Denominal verbs in Ele/El2 classroom (a didactic approach)

Abstract

Although denominal verbs have been included in closed categories when it comes to derivation processes, it is possible to develop a system which helps non-native speakers of Spanish to create them. After a thorough analysis of Spanish Grammar textbooks, this chapter concludes that none of them include verbal derivation in the section dedicated to the verb. The paper then offers a non-native student-orientated typology of a specific verb formation process; i.e. instrumental denominal verbs. This corpus has proven quite useful when dealing with derivation in grammar textbooks. The chapter also includes both the results of some exercises carried out by North-American students and a didactic proposal which can simplify the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language.