Usage-Based Instruction: Enhancing Interpersonal Communication in Foreign Languages

Serafima Gettys (Lewis University, USA)
Copyright: © 2014 |Pages: 433
EISBN13: 9781466650978|DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-4482-3.ch020
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Abstract

The following case study describes the effort of a small foreign language program at a medium-size private Mid-Western university in which instructors representing several world languages collaborated to undertake a complete modification of traditional textbook-driven curriculum to develop an innovative approach to teaching interpersonal communication in foreign languages. This approach was inspired by the insights coming from the Cognitive Perspective in Second Language Acquisition Cognitive Perspective in SLA, a relatively young, interdisciplinary field, which in its conclusions relies on research in such disciplines as Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology, Construction Grammar, Usage-Based Grammar, Artificial Intelligence, and so forth, served as a theoretical foundation for the pilot study that is currently underway. The case will demonstrate how application of Cognitive Perspective increases the efficiency of instruction for oral proficiency. Although the role of technology in this approach is not decisive, it represents a significant element of the instructional sequence to be described in this chapter.
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