ABSTRACT
This chapter will demonstrate how the concept of parallel constructions can be adopted in teaching Chinese as a second language as a way to promote learners’ grammatical awareness and overall language proficiency. It starts with an explanation of the linguistic theory of parallel constructions and the usage-based constructionist approach to determining the sequence of teaching various constructional subtypes. The second part will examine how the theory of parallel constructions can be applied to Chinese language teaching through the specific example of the 给 gěi ‘give’ construction. Pedagogical recommendations are provided in the third part for different proficiency levels.
