The Effect of Learning Conditions on Collocation Gains: A Case Study of Task-based Dictionary Use Instruction

Abstract

To examine the effect of learning conditions on collocation gains, 88 Chinese EFL students were assigned randomly to one of three different learning conditions, i.e. dictionary use with prior instruction, dictionary use without training, or explicit collocation teaching. They were asked to fill in the missing verb in ten V + N target collocations embedded in sentences. A screen recorder was used to keep track of the students' lookup behaviour in the two conditions involving dictionary use such as every input of the searched word, every move and click of the mouse, every step of collocation search and the time length of dictionary consultation. After completion of the assignment all the students were given corrective feedback to the collocation task and marked their corrections on the test paper. Two weeks later, an unexpected retention test was administered. The study showed that dictionary use following a five-step training session reaped significantly more collocation gains than dictionary use without prior instruction and explicit collocation teach­ing. Compared with those who used the dictionary without prior training, the students with prior dictionary instruction employed more effective strategies concerning the selection of lookup words and the location and identification of collocation information. They took a more conscientious approach to dictionary use and retrieved more correct target verbs. Apart from lending new sup­port to the continuous appeal for a position of dictionary use instruction in the EFL pedagogy, the study also provides a detailed demonstration of task-based dictionary training applicable to class­room practice. Keywords: learning conditions, collocation learning, dictionary skills, dictionary lookup behaviour, dictionary use instruction.

Frequency or Keyness?

“…In addition, we are well aware that words do not hold standalone meaning, but acquire their meaningfulness through combinations with other words. Therefore, collocations, n-grams and similar word combinations have been a recurrent topic of interest for ESP learners and instructors (Chen 2022). For this purpose, the AntConc software can further be used for examining word relations such as collocations (and/or n-grams), which can be of use for additional development of glossary and dictionary items (Figure 2).…”

EFL Learners’ Collocation Acquisition and Learning in Corpus-Based Instruction: A Systematic Review

“…Consequently, in the last decade, the discourse surrounding the effectiveness of L2 collocation instruction has progressively transitioned toward evaluating the relative impact of different intervention approaches and addressing more specific factors that could influence effectiveness, including task types [27][28][29], mode of input [23,30], types of target collocations [31,32], and frequency of occurrence. Previous research has highlighted the challenges faced by language teachers in teaching multi-word verbs to their students, despite the availability of various learning materials such as textbooks [33], and specialized learner dictionaries [34,35]. According to Girgin [36], teaching these structures to students is extremely challenging for language teachers.…”

Do we learn from mistakes? The usefulness of examples of errors in online dictionaries

“…The positioning of a warning message seems to be less problematic in e-dictionaries, where hyperlinks ensure access from all the entries involved. Yet, recent research into dictionary users' behavior shows that hyperlinks are often ignored (Chen, 2017(Chen, , 2020Li & Xu, 2015). Placement problems appear even when warnings concern a headword treated in one entry.…”

“…Although the beginning of the entry is usually considered the most prominent (e.g. Chen, 2017Chen, , 2020Lew, Grzelak & Leszkowicz, 2013), there are experiments that point to the salience of entry bottom (Dziemianko, 2014(Dziemianko, , 2017Nesi & Tan, 2011).…”