Congruent Collocations Research Articles

The Influence of the L1 on L2 Collocation Processing in Tamil-English Bilingual Children

This study examines the influence of Tamil (L1) on the processing of English (L2) collocations during reading for Tamil-English bilingual children. Building on existing research in formulaic language, we used an online processing tool to investigate whether cross-linguistic transfer can be extended beyond single lexical items to collocations in bilingual children, a population that is underrepresented in this research area. Fifty-eight children aged 9–10 years from a school in Chennai, India, took part. Using self-paced reading, children’s reading times were measured for both congruent (with equivalent in L2) and incongruent (without equivalent in L2) English collocations embedded in short passages. There were two reading modes (single and chunk), which allowed reading times for the whole collocations and the individual words of the collocations to be examined. Results showed that children read congruent collocations more quickly than incongruent collocations in both modes. For congruent collocations, children read the second word more quickly than the first word, but the reverse was true for incongruent collocations. These results suggest that the L1 (Tamil) is activated during the processing stage of reading English collocations for Tamil-English bilingual children in this context.

The development of L2 collocational familiarity and its relationship with collocational frequency and congruency.

The present study took L2 English learners of different levels in China as subjects to investigate the relationship between collocational familiarity and collocational frequency as well as L1-L2 congruency, and then explored the development of the above relationship as L2 proficiency develops. The results showed that: a moderate positive correlation existed between familiarity and frequency, and the correlation increased with proficiency; a moderate positive correlation also existed between familiarity and congruency, but the correlation decreased with proficiency. Based on previous studies and the present findings, the research group infer that: low familiarity collocations tend to be represented and processed in analytic way and same-translation effect helps accelerate the semantic access of congruent collocations in this process; with the increase in learners' proficiency, collocation familiarity develops from low to high with frequency effect; high familiarity collocations tend to be represented and processed in holistic way to have direct semantic access; furthermore, learners of two levels have two kinds of collocational representation and semantic access, but low-level learners show more analytic representation and indirect semantic access because of having more low familiarity collocations in the mental lexicon.

Rendering natural collocations in a translation task: The effect of direction, congruency, semantic transparency, and proficiency

AbstractSecond language (L2) research has extensively examined various factors that might influence the processing and learning of collocations, including congruency, semantic transparency, L2 proficiency, and (to a limited extent) directionality. However, research examining the effect of these factors on the natural rendering of collocations by translation trainees is scarce. The present study aims to apply the factors identified in L2 research in a natural translation context. The aim is to examine whether such factors may influence rendering collocations naturally from the source language to the target language. Ninety‐two Arabic–English translator trainees took part in the study. They translated short equivalent passages containing 40 collocations in both directions (Arabic—English and English—Arabic). A mixed‐effects model was fit to examine factors that may predict the production of a natural collocation: translation direction, L1 congruency, semantic transparency, and proficiency. Results showed no differences between the production of natural collocations to and from the native language. However, there was a significant effect of congruency and semantic transparency; congruent collocations and collocations that had a transparent meaning were more likely to be rendered naturally. Moreover, estimated proficiency level in English modulated congruency effects in that the difference between congruent and incongruent items declined as estimated proficiency increased. Results of the present study suggest that second language models and translation models should incorporate semantic transparency of collocations. Moreover, the results imply that collocations and their properties should be explicitly taught in translation classrooms.

Learnability of L2 collocations and L1 influence on L2 collocational representations of Japanese learners of English

Abstract This study, based on Jiang’s (2000. Lexical representation and development in a second language. Applied Linguistics 21(1). 47–77) bilingual lexicon model, investigates the learnability of collocations among 34 Japanese EFL learners and examines the influence of their L1 on such learning. An acceptability judgment task assessed the knowledge of three different types of collocations: English-only collocations that cannot be directly translated into Japanese (e.g., flat rate); congruent collocations that can be translated into Japanese without changing their meaning (e.g., cold tea); and Japanized collocations that are infelicitous in English, but felicitous in Japanese (e.g., yellow voice). After the task, participants translated the collocations and rated the difficulty on a four-point Likert scale. The relationship between the accuracy of these collocations and the translation difficulty rating scores was analyzed using mixed-effects logistic regression modeling to assess L1 influence. The results showed that with increasing L2 proficiency, learners tend to regard congruent and English-only collocations as acceptable, but even highly proficient learners did not fully reject the Japanized collocations. This suggests that as L2 proficiency increased, participants learned to accept felicitous collocations but did not learn to reject Japanized infelicitous ones. In addition, the influence of L1 was evident in English-only and Japanized collocations and could not be avoided by those with increasing proficiency.

The Role of Congruency in Collocation Acquisition: A Case Study of Vietnamese Students Learning English Adjective + Noun Collocations

Collocational competence is of critical importance to EFL learners’ language proficiency. Due to limited research on L1 influence on L2 learners’ development of receptive and productive knowledge of adjective + noun collocations, especially in the context of Vietnam, this study is an attempt to address these gaps by investigating whether Vietnamese learners could recognize and use congruent English adjective + noun collocations more accurately than incongruent ones. Data were collected from 72 English-major undergraduates in a Vietnamese university who completed three collocational tests: the Receptive Knowledge Test, the Productive Knowledge Test, and the paragraph-writing test. Results showed that, in contrast to language transfer theory, congruent collocations posed considerably more problems for the students in identifying the well-formed lexical combinations and using them accurately in writing. These findings highlight the importance of explicitly teaching congruent and incongruent collocations in EFL classrooms.

A longitudinal study into learners’ productive collocation knowledge in L2 German and factors affecting the learning

AbstractThis longitudinal study explored the roles of item- and learner-related variables in L2 learners’ development of productive collocation knowledge (L1 = Dutch; L2 = German; NLearners= 50). Learners’ form recall knowledge of 35 target collocations was measured three times over a 3-year period. The item-related variables investigated were L1-L2 congruency, corpus frequency, association strength, and imageability. We also explored the learner-related variables L2 prior productive vocabulary knowledge and L2 immersion. Mixed-effects regression modeling indicated a significant effect of time, congruency, and prior productive vocabulary knowledge on learners’ collocation learning. While learners’ knowledge of congruent collocations remained relatively stable after year one, knowledge of incongruent collocations increased significantly. Learners’ prior productive vocabulary knowledge was clearly associated with growth of productive collocation knowledge, but besides overall growth there were instances of attrition.

Croatian EFL learners’ collocational competence: Congruent and incongruent collocations

The paper describes Croatian EFL learners’ collocational competence with regard to congruent and incongruent collocations. Congruent collocations are those which express the same meaning in both languages with similar lexical components, whereby a direct translation from L1 into L2 produces an appropriate collocation. On the other hand, incongruent collocations use different lexical components in the two languages to express the same meaning and a direct translation from L1 into L2 most likely produces an error. Based on this difference between the two types of collocations, the hypothesis is that participants would be more successful in producing congruent as opposed to incongruent collocations due to a positive crosslinguistic influence. To test the hypothesis, 175 Croatian high school students at different year levels (ages 15-18) were tested by using a 22-item task in which they were asked to translate collocations from L1 Croatian into L2 English. The results show that students were more successful in producing congruent than incongruent collocations, and their collocational competence grew with year level and the number of foreign languages spoken.

L1 congruency, word frequency, collocational frequency, L2 proficiency, and their combined effects on Chinese–English bilinguals’ L2 collocational processing

Aims: The current study investigated the effects of first language (L1) congruency, word frequency, collocational frequency, second language (L2) proficiency, and their combined effects on L2 collocational processing. Methodology: Twenty English native speakers and 60 adult Chinese–English bilinguals (intermediate and advanced) completed an online phrasal decision task. They made a judgment about whether target word pairs (congruent collocations, incongruent collocations, and non-collocational baseline items) were commonly used in English. Data and analysis: Response time and accuracy data were analyzed with mixed-effects models, with focus on the interactions of the variables of interest. Findings: Results demonstrated differential effects for the response time and accuracy data: (1) both L2 groups were significantly more accurate but not significantly faster in judging the congruent collocations than the incongruent collocations, and unexpectedly similar patterns were observed with the L1 group; (2) all participants were sensitive to word frequency and collocational frequency, but they differed in the manner and degree of such sensitivity; and (3) the processing of incongruent collocations showed greater combined effects of word frequency and collocational frequency than did the processing of congruent collocations. Originality: We specifically investigated the effects of multiple influencing factors and their combined effects. In addition, we addressed a methodological limitation regarding stimuli control by using congruent and incongruent collocational pairs that differed in only one constituent word. Implications: Our findings highlight the non-colinear relationship of L2 proficiency and (explicit and implicit) collocational knowledge as well as the semantic aspects of cross-language differences, and they also support the usage-based models.

Cross-linguistic influence on the use of L2 collocations: the case of Vietnamese learners

AbstractUsing collocation is a key part of second language ability (Granger, Sylviane. 2018. Formulaic sequences in learner corpora: Collocations and lexical bundles. In Anna Siyanova-Chanturia & Ana Pellicer-Sanchez (eds.),Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective, 228–247. New York: Routledge; Nattinger, James R. & Jeamette S. DeCarrico. 1992.Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Nesselhauf, Nadja. 2004.Collocations in a learner corpus. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins Pub. Co.; Pawley, Andrew & Frances H. Syder. 1983. Two puzzles for linguistics: Nativelike selection and nativelike fluency. In Jack Richards & Richard W. Schmidt (eds.),Language and communication, 191–228. London: Longman). Researchers often hypothesize that the influence of the first language is an important factor in the production and understanding of unconventional collocations (Huang, Li-Shi. 2001. Knowledge of English collocations: An analysis of Taiwanese EFL learners.Paper presented at the Texas Foreign Languguage Education Conference, Texas; Laufer, Bhatia & Tina Waldman. 2011. Verb-noun collocations in second language writing: A corpus analysis of learners’ English.Language Learning61(2). 647–672.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00621.x; Phoocharoensil, Supakorn. 2013. Cross-linguistic influence: Its impact on L2 English collocation production.English Language Teaching6(1). 1–10) but we are only now starting to understand this. The present study provides a robust investigation of cross-linguistic influences by exploring how Vietnamese influenced Vietnamese learners’ use of English language verb-noun and adjective noun collocations in 104 350-word argumentative essays, using a framework derived from Jarvis, Scott. 2012. The detection-based approach: An overview. In S. Jarvis & S. A. Crossley (eds.),Approaching language transfer through text classification: Explorations in the detection-based approach, 1st ed., Vol. 64, 1–33. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, drawing on homogeneity among speakers of Vietnamese; heterogeneity between users of Vietnamese and other language; and formal and conceptual congruity between collocations learners produce in English and equivalent terms in Vietnamese. The study found that less than 10% of the collocations learners produced were unconventional and of these, 40% of collocations were influenced by the first language (L1); errors associated with incorrect use of prepositions in verb-noun collocations (e.g. the addition, omission or misuse of prepositions) are strongly L1-motivated. Learners make errors with not only incongruent collocations (collocations with no direct L1 equivalents) but also with congruent collocations (collocations with direct L1 translation).

Is L2 Exposure Always a Strong Modulator of L1 Influence? Evidence from Chinese EFL Learners Acquiring English Collocations

Despite the voluminous body of research investigating the role of L1 influence in acquiring L2 collocations, research that examines the extent to which L2 exposure modulates L1 influence is relatively scant. The present study, therefore, aims to address this under-studied issue. To this end, two types of collocations comprising congruent collocations (i.e., collocations which have literal translation equivalents in learners’ L1) and non-congruent collocations (i.e., collocations that do not have L1 literal translation) were used as materials to elicit the potential role of L1 in acquiring L2 collocations. A blank-filling collocation test and an acceptability judgement collocation test were designed and then administered to three groups of Chinese EFL learners differing in L2 exposure, i.e., years of instructions (freshmen, sophomores and juniors), affording the chance to explore the possible relationship between L1 influence and L2 exposure. The findings indicate that (a) L1 had a robust and persistent impact on acquiring L2 collocations at both reception and production level, regardless of the amount of L2 exposure received; (b) with an increase in L2 exposure, receptive/productive congruent and non-congruent collocational knowledge was developed in parallel (from freshman to sophomore), and then plateaued or even decreased (from sophomore to junior), suggesting that L2 exposure may not always be a strong modulator of L1 influence. Possible reasons and pedagogical implications arising from this study are discussed.

WORD FREQUENCY, COLLOCATIONAL FREQUENCY, L1 CONGRUENCY, AND PROFICIENCY IN L2 COLLOCATIONAL PROCESSING

AbstractThis study investigated the effects of word frequency, collocational frequency, L1 congruency, and L2 proficiency, on L2 collocational processing. Two groups of L1 Japanese speakers of English (intermediate and advanced) and one group of English native speakers (NSs) performed an online acceptability judgment task on four types of adjective-noun constructions: (1) congruent collocations, (2) English-only collocations, (3) Japanese-only collocations, and (4) baseline items. Response times were analyzed using mixed-effects modeling and correlations. In contrast to NSs, nonnative speakers (NNSs) processed congruent collocations significantly faster than English-only collocations. As for frequency, all three groups demonstrated sensitivity to both word-level and collocation-level frequency. However, the distributions differed across the three groups. We concluded that age/order of acquisition effects (Carroll & White, 1973) provided the best explanation for the congruency results. Regarding the frequency results, we concluded that the findings conflict with claims that NNSs may process formulaic sequences differently than NSs (e.g., Wray, 2002, 2008).

L1 influence on the processing of L2 collocation: An experimental study of Korean EFL learners

The current study aimed to investigate the influence of L1 on the processing of L2 collocations utilizing a phrase-acceptability judgement task. The task was conducted on 39 English collocations with 19 native speakers of English and 45 Korean EFL learners. Their error rates and reaction times were measured both on the congruent collocations that have L1 translation equivalents and the incongruent collocations that do not have ones. It was found that the advanced EFL learners responded significantly faster to and made fewer errors on both the congruent and the incongruent collocations than the intermediate EFL learners. Meanwhile, both the advanced and the intermediate EFL learners made significantly more errors and responded slower under incongruent condition, indicating a strong congruency effect. The results implied that there exists a high degree of reliance on L1 intralexical knowledge in processing L2 collocations by the EFL learners, and acquiring incongruent L2 collocations seems still challenging even to the advanced learners. However, it was also suggested that once EFL learners notice incongruent collocations as valid ones and store them in their L2 mental lexicon, they may be able to processing incongruent collocations as efficiently as native speakers, directly linking L2 collocation forms to their concepts independently of L1 mediation. (Hanyang University)

L2 Learners’ Knowledge of Verb-Noun Collocations

Realizing that learning of single words is the norm in vocabulary learning among Korean EFL high school learners, the purpose of the study was to examine the learners’ collocational proficiency with reference to the relative transparency of collocations (i.e., congruent vs. incongruent). To develop a receptive collocation test, 36 items were counterbalanced for incongruent and congruent collocations by matching normalized frequencies of the collocation items from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The test was conducted on 149 high school learners, and we examined the relationships between collocational proficiency and the learners’ second language proficiency, experience abroad, and learning strategies. Recalling incongruent collocations was seen to be more difficult than the congruent collocations at a significant level. However, our data revealed that the task of finding the appropriate collocate for the congruent collocations was not necessarily simple either. Also our analysis showed that higher second language proficiency was more critical for the recall of incongruent collocations. Also, experience abroad of more than 2 years, and daily study time of 2-3 hours for English were the prerequisite thresholds for improved collocational proficiency. Our findings are provided in the light of improving learning of collocations.

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Rote Rehearsal on ESL Learners' Processing of L2 Collocations

Worldwide there is thought to be around 750 million people who speak English as a foreign language (Crystal, 2003, p. 69). For these speakers the difference between make a picture and take a picture may seem arbitrary. However, use of the former is likely to influence how their second language (L2) performance is perceived (Boers, Eyckmans, Kappel, Stengers, & Demecheleer, 2006). Consequently, L2 speakers' use of collocations (“fixed, identifiable, non-idiomatic phrases and constructions”; Benson, Benson, & Ilson, 1997, p. xv) and other formulaic sequences is an important aspect of L2 competence (Wray, 2002). Several factors appear to influence the acquisition and use of L2 collocations. One of them is L1–L2 collocational congruency. Research has demonstrated that word-for-word translation equivalents (congruent collocations) are processed more efficiently than incongruent collocations (Wolter & Gyllstad, 2011; Yamashita & Jiang, 2010). Moreover, research has demonstrated that collocational frequency, and the frequency of formulaic sequences more generally, influences processing, with more frequent combinations being processed more quickly (Siyanova-Chanturia, Conklin, & van Heuven, 2011; Wolter & Gyllstad, 2013). Researchers have also explored the role of different L2 input conditions on the processing of collocations. Sonbul and Schmitt (2013) compared the effects of three treatments (enriched, enhanced, and decontextualized input) on the collocational competence of learners of English as a second language (ESL). For explicit knowledge, they observed an improvement in both receptive and productive tests for all treatment conditions, but for implicit knowledge no gains were found. Peters (2012) examined L2-German learners' acquisition of words and formulaic sequences as dependent on an instructional method (directing learners' attention through instructions) and input enhancement (bolding and underlining). In a form recall test, input enhancement led to gains in learners' knowledge, whereas the instructional method did not seem to affect their results. The present study brings together a number of questions that have been prominent in the literature by examining the short- and long-term effects of two different input conditions on ESL learners' processing of L2 collocations, as well as exploring the influence of frequency and collocational congruency.

L1 Influence on L2 Collocational Knowledge

The present study investigated the influence of the first language (L1) on 111 Korean high school students’ knowledge of 16 adjective-noun and 18 verb-noun collocations. Instruments included vocabulary size test, general language proficiency test, and two types of collocation test (an A-or-B selection test and a phrase-acceptability judgment test). The collocation tests involved both congruent and incongruent collocations (17 each). In order to examine how confusion arising from synonymy affects the acquisition of congruent collocations, synonyms were given as choices for congruent collocations. The results showed that although synonymy interfered with their choices for congruent collocations, incongruent collocations were more difficult to acquire. In addition, there existed a significant difference in their knowledge of adjective-noun and verb-noun collocations by level of vocabulary size and general language proficiency.

The Use of Amplifiers in the Doctoral Dissertations of Chinese EFL Learners

This paper reports a study into the use of amplifiers and amplifier collocations in the doctoral dissertations of Chinese EFL learners. A sample corpus of doctoral dissertations by Chinese doctoral students and a control corpus of doctoral dissertations by native speaker doctoral students were compiled and used for the analyses. Results showed that the overall number of amplifiers used by the Chinese students and the native speaker students were comparable. However, the Chinese learners overused totally, very and really and underused entirely and highly in their writing. Moreover, the Chinese learners tended to use more amplifier collocations than their native speaker counterparts. In particular, they tended to use clearly much more frequently to intensify the reporting verbs and to use the amplifiers to intensify the meaning of general adjectives in their writing. It was also found that many amplifier collocations used by the Chinese learners were congruent collocations. The findings may indicate a non-native style within Chinese learners’ writing. We argue that Chinese learners overuse amplifiers and amplifier collocations in order to focus the reader’s attention as well as to enhance the meaning of general adjectives. Meanwhile, the Chinese learners’ mother tongue exerts a clear influence on their use of amplifiers and amplifier collocations. Pedagogical implications are also discussed within the paper.

L1 Influence on the Acquisition of L2 Collocations: Japanese ESL Users and EFL Learners Acquiring English Collocations

This study investigated first language (L1) influence on the acquisition of second language (L2) collocations using a framework based on Kroll and Stewart (1994) and Jiang (2000), by comparing the performance on a phrase‐acceptability judgment task among native speakers of English, Japanese English as a second language (ESL) users, and Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The test materials included both congruent collocations, whose lexical components were similar in L1 and L2, and incongruent collocations, whose lexical components differed in the two languages. EFL learners made more errors with and reacted more slowly to incongruent collocations than congruent collocations. ESL users generally performed better than EFL learners (lower error rate and faster speed), but they still made more errors on incongruent collocations than on congruent collocations. Interestingly, however, the L1 effect was not apparent on the ESL users' reaction time. The results suggested that (a) both L1 congruency and L2 exposure affect the acquisition of L2 collocations with the availability of both maximizing this acquisition; (b) it is difficult to acquire incongruent collocations even with a considerable amount of exposure to L2; and (c) once stored in memory, L2 collocations are processed independently of L1. Possible differences in acquiring congruent and incongruent collocations are discussed.