An Error Analysis Of Advanced Learner's Lexical Collocation In Writing

One of the main developments in the field of ELT during the last two decades has been a growing awareness of the importance and problems of lexical collocations in language learning and teaching. The necessity of including collocations in vocabulary teaching is stressed and widely acknowledged today (Channell 1981, Rudzka et al.1981, Gairns and Redman. 1986, Kennedy 1990, Cowie 1992; Bahns 1997; Granger 1998). Firstly, collocations account for a lion's share in the mental lexicon (Brown 1974, Aisenstadt 1981, Nattinger 1988; Melcuk 1998, Hill 2000, Lewis 2000). Secondly, collocations can act as"an important organizing principle in the vocabulary"in general (McCarthy 1990:12, Lewis 1997:26). In the context of vocabulary teaching, collocation is seen as a principled approach to the final acquisition of a word (Brown 1974, Alexander 1982, Channell 1981, Conzett 2000, Hill 2000).The mastery of collocations ensures successful native-like performance in a foreign language (Willis 1990; Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992; Lewis 1993, Wray 2000). Adherence to collocational conventions of an FL contributes greatly to one's idiomaticity and native-likeness (Pawley and Syder 194-95, James: 152). Also, collocations make communication more orderly. Because they are regulatory in nature and generally more predictable, they can facilitate the communication processing.Many linguists and researchers have also highlighted collocations in writing, because collocations not only enhance accuracy but also idiomaticity of writing (Conzett 2000, Hill 2000, Lewis 2000, Granger 1998, Howarth 1998). In this dissertation, we will mainly discuss advanced learners'lexical collocations in their written production. This dissertation consists of six chapters. A preview of each chapter is provided as follows:Chapter One highlights the important relationship between collocation and vocabulary learning in particular, and collocation and successful language learning in general. As the first chapter, it also outlines the general arrangement of content.Chapter Two is devoted to the long and honorable history of collocation study. It...