On the Instruction Effects of Argument Structure Constructions and Basic Verbs on Korean Middle School Learners of English

Abstract

This paper aims to verify the frequency-based instruction effects of argument structure constructions and basic verbs on Korean middle school learners of English. The experiment was conducted on the basis of input frequency and the developmental intercorrelation between argument structure constructions and basic verbs, which are regarded as an actual (psycho-)linguistic means at the starting point of language acquisition. After six weeks of instruction, learners improvement in comprehension and production was generally detected. Interestingly, the two types of writing data showed learners biases and fluctuations in using the target frames, which revealed relative accessibility among the representations. The phenomena were then reanalysed in terms of sentence patterns and verbs, and the observations confirmed the learners endeavour to access the target language system and to fully utilise their (non)linguistic knowledge to meet communicative intentions. In conclusion, learners performance in relation to item-based piecemeal learning of the target language system with activating cognitive mechanisms not only substantiates the core aspects of usage-based language acquisition, but it also suggests the potential for construction-verb sets to be powerful initiators at the beginning stage of language learning.