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Article published In: Pedagogical Linguistics
Vol. 1:2 (2020) ► pp.184–210

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German discourse particles in the second language classroom

Teasing apart learning problems at the syntax-pragmatics interface

ORCiD logo with link | Universität Konstanz | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
ORCiD logo with link | Università di Trento
ORCiD logo with link | Università di Trento
Published online: 7 August 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pl.20008.tro
Abstract
One of the main pedagogical objectives for language learners at high proficiency levels is to use ‘cohesive devices’ when writing a text or conducting a conversation. Usually, curricula stress the importance of clause-internal cohesion (by means such as connectives: and, but, when, because, etc.). By contrast, we stress the importance of cohesion at the level of the dialogue and in this context focus on discourse (aka ‘modal’) particles as a means to yield cohesion at that level. In this domain, German discourse particles represent a challenging learning objective for second language learners of German. This paper explores some production patterns of German discourse particles in L2 German by L1 Italian learners. We show that looking at those elements can provide new insights because these elements allow us to tease apart problems within syntax as compared to the lexicon-pragmatics interface in second language learning.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous work on discourse particles in a second language
  • 3.Italian particles and constructional alternatives
  • 4.Testing grammaticality vs. felicity of German particles in L1 Italian learners
    • 4.1Method and participants
    • 4.2Results
      • Coding of participants’ production data
      • Results
    • 4.3Discussion
  • 5.Conclusions and pedagogical implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (36)
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