ABSTRACT. This study aims to investigate students' collocational competence by examining the relationship between the knowledge of lexical collocation among them. The respondents were 30 students of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK). A lexical collocation test (LCT) was constructed to gauge the knowledge of collocation, while a speaking proficiency test (SPT) adopted from the IELTS was administered to determine the students' level of speaking proficiency. Both variables were then correlated. The result indicates that there was no significant correlation between the knowledge of collocation and speaking proficiency among the respondents. Based on the findings, it is revealed that exposure to the target language plays a vital role in language acquisition. Exposure to collocations in particular would enable the learners to speak more fluently and sound more native-like. INTRODUCTIONThe ultimate goal of learning a language is to be able to communicate effectively. In realizing communicative competence, comprehensibility of a speaker's speech production must be taken into account. As a rule of thumb, it is essential for non-native speakers to emulate the way native speakers use their language as a benchmark in reaching that goal. Native-like competence is characterized by speakers' ability to use a target language in a way that is natural and considered acceptable by the native speakers. It is one of the features of this native-likeness. Collocation is made up of word combinations which are naturally and frequently used by native speakers. Collocation plays an important role in language acquisition as it helps learners improve their communication skills and also helps them achieve native-like competence [11,13]. Collocation along with other types of prefabricated chunks or ready-made expressions consisting of word combinations that are repeatedly used by native speakers is said to contribute 58.6% and 52.3% to the composition of both their spoken and written discourses respectively [7]. This is reflective of the significance of acquiring word combinations in order to achieve the level of language competence of the native speakers of the target language. Along the same line, Schmitt (2004) reports that these formulaic sequences are extensively used in discourse and set the non-native speakers apart from native speakers in language proficiency.The level of English proficiency among UMK students still leaves a lot to be desired and deserves considerable attention. Their performance in the university English papers and Malaysian University English Test (MUET) often demonstrates some problems. One of the difficulties which could be identified besides poor grammar is students' struggle in producing acceptable word combinations or collocations, which is deemed vital for them to acquire a good command of English. These word combinations which are considered part of lexical chunks will help learners engage in communication more effectively and fluently [12]. Similarly, Hill (2000) maintains that one of the main reasons lead...

This paper sought to explore the Aristotelian appeal of emotions (Pathos) based on the writers' emotive discursivity of writing through their rhetorical use of move structures in organising the content of their research abstract. It is referred to as the TPS move structure which represents the Territory (T), Problem (P), and Solution (S) moves. A total of 480 academic research abstracts (ARAs) of indexed journals from the outer circle of Malaysian Non-native English writers (MNNEWs) and the inner circle of Native English writers (MNNEWs). An NVivo12 software application was used in this study to analyse the frequency of the writers' different types of TPS move structures. It was found that both groups would prefer the non-linear TPS type (non-TPS) of move structures by organising their research ideas through PTS or TPTS structures. These non-TPS structures were discursive, non-linear, and repetitive which reflect the oriental way of writing in trying to appeal to the readers' emotional minds. Despite all writers' less usage of TPS structure in showing their linearity and directness, further analysis showed the Malaysian English writers would be more linear and direct than the native English writers. In doing so, Malaysian English writers would be more likely to omit the move related to the problem statement, demonstrating their less emphasis on the research gap. Further research could be conducted to explore the reasons for the writers' lack of Anglo-European direct writing style in academic research abstracts.

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