Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
Online version available in : http://arbitrer.
JURNAL ARBITRER
| 2339-1162 (Prin.
| 2550-1011 (Onlin.
| Article The Effect of Data-driven Learning & Image-schemabased Polysemy Networks Instruction on Learning Spatial Prepositions of Verticality: The Case of Moroccan EFL Learners Nihal Bouabida1 Applied Linguistics & ELT.
Faculty des Sciences de lAoEducation.
Morocco ion Track Submi Recieved: January 11, 2020 Final Revision: March 13, 2020 Available Online: April 26, 2020 orre pondence Cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, data-driven learning.
English prepositions of verticality, imageschemas, principled polysemy model This paper reports on a quasi-experimental study investigating the effects of a teaching methodology that combines Cognitive Linguistics (CL) and Corpus Linguistics (CrpL) insights on the acquisition of the two sets of English spatial prepositions of verticality, over/above and under/below.
addition, it is also concerned with learnersAo attitudes towards the method of instruction.
A total of 55 Moroccan first-year university students participated in this study, 22 of which were assigned to the experimental group, and 26 to the control group.
The experimental group received what we termed the IPDDL instruction, which involves cognitive representations of the prepositions based on Image-schemas, the Principled Polysemy model, and Data-Driven Learning.
The control group, in contrast, received a traditional instruction based on definitions and example sentences provided in dictionaries.
ParticipantsAo performance was measured with pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests in the form of a semantic judgment task and a gap-filling task.
The findings demonstrate that the IPDDL method of instruction was significantly more effective in helping students acquire vertical prepositions, and its advantages proved durable posterior to two weeks of the instruction period.
Thus, this study lends support to the applicability of a CL-CrpL-inspired methodology in second language Phone: E-mail: bouabida.
nihal@outlook.
A B S T R A C T
INTRODUCTION
Manifold are the possible ways in which the spatial world can conceivably be apportioned and Such descriptions permeate the human journey considering their manifestations in a wide range of contexts, from locating objects in space to reflecting knowledge acquired through terrene interactions, and ultimately to reasoning about the world (Coventry, 2.
For example, spatial terms such as up and down can be used to describe the position of entities in space, which could be extrapolated through the spatial interaction and DOI: https://doi.
org/10.
25077/ar.
experience with the world to further refer to a state of being .
I feel dow.
On such grounds, discerning how these locative expressions are used and understood proves to be a thorny issue.
Moreover, compared to the myriad of possible meanings that could be entertained, prepositional forms are very limited in number, and each preposition expresses, of necessity, a wide range of meanings (Lam.
In addition to their tremendous semantic potential and diverse collocational properties.
English prepositions participate in an array of morphosyntactic constructions, rendering them a notoriously difficult aspect to learn for L2 learners.
Under Liscense of Creative Commons Attributioni-NonCommercial 4.
0 International.
Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
With no generalizations emerging, the common strategy employed is the learning of fixed and relatively isolated structures, rather than flexible items within an associated cognitive structure in which new information is linked to the previous knowledge (Ausubel, 1968, 2.
Another compelling aspect of prepositions is echoed in the differences in use across languages, which sprout from the distinctness of peoplesAo perception and conception of space reflected in their peculiar use of spatial lexis, namely prepositions .
Brugman.
Hill, 1.
Consequently, they seldom have perfect equivalents in other languages.
For instance, the English front in Aothe front of the treeAo designates the part of the tree facing the observer, while in Hausa it refers to its other side (Hill, 1.
For second language learners, such cross-linguistic differences may impinge on the interpretation and use of prepositions.
Many approaches to lexical semantics for spatial terms have attempted to capture their meaning without adequate consideration of how language is grounded in the nature of recurrent, everyday experiences and observations of the world (Evans & Tyler, 2005.
Kemmerer 2005.
Rocca, et al.
Traditional accounts have asserted that the semantics of English prepositions are, to a large extent, arbitrary, and difficult to characterize.
other words, the coding of different senses by the same linguistic form .
, ove.
is presumably They are treated as unrelated homonyms, much like the form bank is arbitrarily associated with both Aothe sides of a riverAo and Aoa type of a financial institutionAo.
Such a position has many ramifications as to the theories of word meaning and sentential meaning construction, and ultimately, this has crucial implications as to the theories of language learning and teaching.
Pedagogical treatments under this paradigm have often resorted to rote learning as the best strategy to teach the multiple senses of spatial prepositions (Gvarishvili, 2.
possible (Matula, 2.
Per contra.
Cognitive Linguistics .
enceforth CL) offers an alternative prospect in which prepositions are treated as polysemous words, that is to say, that the distinct senses associated with a given preposition are motivated, and related in systematic and principled It proposes that the differences in expressing spatial relations across different languages can be accounted for in a non-arbitrary fashion (Lakoff.
Tyler & Evans, 2004.
Fillmore & Baker.
In its investigation of the relationship between language, the mind, and socio-physical experiences.
CL advances a prolific account for understanding the usage of prepositions, leading to systematization and linkage of their multiple Such insights could yield an important impact on the methodologies of second language teaching and learning.
The purpose of this study is to present the findings of an experimental study developed, to a large extent, based on a CL-inspired approach to teaching spatial prepositions.
The premise is to evaluate the effects of a new pathway to teaching spatial prepositions that combine pedagogical implications of CL-methodology, namely the use of image-schema transformations, along with the Principled Polysemy (PP) model of English prepositions proposed by Tyler and Evans .
The latter succeeds in uncovering the motivation behind previously random-looking groupings of meanings and sheds light on the mechanisms of meaning change and meaning extension, which have been overlooked in traditional accounts and pedagogical treatments.
In conjunction with Cognitive Linguistic insights, it is also imperative to accentuate usage-based and contextualized instruction as one cannot acquire the semantic motivations underlying the various senses of spatial prepositions without a dive into the environment in which they occur.
As such, this study postulates the incorporation of Corpus Linguistic .
enceforth CrpL) prospects through the use of corpora in the form of data-driven learning .
enceforth DDL) (Johns, 1.
, because they offer a greater terrain of exploration and apperception of the relations among different uses of a particular word, and the phraseological patterns associated with its senses (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2008.
Chen et al.
, 2019.
Lee & Lin, 2019.
Romer, 2.
While many linguists would argue that this approach has been fruitful in modeling the structural aspects of language, they also recognize that it suffers from several problems, one of which resides in the daily usage of language which cannot be simply accounted for by the proposed rules, particularly in contexts where more than one preposition is Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
The study sought to investigate the effectiveness of the IPDDL method in helping students learn how to use vertical prepositions compared to the TRAD method.
In addition, the paper investigates the extent to which the effects of the IPDDL instructional method will prove durable posterior to two weeks of instruction.
Finally, studentsAo attitudes towards IPDDL-based instruction are explored (Kilimci, 2017.
Song, et al.
, 2015.
Tyler, et al.
, 2011.
Tyler, 2.
II.
METHODS
Research Design English and pursue the same university program.
Bachelor of Education (CLE), rendering them potential candidates for teacher training colleges or for master programs in the country or abroad.
Moreover, all the informants have been studying English as a compulsory subject for at least 6 years (M=6.
SD=2.
On account of the unfeasibility of administering a proficiency test, the researcher used the academic level of the participants as an indicator of their proficiency level, as every one of them was selected based on their Baccalaureate grades .
grades obtained in English classe.
and their performance in the admission interview to enroll in the CLE program.
The students who did not complete the tasks, or did not attend the sessions were subtracted.
The final sample .
Experimental, and 26 Contro.
comprised 13 males and 35 females, the age of which ranged between 18 and 20 .
%).
The present study adopted a non-randomized control group, pretest-posttest design, which is defined as a quasi-experimental design that assigns identifiable groups of individuals .
ntact group.
to the intervention or comparison condition in some non-random way.
Matching was used to control for the lack of randomizationAithe researcher selected groups that are as similar as possible on all important variables that may affect the outcomes of the study.
The Corpus The British National Corpus (BNC) was utilized during the IPDDL sessions, as well as for the construction of the tasks.
Owing to the richness of BNC, which holds about 100-million-word assortment deriving out of a wide range of sources, performing a query on such a platform might be impending.
Therefore, considering that the participants have never been acquainted with a corpus interface before, the researcher resorted to AntConc instead of a web-based corpus for its easy-to-use and intuitive interface.
AntConc is a Unicode compliant freeware corpus analysis toolkit for concordance and text analysis, developed by Laurence Anthony of Waseda University.
Japan.
Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in the pretest, which denotes a greater degree of pre-experimental equivalency.
Thus, we could discount selection bias as a threat to internal validity and proceed with the study.
Altogether, this study employed .
or each grou.
a pre-test, two instructional treatments, two immediate post-tests, and a delayed post-test along with a questionnaire to answer the research queries.
The experimental group received a CL-inspired instruction (IPDDL) that utilizes image-schemas and the Polysemy Model of the two sets of English spatial particles of verticality, in conjunction with a corpus as learning resources.
The control group received a traditional instruction (TRAD) based on two online dictionaries (Cambridge and Oxford Online Dictionarie.
Seeing that both programs were delivered in English as a medium of instruction, the intervention was conducted in the English language only.
Data Collection Procedures The intervention was carried out over two weeks by the researcher as the classroom instructor.
The TRAD sessions involved the instruction of the various meanings and uses of the target prepositions through definitions and example sentences provided by two online dictionaries, namely Cambridge and Oxford Online Dictionaries.
However, only the meanings addressed in the polysemy networks adopted in the study were included to guarantee Participants that both groups were introduced to the same items.
Conversely, the IPDDL sessions entailed the use of A total of 55 Moroccan first-year university students non-technical cognitive explanations of the senses participated in this study.
All the students major in entertained by the concerned vertical prepositions Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
Between-group analysis using the image-schema-based polysemy networks.
The latter represented the distinct senses of each preposition as radiating from a proto-scene in a related manner.
In addition, the experimental group engaged in a data-driven-learning activity whereby they consulted the constructed corpus via AntConc to investigate the multiple meanings and uses of the prepositions in various contexts.
Immediately after each treatment, both groups completed the relevant post-test .
ither over/above, or under/below test.
Two weeks after the experimental implementation stage, each group was delivered a delayed posttest.
After the delayed post-test, questionnaires were given to the experimental group to evaluate the IPDDL method of instruction.
The following table summarizes the experimental procedure.
An independent samples t-test was conducted for the pre-, post-delayed post-test results to investigate the between-group difference in terms of the effect of instruction.
The independent t-test conducted on the posttest scores between the experimental (M =36.
and the control group (M =32.
indicated a statistically significant in favor of the experimental group, t .
=2.
605, p =.
The strength of the relationship, as indexed by eta squared, was 2 =0.
This suggests that 13% of the variance can be accounted for by the independent variable.
Therefore, the null hypothesis of no significant differences between the IPDDL and TRAD groups in learning vertical prepositions is rejected.
Similarly, an independent t-test was conducted on the delayed post-test scores between the experimental (M =35.
and the control group (M The present section unfolds the results obtained =32.
The results indicated a non-statistically from the statistical analyses we conducted on the significant difference between the groups, t .
collected data.
In addition to descriptive statistics, =1.
504, p =.
independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were employed.
For all analyses, the alpha level 3.
Within-group analysis was set at p <.
To investigate the significance of the within-group i.
RESULTS
1 Pre-treatment analysis differences regarding the effect of the instructional treatments on each groupsAo performance, the oneway ANOVA test was conducted on the control and the experimental data.
The overall pretest results show that the scores of both the IPDDL group and the TRAD group were approximately the same.
In order to investigate the significance of the findings, an independent samples T-test was conducted.
Normality of the distribution was tested beforehand using the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality.
The reported results indicated that the data is normally distributed for both the pretest scores of the experimental group (W = .
964, p = .
, and the control group (W = .
976, p = .
LeveneAos test for equality of variances showed a non-significant difference, thus equal variances were assumed.
The independent samples t-test revealed no significant difference between the IPDDL and TRAD groups, t .
= .
107, p =0.
Therefore, we conclude that there is no significant difference in the overall knowledge of the English prepositions of verticality among the sample Stated differently, the two groups were comparable in their performance before receiving the treatments.
First, the assumption of homogeneity of variances was tested and satisfied based on LeveneAos F test.
F .
444, p =.
Afterward, a one-way ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of the IPDDL method of instruction on the performance scores of the experimental group in the pre-, post, and delayed post-tests.
The results yielded a statistically significant effect.
F .
=9.
381, p The strength of the relationship, as indexed by eta squared partial, was 2partial =0.
Thus, 22% of the variance could be accounted for by the independent variable.
To further explore where the differences occurred, posthoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test were conducted.
Tukey revealed that the mean score for the post-test (M =36.
SD =4.
was significantly different than the pre-test (M =30.
SD =4.
However, the delayed post-test condition (M =35.
=4.
did not significantly differ from the posttest condition.
Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
Fig.
Comparison of group performance by pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test.
This suggests that the positive trajectory is sustained to the delayed post-test stage, though a slight decrease in overall scores is evident.
Therefore, the null hypothesis of no effect of the method on the retention of the target prepositions for two weeks is rejected.
Questionnaire results The results from the two different instructional interventions (TRAD versus IPDDL) indicated that IPDDL instruction was effective, as evidenced by the statistically significant improvement in studentsAo scores over time.
In addition, the effects of the IPDDL method on the acquisition of the target prepositions proved durable posterior to two weeks of the instruction period.
retrieve the meaning of the various senses of the target words from memory.
Furthermore, the use of polysemy networks was deemed more desirable than dictionary definitions and examples.
The follow-up survey addressed four aspects of studentsAo attitudes towards the IPDDL method of instruction: .
the perceived effects of polysemy networks on prepositions learning.
perceived effects of image-schemas on prepositions learning.
Similarly, the assumption of homogeneity of .
perceived effects of DDL on prepositions variances was tested for the control group results learning.
perceived problems in using DDL and satisfied based on LeveneAos F test.
F .
951, p =.
Furthermore, a one-way ANOVA Overall, the majority of the students perceived was conducted to compare the effect of the TRAD the IPDDL method as useful in learning the target method of instruction on the performance scores prepositions of verticality.
35% of the students of the experimental group in the pre-, post-, and evaluated the image-schema-based polysemy delayed post-tests.
The results indicated a non- networks as helpful resources for the acquisition of statistically significant effect.
F .
=1.
140, the senses of each preposition and for raising their p =.
Thus, no observable change in group awareness as to the differences associated with the performance was evident for the control group intricate meanings of the target words.
In addition, throughout the study period.
many expressed that such resources helped them Despite the acclamations regarding the DDL activities, students expressed a different viewpoint.
2% of the students described DDL activities as effortful and conceded a difficulty in conducting corpus queries due to the cut-off sentences and Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
incomplete contexts.
Additionally, 57.
9% reported some difficulty in studying concordance lines due to unfamiliar vocabulary in the sentences.
Despite the contrary, 57.
9% of the responses revealed that students do not perceive DDL activities as timeconsuming and boring.
spatial prepositions.
Consequently, it reduces the need for rote learning on the part of the second language learner.
Moreover, the representation of the senses as systematically connected gestalt-like scenes and graphic illustrations proved useful for both the language teacher and the second language Furthermore.
Authe model draws heavily on the notion of the experiential basis of meaning and represents the extended senses as arising from observations of the external, spatio-physical world, it reflects the learnersAo own experiences with the worldAy (Evans & Tyler, 2.
Thus, by virtue of its provision of a coherent fundament derived from their own observations of the world, it allows learners to infer the meanings of unfamiliar uses of This is accentuated as well through the integration of corpus activities through the data-driven learning approach, which emphasizes learnersAo exploratory and discovery learning.
IV.
DISCUSSION
The effect of IPDDL on the acquisition of spatial With respect to the first research question, findings indicate that both the IPDDL and TRAD groups benefited from the two types of instruction they were exposed to.
However, the IPDDL group achieved significantly higher scores.
These results suggest that the image-based polysemy datadriven learning approach was more effective in comparison to the traditional approach.
The cognitive explanations were further exploited Our findings support the contention that learners will in the investigation of concordance lines.
This acquire extended meanings better than unrelated helped learners discover the lexical collocations meanings, and further substantiate the advantages and prepositional colligations associated with the of a cognitive and corpus linguistics inspired target words.
As explained in the Methodology It is important to note that the acquisition chapter, the study employed a constructed corpus of spatial prepositions calls for the categorization imported through AntConc, instead of the use of of spatial relations in consonance with the spatial a full web-based BNC corpus, intending to ensure cognitive norms conventionalized in the language.
a centralized investigation and obviate a wildConsequently, the learning of spatial particles in a goose chase and frustration.
The findings indicate second language requires a reconstruction of the that IPDDL can be an effective alternative in the spatial system in the cognitive schemata following acquisition of spatial prepositions.
the target languageAos categorization of spatial Conversely, the control group showed insignificant configurations, together with the language-specific gains from their exposure to the traditional method.
conventions for mapping forms and meanings, and This could be attributed to insensitivity towards the communicative contexts that impact linguistic this kind of instruction as they had experienced structures (Achard, 2004.
Taylor, 1.
Such a similarly learning the target prepositions before.
process may not be evident using the memorization However, it could also be attributed to the nature of a list of uses.
Rather, learners can develop a of the instruction, which includes dictionary greater awareness of, and uncover the motivations definitions and examples, and relied mainly on rote behind, the meaning chains associated with learning techniques.
Such a method precludes an spatial prepositions through the conceptualization effort to integrate new knowledge with relevant of prepositional uses as the product of general prior knowledge held in cognitive structures cognitive strategies (Lam, 2.
Ausubel, 2.
Furthermore, it lacks a comprehensive analysis of the different senses of prepositions and causes unstable learnersAo improvements (Cho, 2.
Therefore, the TRAD group were arguably not able to recall all the senses that had been taught.
In its conversion of image-schemas, principled polysemy networks, and data-driven learning, the IPDDL method offers a prolific and systematic foundation for the acquisition of spatial It abridges significantly the amount of arbitrariness traditionally associated with Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
The effect of IPDDL on retention of spatial LearnersAo attitudes towards IPDDL The results concerning the effects of the IPDDL method were reinforced with insights from the qualitative data elicited through participantsAo responses to questionnaires that targeted perceptions and attitudes towards the method.
reflected in the questionnaire, the experimental group perceived the IPDDL method as helpful for the acquisition of English spatial prepositions of Concerning the second research question, the findings indicate that the IPDDL treatment gains proved durable after two weeks of the period of That is, the positive trajectory was sustained to the delayed post-test stage, though a slight decrease in overall scores was evident.
This is congruous with conclusions drawn from studies in cognitive psychology.
These demonstrate that the retrieval of information is facilitated when there is an organizing structure that establishes a relationship among the items, given that such a systematic structure can provide alternative routes that instigate the information desired.
Therefore, calling attention to the complex formAemeaning mappings associated with prepositions may contribute to their retention and recovery, and lead to meaningful and more successful learning.
Overall, the DDL activities were evaluated, in general, as instrumental assets for acquiring the targeted prepositions of verticality .
, learning meaning, collocation, and usage patterns of word.
This aligns with previous research .
Boulton, 2.
, which asserts that DDL can be an effective approach in helping learners discover and retain lexico-grammatical patterns.
In addition.
DDL activities pave the way for a usage-based learning Nevertheless, the analysis of the delayed post- approach, which fosters exemplar-based learning tests of the experimental and control groups did and increase studentsAo generation, and retention, of not yield significant results.
These contradictory more accurate patterns.
findings could be an indication that the very limited Notwithstanding the acclamations, the nature of treatment time .
ne hour per week for two week.
corpus exploration can pose difficulties to novice was arguably far from sufficient to establish long- DDL learners as attested in many DDL-based term learning.
Thus, an increase in treatment studies.
For instance, the technical knowledge duration could yield better results.
An alternative required, the cut-off sentences as well as the interpretation of these findings could be attributable unfamiliarity of vocabulary encountered in the to the effect of L1 .
interference on L2 concordance lines may be problematic, but not learning of spatial prepositions since languages insurmountable.
These issues were accounted for in differ significantly in the way they carve up and so far as possible through the use of a constructed classify spatial configurations.
corpus imported in AntConc instead of the In addition, first languages are often woven, complete British National Corpus.
As per Boers and cognitively entrenched, and more frequent in LindstrombergAos .
suggestion, constructing a comparison to second languages.
For this reason, corpus through the selection of the concordance the influence of L1-specific patterns of mental lines beforehand may control for the complexity of constructions, and expressions that bilinguals are the vocabulary that learners will be exposed to, and routinely exposed to in the dominant language thus it can reduce the unnecessary cognitive load Thus, being more substantiated.
L1 that may impinge on their learning as well as spare patterns of conceptualization may resurface them from what may become a time-consuming while using the second language.
Subsequently, a and laborious task.
Furthermore.
AntConc offers longer period of instruction is needed to reinforce a user-friendly interface that requires very little L2 spatial conceptualizations and construals of maneuvers to operate.
Moreover, it allows users to the various senses entertained by English spatial expand the concordance lines to reveal more words as desired.
Still, 64.
51% of the responses indicated prepositions of verticality.
that the difficulties were present regardless.
For these reasons, a more meticulous DDL method is in order.
Nihal Bouabida/ Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol.
7 No.
CONCLUSION
experienced some difficulty with regards to the DDL activities.
Hence, we call for the development In broad outline, the study sought to investigate of a more rigorous DDL implementation method.
three issues: whether the IPDDL method was more effective a method in helping students learn At large.
English prepositions have long posed a how to use vertical prepositions compared to the perennial challenge for second language learners traditional method which relied on dictionary and language teachers alike, as attested in several definitions and examples.
and whether the IPDDL studies related to the teaching and learning of effects proved durable posterior to two weeks prepositions (Boquist 2.
The reasons are of instruction.
The study suggests that IPDDL multifold.
We presume that much of the plight significantly more effective in helping students is attributed to the lack of importance devoted acquire vertical prepositions.
Moreover, the results to prepositions in ELT coursebooks, though they indicated that IPDDLAos advantages proved durable play a prominent role in language use.
This is posterior to two weeks of the instruction period.
further aggrandized through the unsystematic However, it should be kept in mind that these results descriptions adopted in learning resources.
Thus, need further verification.
we concluded that the a CL-CrpL approach may supply a usage-based time allocated to the treatment was not sufficient and contextualized instruction, as well as a more to assert the effects of the method on retention.
adequate and systematic framework of English Furthermore, a substantial number of students spatial particles for EFL/ESL teachers and learners.
REFERENCES