Complexity: Activity 3
Activity 3: Concrete vs. abstract nouns in Jigsaw and Comparison tasks
A concrete noun refers to an observable entity; examples include “table,” “man,” “cloud.”
An abstract noun refers to an idea, quality or state rather than a concrete object or person; examples include “justice,” “happiness,” or “poverty.”
Look at the transcripts of Raúl and Henry’s Jigsaw (Transcript PDF) and Comparison (Transcript PDF) tasks, and classify the nouns that they use as either concrete or abstract. Indicate in the table below how many concrete or abstract nouns were used in each task, and give examples of each. Then answer the question below the table.
Concrete or abstract nouns used in Jigsaw and Comparison tasks.
| Learner | Jigsaw Task | Comparison Task | ||
| Concrete Nouns |
Abstract Nouns |
Concrete Nouns |
Abstract Nouns |
|
| Henry | ||||
| Raúl | ||||
Do the tasks affect the learners’ use of concrete or abstract nouns? Explain.
When you have finished typing your answer, click to compare your response with the Learner Language staff response.
There seem to be many more concrete nouns than abstract nouns used in the Jigsaw Task: ‘un carro’, ‘ventanas’, ‘casas blancas’. The directions for that task specifically ask about concrete objects such as ‘windows’. In the Comparison Task, we find more abstract nouns (e.g. ‘espacio’, ‘moderno’, ‘pobre’). This makes sense when we look at the directions for the Comparison Task, which ask both about concrete entities (how many people?) and abstract ones (social class?). In addition, answering the question ‘why?’ requires that the learners cite reasons for a stated hypothesis -- the reasons are likely to be concrete nouns (e.g. ‘peeling paint’) constituting evidence for the more abstract hypothesis (e.g. ‘poor people’). It is interesting that Raúl doesn’t produce as many abstract nouns in the Comparison task as Henry does; this is consistent with Raúl’s statement in the interview that his fourth grade vocabulary doesn’t let him talk about adult topics.
Both Henry and Raúl use the plural abstract adjective similares (instead of the plural abstract noun semejanzas or similitudes)in the Jigsaw task. (The interviewer instructions modeled similitudes.) In summing up in line 61 Henry starts off a list of similarities with the adjective “Similares”, and in line 62 Raúl wrongly uses that adjective in subject position: “*Similares siguen”); this error seems to have been induced by input from the less proficient learner.
Concrete or abstract nouns used in Jigsaw and Comparison tasks
| Learner | Jigsaw Task | Comparison Task | ||
| Concrete Nouns |
Abstract Nouns |
Concrete Nouns |
Abstract Nouns |
|
| Henry | el carro, el foto, tres casas, dos arboles, ventanas, el color, la puerta, un antena, montanas, estas cosas, mi pictura | las diferencias, *similares, | la casa, la cerca, mi abuela, el carro, la pintura, una sistema central, garaje, la antena, las plantas, | más espacio, un área más rico, muchas actividades, una mala condición, una vida, la problemas, |
| Raúl | mi foto, un carro, una casa, tabique, una cerca, cuatro ventanas, la puerta, una antena, un árbol, el número de la casa, el sol, dos cosas negras, los lados, | las tres diferencias, *similares, la similitud, | la casa, el carro, el tabique, más hojas, el patio, la pintura, el aire central, una antena, cable, flores, un jardinero |
el estilo, el vecindario, un trabajo, tiempo |
