I see, I understand, I speak. How the dependency model with vulnerable adult learners supports oral skills.

Abstract

The research aims to demonstrate that the application of the dependency model in a literacy course can assist the processes of language acquisition. The investigation is dedicated to low literate students (Pre-A1). Many studies affirm that the illiterate's thought is anchored to the concrete dimension and that his thought is made up of images. Therefore, the use of images to support the understanding of the meaning of the verb and the use of color-coding schemes can facilitate the recognition of the structure of SVO sentences and facilitate, at a later stage, the ability to produce sentences more independently and conscientiously in a second language. Each speaker constructs and decodes sentences starting from the meaning of the verb, which defines the number of actants needed. This process takes place regardless of the mother tongue. The meaning of each verb can be identified starting from the competence that each speaker has with respect to their L1. As Jezek (2005) points out, the learner of an L2 already has competence in L1 and therefore is aware, more or less explicitly, of the existence of certain syntactic structures associated with a verb, which express different events. The great novelty of the dependency model is the possibility of combining the abstract level of the language (system) with the practical and daily one (text).