Collocation Errors Made by Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners: Major Types and Sources

The aim of this study was to investigate the major sources of collocation error types made by the Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Based on a convenient sampling method, thirty EFL learners and ten EFL teachers participated in the present study. Three kinds of instruments, namely teacher's questionnaire, student's questionnaire, and a collocation completion test were used as the instruments. The two questionnaires were designed to measure teachers’ and students' attitudes concerning the most problematic collocation types and the sources of errors that the learners might be encountered. The findings of the study revealed that the three types of collocations were difficult for the intermediate EFL learners but the most problematic collocation type was Adj+Prep. The findings also showed that teaching methods, ignorance of words, misspelling, L۱ transfer and lack of knowledge with respect to vocabulary were among the major sources of erroneous collections for EFL Iranian intermediate learners. In addition, the frequency of the collocations was significantly correlated with the number of students who answered an item correctly. Moreover, the findings of the present study showed that the number of students who correctly answered an item changes significantly according to whether the collocations are similar or dissimilar in L۱. Finally, some pedagogical implications were made based on the findings of the present study for teachers, learners and book designers.

Keywords:

collocation , lexical collocation , grammatical collocation , L۱ transfer , error , attitude