Abstract
In the present study, an attempt was made to probe into the probable difference between Iranian intermediate and advanced EFL learners' receptive and productive collocational knowledge. To this end, 60 EFL learners studying at Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch, including 30 advanced and 30 intermediate learners, were chosen through the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The participants at each level of proficiency received two tests of collocations, namely receptive collocation test and productive test of collocations. Paired-samples t test showed no statistically significant difference between productive and receptive knowledge of collocations of the advanced EFL learners. However, the mean comparison between the receptive and productive collocation test scores of intermediate EFL learners revealed a significant difference. Pedagogical implications emanating from the obtained results are elaborated in the study.
Highlights
The origin of the term collocation was the Latin verb collocare, meaning to arrange
The results revealed no significant correlation between the general linguistic proficiency and collocational proficiency of EFL learners
Various contextual clues may be at work when test takers deal with receptive tests of collocations
Summary
The origin of the term collocation was the Latin verb collocare, meaning to arrange. Firth (1957) who is known as the father of collocations first introduced this term to refer to “the company that words keep” (p. 183). Firth (1957) who is known as the father of collocations first introduced this term to refer to “the company that words keep” According to Sadat Kiaee, Heravi Moghaddam, and Moheb Hosseini (2013), collocations are “words that ‘fit together’ intuitively with great expectation in the syntagmatic and paradigmatic levels. The syntagmatic relation of lexical words, which is horizontal, refers to the collocability of words” Connections refers to sets of words in the same class. Collocations are predictable patterns and phrases or groups of words that typically co-occur. They include what have traditionally been considered lexical items, as well as structural patterns which may seem closer to grammar and combinations of words that ‘go together.’
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