Learning collocations: Effects of online tools on teaching English adjective‐noun collocations

Abstract

Collocations are word combinations essential for achieving fluency in a given language. Considerable emphasis should therefore be placed on teaching collocations as a part of vocabulary instruction in language teaching. However, there is no current consensus on how best to teach collocations, and few studies have addressed the issue. This quasiexperimental study investigated the effectiveness of online tools for learning English adjective-noun collocations compared to learning collocations via traditional activities. A quasi-experimental design with a pretest and immediate and delayed posttests was applied to 53 participants (n 5 25 for the control group; n 5 28 for the experimental group). The test results reveal that participants in the experimental group who learned collocations with online tools performed significantly better on both immediate and delayed posttests, demonstrating the effectiveness of these tools on learning adjective-noun collocations. Method Research designThis study investigated the effectiveness of creating a collaborative dictionary using online tools while teaching adjective-noun collocations. The quantitative research design applied a quasi-3 342

ONCOLL: A quasi-experimental study on the effect of a web-based platform on teaching collocations

“…The present study used the same activities and same achievement test as in Basal's (2019) study. The achievement test including 50 items (See Appendix A) was used as the pre-and post-test to determine whether differences between the two groups were statistically significant.…”

“…The achievement test including 50 items (See Appendix A) was used as the pre-and post-test to determine whether differences between the two groups were statistically significant. According to Basal (2019), adjective-noun collocations in the achievement test were checked for their consistency based on the Oxford Collocation dictionary and internal validity was provided by taking the opinions of a panel of English language teaching experts. Moreover, two postgraduate native English speakers working as English instructors verified the adjective-noun combinations used in the test at a rate of 80% percent (interrater reliability).…”

“…There is a growing body of empirical studies that set out to explore the effectiveness of various interventions, some of which explore some sort of technology for increasing foreign language learners' collocational knowledge (e.g., Basal, 2019;Daskalovska, 2015;Nurmukhamedov, 2017;Wu et al, 2010). In a similar study to the current study, conducted by Mirzaei et al (2016), a computer platform, LexisBOARD, a combination of a dictionary, corpus, visual presentations, tests, and feedback, was designed and used to teach lexical items (e.g., concordances, polywords, or formulaic sequences).…”

“…In this process, providing help and support to language learners is important. However, in foreign language classes, collocation teaching is generally a neglected, or at least a limited aspect (Basal, 2019). On the other hand, learning collocations incidentally is also not without problems (Boers et al, 2014).…”

“…Certain studies have put technology into use for collocation teaching and learning (e.g., Wu et al, 2016). Basal (2019) found that using online tools together (namely concordance, online collocation dictionary, the web as a corpus, and Google Docs) in teaching collocations yielded significantly higher gains than a traditional approach. In a study conducted by Nurmukhamedov (2017), the use of an online dictionary (namely the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) and an online tool (namely www.wordandphrase.info (WPI)) give better results over the use of a hardcover dictionary (namely the Macmillan Collocation Dictionary (MCD)) in producing more accurate collocations in L2 writers' essays, and also L2 writers preferred to use the online tool for easy navigation.…”