Chapter 3 Methodology
The chapter describes the research design of the study in five respects: subjects, instruments, treatment in the preposition instruction, procedures of the study and methods of data analysis.
3.1 Subjects
Two second-grade classes of English Grammar in Chupei High School were chosen as the subjects of the study. One class was assigned as the control group and the other as the experimental group. The two groups were comparable in two respects:
their academic achievement on the English course in the previous mid-term examination and their performance on the pretest didn’t show significant difference, as shown in Table 3.1 and Table 3.2. Accordingly, the two groups were considered to be at an equivalent proficiency level, and thus could serve as the foundation for comparison.
Table 3.1 t-test Result for the Midterm Examination by Control Group and Experimental group
GROUP N Mean Std.
Deviation
df t
Control 36 66.1389 13.3248
Experimental 34 66.4118 15.4393 68 -.079
Table 3.2 t-test Result for the Pretest by Control Group and Experimental Group
GROUP N Mean Std.
Deviation
df t
Control 36 42.3611 13.4953
Experimental 34 45.5882 12.4781 68 -1.039
The control group, consisting of 36 humanities majors (12 males and 24 females;
all humanities majors), received preposition instruction based on the traditional
approach. The experimental group, made up of 24 humanities majors and 10 science majors (15 males and 19 females; 10 science majors and 24 humanities majors), received preposition instruction based on the cognitive semantic approach.
3.2 Instruments
Three kinds of instruments were utilized for preposition instruction and also for data collection, as follow:
(1) Materials for preposition instruction
(2) Pretest, posttest I and posttest II on preposition comprehension and application (3) Questionnaire on students’ responses to the preposition instruction
Each of the instruments is described in detail below.
3.2.1 Materials for the preposition instruction
Materials for the experiments came from a variety of sources: Far East New English Grammar
1, Book I and Book II of the Far East English
2and the English dictionary
3. The Far East New English Grammar was used for both groups in Instruction I to brush up on English prepositions, including in, on, at, before, after, by, for, to, through, toward, within, around, beside, against, behind, below, above, between, among, near, over, under, along, across, into, off, up and down. The prepositions along with their corresponding graphs were meant for a brief instruction on their spatial senses. They were taught to both groups in Instruction I. Besides, the English textbooks were used to elicit all of the in, on and at phrases, which students had learned in their freshman year. These phrases were adopted either as example
1 Far East English Grammar was the textbook for the English Grammar course. The textbook, consisting of 10 chapters, introduced English prepositions in Chapter 10.
2 The second-year students had studied Book I and Book II of Far East English in their freshman year.
3 Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners of American English was adopted to meet the need of the study. The dictionary is an unabridged edition, which aims to cover a full range of multiplicity of uses that many common words have.
sentences for the instruction or as question items for the tests. (See Appendix A) Moreover, the English dictionary was referred to for information of prepositions in, on and at, including their definitions and illustrations. The definitions would be taught to the students for a complete understanding of the three prepositions. Part of the illustrations would serve either as example sentences in the instruction or as question items in the tests.
In Instruction II, two types of presentation of the materials were adopted for different approaches, i.e. traditional approach and cognitive approach, to investigate their effects on the preposition teaching/learning. For the control group, all the senses of prepositions in, on and at were presented in a way consistent with the layout in the English dictionary. (See Appendix B) For the experimental group, the presentation was different. The varying senses of a preposition were introduced based on their relativity across the concreteness/abstractness continuum along metaphorical extensions. (See Appendix C)
In the process of metaphorical extensions, image schemas are mapped from one domain to a more abstract domain. This also accounts for metaphorical extensions in a variety of uses of a preposition. However, among all the senses of a particular preposition, which are more concrete and which more abstract? Put in another way, what is the appropriate sequencing of concreteness/abstractness? Heine et al. (1991) observed a robust tendency in the procession of categorical metaphors. It is as follows:
PERSON > OBJECT > ACTIVITY > SPACE > TIME > QUALITY
In this configuration, BODY is placed at one end of the continuum while QUALITY occurs at the other end of the continuum. According to Heine et al., the extension from PERSON to QUALITY is unidirectional even if any of the categories is missing.
It always proceeds from left to right, i.e. from concrete to abstract, in the procession
of metaphorical extension.
This scale conforms to general human experience when people interact with the environment. Take in for example, little kids get to know the concept of ‘in’ when they put food in their mouth and when they feel that the food is in their body. After that, they extend this TR-LM relation to a toy and a box. When they are told that the toy is ‘in’ the box, they know that it is enclosed in the box just like food is enclosed in their body. Later on, when they interact with other people in games, they gain the concept that they are in an activity. Subsequently, they establish the concept of space through activities, which usually take place within certain boundary. After that, they learn to extend the TR-LM relation of ‘in’ to an abstract concept, time, and then to an even more abstract domain, quality.
When applied to the case of English preposition, this framework enables sequencing of the varying uses of a particular preposition. When these uses are accordingly arranged on a continuum, one end of the continuum is PERSON, the most concrete domain and the other end is QUALITY, the most abstract domain. Take preposition in for example. Provided that all in expressions have extended from its notion of PERSON, to those of OBJECT, ACTIVITY, SPACE, TIME and finally QUALITY, they stretch across a continuum, as illustrated below:
a piece of candy in the mouth > candy in the box > candy in the game >
candy in the store > candy in 2005 > candy in fashion
One thing to be noticed is that it is not practicable to classify them into six
discrete categories. For instance, in the expression She locked her jewels in the safe
the TR-LM organization is easily located in the domain of OBJECT, with the jewel
located in an object as boundary. But the TR-LM organization in The children in the
picture were playing hide-and-seek falls somewhere beyond OBJECT in a more
abstract domain, say SPACE.
The materials, with sequenced senses of in, on and at for the experimental group, were also inspired by Boers and Demecheleer (1998). They adopted a cognitive semantic approach to teaching prepositions. According to them, cognitive semantics could be helpful in a pedagogical context. For one thing, it provides access to tracing the conceptual links between different senses of a preposition. Also, ‘motivating metaphorical extension may help [educators] present the semantics of a [preposition]
in a way that facilitates comprehension (p. 203).’ In an attempt to clarify the conceptual links, they demonstrated how a spatial sense is extended to its figurative senses by means of conceptual metaphors. The following is a set of examples sequenced with graded levels of abstraction.
the man behind the wheelbarrow
the man behind the wheel of the company the people behind the strike
the reason behind the crisis
the assumption behind the theory (pp. 200-201)
The spatial sense of behind is to describe situations where a trajector is hidden by a landmark. With two conceptual metaphors
SEEING IS KNOWINGand
NOT SEEING IS NOT KNOWINGat play, the first figurative sense of behind is motivated, as in the phrase the man behind the wheel of the company. Further, a second figurative sense is motivated by the conceptual metaphor
ABSTRACT SUPPORT IS BACKING UP, as in the expressions the people behind the strike, the reason behind the crisis and the assumption behind the theory. With these examples in array, learners’ attention can be directed from a spatial sense to its figurative extensions. As such, the conceptual metaphor serves as a link between the various senses of behind. Provided with conceptual links between the spatial sense and its figurative uses, learners’
comprehension of figurative senses may be facilitated. Based on these assumptions,
Boers and Demecheleer advanced the suggestion that, when teaching a preposition, teachers pay extra attention to features that hint at its metaphorization and offer learners an appropriate sequence of examples.
The materials based on a cognitive point of view were also inspired by Boers (2000a, 2000b). Boers (2000a) reported that drawing learners’ attention to the literal senses can enhance comprehension. Boers (2000b) reported the potential benefits of organizing figurative expressions according to their underlying metaphoric themes.
4From a cognitive perspective, figurative language can be motivated. The figurative usage is derived from their literal senses and exploits their imagery. That is to say, a wide range of figurative expressions can systematically be traced back to a limited number of source domains or metaphoric themes
5.
To summarize, the teaching material for instruction on the spatial sense of in, on and at for both groups was as offered in the grammar textbook. As a follow-up to Instruction I, the materials for Instruction II covered whole packs of definitions of in, on and at as provided in an unabridged English dictionary. A set of prepositional phrases, abstracted from the English dictionary, were presented to the students. The control group received notes on the prepositional expressions as presented in the dictionary. The experimental group received the same input, with the exception that here the expressions were categorized along their degrees of metaphoric abstractness.
3.2.2 Pretest, posttest I and posttest II on comprehension and use of prepositions
The pretest and the posttests were intended to assess the students’ ability in using
4 In the study, three language learning experiments were carried out. In view of their results Boers proposed a few classroom activities aimed at raising learners’ metaphor awareness. Accordingly, the cognitive approach is meant as a complementary technique.
5 Some recurring metaphoric themes can be employed as an alternative type of lexical field to reveal to learners the structure and organization of figurative language which may at first sight seem to be largely arbitrary. (Kövecses and Szabo 1996, Lazar 1996)
prepositions, especially in, on and at and also to determine and compare the effects of preposition instruction with/without metaphor instruction.
The pretest included multiple-choice test and fill-in-the-blank task (See Appendix E). Posttest I included multiple-choice test and fill-in-the-blank task (See Appendix F). Posttest II included fill-in-the-blank task (See Appendix H). In these tests, the question items that contain in, on and at are the targeted items. These questions are meant to test the students’ ability in using in, on and at in their diverse senses, ranging from spatial, temporal to even more abstract senses. For ease of comparison, some question items are reproduced in the following table:
Pretest Posttest I Posttest II
Spatial sense
6Mom put a lot of chocolate bars in the box.
Look! There are a lot of birds in the tree.
Little Monkey loves playing in the tree.
Temporal sense
7The police finally found the missing diamond in June.
They finally got married in June.
He went back to his hometown in 2001.
More abstract senses
8Do you know purple is in fashion this year?
The audience clapped loudly in appreciation at the end of the concert.
So far, more advanced robots are not in common use.
With the typhoon approaching, their lives are in danger.
When I came into the house, they all sat in silence.
Mr. Brown is an expert in cooking as well as gardening.
Who will protect you when your life is in danger?
Step aside and let him pass. He is in a hurry.
He held his brother in a tight manner.
6 The spatial sense here corresponds to the notion of body, object, activity and space in the framework adopted for the present study, i.e. BODY>OBJECT>ACTIVITY>SPACE>TIME>QUALITY, for the four notions are comparatively more concrete than time and quality and they are all related to space.
7 The temporal sense corresponds to the notion of time.
8 More abstract senses refer to the notion of quality.
3.2.3 Questionnaire on students’ responses to the preposition instruction
To investigate the students’ responses to the preposition instruction carried out in the treatment, we devised a questionnaire that consisted of three open-ended questions (See Appendix G). These questions aimed to elicit the students’ attitudes toward the teaching approaches adopted in the preposition instruction and also to identify their perception of difficulties from English prepositions. The questionnaire was administered to the students after the treatment. The results yielded in the questionnaire were intended for a comparison with those obtained in the tests.
3.3 Treatment
The treatment consists of two hours of preposition instruction, one hour for Instruction I and the other hour for Instruction II. While Instruction I was given after the pretest in the first week, Instruction II was given in the following week. In the first hour both groups received the same instruction based on the grammar course book Far East Grammar as part of their common grammar course. In the second hour, the two groups received different instruction adopting traditional approach and cognitive semantic approach respectively.
3.3.1 The first hour
The first hour of treatment aims at a general review of common prepositions. To
relate to and extend from learners’ background knowledge, the instruction focused on
the spatial sense of prepositions. Based on the content of Far East Grammar, the
prepositions were introduced along with their corresponding pictorial graphs. Take for
example prepositions in, on and at, as represented in the following table.
Table 3.3 Spatial function of in, on and at in Far East Grammar
Function Examples Instruction
in denotes location 1. Many prehistoric fossils can be seen in this museum.
2. Some people like to live in the city, because it’s convenient.
3. Mom put a lot of chocolate bars in the box.
4. The poor deer was trapped in the hole.
‘in + location’
means inside something, usually a bigger area of space
on denotes location 1. The dictionary is on the shelf.
2. Paul accidentally dropped the hammer on his toes.
3. There is a beautiful painting on the wall.
4. It’s cooler to lie on the marble floor in summer.
‘on + location’
means on the upper surface of
something, in contact with the surface
at denotes location 1. Students learn a variety of things at school.
2. Lines of people are waiting for the bus at the bus stop.
3. I found Lisa at the baker’s, because she likes to eat the buns there.
4. Jack fell in love with Rose at his birthday party.
‘at + location’
means a specific place or location
9
Following the review of in, on and at in their spatial sense, students continued to receive reviews of the spatial functions of other prepositions. Based on the course book, other prepositions covered in the review included before, after, by, for, to,
9 The original graph for preposition at in Far East Grammar was in the following:
(p. 362)
The graph was replaced to avoid overlapping with the graph depicting preposition on.
through, toward, within, around, beside, against, behind, below, above, between, among, near, over, under, along, across, into, off, up and down. These prepositions were also presented in sentences along with their corresponding graphs. Through the first hour of instruction on prepositions in their spatial sense, the students were equipped with basic knowledge of English prepositions, which typically specify spatial relations.
3.3.2 The second hour
Since the students were now familiar with the spatial use of English prepositions, the second hour of treatment, extending from their basic knowledge, aimed at teaching them a pack of uses of prepositions in, on and at as presented in an unabridged English dictionary. Adopted from the dictionary, the teaching material was the same for the students in both groups. However, to investigate the effects of different approaches, i.e. traditional approach and cognitive semantic approach, on the preposition teaching/learning, two types of presentation of the materials were adopted in the second meeting. The traditional approach used for the control group followed the dictionary introducing the various senses of a preposition in a random order. On the other hand, the cognitive semantic approach for the experimental group sequenced the various uses according to their concreteness/abstractness relativity, from the more concrete to the more abstract. Besides different sequencing, the two approaches differed in their use of graphs. While the traditional approach did not use pictorial graphs for non-spatial notions of prepositions, the cognitive semantic approach utilized schematic graphs through the presentation of all the notions from concrete to abstract.
Treatment for the control group
After the first hour of instruction that covered a brief review of English prepositions, the second meeting focused on the various uses of the prepositions in, on and at. For the control group, all the senses of prepositions in, on and at were presented in a way consistent with the layout in the English dictionary. To take preposition in for instance, all of its definitions were presented in such an order as sequenced in the English dictionary (See Appendix B). During the instruction, the students received explanations about the definitions and the illustrating sentences. For example, the first definition with two of its example sentences goes:
1. used for showing where sb or sth is She’s downstairs in the living room.
Following the first definition is the second definition with an example sentence:
2. into sth
The guard fired a few shots in the air.
Following that, the third definition is illustrated with several sentences:
3. used for talking about numbers and amounts There are 2,000 pounds in a ton.
The desk is 190 centimeters in width.
My father is in his forties now.
After the third definition comes the fourth along with its illustration(s). In this way,
the presentation of in expressions proceeds item by item until the last definition. After
finishing all the senses of preposition in, the instruction went on to cover preposition
on and finally preposition at. The first three definitions of on and at along with their
illustrations are represented below:
on
1. supported by a part of your body Can you skate backward on one leg?
2. in a list
My name is not on the list of members, why not?
3. hitting against sth
She bumped her head really hard on the door.
at
1. used for stating what sb is doing
We were at a party last night when you called.
The country was at war and life was difficult for everyone.
2. used for stating what sb reacts to
Audiences still laugh at his jokes.
3. used for showing prices, temperatures, speeds, etc.
His car crashed at 140 kilometers an hour.
The plastic cups will melt at high temperature.
In this way, the two-hour treatment for the control group proceeded until the students received preposition instruction on the various uses of in, on and at along with example sentences illustrative of the uses.
Treatment for the experimental group
With the knowledge of the spatial function of prepositions from Instruction I, the
experimental group went on with Instruction II to cover a full range of uses of in, on
and at. The students were given treatment adopting a cognitive semantic approach,
which differed from the traditional approach in that the various uses of in, on and at
were presented in different orders through the instruction. Specifically, the presentation of a whole pack of uses of a preposition was in the order of increasing abstractness. That is, concrete uses were introduced prior to relatively more abstract uses (See Appendix C).
To start with, a warm-up activity was used to activate students’ imagery for the
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