<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This article measures the syntactic development indices in grade 5-12 English textbooks in Turkey. Through a usage-based construction grammar approach, it argues that the textbooks show an inconsistent development in verb-argument constructions (VAC) and other usage-based indices. The study employs an automatic software tool that detects variations in these indices and runs a statistical analysis on a corpus compiled by the author. Statistically significant results demonstrate that textbooks lack lexicogrammatical variation. As such, learners who use these textbooks are likely to experience a limited array of VACs that are limited in lemma-construction combinations. Findings also indicate that learners may not be exposed to the conventional usage patterns and frequencies of VACs when compared against a reference corpus. These findings may have an influence on the learners’ generalization process, their low-proficiency level in English, and poor idiomatic uses of the language.</p></abstract>

This article measures the syntactic development indices in grade 5-12 English textbooks in Turkey. Through a usage-based construction grammar approach, it argues that the textbooks show an inconsistent development in verb-argument constructions (VAC) and other usage-based indices. The study employs an automatic software tool that detects variations in these indices and runs a statistical analysis on a corpus compiled by the author. Statistically significant results demonstrate that textbooks lack lexicogrammatical variation. As such, learners who use these textbooks are likely to experience a limited array of VACs that are limited in lemma-construction combinations. Findings also indicate that learners may not be exposed to the conventional usage patterns and frequencies of VACs when compared against a reference corpus. These findings may have an influence on the learners’ generalization process, their low-proficiency level in English, and poor idiomatic uses of the language.

An analysis of lexicogrammatical development in English textbooks in Turkey: A usage-based construction grammar approach

ExELL

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This article measures the syntactic development indices in grade 5-12 English textbooks in Turkey. Through a usage-based construction grammar approach, it...

An analysis of lexicogrammatical development in English textbooks in Turkey: A usage-based construction grammar approach

Published Online: Mar 08, 2022

Page range: 26 - 55

Received: Oct 25, 2021

Accepted: Dec 15, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/exell-2022-0002

Keywords
applied construction grammar, English textbooks, verb argument constructions, lexicogrammatical development, usage-based linguistics

© 2021 Tan Arda Gedik, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

An analysis of lexicogrammatical development in English textbooks in Turkey: A usage-based construction grammar approach

Published Online: Mar 08, 2022

Page range: 26 - 55

Received: Oct 25, 2021

Accepted: Dec 15, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/exell-2022-0002

Keywordsapplied construction grammar, English textbooks, verb argument constructions, lexicogrammatical development, usage-based linguistics

© 2021 Tan Arda Gedik, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
applied construction grammar, English textbooks, verb argument constructions, lexicogrammatical development, usage-based linguistics