A Corpus-based Analysis Of Chinese EFL Learners' Collocational Errors In Oral And Written Production

Collocational errors (CEs) constitute a high proportion of errors committed by Chinese EFL learners and the acquisition of collocation poses a great problem to them. Based on the theory of Error Analysis, this study attempts to classify and diagnose Chinese EFL learners'lexical collocational errors in oral and written production. The CEs made by the learners are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively with the aims to examine the distribution of the CEs, the relationship between the frequency of CEs and learners'language proficiency, the form features and causes of the CEs in oral and written production.Generally speaking, the distribution of the six collocational types resembles a lot and presents the similar tendency in these two productions: the verb-noun, adjective-noun combinations make up the larger part of the whole, followed by the noun-noun, noun-verb and adjective-adverb combinations. In terms of the difference between the two productions, significantly more CEs of the verb-noun and adjective-noun combinations are found in written production than in oral production.In the oral production, the correlative relation between the learners'writing proficiency and the frequency of CEs is negative and the correlation is statistically significant weak. The Kruskal-Wallis test further shows that there is no significant difference in the frequency of CEs among the High Group (HG), Average Group (AG), and Low Group (LG). With respect to the written production, significant difference is found among the HG, AG, and LG in terms of the overall frequency of the lexical collocational errors and the verb-noun, adjective-noun combinations. On the whole, the oral and written productions have great similarity, but difference still exists.The common form features of the CEs in the oral and written production include literal translation, assumed synonym, redundancy, mis-selection, misuse of delexical verbs, and confusion of verb transitivity, which can be all attributed to the underlying interlingual and intralingual causes. Based on the findings and discussions, the following pedagogical implications are suggested: the quality of input should be improved; difference between Chinese and English in terms of collocation should be compared by the teachers to enhance learners'awareness; verb-noun and adjective-noun combinations should be paid more attention in English teaching and learning.