How strongly a verb is associated with a construction plays a crucial role in the learning of argument structure constructions. We examined the effect of verb–construction association strength on second language (L2) constructional generalization by analysing L2 learners’ production and comprehension of two complex constructions (i.e. ditransitive and resultative), comparable in constructional complexity and input frequency but distinctive in verb–construction association. Using a learner corpus study, we found greater verbal usage variability in the production of ditransitive rather than resultative constructions. The results of an acceptability judgment task indicated that L2 learners accepted the ditransitive sentences regardless of whether they contained high-frequency or low-frequency verbs, but learners were more likely to accept the resultative sentences when they read high-frequency rather than low-frequency verbs. These findings suggest that verb–construction association affects the learning of argument structure constructions, supporting its contribution to the constructional generalization.

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This study evaluates 17 AI English-language chatbots that were developed by nine groups of pre-service primary school teachers (N = 26). According to the achievement standards for the two grade bands in the curriculum (Grades 3-4 and 5-6: Ministry of Education, 2015), each group developed two chatbots, using Dialogflow API. The first and second chatbots were designed to talk the way a new friend would and in a specific situation, respectively. The chatbots have been found to provide opportunities for primary school students to engage in playful and interactive practice during which the students use a variety of communicative functions, and the chatbots are therefore expected to make solid contributions to the attainment of speaking and listening achievement standards. It was also noted that compositional techniques in chatbot development would generate facilitative factors for foreign language learning, such as topic consistency, flow variability, and grounding.

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