Collocations are one of the important components of native speaker competence. For this reason, there
have been many studies investigating explicit teaching methods of them. However, most of them did not
focus on receptive and productive tasks independently. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of
receptive and productive vocabulary tasks on learning collocation and meaning in an EFL setting.
Turkish EFL learners participated in the study and they were randomly assigned to receptive task,
productive task and control groups. The receptive task group read three glossed sentences for each of the
20 target collocations and the productive task group completed a cloze task. The results showed that both
tasks were effective to lead to learning gains in collocation and meaning. Although the results were not
significant, the participants in the receptive task group were able to reach higher scores on receptive
knowledge of collocation and meaning than on the productive ones.
Boers, F., Demecheleer, M., Coxhead, A., & Webb, S. (2014). Gauging the effects of exercises on verb-noun collocations. Language Teaching Research, 18(1), 54–74. doi: 10.1177/1362168813505389
Chan, T.P., & Liou, H.C. (2005). Effects of web-based concordancing instruction on EFL students’learning of verb–noun collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18, 231 – 251.
Çelik, S. (2011). Developing collocational competence through web-based concordance activities. Novitas-ROYAL, 5(2), 273-286. Retrieved from: http://www.novitasroyal.org/Vol_5_2/CelikS.pdf
Griffi n, G. F., & Harley, T. A. (1996). List learning of second language vocabulary. Applied Psycholinguistics, 17, 443–460.
Kasahara, K. (2010). Are two words better than one for intentional vocabulary learning?. Annual Review of English Language Education in Japan, 21, 111-120.
Kasahara, K. (2011). The effect of known-and-unknown word combinations on intentional vocabulary learning. System, 39, 491-499.
Laufer, B., & Girsai, N. (2008). Form-focused instruction in L2 vocabulary learning. Applied Linguistics, 29(4), 694-716.
Laufer, B., & Waldman, T. (2011). Verb-noun collocations in second language writing: A corpus analysis of learners’ English. Language
Learning, 61(2), 647-672. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- 9922.2010.00621.x
Macis, M. & Schmitt, N. (2017). The figurative and polysemous nature of collocations and their place in ELT. ELT Journal, 71(1), 50–59. doi:10.1093/elt/ccw044
Nesselhauf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some
implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 223-242.
Nesselhauf, N. (2005). Collocations in a learner corpus. Studies in Corpus Linguistics
14. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2015). Learning L2 collocations incidentally from reading. Language
Teaching Research, 0(0), 1 – 22. doi: 10.1177/1362168815618428
Peters, E. (2014). The effects of repetition and time of post-test administration on EFL learners’ form recall of single words and collocations. Language Teaching Research, 18, 75- 94.
Shin, D. (2007). The high frequency collocations of spoken and written English. English Teaching, 62(1), 199-218.
Shin, D. & Nation, P. (2008). Beyond single words: the most frequent collocations in spoken English. ELT Journal 62(4), 339–348. doi:10.1093/elt/ccm091
Smadja, F. (1993). Retrieving collocations from texts: Xtract. Computational Linguistics, 19(1), 143-177.
Stoddard, G. D. (1929). An experiment in verbal learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 20, 452–457.
Sun, Y.C., & Wang, L.Y. (2003). Concordancers in the EFL classroom: Cognitive approaches and collocation difficulty. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 16, 83-94.
Waring, R. (1997a). A comparison of the receptive and productive vocabulary sizes of some second language learners. Immaculata, Notre Dame Seishin University. Okayama,1, 53–68.
Waring, R. (1997b). A study of receptive and productive learning from word cards. Studies in Foreign Languages and Literature, Notre Dame Seishin University. Okayama, 21, 94–114.
Webb, S. (2008). Receptive and productive vocabulary sizes of L2 learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(1), 79 – 95.
Webb, S., & Kagimoto, E. (2009). The effects of vocabulary learning on collocation and meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 55–77. doi: 10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00227.x
Webb, S., & Kagimoto, E. (2011). Learning collocations: Do the number of collocates, position of the node word, and synonymy affect learning? Applied Linguistics, 32(3), 259-276. doi:10.1093/applin/amq051
Welch, B. L. (1951). On the comparison of several mean values: An alternative approach. Biometrika, 38, 330–336.
Boers, F., Demecheleer, M., Coxhead, A., & Webb, S. (2014). Gauging the effects of exercises on verb-noun collocations. Language Teaching Research, 18(1), 54–74. doi: 10.1177/1362168813505389
Chan, T.P., & Liou, H.C. (2005). Effects of web-based concordancing instruction on EFL students’learning of verb–noun collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18, 231 – 251.
Çelik, S. (2011). Developing collocational competence through web-based concordance activities. Novitas-ROYAL, 5(2), 273-286. Retrieved from: http://www.novitasroyal.org/Vol_5_2/CelikS.pdf
Griffi n, G. F., & Harley, T. A. (1996). List learning of second language vocabulary. Applied Psycholinguistics, 17, 443–460.
Kasahara, K. (2010). Are two words better than one for intentional vocabulary learning?. Annual Review of English Language Education in Japan, 21, 111-120.
Kasahara, K. (2011). The effect of known-and-unknown word combinations on intentional vocabulary learning. System, 39, 491-499.
Laufer, B., & Girsai, N. (2008). Form-focused instruction in L2 vocabulary learning. Applied Linguistics, 29(4), 694-716.
Laufer, B., & Waldman, T. (2011). Verb-noun collocations in second language writing: A corpus analysis of learners’ English. Language
Learning, 61(2), 647-672. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- 9922.2010.00621.x
Macis, M. & Schmitt, N. (2017). The figurative and polysemous nature of collocations and their place in ELT. ELT Journal, 71(1), 50–59. doi:10.1093/elt/ccw044
Nesselhauf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some
implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 223-242.
Nesselhauf, N. (2005). Collocations in a learner corpus. Studies in Corpus Linguistics
14. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2015). Learning L2 collocations incidentally from reading. Language
Teaching Research, 0(0), 1 – 22. doi: 10.1177/1362168815618428
Peters, E. (2014). The effects of repetition and time of post-test administration on EFL learners’ form recall of single words and collocations. Language Teaching Research, 18, 75- 94.
Shin, D. (2007). The high frequency collocations of spoken and written English. English Teaching, 62(1), 199-218.
Shin, D. & Nation, P. (2008). Beyond single words: the most frequent collocations in spoken English. ELT Journal 62(4), 339–348. doi:10.1093/elt/ccm091
Smadja, F. (1993). Retrieving collocations from texts: Xtract. Computational Linguistics, 19(1), 143-177.
Stoddard, G. D. (1929). An experiment in verbal learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 20, 452–457.
Sun, Y.C., & Wang, L.Y. (2003). Concordancers in the EFL classroom: Cognitive approaches and collocation difficulty. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 16, 83-94.
Waring, R. (1997a). A comparison of the receptive and productive vocabulary sizes of some second language learners. Immaculata, Notre Dame Seishin University. Okayama,1, 53–68.
Waring, R. (1997b). A study of receptive and productive learning from word cards. Studies in Foreign Languages and Literature, Notre Dame Seishin University. Okayama, 21, 94–114.
Webb, S. (2008). Receptive and productive vocabulary sizes of L2 learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(1), 79 – 95.
Webb, S., & Kagimoto, E. (2009). The effects of vocabulary learning on collocation and meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 55–77. doi: 10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00227.x
Webb, S., & Kagimoto, E. (2011). Learning collocations: Do the number of collocates, position of the node word, and synonymy affect learning? Applied Linguistics, 32(3), 259-276. doi:10.1093/applin/amq051
Welch, B. L. (1951). On the comparison of several mean values: An alternative approach. Biometrika, 38, 330–336.
Özdem Ertürk Z. (2017). The Effects of Receptive and Productive Learning Tasks on EFL Learners’ Knowledge of Collocation and Meaning. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(2), 59-73. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.460964