Structures in CI/TPRS

In CI/TPRS structures are all those things that when acquired provide the student with the feeling for the language so he knows what sounds right and what kinds of words appear in conjunction with what others and in what order. Even if then the student does not recognize some of the words in a sentence, he already knows something about it.

Some structures are complete in themselves, e.g. common recurring phrases and fixed expressions. The various pronouns provide much information about what is being said, e.g. personal, demonstrative, possessive, reflexive, indefinite. Other structures are indicators of what is to come, e. g. conjunctions, introductory phrases, and prepositions. The question words are important structures to be acquired early, e.g. who, what, when, where, how, why. Distinguishing marks are also key structures that are often quite different in different languages, e.g. inflections showing gender, case, subject and tense of verbs. Word order is also a structure that is key to meaning and varies from on language to another.

Many of these structures have their counterparts in a traditional grammar instruction but in TPRS they are acquired by repeated use in varied and often unexpected or compelling ways. If one looks at normal informal conversation and simple texts one sees examples of all of the above, so that simply using such material provides repetition of the basic structures. However it is more efficien and effective to introduce new structures only a few at a time. These 2-4 per session are often called the target structures for the lesson and are used repeatedly inn different contexts often 50 times in a class period.

Many users consider each structure alone and in itself, but I suggest that closely related structures be introduced in close proximity to one another. This chunking assists the student in internalize many of the more complex structures. E. g. in a beginning lesson the basic word order and structure of statements, vs questions vs. commands would be acquired as chunk or after a beginning level of German has been acquired, one might introduce the preposition mit using the definite and indefinite articles of nouns of the three genders. Thus the student acquires the inflection changes for subject and object of that preposition in a chunk.

Larry Selinker developed the concept of interlanguage. He explains that someone developing an ability in L2 develops his own interlanguage as he proceeds. This is the mental grammar that provides the feeling of what is right, as opposed to any grammar that is consciously learned. He suggests that only 5% of those acquiring an L2 proceed on to a mental grammar equivalent to that of a native. In most individuals fossilization occurs often with backsliding but that does not occur with L1. Interesting questions are whether appropriate CI and TPRS decrease the occurrence of fossilization and whether some kind of CI with the occurrence of structures chunked based on grammar rules or after some fluency has been developed direct grammar instruction assists in the development of the interlanguage.

In TPRS vocabulary is not explicitly taught, but since structures are wrapped in words much vocabulary is acquired along with the structures. The words appearing explicitly in many structures are among the most frequently used words and so the student acquires automatically the vocabulary that appears in normal conversation. It varies a bit with language but in general the 50 most frequently used words provides over 50% coverage of conversation.

Peter Wood studied this problem for reading German and reported in his doctoral thesis that the 100 most frequently used words provided 52% coverage; the most 500 63% 1000 68%; 5000 82% 10000 87%. (http://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/5680/1/Wood_Peter.pdf)

In normal conversation the effective actual coverage would be much, much higher than Wood quoted because he considered the reading of academic text rather than transcribed conversation and his sample included many names and other proper nouns.

Grammatical Structures:

Word Order

Very early: statement, question and Command Performance Language InstituteSoon later: inverted if subject is not first

Soon: separable verbs

Later: dependent clause order

Verb Forms

Early: Present tense, person and number

Early: imperative

Soon: Common irregular verbs

Soon: Regular form forms

Soon: Conversational past

Later: Narrative past

Later: Future

Much, much later: subjunctive

Perhaps never: Future Perfect

Definite and Indefinite Article Inflections

After Students begin to notice the inflections and need to know

Adjectival and Noun Inflections

Soon: normal, comparative, superlative and common irregular; Late: noun endings and irregular weak nouns

Very, very late: Endings: only after students a very aware and are concerned

Common Words (rank order of frequency def article =1; und =2 ; in =4)Prepositions: to appear as they appear, in nor predetermined order; number only indicates that most prepositions appear very often.in (4)

zu (6)

von (11)

mit (13)

auf (17)

fr (18)

an, am (19)

bei (29)

nach (38)

aus (41)

um (47)

ber (48)

vor (55)

durch (56)

bis (73)

unter (85)

Conjunctions: to appear as they appear in conversation/story

und (2)

oder (30)

aber (32)

wenn (43)

weil (84)

denn (86)

Other common words

Pronouns: as they occur normally, usually nominative form firsts

Question Words: very early

Common Phrases: as they occur

Examples of structures and how they might be circled or otherwise covered in a repetitive way.Verb word order

Ich kaufe/kaufte heute ein Buch Today I buy a book Normal SOV

Kaufe ich heute ein Buch?Inverted SO for question

Heute kaufe/kaufte ich ein Buch Today I buy a bookInverted SO after initial non-S

da ich heute ein Buch kaufeV final in dependent clause

da ich ein Buch heute kaufe

Ich will/werde ein Buch kaufen.

Ein Buch will ich heute kaufen Today I will buy a book

Ich habe ein Buch gekauft

da ich heute ein Buch kaufen will/werde

da ich ein Buch heute kaufen will/werde

da ich ein Buch habe kaufen wollen

ich habe heute ein Buch gekauft

ich habe ein Buch heute gekauft

finite verb conjugation

kaufen

er/sie/es kauft

du kaufst

ich kaufe

wir kaufen

ihr kauft

sie/Sie kaufen

irregular verbs, sein, haben

weak verbs

strong verbsArticles and PronounsDer Hund, die Hunde

Der Hund ist braun

Er ist braun

Ein Hund ist braun

Ich habe einen Hund gekauft

Er/sie/es hat ihn gekauft

Ich habe den Hund gekauft

Ich werfe dem Hund einen Ball

Wir werfen ihm den Ball

Wir werfen es ihm/

Ich werfe einem Hund einen Ball

Die Hunde sind braun

Ich habe die Hunde gekauft

Ich werfe den Hunden die Blle

Das Mdchen, die Mdchen

Das Mdchen ist schn

Ein Mdchen ist schn

Es ist schn

Ich liebe das Mdchen

Du liebst es.

Ich liebe ein Mdchen

Ich gebe dem Mdchen ein Geschenk

Ich gebe ihm das Geschenk

Ich geben einem Mdchen ein Geschenk

Die Mdchen sind schn

Ich liebe die Mdchen

Ich gebe den Mdchen die Geschenke

Die Frau, die Frauen

Die Frau ist schn

Eine Frau ist schn

Sie ist schn

Ich liebe die Frau

Er liebt sie

Ich liebe eine Frau

Ich gebe der Frau ein Geschenk

Wir geben ihr das Geschenk

Wir geben es ihr

Ich gebe der Frauen die Geschenke

Die Frauen sind schn

Ich gebe den Frauen die Geschenke

Ich liebe die Frauen

categories

I would like to collect the most common errors of students learning German or trying to improve it. A list of the most common and ear grating errors ordered roughly in order of frequency could be most useful. The errors probably fall into various categories: word order, gender for any particular noun, declension of articles and nouns, case control of prepositions, finite verb conjugation, irregular verbs, subjunctives, etc, but in each case some errors are more common than others and exactly that is what I am trying to get a fix on. Such an ordering for adults might have a lot in common with theorder of acquisition of small German children.

In children for example, "ich bin, du bist,, wir sind" etc acquired earlier but "ihr wart" later? Is "ich lege das Buch, legte, habe gelegt", etc still earlier and "ich sitze, sa, habe gesessen" still later. I know some children acquire some structures early, others later, and some only after they go to school or study grammar. What I don't know for either children or adults is which come before others. That ordering could have a great value on what to teachin what order and with how much emphasis and when. I know that Krashen teaches the i+1 principle, that a structure is acquired when the student is ready for it, but in a classroom it could be more optimum to avoid structures that are way above the students current level. Hence the interest in order of acquisition. Natural_Order_German

Abstracted from

Natural Order of Acquisition of German Syntactic Structures vs. Order of Presentation in Elementary German Textbooks in the U.S, Christine Jensen, Janet Christou Constantinides and Klaus Dieter Hanson, Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German Vol. 16, No. 2, Autumn, 1983 Page 199 of 199-211

with special focus of the natural order of acquisition.Current research suggests that there is a relationship between the order in which structures are presented and the students' difficulties.

Recent findings in second-language acquisition research tend to indicate that people who are immersed in a second language and who receive little if any systematic instruction in that language acquire its syntactic structures in the same order, regardless of what their native languages are. This "universal" or "natural" order of acquisition seems to be inherent to the untutored learner (the learner who receives little if any systematic instruction) and, it is hypothesized, even to the tutored learner (the foreign language student who receives systematic instruction in either a classroom or individual learning situation). Further supporting this hypothesis is the work of Felix which suggests that tutored learners do not necessarily acquire structures in the order in which they are presented in the instructional situation.' In fact, the developing systems of tutored learners have a lot in common with those of untutored learners. This evidence for the similarity of tutored and untutored developing language systems lends support to the idea that syntactic structures might best be presented in the order found in "natural" acquisition. As an initial step in exploring that idea, this project was designed to determine whether the "natural" order of acquisition of German syntactic structures differs substantially from the order in which these structures are presented in elementary German textbooks used at universities in the U.S. today.

The "natural" orderof acquisition postulated by the Heidelberger Forschungsprojekt "Pidgin-Deutsch" (HPD) on the basis of their empirical findings. The Heidelberger project studied a total of forty-eight Gastarbeiter (thirty- two men and sixteen women, half native speakers of Spanish and half of Italian) from a variety of age groups and social and educational backgrounds who had been in Germany for differing lengths of time.

Heidelberger Forschungsprojekt "Pidgin-Deutsch," "The Acquisition of Ger- man Syntax by Foreign Migrant Workers," in Linguistic Variation-Models and Methods, ed. David Sankoff (New York:Academic Press, 1978), pp. 1-22;

HPD, "Aspekte der ungesteuerten Erlernung des Deutschen durch auslndische Arbeiter," in Deutsch im Kontakt mit anderen Sprachen, ed. Carol Molony, Helmut Zobl, and Wilfred Stolting (Kronberg, Taunus: Scriptor, 1977), pp. 147-83;

HPD, "Zur Sprache auslandischer Arbeiter: Syntaktische Analysen und Aspekte des kommunikativen Verhaltens," Zeitschrift fur Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik, 5, No. 18 (1975), pp. 78-121.

The syntactic structures were divided into five major categoriesthe proposition, the verbal complex, the nominal complex, the adverbial complex, and subordinate clausesand the stages of acquisition within each category were described. It is important to note that these categories are not acquired successively but rather simultaneously and at varying speeds. Thus, a learner may be at stage one in a given category and at stage five in another.

The Proposition

The proposition consists of the grammatical subject and the gram- matical predicate called the topic and comment, respectively.5 As Table 1 shows, in the natural order of acquisition propositions appear first without a subject (nominal complex) and without a verb or copula (verbal complex).6 The verbal complex (VC) appears first, and finally the nominal complex (NC) is supplied.

As Table 1 shows, in the natural order of acquisition propositions appear first without a subject (nominal complex) and without a verb or copula (verbal complex) The verbal complex (VC) appears first, and finally the nominal complex (NC) is supplied.

Although the term copula can include all verbs which link a subject with its predicate (e.g., be, become, feel, and seem) it will be used here only for the German verb "sein" (to be). Clarifications for grammatical terms which were unclear in HPD usage (i.e., copula, modifier, and determiner) were taken from William F. Irmscher, The Holt Guide to English, 3rd ed. (New York:Holt, Rine- hart and Winston, 1981).

Table 1. Natural Order of Acquisition of Proposition7

StructureStage Number and DescriptionExample

Prop |1. -NC VCNo verbal language; gestures

2. -NC +VC geht

3. +NC+VCMann geht

NC=nominal complexVC=verbal complex

The Verbal Complex

The verbal complex in the "natural" order of acquisition is divided into two categories in the HPD description: the verbal elements and the complementary elements. Only the verbal elements will be compared in this section since the complementary elements are treated in greater detail in the Nominal and Adverbial Complex sections. However, it should be mentioned that in the early stages only one nominal complex (a direct or indirect object) or one adverbial complex appears in the "natural" order.

There is no verb present in the initial stages of German second language acquisition (Table 3). When the first verbs appear, they are single element verbs, either simple verbs or copulas. Gradually these forms are supplanted by modal plus verb phrase combinations, com- pound tenses, and modal plus compound tense combinations. Notably, the simple past does not appear as a discrete structure in this acquisition scheme. That is because the HPD study examined the spoken, not the written idiom. Since the simple past is for the most part a written tense, it did not warrant consideration in the HPD scheme.

Table 3. Natural Order of Acquisition of Verbal Elements

StructureStage Number and DescriptionExamples

VC I1. VCDer Mann (accompanied by gestures)

2. +PVLDer Mann geht

3. + Cop Der Mann ist.

4. +MV+VP Der Mann mu gehen.

5. +Aux +VP Der Mann ist gegangen.

6. +Aux +MV +VPDer Mann hat gehen mssen

or

+Aux + MV + PRCDer Mann hat sein mssen.

PLV=predicate without verb phraseCop=copulaMV=modal verbVP=verb phraseAux=auxiliaryPRC=predicate copula construcion

The Nominal Complex

The nominal complex rules constitute a large part of the reference grammar and a complex portion of the order of acquisition. This is easy to understand in light of the frequency of nominal structures in language production. To describe this complex adequately, it is necessary to examine all structures functioning as nouns and pronouns and, in addition, the entire system of modifiers and determiners.

In the initial stages of natural acquisition the nominal complex (NC) consists of nouns without modifiers or determiners (Table 5). Pronouns are acquired next. Nouns gradually become noun phrases with the addition of determiners (numbers, quantifiers, and articles) and modifiers (adjectivals). Finally, sentences start to function as nouns in the form of noun clauses (i.e., Er wei, ich gehe.). These appear as "S" in Table 5.

Table 5. Natural Order of Acquisition of Nominal Elements

StructureStage Number and DescriptionExample

NC |1. -ATV -ATN 1 +NMann geht

2. ProEr geht.

3. (+ATV) (+ATN) +N(Ein) (groer) Mann geht.

4. +SSie wei, ein groerMann geht.

ATV |1. Num -Quan Article Mann geht.

2. (+ Num) (+ Quan)(Zwei)/(Viele) Mnner gehen

3. (+ Article) (+ Num) (+ Quan)(Die) (Zwei)/(Viele[n]) Mnner gehen

4. --------------------------

ATN |-Adj Mann geht.

2. + Adj Groer Mann geht

3. + Prep (+ N)Der Mann mit (Bart)/(ihm)/

(+ Pro) (+ NP)(langem Bart) geht.

4. +SDer Mann, der den langen

Bart hat, geht

The stages for the various structures do not appear at the same time, i.e., Stage 2 of NC is not concurrent with Stage 2 of ATV or Stage 2 of ATN.

Adjectives are defined as declined adjectives rather than predicate adjectives.

ATV=determinersATN=modifiersPro=pronounN=nounS=sentence

Num=numeralQuan=quantifierAdj=adjectivePrep=prepositon

In the category of determiners (ATV) the first to appear are numerals and quantifiers.

Articles appear quite late. The first adjectivals or modifiers (ATN) are adjectives. These are followed by prepositional phrases functioning adjectivally, and, much later, by sentences (S) in the form of relative clauses.

In "natural" acquisition, articles occur mainly in the later stages, with numerals and quantifiers predominating earlier

The Adverbial Complex

The first adverbials in the "natural" order of acquisition are noun phrases without prepositions. As Table 7 shows, these are supplanted by simple adverbs and in the later stages by prepositional phrases and sentences (S) functioning as adverbs. Prepositional phrases first have nouns, then pronouns, and finally numerals as objects.

Table 7. Natural Order of Acquisition of Adverbial Complex

StructureStage Number and DescriptionExample

AC |1. -Prep +NPDer Mann geht__das Haus

2. +AdvDer Mann geht schnell

3. +Prep +NPDer Mann geht in das Haus

4. +Prep +ProDer Mann geht* in es

5. +Prep +NumDer Mann geht in zwei

6. + SDie Frau wartet, whrend der Mann in das Haus geht.

*not used by native speakers

The numerals are the last structures to be acquired as the objects of prepositions in the "natural" order of acquisition (Stage 5).

Subordinate Clauses

The natural order of acquisition of subordinate clauses seems to stress function and complexity. The clause types are acquired as they are needed for communication: 1) adverbials; 2) nominals; and 3) relatives (Table 9).

Table 9. Natural Order of Acquisition of Subordinate Clauses

StructureStage Number and DescriptionExample

Subordinate Clause |1. Adverbial ClauseDie Frau wartet, whrend der Mann in das Haus geht.

2. Nominal ClauseSie wei, ein groer Mann geht

3. Relative ClauseDer Mann, der den langen Bart hat, geht.

Preliminary evidence suggests that syntactic structures presented in a tutored situation at a point in the acquisition process significantly earlier than they would appear in the "natural" order of acquisition are not mastered by students.

Conclusion

It seems reasonable to suggest to German teachers that they might consider rearranging their course sequences in the following ways if their students have difficulty with the structures involved:

1) Present the copula "sein" after the other present tense verbs.

2) Present modals before present perfect and delay the presentation of them until at least the second third of the first year.

3) Postpone the presentation of the modal plus compound tense construction until near the end of the first year or avoid presenting it at all.

4) Present numerals very early and before articles. 5) Require the use of adverbial clauses before the introduction of nominal clauses.

Excerpt from Thomas Studer Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German Vol. 35, No. 2, Fall, 2002 Page 119-122full article not yet scanned and OCRed.

terworfen sei, doch lassen sie sich nicht als ber individuelle Sequenzen beschreiben. Beispielsweise zeigt sich in den Texten eine deutliche Tendenz, auf -e endende Substantive als Feminina zu behandeln (vgl. etwa die Wortkreation die Schneide fr das Messer), eine Tendenz, die ja durchaus der sprachlichen Realitt entspricht. Ebenso scheinen die Lernenden intuitive zu erfassen, dass die hufigste Pluralendung im Deutschen -(e)n ist; entsprechend zahlreich sind die Substantive mit dieser Endung (wobei wiederum die abweichenden Formen wirklich aufschlussreich sind, z.B. Fischen, Fruchten "Frchte", Kilogrammen, Freunden, Vgeln; alle im selben Text). Was den Erwerb der Kasus in Prpositionalphrasen anbelangt, so erweist es sich, dass dieser nur teilweise parallel zum Kasuserwerb in Nominalphrasen verlauft und dass im brigen der Kasus im Vergleich zu den zahlreichen andern Schwierigkeiten, mit denen sich die Lernenden im Zusammenhang mit den Prpositionen auseinanderzusetzen haben, ein verhaltnismig unbedeutendes Problem darstellt; viel wichtiger sind hier beispielsweise Oppositionen wie in Genf- nach Genf oder auch die hohe Bedeutung, die der Verwendung von Chunks zukommt. Horizontal gelesen zeigt die Tabelle die zeitlichen Parallelen zwischen den Erwerbsverlaufen in den drei Bereichen, die fr eine groe Mehrheit der Testpersonen beobachtet wurden. Die gepunktete Linie soll andeuten, dass die Phasen bei einer gewissen Anzahl von Schlerinnen und Schlern nach oben oder nach unten verschoben sind. Interessanterweise entsprechen solche Verschiebungen stets einer Diagonalen von unten links nach oben rechts, d.h. es gibt Lernende, die beim Erwerb der Konjugation einen Vorsprung gegenber den SatzSee also SLA.docx, http://www.lingref.com/cpp/gasla/10/paper2275.pdf, Acquisiton_Sequence_German.docx, Natural_Order_German_Jensen.pdf

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