Pedagogical grammar and cognitive linguistics are brought together in this volume. The aim of a cognitive linguistic approach to teaching grammar is to provide implicit or explicit linguistic instruction on features and patterns considered relevant and to organize instructional materials in a manner that reflects the acquisition of grammar according to this view. De Knop and De Rycker claim that there is a lack of a strong theoretical framework to support the teaching of language. They suggest a usage-based and cognition-oriented linguistic theory to pedagogical grammar. This volume includes 13 contributions presented in three parts: (a) cognition and usage, (b) tools for conceptual teaching, and (c) conceptual learning.
Part 1 consists of four chapters that analyze the basic form-meaning units of a language, including a review of the major theoretical approaches in cognitive linguistics such as Langacker’s cognitive grammar and Goldberg’s construction grammar. Part 2 includes four chapters and examines the potential contribution of a cognitive approach to contrastive and error analysis. Using Italian and Spanish data, the contributors highlight the necessity of cognitive tools in analyzing language-internal and language-external similarities and differences between languages. Part 3 examines the constraints involved in the learning of motion events, temporal structure, and dynamic action. The authors of these chapters study the implementation of Long’s concept of focus on form in the teaching of motion events as well as the construal of external temporal structure (tense) and internal temporal structure (aspect) of language.
De Knop and De Rycker should be commended for this edited volume, which will no doubt be of value to the burgeoning field of cognition-based pedagogical grammar. The chapters compiled in this volume make a solid connection between the theories of cognitive linguistics and pedagogical grammar. The inclusion of theory, pedagogical implications, and data from a variety of language families make this volume useful for teachers and curriculum designers to gain insight into the usefulness of a cognitive approach in identifying, describing, analyzing, and interpreting the constraints involved in language learning. However, for students new to the field of cognitive grammar, this volume should be accompanied by an introductory volume to cognitive linguistics.
