Verbal Corpus in Selected German Coursebooks and ahe Process of Increasing Language Competence of Students

Abstract

Due to the complexity of the foreign language teaching and learning processes, it seems that the dominant role is played here not so much by the teacher as by well-designed coursebooks and teaching materials, elaborated on the basis of glottodidactic methods, and incorporating relevant findings of linguistic research.

Therefore it could be assumed that an increase in effectiveness of the teaching process depends on a suitable choice of lexical corpus, with a particular focus on verbs as the fundamental sentence-forming elements.

A detailed analysis of a verbal corpus of a modern German coursebook has been conducted to show whether the verbs included in the corpus meet students’ needs for communication. Quantitative analysis has been coupled with a qualitative examination of those lexicological elements. The results of the study have been described in terms of the valency theory with an emphasis on the syntactic and morphological distribution, as most errors made by students regard morphosyntax.

The aim of the study was not to assess glottodidactic application of the coursebook but to indicate a necessity of conducting research into the frequency, usage and interconnectedness of the lexicological items of the corpus, which may help to avoid a random choice of lexical material.