On 29 April 2026, Professor Susan Hunston gave a talk entitled ‘Pattern and Construction in Learner Dictionaries’ as part of the EURALEX Talks series.
This talk is based on a Leverhulme-funded project (EM-2022-022) seeking to unify three approaches to grammar and lexis in English: Pattern Grammar, Construction Grammar, and Systemic Functional Grammar. These represent three approaches to the description of grammar and lexis, from the point of view of observation, cognition, and social semiotic respectively. The talk first explores the relationship between patterns and constructions, with examples from the 50 verb complementation patterns analysed in the project. It discusses how a focus on construction might influence the format of learner dictionaries. The talk then considers the relationship between constructions and systemic networks, speculating on potential resources for learners based on meaning networks. Examples are taken from the 10 semantic fields discussed in the project.
Further details can be found on the EURALEX talks page.
