A Cognitive Grammar Approach to Teaching Negative Suffixes in English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

The present paper sheds new light on teaching the English negative suffixes -free and
-less to Kurdish EFL students. To do so, the study weighs two pedagogical models in their
instruction: traditional and modern. The traditional pedagogical model is form-focused,
therefore it is of limited value for the development of language acquisition. The modern
pedagogical model, inspired by Cognitive Grammar, is meaning-oriented, emphasizing
semantic aspects of grammatical structures, and improving critical thinking skills. The
study highlights the usefulness of Cognitive Grammar principles in grammar instruction.
In Cognitive Grammar, the form of an expression is a reflection of its conceptual organization,
which represents the specific construal imposed on its content. Based on this, a
negative suffix is argued to have not only a morphological function but also a meaning of
its own which conditions its behaviour. The practical aim is to implement the construal
theory in the teaching of the negative suffixes -free and -less in an online-based classroom.
In conclusion, the paper moderately supports teaching through a cognitive meaning-based
approach.