A Correlational Study Between Chinese EFL Learners' Controlled Productive Vocabulary Size And Their Collocational Competence

Believing that vocabulary knowledge plays a major part in overall foreign language learning and given the fact that the aspect of word combinations, or what we call collocations, is one of the most important and difficult components of vocabulary teaching and learning, the present study examines the relationship between Chinese EFL learners' controlled productive vocabulary breadth knowledge and their collocational competence in order to provide some facts and insights for vocabulary acquisition in general, and collocation acquisition in particular. The results of the study present a statistical analysis of the correlation between EFL learners' controlled productive vocabulary breadth knowledge and their competence in English collocations, which are measured by two established testing devices with acceptable reliability and validity—the Controlled Productive Version of the Vocabulary Levels Test & the Collocation Test. It has been shown that these two factors are highly and positively correlated, which implies that learners who have a better mastery of vocabulary breadth knowledge will do better in their collocation acquisition, and vice versa. Implications and recommendations for vocabulary and collocation teaching and learning as well as for further research with similar aims are also provided.