The Effect of Collocations on Iranian Male and Female Learners' Vocabulary Knowledge

Authors

  • Behnam Behforouz  Foundation English Department, University of Buraimi, Oman

Keywords:

Collocation, Vocabulary Knowledge, Gender

Abstract

The present study tried to address the probable impact of teaching English collocations on Iranian EFL learners to increase their level of vocabulary knowledge. To this purpose, 55 learners studying at the intermediate level of English language institute were selected to participate in the study. TOEFL test was employed to homogenize 22 male and 23 female participants. As the treatment, the two groups had three kinds of collocations; matching collocations with their partners, collocations with adjectives, and appropriate usage of prepositions. After the administration of the posttests, the statistical analysis revealed that teaching collocation increased learners' vocabulary knowledge in both gender but females outperformed their male counterparts on the posttest. It was concluded that integration of collocations with teaching materials and increasing the students' awareness of the significance of collocations expand their knowledge.

References

  1. Bacon, S. M. (1992). Phases of listening to authentic input in Spanish: A descriptive study. Foreign Language Annals, 25, 317-334.
  2. Brantmeier, C. (2003). Does gender make a difference? Passage content and comprehension in second language reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 15(1), 1-23.
  3. Ellis, R. (2001). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  4. Firth, J. R. (1957). Paper in linguistics 1934-1951. London: OUP.
  5. Gardner,R.C. and Lambert,W.E.(1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language learning. Newbury House: Rowley, MA.
  6. Green, J.M., and Oxford, R. (1995).A closer look at learning strategies, L2 proficiency, and gender. TESOL Quarterly, 29 (2), 261-297.
  7. Hodene, L. (2009). Collocations and Teaching: Investigating word combinations in two English textbooks for Norwegian upper secondary school students. Universities: Bergen.
  8. Howarth, P. (1998). Phraseology and second language proficiency. Applied Linguistics. IS (1), 24-44.
  9. Hsu, J.Y. (2010).The effect of collocation instruction on reading comprehension and vocabulary learning of Taiwanese college English majors. Asian EFL Journal, 12(1), 47-87.
  10. Larson, M. (1984). Meaning-based translation: a guide to cross-language equivalence. NY: University Press of America .
  11. Marsh, H. W., Byrne, B. M., and Shavelson, R. (1988). A multifaceted academic self-concept: Its hierarchical structure and its relation to academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 366-380.
  12. McCarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  13. Moudraia, O. (2001). Lexical approach to SL teaching. Internet: Eric Digests.
  14. Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  15. Naveh, M., Kafipour, R., and Soltani, R. (2011). The Relationship among Extraversion Tendency, Vocabulary Learning Strategies, and Reading Comprehension of EFL Undergraduates in Kerman Province. Studies in Literature and Language, 3(2), 104-110.
  16. Nesselhauf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics, (p.223). Retrieved February 14, 2011 from ProQuest Direct (ISSN No. 1426001).
  17. Pica, T., Holliday, L., Lewis, N., Morgenthaler, L.(1989). Comprehensible output as an outcome of linguistic demands on the learner. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 11, 63-90.
  18. Warry, A. (2000). Formulaic Language and the Lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  19. Shehadeh, A.(1999). Gender differences and equal opportunities in the ESL classroom. ELT Journal. 53, 256-261.
  20. Sunderland, J. (2000). Issues of language and gender in second and foreign language Education. Language Teaching, 33, 203-223
  21. Webb, S., and Kagimoto, E. (2009). The effects of vocabulary learning on collocation and meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 43, 55-77.
  22. Zare, P. (2010). An investigation into language learning strategy use and gender among Iranian undergraduate language learners. World Applied Science Journal. 11(10),1238- 1247.
  23. Zeynali, S. (2012). Exploring the gender effect on EFL learners’ learning strategies. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2 (8), 1614-1620

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology

Downloads

Published

2017-02-28

Issue

Volume 3, Issue 1, January-February-2017

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) IJSRSET

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

[1]
Behnam Behforouz, " The Effect of Collocations on Iranian Male and Female Learners' Vocabulary Knowledge , International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology(IJSRSET), Print ISSN : 2395-1990, Online ISSN : 2394-4099, Volume 3, Issue 1, pp.212-216, January-February-2017.