Effects of distributed practice on the acquisition of verb-noun collocations

Abstract

Given the importance of collocational knowledge for second language learning, how collocation learning can be facilitated is an important question. The present study examined the effects of three different practice schedules on collocation learning: node massed, collocation massed, and collocation spaced. In the node-massed schedule, three collocations for the same node verb were studied on the same day. In the collocation-massed schedule, three collocations for the same node verb were studied in different weeks. In the collocation-spaced schedule, participants encountered multiple collocations for the same node verb within a single day; at the same time, multiple collocations for the same node verb were repeated each week. To examine whether the knowledge of studied collocations could be transferred to unstudied collocations containing the same node, posttests included novel collocations that were not encountered during the treatment. Results suggested that the collocation-spaced schedule led to the largest gains for both studied and unstudied collocations.

Generalizing Knowledge of Second Language Collocations: The Roles of Within‐ and Cross‐Language Similarity on Acceptability and Event‐Related Potentials

“…An important finding was that, while participants could distinguish the well‐formedness of each list in judgments, the ERP results showed attenuated N400s for both the L1‐congruent collocations and the incongruent calques relative to controls. The results from Otwinowska et al.’s (2021) study provided initial evidence that incongruent collocations may present online co‐activation in advanced speakers specifically in the N400 time window even if the effects are not apparent in behavior.…”

“…In one recent study, Yamagata et al. (2021) investigated whether learning L2‐specific collocations with the same verb node (e.g., draw tears , draw a line , draw a conclusion ) helped learners to infer the types of nouns that could collocate with the verb (e.g., draw ). Yamagata et al.…”

“…In a recent experiment, Otwinowska et al. (2021) recorded L1 Polish L2 English speakers’ electroencephalogram while they processed and judged collocations presented in their L1. Some items presented were well‐formed Polish‐only collocations (e.g., ma sens *“has sense”; the asterisk indicates that the phrase—here, the translation—is an ill‐formed collocation), while others were literal translations of incongruent English collocations or calques (e.g., * robi sens “makes sense”), or control ill‐formed Polish collocations (e.g., * zjada sens *“eats sense”).…”

“…Additionally, previous ERP studies examining analogical processing and relational thinking have identified a second component of interest, namely, a late positive component (LPC) present around 600–800 ms poststimulus presentation (Jankowiak et al., 2021; Tang et al., 2017). Although the LPC component has not been evidenced in research on processing collocations, it is relevant to consider it because of previous research suggesting that collocation generalization is accomplished via analogy in the L1.…”

“…Further, studies that investigated analogical processing (e.g., in metaphor comprehension) have interpreted the LPC (or the ERP patterns observed within the LPC time window) as indexing semantic integration through relational thinking (e.g., Jankowiak et al., 2021; Lai & Curran, 2013). On the basis of these findings, it has been suggested that the attested effects during the LPC time window reflect semantic integration (Fritz & Baggio, 2020; Molinaro et al., 2012), typically in contexts where association with known representations facilitates processing of novel input. As a counterpart to the LPC being associated with successful integration, in some studies, a sustained negativity within the LPC time window has been associated with ongoing difficulty during meaning integration (Tang et al., 2017).…”