STRATEGIC CONSTRUAL OF ENGLISH PHRASAL VERBS

Sažetak: As opposed to formal approaches to language, cognitive linguistics regards language as a means of conceptualization which crucially depends on human cognitive abilities and processes. Meaning is seen as an inseparable part of the human cognitive system, thus necessarily making it dynamic and subjective. Subjectivity and dynamicity are the key elements of meaning construal – human ability to conceive and portray the same situation in alternate ways. This paper presents results of research into strategic construal in 120 subjects whose second language is English. The aim of this paper is to show to what extent cognitive strategies in the acquisition of a second language reflect the general cognitive abilities appearing in the first language (as described by cognitive linguists). There are two main results of our research. Firstly, we have shown that first and second language acquisition and meaning construal in first and second language are both accessible to scientific purview using the methods of cognitive linguistics. Secondly, we have shown that meaning construal can be used as evidence towards the connection of cognitive strategies (as described by second-language acquisition scholars) and general cognitive abilities appearing in first language acquisition.