A Cognitive Semantic Analysis of the Preposition at

Abstract

The present work is a pre-step toward large scale research. It aims at achieving two objectives: First, developing a cognitive diagram that covers the semantic range of the preposition at; second, examining EFL learners' semantic range on the preposition at within three broad categories: sentences, expressions and phrasal verbs. Accordingly, the researchers designed a test that covers the overall usages of the preposition at. Such a test helps examining the different cognitive domains of at and analyzing qualitatively and quantitatively the subjects' answers. The model that is used in the analysis of the first objective is Domain Highlighting by William Croft (1993). The main conclusions arrived at are: First, the cognitive theories can be applied to many language-related studies. The model used for instance managed to provide a miniature image to the different usages of the preposition at. Second, the diagram provided cognitively might help EFL learners recall the various semantic domains of the preposition at. Third, the subjects have a high lack of knowledge regarding the semantics of the preposition at in sentences, expressions and phrasal verbs. Fourth, the subjects' wrong choice of prepositions might be attributed to the semantic overlapping between the correct and incorrect ones; lack of knowledge, or to the limited frequency of usage;