Agnieszka Król-Markefka

The aim of the article is to present a usage-based theory of second language acquisition (SLA) which might serve as a framework for explaining the learning mechanisms that are operating when students are exposed to the meaningfully-motivated Cognitive Grammar-based teaching materials. Currently, two seemingly quite different stands of Cognitive Grammar (CG) applications are advocated: one focusing on the use of meaningfully-motivated linguistic explanations and the other on the usage-based nature of language. The article outlines a unified psycholinguistic theory, inspired by Brian MacWhinney’s Competition Model and developed by Nick C. Ellis, which is compatible with both the meaning-based and the usage-based conceptions of language assumed by CG, and which can provide a more fine-grained frame of reference for introducing Cognitive Grammar into the teaching practice. Finally, some suggestions are made concerning practical application of CG-inspired pedagogical rules that should enhance the effectiveness of meaningfully motivated grammatical instruction.

The aim of the article is to analyse the grammatical rules for the use of English articles which are offered to students of English as a foreign language and evaluate them from the perspective of their pedagogical effectiveness. The article highlights the most problematic issues and the potential weaknesses of the rules most commonly used in contemporary pedagogical/reference grammars. It is argued that some of the problems identified could be at least partially solved or avoided by the introduction of rules based on Cognitive Grammar. A brief outline of the Cognitive Grammar conception of articles is presented to show how the specific “uses” of articles can be subsumed under more general, broader, conceptually-based rules.