Kennis van Collocaties Bij NT2-Verwervers

Abstract

The research which is reported in this paper concerns the knowledge of certain 'collocations' of adult learners of Dutch as a second language. The term collocation refers to a sequence of lexical items which habitually co-occur and which have a kind of semantic cohesion (Cruse, 1986). In my research I look at one specific collocation, that is the one between an article, an adjective and a substantive. Moreover, the adjective must have a context-specific meaning. This type of collocation is called a strong collocation. An example is a heavy drinker. I believe that the knowledge of strong collocations is important for second language learners in the process of fully acquiring the second language and of acquiring a native-speakerlike competence. I developed a receptive and a productive test to measure the knowledge of collocations of learners of Dutch as a second language. Furthermore I examined educational methods on the appearance and use of collocations. It turns out that Newmarks (1982) statement that "A foreigner appears to go on making collocational mistakes however long he lives in his adopted country" can be affirmed.