ONCOLL: A quasi-experimental study on the effect of a web-based platform on teaching collocations

Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 68 - 84, 08.04.2021

Ahmet Başal Muhammet Toraman Kıymet Merve Celen

https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911181

Abstract

Learning collocations poses difficulties for foreign language learners despite their importance for fluency in the target language. Collocation learning and teaching should therefore be an integral part of foreign language instruction. With a focus on the receptive knowledge of collocations, this 5-week-long pretest/posttest quasi-experimental study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the use of an ONline COLLocation learning platform (ONCOLL) designed specifically for the explicit teaching of English adjective-noun collocations over traditional activities. Sixty-two first-year students from an English Language Teaching Department at a university were the participants of the study. Each week, the participants were provided with 10 sample sentences including the target adjective-noun collocations which were followed by two sets of exercises. While the control group (n=29) completed all the procedures with paper-and-pen materials and under the guidance of their teacher, the participants in the experimental group (n=33) used ONCOLL on individual computers and without the teacher’s involvement. For data collection, an achievement test including 50 items was used as the pre- and post-test to determine whether differences between the two groups were statistically significant. Based on the results, the experimental group participants scored significantly higher than the participants of the control group, indicating the effectiveness of ONCOLL in learning collocations in a foreign language. This discrepancy could be attributed to some of ONCOLL’s features such as 1) providing room for individualized learning, 2) requiring the analysis of all example sentences by the learners, and 3) requiring the learners to take the tests in the system repeatedly until they get a full score without any feedback.

Keywords

Collocation, English language teaching, online system, vocabulary teaching

References

• Akera, A. (2017). Bringing radical behaviorism to revolutionary Brazil and back: Fred Keller's Personalized System of Instruction and Cold War engineering education. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 53(4), 364-382. http://doi.org/gcvzcd
• Bahns, J., & Eldaw, M. (1993). Should we teach EFL students collocations? System, 21, 101-114. http://doi.org/bnbd2f
• Basal, A. (2019). Learning collocations: Effects of online tools on teaching English adjective-noun collocations. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 342-356. http://doi.org/dnjs
• Boers, F., & Lindstromberg, S. (2012). Experimental and intervention studies on formulaic sequences in a second language. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, 83- 110. http://doi.org/ggr4fg
• Boers, F., Lindstromberg, S., & Eyckmans, J. (2014). Some explanations for the slow acquisition of L2 collocations. VIAL-Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11, 41-62.
• 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(3), 231-251. http://doi.org/ds6m7t
• Chen, H. J. H. (2011). Developing and evaluating a web-based collocation retrieval tool for EFL students and teachers. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 24(1), 59- 76.
• Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213-238. http://doi.org/bfvprv
• Daskalovska, N. (2015). Corpus-based versus traditional learning of collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 28, 130-144. http://doi.org/b4th
• Dóczi, B., & Kormos, J. (2016). Longitudinal developments in vocabulary knowledge and lexical organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://doi.org/d27g
• Ellis, N. C. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(2) 143-188.
• Ellis, N. C., Simpson-Vlach, R., Römer, U., Brook O’Donnell, M., & Wulff, S. (2015). Learner corpora and formulaic language in second language acquisition. In S. Granger, G. Gilquin, & F. Meunier (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of learner corpus research (pp. 357-378). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://doi.org/d27h
• Farghal, M., & Obiedat, H. (1995). Collocations: A neglected variable in EFL. IRAL, 33(4), 315-333. http://doi.org/crptrv
• Gatbonton, E., & Segalowitz, N. (2005). Rethinking communicative language teaching: A focus on access to fluency. Canadian Modern Language Review, 61(3), 325-353. http://doi.org/d9hpxs
• Golonka, E. M., Bowles, A. R., Frank, V. M., Richardson, D. L., & Freynik, S. (2014). Technologies for foreign language learning: a review of technology types and their effectiveness. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(1), 70-105. http://doi.org/ggfncd
• Laufer, B. (2011). The contribution of dictionary use to the production and retention of collocations in a second language. International Journal of Lexicography, 24(1), 29- 49. http://doi.org/b7r7jv
• Laufer, B. (2017). From word parts to full texts: Searching for effective methods of vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 21(1), 5-11. http://doi.org/d27j
• McCarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Mirzaei, A., Domakani, M. R., & Rahimi, S. (2016). Computerized lexis-based instruction in EFL classrooms: Using multi-purpose LexisBOARD to teach L2 vocabulary. ReCALL, 28(1), 22-43. http://doi.org/gfdck5
• Nesselhauf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 223-242. http://doi.org/fh99d4
• Nesselhauf, N., & Tschichold, C. (2002). Collocations in CALL: An investigation of vocabulary-building software for EFL. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 15(3), 251- 279. http://doi.org/ckww7z
• Nurmukhamedov, U. (2017). The contribution of collocation tools to collocation correction in second language writing. International Journal of Lexicography, 30(4), 454- 482. http://doi.org/d27k
• Pavlik, J. V. (2015). Fueling a third paradigm of education: The pedagogical implications of digital, social and mobile media. Contemporary Educational Technology, 6(2), 113-125.
• Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (2017). Learning L2 collocations incidentally from reading. Language Teaching Research, 21(3), 381-402. http://doi.org/d27m
• Peters, E. (2016). The learning burden of collocations: The role of interlexical and intralexical factors. Language Teaching Research, 20(1), 113-138. http://doi.org/d27n
• Robins, R. H. (2000). General linguistics (4th ed.). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
• Schmitt, N. (2012). Formulaic language and collocation. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1-10). New York: Blackwell. http://doi.org/d27p
• Singh, V. (2017). Effectiveness of programme learning material for teaching physics in class X. Voice of Research, 5(4), 13-14.
• Szudarski, P., & Carter, R. (2016). The role of input flood and input enhancement in EFL learners’ acquisition of collocations. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26(2), 245-265. http://doi.org/d27q
• Webb, S., Newton, J., & Chang, A. (2013). Incidental learning of collocation. Language Learning, 63(1), 91-120. http://doi.org/f4n5qt
• Wray, A. (2012). What do we (think we) know about formulaic language? An evaluation of the current state of play. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, 231-254. http://doi.org/d27r
• Wu, S., Franken, M., & Witten, I. H. (2010). Supporting collocation learning with a digital library. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(1), 87-110. http://doi.org/fcr735
• Wu, S., Li, L., Witten, I. H., & Yu, A. (2016). Constructing a collocation learning system from the Wikipedia Corpus. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 6(3), 18-35. http://doi.org/d27s