Applying Construction Grammar Approach in Teaching Writing Skills: An Experimental Study

Abstract

This experimental study intends to apply construction grammar approach to develop English language writing skills of Grade V students. Two classes of 25 students each, one from a public sector and another from a private school served as the subject of experiment. The students were given a topic for writing to get their writing samples as a pre-test. Criteria for evaluation of the scripts focused mainly on spellings, punctuation, specific vocabulary, construction's usage, grammar and tense. For three weeks, through multiple tasks using construction grammar approach students' writings skills were worked upon. At the end to evaluate the results after intervention, a post-test was conducted. The results showed that implementation of construction grammar, enhanced students' writing skills in lesser time.

Headnote

Abstract

This experimental study intends to apply construction grammar approach to develop English language writing skills of Grade V students. Two classes of 25 students each, one from a public sector and another from a private school served as the subject of experiment. The students were given a topic for writing to get their writing samples as a pre-test. Criteria for evaluation of the scripts focused mainly on spellings, punctuation, specific vocabulary, construction's usage, grammar and tense. For three weeks, through multiple tasks using construction grammar approach students' writings skills were worked upon. At the end to evaluate the results after intervention, a post-test was conducted. The results showed that implementation of construction grammar, enhanced students' writing skills in lesser time.

Keywords: Constructions, Writing Skills, Descriptive Writing, Public School, Private School

Introduction

English is the most frequently used language throughout the world; it has become very important for an individual to develop speaking and writing skills in order to move and work actively in the global market (Paik, 2008). For second language learners, it is a herculean task to develop English writing skills. This study proposes that in Pakistan, application and implementation of Construction Grammar can work wonders to develop writing skills in the students which was suggested by Hinkel (2013) as well. Cohesion and coherence, particular vocabulary items and formal academic constructions for a specific genre are lacking in Pakistani English learners even after years of practice of learning English (Hassan 2013).

With the emergence of construction grammar, which deals with introducing constructions in L2 classrooms, it seems more practical to have proficiency in the target language. According to Hinkel(2003), construction grammar deals with giving 'form and meaning' pairs to students by showing sample texts to them. Hinkel (2003) and Wray & Perkins (2000) explained that the grammar of English is made up of various construction sets, e.g. phrasal verbs, prepositional phrases, and collocations, which can be taught and learned as pre-fabricated expressions. The present study proposes that target language texts which are used for the purpose of translation in native language in Pakistani context up to intermediate level, can be used for introducing features of specific genre writing, by highlighting constructions, which the students can use in their own academic writings.

Literature Review

Construction Grammar Approach was a reaction to the widespread disillusionment by communicative teaching (Widdow son 2003). Instead of grammatical rules, form and meaning pair is considered as 'a whole unit' in Construction Grammar Approach. Wray and Perkins (2000) have considered the role of construction grammar important in language teaching, as language is a set of pre-fabricated expressions in the form of phrasal verbs, prepositional phrases, idiomatic expressions and collocations. Teaching grammar in isolation for building writing skills is no more effective so Lewis (1993) asserts that academic collocations should be taught for better writing skills. Researchers like Cowie (1998) have found that L2 learners use chunks i.e. multiword units of language, in their writings. Therefore, she advocates the use of construction grammar in order to develop good writing and speaking skills among learners.

Teaching grammar through constructions is proposed in recent years by many researchers. Classical theories could not account for linguistic formulas, collocations and idioms so analytical innovation expanded and researchers worked on ground-breaking work on construction grammar. According to Hinkel (2012) majority of the L2 speakers and learners use constructions because they frequently come across them in the texts of the target language. Generally, construction grammar comprises of presenting the pairs of meaning and form in classrooms because it is related to human cognition.

It has been suggested in recent researches such as Hinkel(2011) and Hilpert(2014) that by presenting chunks of constructions L2 learners can save their time as what is expected from them in a year's time is covered through construction in half the time.

Hinkel (2009) has given many foundations and assumptions for using constructions for teaching language effectively. She asserts that construction grammar may rely on storing a good deal of constructions for the production of spoken and written texts. The constructions can be simple to complex, idiomatic expressions to collocations, but there is no division between regular and irregular (idiomatic) expressions as these may be taught and learnt as whole units. Ellis (1997) has asserted that these chunks or constructions or big words should be memorized by the learners for best productivity. Wray and Perkins (2000) also prefer prefabricated chunks to teach L2 which may serve as storage in memory 'to be retrieved' when needed. Hinkel (2009, 2013) gives similar opinion about memorization of certain chunks in order to build good language skills.

Constructions are called chunks, collocations, sentence stems, formulaic by different researchers. According to recent research these prefabricated chunks i.e. prefabs serve as individual words in language production and comprehension. These prefabs are countless and L2 learners' acquisition of these chunks can enable them to become proficient in language (Hilpert, 2014).

Hinkel (2015) has discussed the advantages of using constructions in language classrooms. He stated that the formulas and chunks serve as a great help in academic writing. The problems of verb tenses, articles and prepositional phrases may be avoided if they are dealt with constructions.

Ellis (1997) raised a question of what grammar is to be taught in language classrooms to which he answered that modern trend of teaching functional aspect in place of structural is suitable. Swan (2006) took learners' needs as a guiding force in determining what should be taught. But Ellis (1997) could not resolve this issue of how much grammar should be taught.

Researchers on grammar teaching in Pakistan have pondered over similar questions as raised by Ellis and Swan (2006). Mahmood & Jabeen (2012) have conducted a study to investigate responses of Pakistani English Language teachers and learners towards grammar teaching where the results highlighted the ignorance of language teachers towards grammar teaching and teacher training. Another study by Nawab (2012) was carried out to find out the way of teaching grammar at Chitral (Pakistan), he also concluded that training of teachers about new techniques can bring a positive change in English language learning situation in Pakistan. Hassan (2013) analyzed that the teacher' beliefs and their classroom practices do not correlate with one another. Hence, there is a need to train the teachers and bring some practical/innovative idea in the grammar field.

The present study attempts to introduce construction grammar at school level, in order to contribute to the English language learning situation in Pakistan.

Research Methodology

The present experimental study was conducted in one publican one private sector school located in Faisalabad. Two classes of grade V each of 25 students were taken as subjects for experimental study.

A pre-test comprising of a written paragraph was conducted in both the classrooms. The students were asked to write a paragraph on the given topic. In the experimental phase, both the classes were taught writing skills for three weeks on a daily basis for an hour. At this stage the grammatical chunks and prefabs were introduced during the lessons. The students were given different activities and the use of their own textbooks served as a great help for the study. The same textbook of English recommended by the Punjab Textbook board was exploited to give prefabs and chunks to the participants. A threeweek lesson plan is attached at the appendix A. During the first week, students were introduced to different types of writings, i.e. descriptive, narrative and expository types by exploiting their own textbooks. Students were asked to identify each lesson out of the first 4 lessons with each type of writing. In the course of second and third week constructions were introduced in the classrooms. Paragraph development was also introduced in the classrooms. Each student formed a topic sentence and provided supporting details to their own creative writings. A sample text was given to the students, and they were asked to underline constructions which then were given to them for writing their own paragraphs.

The criterion for the evaluation of the transcripts is given as following. Each transcript was evaluated following the same.

Data Analysis

During the course of the current experimental study the data was analyzed with a descriptive statistical analysis. Students' writing samples were marked with the help of already set rubrics. The total score was 20 and was distributed into five categories comprising of 5 marks each. The total score as well as the score of each rubric was tabulated for data analysis. In order to compare the results of pre and post tests of students with each category separately, a statistical descriptive t-test was applied. Firstly, the ttest was applied on each category separately to find out the differences and level of improvement in each category. The same t-test was applied on total scores as well in order to analyze the degree of progress of the students.

Analysis of Public Sector Students' Tests

Before the intervention pre-test was taken. Students wrote a paragraph on a given topic. Analysis of the scripts showed that the grade V students of public schools were unaware of the types of writings. Their writings lacked coherence and cohesion. The scripts evaluated according to the rubrics revealed that the students were good at spelling but the content was not up to the mark. During the three weeks time period, the writing skills of the students were worked upon by introducing a new strategy. Students were introduced to constructions which were useful in their paragraph writings.

For the evaluation of the post-test the same rubric was followed. It was observed that students became more active during the intervention period. The results of all the rubrics were studied with a statistical descriptive t-test individually, according to the results, for spellings, no significant improvement was observed as t(24)=-l.l4,p>0.05. On the other hand for Vocabulary t(24)=-2.45,p<0.05,constructions t(24)=-6.36,p<0.05,Grammar t(24)=-3.06,p<0.05 and creativity t(24)=-2.14,p<0.05results depict a significant difference in writings of the students which improved to a great extent. All the items set for the evaluation of the scripts were tested where spellings got no improvement through construction grammar, but all other items were improved through intervention. The cumulative results also represent improvement as t(24)=-8.06,p<0.05 which is a very significant difference and leads to the conclusion that without an intervention like this it is rare to bring such a change.

Analysis of Private Sector Students' Tests

It was found that students of the private sector school were good at spelling, punctuation and vocabulary, but in other three areas especially in constructions they were not good and needed improvement. Connectives were not used by them to support their arguments. So constructions were introduced by the researcher to improve their writing skills. Time and sequence vocabulary was not used by the students. Analysis of the post-test showed that the students 'creativity level didn't improve as expected, where t(24)=-0.83,p>0.05but the results of the other four rubrics show a positive difference, as the t- value for the descriptive t-test showed a significant improvement. Students of the private school improved their spellings in the post-tests since (24) =-3.17, and p<0.05 determine this degree of improvement. For Vocabulary t(24)=-3.46,p<0.05 , Constructions t(24)=-5.63, p<0.05, and Grammar t(24)=-3.980 ,p<0.05 there was a significant difference found in the results of the pre-test and post-test.

During the phase of experimentation, students were given feedback on their essays on a regular basis so that they may make up with the deficiencies. Constructions helped them to find features of a specific genre and when during teaching, at production stage they were asked to write paragraphs of these genres, they used the prefabs and chunks which helped them a great deal to have a cohesive piece of writing.

When cumulative scores of the students were analysed, it showed a very clear difference from their previous scores. For further evaluation of the cumulative results t-test was applied proving construction grammar wonderfully supportive for L2 learners. The descriptive statistics showed the t-value and pvalue with positive results, i.e. t (24) =-8.98, p<0.05. To sum up, scores of written tests of students of both the schools proved that construction grammar makes it easier for the L2 learners to become effective writers of target language.

Findings and Discussion

The results of the study suggested that in a Pakistani context at the primary level application of construction grammar (CxG) enhances students' writing skills. The analysis of their scripts demonstrate that the prefabs or chunks give them readymade form and meaning pairs. Observation of the pre-tests also determined underuse of adverbs and connectives by L2 Pakistani writers which was then infused by bringing the constructions in their writings. The lack of Pakistani students' ability to use adverbs and idioms was highlighted by Nasir et al (201 3) and Javed et al (2013). They were of the view that students of Pakistani schools feel difficulty in using adverbs and idioms as compared to simple verbs and nouns, and they do not use complex lexical items as a source of cohesion and coherence.

Furthermore, observation of post tests of both school highlighted that Construction Grammar is found to be useful in building vocabulary and required content for academic writing. These results go in line with Lewis (1993), Cowie (1998) and Hinkel (2009, 2012, and 2013) who supported the application of Construction Grammar in L2 classrooms to enhance students' writing skills. This implies that in order to have mastery over writing skills for academic purposes, the students may get help from the constructions which can make students good writers.

Conclusion

The study concludes that CxG(Construction Grammar)provides L2 teachers with an efficient and productive teaching learning environment, which minimizes the constraints of learning writing skills, where learning chunks, prefabs and formulaic expressions extend the vocabulary and the sentence formation of the students. As compared to learning grammatical rules, which students find confusing to learn, constructions can provide them quick and easy results. The study recommends that Construction Grammar Approach would be equally helpful in enhancing writing skills of the students of public sector schools where students come from such backgrounds where they have little exposure to English language.

References

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