A Qualitative Study of Effects of a Browser-based Collocation Tool on L2 Learners’Collocation Awareness

• Main Authors: Siou-lan Wang, 王秀蘭
• Other Authors: David Wible
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/61201545891167137379

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 學習與教學研究所 === 99 === Collocation errors are one of the most common vocabulary error types in L2 (second language) vocabulary learning. The difficulty in mastering the subtle restrictions on word collocability (for example, heavy rain but not strong rain, and strong wind but not heavy wind) is often attributed to the fact that these restrictions cannot be derived from more general rules of grammar or semantics (Sinclair, 1991). This study investigates changes in learners’ awareness of collocability. The leading idea is that a learners’ (un)awareness that words are selective in the company they keep is an unexplored but potentially crucial factor in the attention they devote to noticing such selectivity, in turn possibly affecting collocation learning. A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate how learners’ collocation awareness changed with the use of a browser-based tool, UWiLL Collocator, developed by Wible et. al (2004; 2011). Collocator is embedded in the user’s web browser; it detects and highlights collocations in English web pages that a user is viewing. Two participants were recruited and interviewed over eight sessions in which Collocator was used. The analysis of interview protocols, screen traces, and login records indicated that the participants developed collocation awareness after using Collocator, eventually considering word pairs as possible collocations independently of the tool. This study shows the value of a qualitative approach to understanding collocation awareness and contributes to the design of language tools.