The ditransitive construction and the double accusative construction as allostructions: Corpus-based analysis and pedagogical applications

Abstract

The study explores the challenges encountered by Italian-speaking students with the learning of the German ditransitive construction. While prior research has extensively covered theoretical aspects of this construction, limited attention has been paid to its practical implications for foreign language learning.

The study further elaborates on a related construction involving a similar semantics but realized with two accusative objects. Verbs which can fuse with this construction are e.g. lehren (‘to teach’), abfragen (‘to interrogate/to test’) or abhören (‘to test orally’). This related construction is often overlooked in language learning materials. The paper addresses this gap by combining empirical evidence from two pretests with Italian learners and a usage-based approach with corpus data, focusing on the verb lehren.

The findings contribute to a better understanding and a more authentic description of the ditransitive construction. In a more theoretical perspective, the paper further discusses the relationship between the ditransitive and the double accusative construction in terms of ‘allostructions’, again with a focus on instantiations with the verb lehren. The insights gained with the study can help foster the learning of both constructions.