Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1989. 19/3. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 19)
Abkarovits, Endre: Contradictions in Describing and Using the -ing Form as Object. (Complement)
ABKAROVITS, ENDRE CON íRAD 1CTIONS IN DESCRIBING AND USING HIE -IN G FORM AS OBJECT (COMPLEMENT) The problem oi how to learn and teach the valency of a verb As a learner and teacher of English I have been facing the same problems and questions for a long time: How does one achieve a certain knowledge of which non-finite forms should be employed after a finite verb? Should one rely on learning these things gradually through practice or should one make more conscious efforts by learning lists of verbs recommended by grammar books or patterns indicated by dictionaries? Are these reference books reliable, do they give satisfactory assistance to the learner or confuse him rather? I have often observed that students of English try to use some form by analogy instead of remembering precisely what patterns a given verb can accept. E.g. although the verb sugges t can be used in several acceptable constructions ('I suggested (his) going there.', ,1 suggested that he should go there.', 'I suggested that lie go there.', 'I suggested that he went there.'), nevertheless the student is likely to use the only wrong pattern possible: * 'I suggested him to go there.' Why is lie doing so? The reason may be that fie has never been taught which patterns the verb can accept and which ones not. At some stage of learning the language he encounters the verb for the first time, its main meaning may be taught in one of the acceptable constructions, later on it may appear in other structures, but perhaps no teacher will ever make an attempt to sum up all these different constructions, in which the verb can be used. On the other hand the learner is tested at all written examinations whether he masters the knowledge of valency or not. It is almost impossible to teach verbs from the very outset with all their possible
