L2 German Learners' Perceptions and Use of an Online Semantic Frame‐Based Dictionary

Abstract

To know a word receptively and productively, second language (L2) learners must have knowledge of a word's form, meaning, and use, including grammatical functions and collocational patterns (Nation, 2001). Frame semantics (Fillmore, 1982) provides a useful model to help L2 learners deepen their lexical knowledge. A functional and construction grammar developed to explain form-function pairings, the model views "frame" as a meaningful linguistic structuring device evoked by sets of related lexical items. These diverse lexical units exist along a continuum, theorized in Construction Grammar, from individual to multi-word to abstract schematic constructions. Building on recent studies that explore frame semantics' potential for L2 vocabulary acquisition (e.g., Atzler, 2011; Boas & Dux, 2013; Boas, Dux, & Ziem, 2016), this study investigated how beginning and intermediate L2 learners of German (N=65) perceive and report interacting with a frame-based dictionary, the German Frame-Semantic Online Lexicon (G-FOL). Discussion centers on the affordances G-FOL offers in learning mulitfaceted aspects of vocabulary knowledge, which textbooks often fail to address (Neary-Sundquist, 2015). The study provides teachers, program directors, and designers of frame-based dictionaries with valuable information about the perceived usefulness of frame semantics for L2 learners across instructional levels. Few educators would dispute that the development of the lexicon plays an essential role in learning a second language (L2). Consequently, discussion focuses on how best to teach vocabulary (e.g.