It �s an interesting idea, Dee.
I also use some construction grammar approaches with my�students here. One approach:
1. I started with the good old word cards, Japanese one side & English the other (this was sometimes a little difficult, but it was a good way to begin). I had the students form a sentence in Japanese, then flip the cards to get an English approximation using a word for word translation, ignoring syntax.
2. I introduced some symbols to represent different�parts of language (eg�a, an represented by a triangle, the by an inverted triangle; singular nouns were a tilda, plurals were 2 tildas, one above the other, group nouns were 3 tildas; you get the general idea, I �m sure).
3. We made a standard set of vocab cards, with Japanese, English, & symbols on the same face, and used these to manipulate language construction & syntax in Japanese & English.
�
I have used variations on this approach with elementary, high school,�and university students, along with professionals. It seems to work fairly effectively.
�
Cheers,
AB�
�
I found this to be a very good way to introduce the concepts. The students also made their own cards to experiment with, which seemed to aid in their internalising of differences between their native & target language. By and large I�ve had positive feedback from my students using this approach, too.
