Activating Accurate Vocabulary Use in Spoken English: Collocation-Focused Classroom Action Research at a Japanese University

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At the Center for Language Education at an international Japanese university, there have been level-wide changes where students are now assessed on their ability to use new target vocabulary accurately in their speaking tests. However, during these assessments students were observed to make errors frequently when using target vocabulary and their collocations. Research has shown that accurate collocation use is a key factor in differentiating between highly fluent speakers and second language learners (Booij, 2012; Bui, 2021; Godwin-Jones, 2018; Shei & Pain, 2000; Nation, 2003 ; Nesselhauf, 2003). Learning vocabulary through collocations has also proved to be an effective method in bridging the gap between comprehension and productive language use (Shei & Pain, 2000; Gass & Selinker, 2008). Therefore, a series of collocation-focused vocabulary interventions were devised with the aim to enhance studentsʼ automatization of accurate vocabulary production (DeKeyser, 2007). This classroom action research project included the participation of 10 classes, totaling 183 students. This paper showcases the results of a corpus analysis of student speaking tests, which indicated that collocation-based interventions had a positive impact on collocation accuracy in speaking.

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