This volume propagates chunking as a means of developing lexico-grammatical competence. It reviews in the first part the theoretical foundations (Chunks, Input Processing, Processing Instruction, Construction Grammar) and empirical results which influenced the compilation of the learning environment on the DVD which accompanies the book. The second part introduces the contents and structure of the learning environment and discusses its use as a learning tool on the one and as a research tool (through its e-learning-protocol features) on the other hand (including a first tentative survey of tests already made). Subject matter of the learning environment are German constructions with the auxiliary sein and a (past or present) participle on the level of constructions, psych effect verbs ("frighten verbs") serve as verbal fillers (a choice which allows to emphasise the interaction between lexical meaning and morphosyntactic structure). The DVD contains videos, photo sequences and animations with a massive dose of possible chunks, and it guides the student to further analysis by providing explicit knowledge bases in the form of lexical entries, construction patterns, grammatical explanations, and background texts.

Explanatory texts on the DVD are available in both German and English.