Learning and teaching fixed expressions with light verbs in Spanish as L2/L3

Abstract

Having a good vocabulary is a natural part of having good competence in a foreign language. However, in the teaching and learning of L2/L3 there is much evidence that learning vocabulary is characterized by traditional methods where memorization and glossary tests are central components, and that new research in the field is not reflected in practice (see, for example, Higueras García, 2016; Sato & Tanaka, 2017; Rufat & Calderón, 2018; Schmitt, 2019; Milton, 2009).

In this article, I seek to highlight an approach to learning vocabulary that is not based on memorization, but on knowledge of the semantic system of a language. More specifically, I describe a classroom investigation where knowledge of some specific light verbs in Spanish is used to teach and learn how to use them. Light verbs are verbs that have little semantic content and that appear in verbal constructions together with abstract nouns (for example in take a shower or take a walk). Traditionally, they are often learned as parts of fixed expressions (also called idioms or idiomatic expressions) that must be memorized, but in this investigation, I test whether expressions with light verbs can be explained and learned using semantic knowledge of the verbs instead of through traditional memorization. In the study, the same group of language learners of Spanish carried out a pretest and a posttest with similar tasks where the participants had to combine nouns with the correct simple verb. Between the two tests, they received information about how the words could be linked together. The article summarizes partial findings from my doctoral thesis and shows how knowledge of the semantic structure of light verbs can contribute to learning how to use them (Nygård, 2021). By doing so, it links new research on language and teaching in L2/L3, in addition to highlighting semantic knowledge as meaningful and relevant in language teaching. The results from the classroom survey support the hypothesis that fixed expressions with light verbs can be learned by using knowledge of the verbs to predict which verb is correct in a given expression.