Eap Students' Perceptions About Concordance-Based Learning of Academic Vocabulary and Formulaic Expressions

Abstract

This study aimed to explore perceptions about two vocabulary instruction programs as reported from a cohort of 37 English for academic purposes (EAP) students enrolled in an academic speaking course in an English medium (EMI) university. While one group received concordance-based instruction of formulaic expressions (FE) for 10 hours, one group received a similar instruction of single academic vocabulary (AV). Participants were interviewed after pedagogical intervention was finalized. Semi-structured interviews with each participant were audio-recorded and later transcribed verbatim for qualitative thematic analysis. Findings showed that both groups perceived vocabulary intervention they received to be useful for their academic needs and for enhancing their awareness about contextual use of academic vocabulary and formulaic expressions. As a third theme, the FE group emphasized the contribution of learning FE to their confident performance in L2 whereas the AV group differently reported that they enjoyed systematicity of AV instruction. Pedagogical implications of findings were discussed.