part where the survey is evaluated.
The pedagogical opinion in research literature towards teaching word-formation in school will be discussed in more detail so that a comparison between theory and practice can be drawn. A vital point at issue will be the character of teaching word-formation in school. As usual, opinions are divided here. It is a major aim of this paper to defend an approach which is still fairly unpopular, namely an approach that includes productive aspects into the teaching of word-formation in school. Most educationalists still prefer an exclusively receptive approach as the discussion in the pedagogical part will show.
As far as the linguistic analysis is concerned, it will be looked at adjectival suffixation. The suffixes being investigated in detail are German L1 suffixes -ig, -isch, and -lich as well as English L2 suffixes -ed, -ic, -ish and -ly. The high productivity of these suffixes will be shown whereas the term productivity is to be defined beforehand. Each suffix will be carefully described with regard to semantic, syntactic, morphological and phonological aspects. Of course, it will be dealt with relevant aspects only. Questions such as whether an adjective can be used attributively, adverbially and predicatively are not taken into consideration because they do not play a role for the formation of words. Moreover, it is not talked about phonological constraints because none of the affixes treated here seems to be subject to phonological restrictions. Therefore, it is only talked about the phonological effects the suffixes have on their bases.
On the basis of such a description a contrastive analysis can be established. As contrastive analysis has been severely criticized for its tendency towards over- and underprediction of mistakes for years (cf. Kühlwein 1984: 314) it will be highly interesting to see from the results of the students’ questionnaires if the mistakes predicted by the contrastive analysis are really made by the learner or if perhaps unpredicted ones materialise. As I intend to become a school teacher for English and German the results of this study turn out to be not only very interesting but practically useful as well.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES
2.1. Description of German L1 suffixes
2.1.1. The suffix -ig
2.1.1.1 Semantic scope
2.1.1.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.1.1.3 Phonological changes
2.1.2. The suffix -isch
2.1.2.1 Semantic scope
2.1.2.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.1.2.3 Phonological changes
2.1.3. The suffix -lich
2.1.3.1 Semantic scope
2.1.3.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.1.3.3 Phonological changes
2.2. Description of English L2 suffixes
2.2.1. The suffix -ed
2.2.1.1 Semantic scope
2.2.1.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.2.1.3 Phonological changes
2.2.2. The suffix -ic
2.2.2.1 Semantic scope
2.2.2.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.2.2.3 Phonological changes
2.2.3. The suffix -ish
2.2.3.1 Semantic scope
2.2.3.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.2.3.3 Phonological changes
2.2.4. The suffix -ly
2.2.4.1 Semantic scope
2.2.4.2 Morphological and syntactic constraints
2.2.4.3 Phonological changes
2.3. Contrastive analysis of German and English suffixes
2.3.1. Comparison of -ig and -ed
2.3.2. Comparison of -isch, -ish and -ic
2.3.3. Comparison of -lich, -ly and -ish
3. PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING WORD-FORMATION IN SCHOOL
3.1. Goals and advantages of teaching word-formation
3.2. Word-formation: a means to teach receptive and productive skills?
3.3. Which word-formation patterns are to be taught and how?
4. THE SURVEY AND ITS EVALUATION
4.1. Completion task
4.2. Comprehensive task
4.3. Translation task
5. CONCLUSION
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines how secondary school students acquire and comprehend English word-formation rules, specifically regarding adjectival suffixation. The central research objective is to challenge the predominantly receptive approach in language teaching by defending and demonstrating the feasibility of integrating productive word-formation exercises into the English curriculum, supported by a contrastive analysis of German and English suffixes.
- Productivity of English and German adjectival suffixes
- Contrastive linguistic analysis of L1 (German) and L2 (English) morphology
- Pedagogical strategies for teaching word-formation in grammar schools
- Empirical evaluation of students' receptive and productive word-formation skills
- Comparison of learner errors with contrastive linguistic predictions
Excerpt from the Book
2. Linguistic analysis of selected adjective suffixes
Word-formation represents the core area of morphology. Among the various processes of word-formation affixation and thus suffixation, too, belongs to the most frequent and most natural ones (cf. Naumann/Vogel 2000: 933, 940). The utterly productive process of attaching a suffix to a base and thus creating the derivative belongs to explicit derivation (cf. Fleischer/Barz 1992: 46).
Since the term productivity is controversially discussed among linguists, it is to be defined here before the suffixes are individually analysed. For obvious reasons it will be talked about productive suffixes only. A suffix is generally called productive if it can be used to derive new words.
“Speakers of a language can expand the vocabulary of that language by coining new words from already existing words in the language, and speakers of earlier generations have done so before them. When such new formations involve the meaning as well as the form and/or grammar of the basis and when there are several items that have been coined in a similar way, we speak of word-formational patterns.” (Stein 2002: 141)
The number of words belonging to a fully productive pattern is therefore theoretically infinite (cf. Storch 1979: 4). Although Bauer argues convincingly that frequency and transparency cannot be equated with productivity, they are nevertheless important properties of productive word-formation patterns. The more productive a suffix is, the more entries of different words ending in this suffix will be found in a dictionary. It is, however, possible that fairly frequently occuring suffixes have ceased to be productive which can be misleading.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: This chapter outlines the paper's three sections—analytical, didactic, and empirical—and defines the goal of promoting a productive approach to teaching word-formation.
2. LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES: This section provides a detailed linguistic breakdown of specific German and English suffixes, examining their semantic, morphological, and phonological characteristics to form the basis for a contrastive analysis.
3. PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS OF TEACHING WORD-FORMATION IN SCHOOL: The chapter explores the didactic role of word-formation in foreign language teaching, arguing for a balanced approach that supports both receptive and productive language skills.
4. THE SURVEY AND ITS EVALUATION: This section details an empirical study involving students, evaluating their performance in completion, comprehensive, and translation tasks to test the predictions of contrastive analysis.
5. CONCLUSION: The author summarizes the findings, confirming that while contrastive analysis is highly useful, productive word-formation errors are rarely catastrophic, thus supporting the implementation of productive teaching methods.
Keywords
Word-formation, Suffixation, Contrastive Analysis, Language Pedagogy, Productivity, Morphology, Receptive Skills, Productive Skills, Second Language Acquisition, Linguistic Constraints, Suffix Analysis, Learner Errors, Potential Vocabulary, English Grammar, German L1
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on the productive use of adjectival suffixes in English as a foreign language, analyzing both the linguistic structure of these suffixes and how they can be effectively taught to German-speaking students.
What are the main thematic areas covered?
The main themes include a detailed linguistic analysis of selected German and English suffixes, a pedagogical discussion on the importance of word-formation in schools, and an empirical survey evaluating how students apply these rules in practice.
What is the central research question or goal?
The central goal is to challenge the traditional preference for exclusively receptive language teaching by demonstrating that students are capable of productive word-formation and that such an approach is pedagogically valuable.
Which scientific methods are utilized in the study?
The study combines a linguistic analysis of suffixes based on dictionary and corpus data with a contrastive analysis approach. This is followed by an empirical section involving a student survey with completion, comprehension, and translation tasks.
What topics are discussed in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the theoretical definition of productivity, a comparative study of German and English adjective formation, a literature review on teaching methodology, and the analysis of student performance data from questionnaires.
What are the key terms that define this research?
Key terms include productivity, morphology, contrastive analysis, L1 and L2 suffixes, receptive/productive competence, and potential vocabulary.
How do German students perform when translating 'langbeinig' into English?
The survey indicates that the majority of students successfully translate 'langbeinig' to the corresponding English '-ed' construction 'long-legged', confirming that learners handle situations best when a clear linguistic correspondence exists.
Does the author consider 'scholared' a correct word-formation?
No, the author notes that 'scholared' is unacceptable, illustrating a common student transfer error where learners incorrectly attach an English suffix to a base that does not support it.
What conclusion does the author draw regarding productive errors?
The author concludes that productive errors—where students form possible but non-existent words—are isolated and less problematic than feared, suggesting that the primary argument against productive-oriented teaching is weakened by these findings.
- Quote paper
- Ilona Gaul (Author), 2006, Productive word-formation (adjectives) in foreign language teaching: Linguistic analysis and pedagogical aspects, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/79667
