Collocations are frequently used in everyday life (Hausmann 2003: 318). They can be found in literally every conversation or in written texts. The good thing about collocations is that they are quite easy to understand (Hausmann 2003: 312). Few German learners of English would have problems understanding what to take a picture or to catch a train means. But on the other hand, when producing oral or written language, knowing the idiomatic way to express one’s thoughts proves to be a lot tougher. It might take German learners of English quite some time to learn that you can say blond hair but not *blond car or that a good looking woman is not a *handsome woman, like a man would be called, but a beautiful or pretty woman (Herbst, Stoll, Westermayr 1991:
164).
So we can see that, in order to be able to produce idiomatic English and using words appropriately, collocations are needed, mostly for naming actions of everyday life or for specific language, like business English (Hausmann 2004: 318). This is the
harder part regarding collocations; after learning some basic vocabulary, particularly nouns, students of English need to learn which adjectives or verbs can be used together with the nouns (Hausmann 2004: 310).
Besides being important for young learners, collocations are also an important issue for advanced learners of a language. Researches showed that even students at a higher collegiate level who had good knowledge of English and knew grammar rules
very well, had problems producing text that sounds idiomatic, especially regarding collocations (Bahns 1997: 69ff.).
The relevance of collocations is clear to see, but precisely defining what a collocation is, is not. There are many different approaches to defining collocations. Among them, two approaches have emerged. The elder one is a computer-linguistic approach that, generally speaking, looks at how frequently words appear together (Herbst, Stoll, Westermayr 1991: 164). The other one looks at collocations from a semantic approach, and sees collocations as half-finished products which the speaker takes as one piece out of his memory (Bahns 1996: 24).
This paper will first look at how collocations are defined by the two approaches mentioned above and will then look at the role of collocations in the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. The last chapter will provide some types of exercises which are useful for the teaching and learning of collocations.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Defining collocations
2.1 Statistically oriented approach
2.2 Semantic approach
3. Collocations in language pedagogy
3.1 The need for teaching and learning collocations
3.2 Methodology for teaching and learning collocations
4. Sample exercises for the teaching and learning of collocations
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the essential role of collocations in language teaching and learning, focusing on how different linguistic approaches define these combinations and how educators can effectively integrate them into English language instruction.
- Theoretical definitions of collocations (statistical vs. semantic approaches)
- The pedagogical necessity of teaching collocations for idiomatic fluency
- Challenges learners face regarding collocational restrictions
- Practical methodologies and classroom exercise types for teaching collocations
Excerpt from the book
2. Defining collocations
One of the most famous advocates of the statistically oriented approach is John Sinclair. In the mid 1960ies he was the first to regard computer-based corpora as a very useful tool for analysing collocations (Sinclair 1966: 428), because he thought that the “patterns perceived by a trained linguist examining a text are unreliable and usually extremely tentative” (Sinclair 1966: 413). Collocations are defined as the “occurrence of two or more words within a short space of each other” (Sinclair 1991: 170).
This short space is called “span” (Sinclair 1966: 415), and describes the range which is being looked at starting from the word that is being studied, which is called “node” (415). The words inside the span are called “collocates” (415). The range of the span was first set to 3 words to every side of the node, mostly for practical reasons (Sinclair 1966: 415). In later studies the collocational span was set to 4 (Sinclair 1991: 117).
In a first step Sinclair started looking at the words that occur within the span of certain nodes and counted how often they occurred. As Figure 1 shows, these results could be shown in “Total Environment Tables” (Sinclair 1966: 416). The table shows which words appeared within the span and the frequency of how often the collocates appeared within the span of the nodes money, pay and ticket.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the importance of collocations for language learners and outlines the two primary approaches used to define them.
2. Defining collocations: This section provides a detailed analysis of the statistical approach pioneered by John Sinclair and the semantic approach represented by Hausmann.
3. Collocations in language pedagogy: This chapter argues for the necessity of teaching collocations to avoid idiomatic mistakes and explores practical teaching methodologies.
4. Sample exercises for the teaching and learning of collocations: This chapter presents various practical classroom exercises and graphic materials designed to help learners practice and improve their knowledge of collocations.
Keywords
Collocations, language teaching, English as a foreign language, corpora, linguistic pedagogy, idiom principle, open-choice principle, statistical approach, semantic approach, collocational span, node, collocates, language learners, idiomatic English, communicative competence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper explores the role of collocations within English language teaching, specifically focusing on how they are defined by linguistic research and how they can be effectively integrated into pedagogical practices.
What are the main thematic fields discussed?
The work covers theoretical definitions of collocations, the distinction between open-choice and idiom principles, and various practical exercises for students.
What is the core research objective?
The objective is to highlight the importance of teaching collocations to advanced language learners who, despite knowing grammatical rules, often fail to produce idiomatic text due to a lack of awareness of collocational restrictions.
Which scientific methods are utilized?
The paper relies on a literature review of major linguists like John Sinclair and Franz Josef Hausmann, alongside an analysis of corpus-based approaches and pedagogical exercise models.
What content is covered in the main section?
The main section details the "statistically oriented approach" (Sinclair) and the "semantic approach" (Hausmann), followed by an examination of how these theories translate into classroom techniques and specific exercises.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include collocations, language pedagogy, corpora, idiomatic expression, and linguistic methodology.
How does the "open-choice principle" differ from the "idiom principle"?
The open-choice principle suggests that speakers can combine any words according to grammar, whereas the idiom principle recognizes that language is often formed by pre-constructed phrases or chunks that are not freely chosen.
What is a "node" and a "span" in the context of Sinclair's work?
The "node" is the specific word being analyzed, while the "span" refers to the limited range of words surrounding the node where potential collocates are counted.
Why does Hausmann argue that collocations should be listed in dictionaries?
Hausmann suggests that because learners often know the nouns but lack the specific adjectives or verbs required to express their thoughts accurately, having collocations listed under the "Basis" in dictionaries helps bridge this knowledge gap.
- Quote paper
- Daniel Mehburger (Author), 2009, The role of collcations in language teaching, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/151972
