Investigating Iraqi EFL University Students' Productive Knowledge of Grammatical Collocations in English
Grammatical collocations (GCs) are word combinations containing a preposition or a grammatical structure, such as an infinitive (e.g. smile at, interested in, easy to learn, etc.). Such collocations tend to be difficult for Iraqi EFL university students (IUS) to master. To help address this problem, it is important to identify the factors causing it. This study aims at investigating the effects of L2 proficiency, frequency of GCs and their transparency on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. The study involves 112 undergraduate participants with different proficiency levels, learning English in formal contexts in Iraq. The data collection instruments include (but not limited to) a productive knowledge test (designed by the researcher using the British National Corpus (BNC)), as well as the grammar part of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The study findings have shown that all the above-mentioned factors have significant effects on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. In addition to establishing evidence of which factors of L2 learning might be relevant to learning GCs, it is hoped that the findings of the present study will contribute to more effective methods of teaching that can better address and help overcome the problems IUSs encounter in learning GCs. The study is thus hoped to have significant theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers, syllabus designers as well as teachers of English as a foreign/second language.
[1] McIntosh, C., Ben Francis, B., & Poole, R. (2009). Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (2nd ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[2] Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[3] Pawley, A & Syder, F. (1983). Two Puzzles for Linguistic Theory: Native-like Selection and Native-like Fluency. In J. Richards and R. Schmidt (Eds.) Language and Communication Longman. 191-226.
[4] Firth, J. R. (1957b). A Synopsis of Linguistic Theory, 1930-55. In F. R. Palmer (ed.) Selected Papers of J. R. Firth 1952-59 (pp. 168-205). London: Longmans.
[5] Benson, M., Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (1997). The BBI dictionary of English word combinations. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
[6] Benson, M., Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (2010). The BBI combinatory dictionary of English: Your guide to collocations and grammar. John Benjamins Publishing.
[7] Michael, M., & Felicity, O. D. (2005). English Collocations in Use Intermediate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[8] Alsulayyi, M. N. (2015). The Use of Grammatical Collocations by Advanced Saudi EFL Learners in the UK and KSA. International Journal of English Linguistics, 5(1), 32-43.
[9] Alotaibi, A. M., & Alotaibi, M. A. (2015). The comprehension and production of English grammatical collocations by Kuwaiti EFL learners. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 3(3), 26-39.
[10] Palmer, H. (1933). Second Interim Report on English Collocations. Tokyo: Kaitakusha.
[11] Firth, J. R. (1957a). Modes of Meaning. In Papers in Linguistics 1934–1951(pp. 190-215). London: Oxford University Press.
[12] Caroli, M. T. (1998). Relating Collocations to Foreign Language Learning.
[13] Elyildirm, S. (1998). The Acquisition of Collocation by Turkish EFL Learners. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
[14] Granger, S. (1998). Prefabricated Patterns in Advanced EFL Writing: Collocations and Formulae. In A. P. Cowie (Ed.), Phraseology (pp. 145-160). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[15] Shehata, A. K. (2008). L1 Influence on the Reception and Production of Collocations by Advanced ESL/EFL Arabic Learners of English (Master dissertation, Ohio University).
[16] Bonk, W. (2000). Testing ESL Learners' Knowledge of Collocations. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 442309).
[17] Durrant, P., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Adult learners’ retention of collocations from exposure. Second Language Research, 26, 163-188.
[18] Wolter, B., & Gillstad, H. (2013). Frequency of Input and L2 Collocational Processing: A Comparison of Congruent and Incongruent. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1017, 1-32.
[19] Gyllstad, H., & Wolter, B. (2016). Collocational Processing in Light of the Phraseological Continuum Model: Does Semantic Transparency Matter? Language Learning, 66(2), 296-323.
[20] Revier, R. L. (2009). Evaluating a new test of whole English collocations. In Barfield, A. and Gyllstad, H. (eds.) Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (pp. 125-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
[21] Gyllstad, Henrik (2009). Designing and Evaluating Tests of Receptive Collocation Knowledge: COLLEX and COLLMATCH. In Barfield, A. and Gyllstad, H. (Eds.) Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (pp. 125-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
[22] http://bncweb.lancs.ac.uk/
[23] Hoffmann, S., Evert, S., Smith, N., Lee, D., & Berglund-Prytz, Y. (2008). Corpus linguistics with BNCweb-a practical guide(Vol. 6). Peter Lang.
[24] Brezina, V., & Gablasova, D. (2015). Is There a Core General Vocabulary? Introducing the New General Service List. Applied Linguistics, 36(1), 1-22.
[25] West, M. (1953). A General Service List of English Words. London: Longman, Green & Co.
[26] http://corpora.lancs.ac.uk/vocab/
[27] http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/comp/
[28] Eyckmans, J. (2009). Toward an Assessment of Learners' Receptive and Productive Syntagmatic Knowledge. In Barfield, A. and Gyllstad, H. (Eds.) Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (pp. 125-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
[29] Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 9th edition (2015). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[30] Milton, J. (2009). Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
[31] Field, Andy (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (4th ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
[32] Field, Andy (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS Statistics (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
[1] McIntosh, C., Ben Francis, B., & Poole, R. (2009). Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (2nd ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[2] Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[3] Pawley, A & Syder, F. (1983). Two Puzzles for Linguistic Theory: Native-like Selection and Native-like Fluency. In J. Richards and R. Schmidt (Eds.) Language and Communication Longman. 191-226.
[4] Firth, J. R. (1957b). A Synopsis of Linguistic Theory, 1930-55. In F. R. Palmer (ed.) Selected Papers of J. R. Firth 1952-59 (pp. 168-205). London: Longmans.
[5] Benson, M., Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (1997). The BBI dictionary of English word combinations. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing.
[6] Benson, M., Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (2010). The BBI combinatory dictionary of English: Your guide to collocations and grammar. John Benjamins Publishing.
[7] Michael, M., & Felicity, O. D. (2005). English Collocations in Use Intermediate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[8] Alsulayyi, M. N. (2015). The Use of Grammatical Collocations by Advanced Saudi EFL Learners in the UK and KSA. International Journal of English Linguistics, 5(1), 32-43.
[9] Alotaibi, A. M., & Alotaibi, M. A. (2015). The comprehension and production of English grammatical collocations by Kuwaiti EFL learners. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 3(3), 26-39.
[10] Palmer, H. (1933). Second Interim Report on English Collocations. Tokyo: Kaitakusha.
[11] Firth, J. R. (1957a). Modes of Meaning. In Papers in Linguistics 1934–1951(pp. 190-215). London: Oxford University Press.
[12] Caroli, M. T. (1998). Relating Collocations to Foreign Language Learning.
[13] Elyildirm, S. (1998). The Acquisition of Collocation by Turkish EFL Learners. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
[14] Granger, S. (1998). Prefabricated Patterns in Advanced EFL Writing: Collocations and Formulae. In A. P. Cowie (Ed.), Phraseology (pp. 145-160). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[15] Shehata, A. K. (2008). L1 Influence on the Reception and Production of Collocations by Advanced ESL/EFL Arabic Learners of English (Master dissertation, Ohio University).
[16] Bonk, W. (2000). Testing ESL Learners' Knowledge of Collocations. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 442309).
[17] Durrant, P., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Adult learners’ retention of collocations from exposure. Second Language Research, 26, 163-188.
[18] Wolter, B., & Gillstad, H. (2013). Frequency of Input and L2 Collocational Processing: A Comparison of Congruent and Incongruent. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1017, 1-32.
[19] Gyllstad, H., & Wolter, B. (2016). Collocational Processing in Light of the Phraseological Continuum Model: Does Semantic Transparency Matter? Language Learning, 66(2), 296-323.
[20] Revier, R. L. (2009). Evaluating a new test of whole English collocations. In Barfield, A. and Gyllstad, H. (eds.) Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (pp. 125-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
[21] Gyllstad, Henrik (2009). Designing and Evaluating Tests of Receptive Collocation Knowledge: COLLEX and COLLMATCH. In Barfield, A. and Gyllstad, H. (Eds.) Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (pp. 125-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
[22] http://bncweb.lancs.ac.uk/
[23] Hoffmann, S., Evert, S., Smith, N., Lee, D., & Berglund-Prytz, Y. (2008). Corpus linguistics with BNCweb-a practical guide(Vol. 6). Peter Lang.
[24] Brezina, V., & Gablasova, D. (2015). Is There a Core General Vocabulary? Introducing the New General Service List. Applied Linguistics, 36(1), 1-22.
[25] West, M. (1953). A General Service List of English Words. London: Longman, Green & Co.
[26] http://corpora.lancs.ac.uk/vocab/
[27] http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/comp/
[28] Eyckmans, J. (2009). Toward an Assessment of Learners' Receptive and Productive Syntagmatic Knowledge. In Barfield, A. and Gyllstad, H. (Eds.) Researching Collocations in Another Language: Multiple Interpretations (pp. 125-138). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
[29] Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 9th edition (2015). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[30] Milton, J. (2009). Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
[31] Field, Andy (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (4th ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
[32] Field, Andy (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS Statistics (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:79197", author = "Adnan Z. Mkhelif", title = "Investigating Iraqi EFL University Students' Productive Knowledge of Grammatical Collocations in English", abstract = "Grammatical collocations (GCs) are word combinations containing a preposition or a grammatical structure, such as an infinitive (e.g. smile at, interested in, easy to learn, etc.). Such collocations tend to be difficult for Iraqi EFL university students (IUS) to master. To help address this problem, it is important to identify the factors causing it. This study aims at investigating the effects of L2 proficiency, frequency of GCs and their transparency on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. The study involves 112 undergraduate participants with different proficiency levels, learning English in formal contexts in Iraq. The data collection instruments include (but not limited to) a productive knowledge test (designed by the researcher using the British National Corpus (BNC)), as well as the grammar part of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The study findings have shown that all the above-mentioned factors have significant effects on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. In addition to establishing evidence of which factors of L2 learning might be relevant to learning GCs, it is hoped that the findings of the present study will contribute to more effective methods of teaching that can better address and help overcome the problems IUSs encounter in learning GCs. The study is thus hoped to have significant theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers, syllabus designers as well as teachers of English as a foreign/second language.
", keywords = "Corpus linguistics, frequency, grammatical collocations, L2 vocabulary learning, productive knowledge, proficiency, transparency.", volume = "13", number = "10", pages = "1342-7", }
