Review: Chunks für DAF: Theoretischer Hintergrund und Prototyp einer multimedialen Lernumgebung

Abstract

Chunks  für  DAF  (‘Chunks  for  Learning  German  as  a
Second    Language’)    presents    the    prototype    of    a
multimedia  self-study  program  for  second  language
learners  of  German.  The  target  construction  in  the
prototype  are  German  participial  constructions,  which
are difficult to acquire because of their complex lexico-
syntactic behavior. Largely driven by a constructionist
perspective on language in which grammar and lexis do
not  constitute  strictly  separate  modules,  the  program
exposes  the  learners  to  chunks,  i.e.  combinations  of
participial   frames   in   combination   with   their   most
prominent    lexical    specifications    (obtained    from
authentic  native  speaker  language).  The  main  goal  of
the program is to facilitate the acquisition of participial
constructions  by  drawing  learners’  attention  to  these
lexico-syntactic complexities.

Keywords: German as a Second Language, Participial
Constructions, Chunks