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Zusammenfassung des Artikels: 2006, 9, 215-264

Phraseology and Second-language Writing
A Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis and Implications for Teaching

Dirk Siepmann

A contrastive interlanguage analysis is made of a corpus comprising advanced English-language writing by German academics and students. It is found that the use of multi-word discourse markers by these groups compares unfavourably with that of natives. Unnatural writing is shown to be the result of overt errors on the one hand, and of the unusual frequency of occurrence of particular items on the other hand. This leads to a consideration of pedagogic implications; it is argued that composition research has severely underesti­mated the centrality of lexical knowledge in acquiring native-like writing skills, while at the same time overestimating the role of strategies and creativity. A lexically-based writing syllabus is presented which may help to remedy such deficiencies.

Contents:
1.       Introduction
2.       Previous Studies
3.       Method
4.       A Comparison of Discourse Marker Frequency and Use in Native and Non-native Writing
4.1.    Exemplifiers
4.2.    Reformulators
4.3.    Inferrers
4.4.    Sentence Fragments Followed by a that-clause
4.5.    Conclusion
5.       A New Direction for Composition Teaching?
5.1.    Deficiencies of the Current-Traditional and the Process Approach
5.2.    The Creativity Fallacy
5.3.    The Simplification Fallacy
5.4.    The Way Forward
5.5.    A New Approach to Composition Teaching?
5.6.    A three-year Course for High-intermediate L2 Learners
5.7.    The Role of Grammar in a Lexically-based Approach
5.8.    Classroom Interaction and Exercise Types
6.       Concluding remarks Bibliography

Stand: 25.04.06