A Study On The Effects Of Different Input Conditions On Explicit Lexical Collocations Acquisition

Language input is a vital issue in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) and people are quite interested in how input affects the learning efficiency. Firth (1957) states that never can we know the genuine meaning of a word without knowing its relevant collocations, and it guarantees the accuracy and fluency of our communication. Since having a good knowledge of lexical collocations is quite significant, it is more and more necessary to find an efficient approach for improving the acquisition of lexical collocations. Based on the Noticing Hypothesis of Schmidt, the thesis applies enriched input and enhanced input methods to assist the mastery of lexical collocations.However, both of enriched input and enhanced input conditions can draw learners’attention to the target forms in the process of comprehending the context, but their effects are uncertain. This thesis aims to study the effects of enriched input and enhanced input on explicit lexical collocations, so as to help the learners master the usage of certain lexical collocations through raising the attention of them and find an efficient approach for improving the acquisition of lexical collocations.For achieving this aim, this study intends to apply both enriched input and enhanced input methods to assist the mastery of lexical collocations. In order to support and verify the three hypotheses, the research was conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively.Based on the analysis of experimental data with SPSS 17.0, this paper mainly explores three questions as follows:1) What are the effects that enriched input and enhanced input make respectively upon the acquisition of explicit lexical collocations by non-English majors in China? 2) Compared with the two above input conditions, what is the effect that the combination of the enriched input and enhanced input makes on the acquisition of explicit lexical collocations by non-English majors in China? 3) What are the differences between the effects enriched input and enhanced input make upon the acquisition of explicit lexical collocations by non-English majors in China?The study has verified the hypotheses and generated the following major finding:First, enriched input may promote the acquisition of explicit lexical collocations by non-English majors in China. Besides, the enhanced input may also foster the acquisition of explicit lexical collocations by non-English majors in China.Second, the combination of two different input conditions may have a positive influence on the acquisition of explicit lexical collocations by non-English majors in China.Third, although enhanced input leads to higher gains of explicit lexical collocations than enriched input by non-English majors in China, there is no appreciable difference between them.These findings in the study have some pedagogical implications for English teaching and learning in China. Along with the advantages, the present research also has its own limitations that require improvement in the future studies.