An investigation into the perceptions and the use of verb noun collocations in argumentative essays of third year english majored students at the university of foreign languages hue university

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI VAN UYEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PERCEPTIONS AND THE USE OF VERB-NOUN COLLOCATIONS IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS OF THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - NGUYEN THI VAN UYEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PERCEPTIONS AND THE USE OF VERB-NOUN COLLOCATIONS IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS OF THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: DR PHAM THI NGUYEN AI THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ - NGUYỄN THỊ VÂN UYÊN NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC VÀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG KẾT HỢP ĐỘNG - DANH TỪ TRONG BÀI VĂN TRANH LUẬN CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM BA CHUYÊN NGỮ TẠI ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS PHẠM THỊ NGUYÊN ÁI THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Signed: Nguyen Thi Van Uyen Date: 04/11/2021 i ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of third-year English-majored students at Hue University of Foreign Languages and their use of Verb-Noun collocations This research also contributed to categorizing common types of collocation mistakes in their argumentative essays To achieve those aforementioned purposes, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were adopted The data sources included questionnaires, argumentative essays and semi-structured interviews The data from the questionnaire were analyzed statistically, while the data from the argumentative essays and interviews were interpreted and integrated accordingly to give insights into the research issues The results showed that all of the student participants had positive perceptions of the use of Verb-Noun collocations even though they had different levels of difficulty Furthermore, the study discovered that the participants did not produce a very large number of Verb-Noun collocations in their argumentative essays and most of the verbs often produced were verbs with high frequencies The findings also revealed that the percentage of incorrect VerbNoun collocations produced was slightly high In this study the most frequent type of mistakes was found to be “wrong choice of verb” and fairly frequent was the production of completely wrong combination and prepositional mistakes, followed by determiner mistakes On the basis of the results of the current study, several pedagogical implications can be proposed for students, teachers and curriculum designers ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Pham Thi Nguyen Ai Without her assistance and dedicated involvement in every step throughout the process, this paper would have never been accomplished Secondly, I would like to thank Ms Dang Thi Cam Tu, lecturer of English Department, Hue University of Foreign Languages for creating favorable conditions to help me collect necessary data for the research Thirdly, I am greatly indebted to 100 third-year English-majored students of Hue University of Foreign Languages, who willingly completed the questionnaires and took part in the interviews These are two of the main sources of data for my study Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents, my husband and my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them iii List of Tables Table 2.1 Howarth’s (1998) continuum model Table 2.2 Benson’s (1986) classification of lexical collocations 13 Table 2.3 Types of Verb-Noun collocation mistakes 17 Table 4.1 Overall tokens of Verb-Noun collocations 55 Table 4.2 The frequency distribution of Verb-Noun collocations 56 Table 4.3 The frequency distribution of verbs in Verb-Noun collocations 57 Table 4.4 Overall tokens of Verb-Noun collocation mistakes 59 Table 4.5 Frequency distribution of Verb-Noun collocations mistakes produced in argumentative essays 61 iv List of Figures Figure 4.1 English-majored students’ knowledge about collocations 36 Figure 4.2 English-majored students’ perceptions of the importance of collocations in argumentative essay writing 37 Figure 4.3 English-majored students’ perceptions of the levels of influences that Verb-Noun collocations have on students’ argumentative essays 40 Figure 4.4 English-majored students’ perceptions of the frequency distribution of verbnoun collocations used in the students’ argumentative essays 42 Figure 4.5 English-majored students’ perceptions of the reasons for the use of VerbNoun collocations in students’ argumentative essays 44 Figure 4.6 English-majored students’ perceptions of the levels of difficulty in the use of Verb-Noun collocations in argumentative essays 50 Figure 4.7 The frequency distribution of verbs in Verb-Noun collocations 58 Figure 4.8 English students’ perceptions of the frequency distribution of types of Verb-Noun collocation mistakes produced in argumentative essays 60 v List of Abbreviations % : Percent C1 : Level C1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language GPA : Grade Point Average L2 : Second Language MT : Mother tongue VSTEP : Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of original authorship i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii List of Tables iv List of Figures .v List of Abbreviations vi Table of contents vii Chapter Introduction 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter Literature Review 2.1 Definitions of key terms 2.1.1 Argumentative essays 2.1.2 Collocations 2.2 Classifications of collocations 12 2.2.1 Lewis ’s (2000) classification of collocations 12 2.2.2 Sinclair’s (1991) classification of collocations 12 2.2.3 Benson’s (1986) classification of collocations .13 vii Shehata, A (2008) L1 influence on the reception and production of collocations by advanced ESL/EFL Arabic learners of English (Master’s thesis, The College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University, Ohio) Sinclair, J M (1991) Corpus, concordance, collocation In Sinclair (Eds.), Trust the Text: Language, corpus and discourse (pp 100-170) Oxford University Press https://doi.org/10.1177%2F003368829302400207 Taiwo, R (2004) “Helping ESL Learners to minimize collocational errors” The Internet TESL Journal, 10(4), 21-25 Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A (2009) Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences Sage Tran, T., C., P & Nguyen, T., H (2013) Students’ ability in using English collocations: An analysis of Vietnamese EFL learners Journal of Science and Technology, 11(2), 79-86 Vi, T., T, & Tran, T., T (2021) A study on the use of English collocation in writing by students at Thai Nguyen University, 4(5), 1044-1049 Woolard, G (2000) Collocations-encourage learner independence In M Lewis (Eds.), Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp.28-46) Language Teaching Publications Wray, A (2002) Formulaic language and the lexicon Cambridge University Press Yan, H (2010) Study on the causes and countermeasures of the lexical collocation mistakes in college English English Language Teaching, 3(1), 162-165 79 Ying, Y., & O’Neill, M (2009) Collocation learning through and ‘AWARE’ approach: Learner perspectives and learning process In A Barfield & H Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language: Multiple interpretations (pp 181-193) Palgrave Macmillan https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230245327_14 Zang, X, 1993 English collocations and their effect on the writing of native and nonnative college freshmen Indiana University of Pennsylvania 80 Appendices Appendix 1: Questionnaire (English version) My name is Nguyễn Thị Vân Uyên, an MA candidate at University of Foreign Languages, Hue University I am currently doing my MA research paper entitled “The perceptions and the use of Verb-Noun collocations of third-year Englishmajored students at Hue University of Foreign Languages This questionnaire is a part of my study aiming at investigating your perceptions of the use of Verb-Noun collocations as well as common types of mistakes that you often encounter when producing Verb-Noun collocations in your argumentative essays The data collected from the questionnaire would be essential for the quantitative analysis of the study, and therefore provide a valuable source for my research Your responses to the survey will be used for academic purpose only, and the participants’ confidentiality will be fully protected under any circumstances Thank you for your help! BACKGROUND INFORMATION Please tick (✓) one option that applies to your background information What is your name? (Optional) What is your gender? ◻ Male ◻ Female What is your major? ◻ English Language Teaching ◻ English Language Studies 81 How long have you been learning English? ◻ < years ◻ 5-10 years ◻ 11-15 years SURVEY Please answer the following questions by putting a tick (√) next to your choice You may choose more than one option or give your opinions in some questions Definition of collocations: Collocations are chunks of words that can go together so that they sound natural to native speakers How much you know about collocations? □ This is the first time I have ever heard about collocations □ I have heard about collocations but I don’t know what they are □ I know what collocations are How important you think collocations play a role in your argumentative essay writing? □ unimportant □ rather important □ important □ very important □ I’m not sure 82 To what extent you think Verb-Noun collocations have influenced your argumentative essay writing? □ little or none □ some □ a moderate amount □ quite a lot □ a great deal How often you use Verb-Noun collocations in your argumentative essay writing? □ Never □ Rarely □ Sometimes □ Often □ Always Why you use Verb- Noun collocations in your argumentative essays? □ It makes my written language more natural □ It helps me express my thoughts effectively without having to produce too long utterances □ Show a higher level of writing □ Others: (Please write your specific answer) 83 10 How difficult you find using Verb-Noun collocations in your argumentative essay writing? □ Not difficult □ Slightly difficult □ Moderately difficult □ Difficult □ Very difficult 11 What types of mistakes in Verb-Noun collocations you often encounter? Frequency Never Rarely Wrong choice of verb IC: carry out races CC: hold races Wrong choice of noun IC: close lacks CC: close gaps Combination exists but it is not used correctly IC: take notice CC: to notice Combination doesn’t exist and cannot be corrected by exchanging single elements 84 Sometimes Often Always IC: Hold children within bounds CC: Show children where the boundaries lie Preposition of a prepositional verb missing IC: ask assistance CC: ask for assistance Preposition of a prepositional verb present though unacceptable or wrong IC: fail in one’s exam CC: fail one’s exam Preposition of noun missing IC: have a discussion something CC: have a discussion about something Preposition of noun present though unacceptable or wrong IC: raise the question about CC: raise the question of Article missing IC: have ability CC: have the ability 85 10 Article present though unacceptable or wrong IC: get the permission CC: get permission 11 Nouns used in singular instead of plural or vice versa IC: pass one’s judgements CC: pass one’s judgement 12 Wrong syntactic structure IC: make someone friends CC: make friends with someone 12 What can you to minimize Verb-Noun collocation errors? □ Be aware of the importance of Verb-Noun collocations in writing argumentative essays □ Learn more Verb-Noun collocations by reading academic writings in English extensively □ Make effective use of English collocation dictionaries □ Try to use learned Verb-Noun collocations in different contexts as much as possible □ Other: (Please write specific answer) 86 Appendix 2: Interview (English version) What you know about collocations? How important you think collocations play a role in writing argumentative essays? How often you use Verb-Noun collocations in your writing argumentative essays? Why you use Verb- Noun collocations in your writing argumentative essays? Do you have any difficulties using Verb-Noun collocations? What are they? What types of Verb-Noun collocation mistakes you often make in your writing? Please give some examples What can you to minimize errors in Verb-Noun collocations? What you expect from your teachers? 87 Appendix 3: Interview (Vietnamese version) Bạn biết kết hợp từ (collocations)? Bạn nghĩ collocations đóng vai trị quan trọng việc viết văn tranh luận? Bạn có thường sử dụng kết hợp động-danh từ (Verb-Noun collocations) văn tranh luận khơng? Tại bạn lại sử dụng Verb-Noun collocations văn tranh luận mình? Bạn có gặp khó khăn sử dụng Verb-Noun collocations khơng? Những khó khan gì? Bạn thường mắc phải lỗi Verb-Noun collocations viết mình? Xin đưa số ví dụ Bạn làm để giảm thiểu lỗi việc sử dụng Verb-Noun collocations? Bạn mong đợi điều từ giáo viên bạn.? 88 Appendix 4: Collocation analysis sheets Sheet A Verb-noun Free Idioms combinations combinations Collocations ✓ pay a visit ✓ cost someone an arm and a leg need some money ✓ … Sheet B Collocations pay a visit Correct Incorrect Types of mistakes ✓ ✓ make someone friends wrong syntactic structure commit a crime ✓ … 89 Appendix 5: Argumentative essay samples 90 91 92 There were totally 60 copies of argumentative essay collected However, the ones above are shown as representative samples 93