| Chapter 2: | Theoretical Background |
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Table 2.1. Stages in GSL and processing strategies.
| Stage | Word order rule | Strategies |
| Stage X | SVO (canonical order) | [+COS, +SCS] |
| Stage X+1 | ADV (adverb preposing) initialisation/finalisation | [+COS, +IFS, +SCS] |
| Stage X+2 | SEP (verb separation) disruption and movement into salient position | [–COS, +IFS, +SCS] |
| Stage X+3 | INV (inversion) internal movement | [–COS, –IFS, +SCS] |
| Stage X+4 | V-END (verb-end) sub-categorisation | [–COS, –IFS, -SCS] |
Source. After Pienemann (1988a).
Note. COS: canonical order strategy; IFS: initialisation-finalisation strategy; SCS: subordinate clause strategy (‘+SCS’ means ‘avoid subordinate clause’).
the movement of the element from one salient position to another, is typical in GSL at this stage. This stage is still a ‘presyntactic’ stage because no knowledge of grammatical categories is needed (Pienemann & Johnston, 1987a).
‘Verb separation’ in German occurs in Stage X+2 (–COS, +IFS, +SCS). Here the canonical order is disturbed (i.e., COS is abandoned): Verbs, which were located in a nonsalient position (i.e., noninitial/final, e.g., V in SVO), are now able to be moved to a salient position, as in SV1OV2. Grammatical knowledge (specifically, element categorisation) is required in this stage.
Learners at Stage X+1 and X+2 are only able to process the movement of elements to a salient position because the strategy IFS blocks internal movement (i.e., from a salient to a nonsalient position). In Stage X+3 (–COS, –IFS, +SCS) IFS strategies are released, and, accordingly, the process of internal movement is available for learners. Constructions such as ‘inversion of the subject and inflected verb form’ in German belong to this stage. These grammatical rules are language specific, and