Investigating the Difficulties Faced by Iraqi EFL Learners in Using Light Verbs

This study deals with light verb constructions as being syntactically functional and semantically bleached. It aims at investigating the difficulties faced by Iraqi EFL Learners (fourth-year university students) in recognizing and producing this kind of constructions. Thus, to achieve this aim, it is hypothesized that Iraqi EFL Learners are unable to collocate the light verb with its proper noun phrase both at the recognition and the production levels. And in order to achieve the aim of the study and examine its hypothesis, the following procedures are adopted: (۱) Presenting a theoretical background about light verb constructions including their definition, structure, and their relationship with collocations, (۲) Designing a diagnostic test to investigate the difficulties that might face the learners while being exposed to these constructions, (۳) Analyzing the findings of the test to reveal the learner’s recognition and performance in dealing with light verb constructions.

Keywords:

Light Verb Constructions , Collocations , Difficulties