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

Abstract

This 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.

Exploring collocation development in L2 German from students’ perspective: A contrasting case study

“…L2 learners tend to rely on using literal translation equivalents, which often results in unnatural and even odd collocations. Congruency, defined as "the presence or absence of a literal L1 translation equivalent" (Peters, 2016, p. 114) has indeed proved to be an influencing factor when it comes to the acquisition, processing or use of collocations (Boone et al, 2023;Ding & Reynolds, 2019;Vu & Peters, 2022;Wolter & Gyllstad, 2013). A further factor is the lack of exposure to the target language (Durrant & Schmitt, 2010), and it has been demonstrated that numerous encounters are needed before a collocation is learned (Vilkaitė, 2017).…”

“…A further factor is the lack of exposure to the target language (Durrant & Schmitt, 2010), and it has been demonstrated that numerous encounters are needed before a collocation is learned (Vilkaitė, 2017). Some learners, however, seem to deal with these difficulties better than others, since large individual variation in collocation knowledge has been observed (Boone et al, 2023;González Fernández & Schmitt, 2015;Li & Schmitt, 2010). This variation might partially be the result of individual differences that are assumed to influence L2 learning at various levels (Dörnyei, 2005).…”

“…Building up a repertoire of FS is crucial for foreign/second language (L2) learners, as FS make language fluent, natural, and idiomatic (Nation, 2001). However, L2 formulaic development has shown to be a slow and difficult process (Boers et al, 2014;Boone et al, 2023). Already at the beginning of the millennium, Wray wrote: "If formulaic sequences are so difficult to learn, then unless we understand why, we are unlikely to hit on a successful way of teaching them" (Wray, 2000, p. 468).…”

“…Several item-related and learner-related factors have been linked to the acquisition, processing, and use of FS. Item-related factors include, for example, L1-L2 congruency (Boone et al, 2023;Ding & Reynolds, 2019;Vu & Peters, 2022;Wolter & Gyllstad, 2013) and corpus frequency (Durrant, 2014;Ellis, 2002). Learner-related factors or individual differences (IDs) include factors -often interrelated -such as age of onset (Foster et al, 2014), memory-based language aptitude (Bolibaugh & Foster, 2013;Ellis & Sinclair, 1996), motivation (Arvidsson, 2021;Dörnyei et al, 2004), exposure (Bolibaugh & Foster, 2013;Foster et al, 2014), social interaction (Boone, 2021;Dörnyei et al, 2004), and self-efficacy and self-regulation (Arvidsson, 2021).…”

“…While in the broader field of formulaic language research findings thus suggest the influence of a number of IDs on learners' formulaic competence, less research has been conducted on IDs influencing learners' collocation competence. Some IDs identified in this area are prior L2 vocabulary knowledge (Boone et al, 2023;Vilkaitė, 2017;Vu & Peters, 2022), language aptitude (Forsberg Lundell & Sandgren, 2013;Granena & Long, 2013), phonological short-term memory (Boone & Eyckmans, 2019;Skrzypek & Singleton, 2013), and L2 exposure and immersion (González Fernández & Schmitt, 2015).…”