Collocations in new headway pre intermediate and common errors in english collocations by non english major students at hanoi university of science and technology

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** Collocations in “New Headway Pre - Intermediate” and common errors in English collocations by non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Khảo sát kết hợp từ giáo trình New Headway Pre – Intermediate lỗi sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh trường Đại học Bách Khoa Hà Nội thường mắc kết hợp từ tiếng Anh) Major Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Student: ĐỖ THU PHƯƠNG Hanoi - 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** Collocations in “New Headway Pre - Intermediate” and common errors in English collocations by non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Khảo sát kết hợp từ giáo trình New Headway Pre – Intermediate lỗi sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh trường Đại học Bách Khoa Hà Nội thường mắc kết hợp từ tiếng Anh) Major Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Student: ĐỖ THU PHƯƠNG Supervisor : HOÀNG THỊ XUÂN HOA Hanoi - 2011 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FoFL: Faculty of Foreign Languages HUST: Hanoi University of Science and Technology Adj: Adjective Adv: Adverb N: Noun Prep: Preposition Quant: Quantifier V: Verb MT: mother tongue TL: target language TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Chart The percentage of lexical collocations in the course book 30 Chart The percentage of grammatical collocations in the course book 32 Chart A comparison of lexical, grammatical and long collocations in the 34 course book Chart The percentage of more fixed and less fixed collocations in the course 36 Table The result of multiple choice task 39 Table The result of collocation identification and error correction task 41 Table The result of gap-filling task 44 Table The result of translation task 46 Chart A comparison of the wrong lexical, grammatical and long collocations 48 Chart The percentage of wrong collocations in terms of the strength 49 Table Teachers' attitudes towards the role of collocation in vocabulary 52 book in the test teaching and their frequency of teaching collocation Table The collocation in the course book that teachers usually teach 53 Table The suitable stages for teaching collocations 54 Table Reasons for teaching collocation 55 Table Methods for presenting collocations 56 Table 10 The language skills involved in teaching collocation 57 Table 11 Causes for students' collocational errors 58 Table 12 The methods to improve students‟s knowledge of collocation 59 Table 13 The types of supplementary exercises to improve students‟ knowledge 61 of collocation TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Submission of the final thesis i Aknowledgements ii List of abbreviations iii Abstract iv List of tables and charts v Table of contents vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study The research questions Method of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW An overview of collocation 1.1.The notion of collocation 1.2.Classification of collocation 1.2.1 In terms of the structure 1.2.2 In terms of the strength 1.3 Properties of collocation 1.3.1 Collocations are arbitrary 1.3.2 Collocations are language specific 10 1.3.3 Collocations are not nescessarily adjacent 10 1.3.4 Collocations are non-reciprocal 11 1.4 The distinction among free word combination, idiomatic expression and 11 collocations 1.4.1 Free word combinations 12 1.4.2 Idiomatic expressions 12 1.4.3 Collocation versus free word combination and idiom 12 1.5 The importance of collocation for learners of English 13 1.6 Teaching and learning collocations 14 1.6.1 Teaching collocations 15 1.6.2 Learning collocations 17 An overview of errors and error analysis 19 2.1 The concept of errors in English Language Teaching 19 2.2 The significance of errors and error analysis 19 2.3 Classification of errors 20 2.4 The sources or possible causes of errors 21 2.5 Collocational errors and their possible causes 22 CHAPTER 2: THE METHODOLOGY 27 Research method 27 Context of the research 27 Subjects of the research 28 Data collection methods 28 4.1 Course book analysis 28 4.2 Collocational test 29 4.3 Questionnaire survey 29 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 30 Course book analysis 30 1.1 Aims of the analysis 30 1.2 The course book under study 30 1.3 Data analysis 30 1.3.1 In terms of the struture 30 1.3.1.1 Lexical collocations 30 1.3.1.2 Grammatical collocations 32 1.3.1.3 Long collocations 34 1.3.1.4 A comparison of the number of lexical, grammatical and long collocations 34 1.3.2 In terms of the strength 37 1.4 Summary of the findings 38 Collocational test 38 10 2.1 Aims of the test 38 2.2 The target population of the test 39 2.3 Description of the test 39 2.4 Test result analysis 40 2.4.1 An analysis of the results of each task 40 2.4.2 A comparison of the percentage of wrong answers among different types of 47 collocations 2.4.2.1 In terms of the structure 49 2.4.2.2 In terms of the strength 49 2.5 Summary of the findings 50 Survey questionnaire analysis 51 3.1 Aims of the survey 51 3.2 The target population of the survey 51 3.3 Discription of the survey questionnaires 51 3.4 Data analysis 52 3.5 Summary of the findings 61 CHAPTER FOUR: SUGGESTIONS 63 Teaching collocations 63 1.1 What to teach 63 1.2 When to teach 64 1.3 How to teach 65 1.3.1 Teaching collocations of new individual words 65 1.3.2 Presenting the meaning of a collocation 67 1.3.3 Integrating teaching collocations in teaching language skills 68 1.3.4 Giving exercises on collocations 70 Learning collocations 73 2.1 Forming the habit of learning words in collocations 73 2.2 Using a good dictionary to look up collocational information 73 2.3 Doing exercise on collocations 74 2.4 Keep a record of common collocations 74 2.5 Making comparison between English collocations and their Vietnamese equivalents 75 11 PART C: CONCLUSION 77 Major findings 77 Limitations and suggestions for further research 78 REFERENCES APPENDIX Appendix A: The frequency of collocations in the course book in terms of the structure I and the strength Appendix B: Test for students II Appendix C: Key to the test IV Appendix D: The number of wrong answers in the test in terms of the structure and V the strength Appendix E: Survey questionnaire VII Appendix F: List of collocations in the course book X 12 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Vocabulary plays an important role in learning a foreign language It is an element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing together Indeed, many researchers argue that vocabulary is one of the most important, if not the most important, components in learning a foreign language (Keith S Folse: 2004) Learning, as a language based activity, is fundamentally and profoundly dependent on vocabulary knowledge According to McCathy (1990), the single, biggest component of any language course is vocabulary In vocabulary knowledge, there is a dimension that should be considered, which is how far a learner knows the possible combinations of words As a matter of fact, words are never used alone but they go with each other and depend on each other No matter how well the learners master the grammar, how many words they can acquire, their communication cannot be in a meaningful way without the knowledge on the possible combinations of words or the collocation competence For example, in terms of meaning, it is actually possible for non-native speakers to use the combination weak listening skill but the native speakers are much more likely to say poor listening skill Furthermore, if the students not know the collocation that expresses precisely what they want to convey, they may resort to wordy or unnatural ways of expressions like He took a course in which he was trained for three years to become a pilot instead of saying He took a three-year training course for a pilot Obviously, apart from grammar and lexical meaning, a right sentence must have the agreement between words; otherwise, it sounds unnatural or even makes no sense The importance of the agreement between words or collocation in language learning has been stated by a number of linguists According to Hammer (1992), collocation belongs to vocabulary and is an essential aspect of vocabulary Nunan (1991) also considers collocation an aspect of word use In assessing the position of collocations in vocabulary, McCathy (1990:12) states that “Collocation is an important organizing principle in vocabulary” 13 Collocation can be explored by applying corpus-based approach, which is analyzing collocation in a collection of given material and the material chosen for the study is “New Headway Pre-Intermediate, the third edition” by John and Liz Soars (2007) It has been chosen the main course book for non English major students at several universities in Vietnam, including Ha Noi University of Science and Technology The book is comprised of 12 units that cover the four skills, reading, listening, speaking and writing as well as separate sections for grammar, vocabulary, and everyday English All these skills have been combined together so they represent the real way language is used Like many other course books, the knowledge of collocation in New Headway PreIntermediate is vast and confusing because English words are collocated almost arbitrarily and the collocations are so diverse and even mistaken from idioms and multiword units Due to the vast knowledge of collocation, several teachers find it rather confusing and difficult to introduce it to the non English major students at Hanoi University of Science Technology, who are used to learning separate words but not in combination with others Therefore, they are confused and even embarrassed when they not understand the meaning of a sentence of very simple words or fail to choose the right words to express their ideas and feelings To overcome these problems, it is essential to conduct a research on English collocations in “New Headway pre-Intermediate” the third edition by John and Liz Soars (2007) Based on the result analysis of the study, it is possible to suggest valuable solutions for learning and teaching collocations to non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology Aims of the study The study aims at :  Identifying the types and frequency of collocations in “New Headway Pre-Intermediate” the third edition by John and Liz Soars (2007) in terms of their structure and strength;  Finding out common errors in collocations by non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology; 109 12 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 fashionable bar fashionable clothes fashionable hotels fashionable restaurants Adj+N x x Adj+N x x Adj+N x x Adj+N x x favorite sport Adj+N x x fed up with V+Adv+Prep feed the world V+N x x feel ill V+Adj x x fill with (2) V+Prep film star N+N x x final decision Adj+N x x find a way V+N x x flight attendant N+N x x for a long time Pre+Adj+N for a walk Prep+N x for a while (5) Prep+N x x for ages Prep+N x x for lunch Prep+N x foreign country N+N x x foreign food foreign language (3) N+N x x N+N x x foreign students N+N x x full of get a cold Adj+Prep V+N x x x x x x x x x x x x 110 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 get a job V+N x x get advice (5) V+N x x get angry V+Adj x x get better V+Adj x x get dressed V+Adj x x get lost V+Adj x x get married (5) V+Adj x x get on with (3) V+Prep+Prep get out V+Prep get past V+Adv x x get ready V+Adj x x get satisfaction V+N x x girl friend (2) N+N x x give a call V+N x give a lift V+N x x give a present V+N x x give a ring (2) V+N x x give advice V+N x x give answer V+N x x give away (2) V+Adv x x give information V+N x x give up V+Prep go away (2) V+Adv x x x x x x x x x 111 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 go back V+Adv x x go clubbing V+N x go for V+Prep go for a drink V+Prep+N x x go for a walk V+Prep+N x x go out for a meal V+Prep+N x x go skiing V+N go to bed go to the toilet (2) V+Prep+N x x V+Prep+N x x good at (2) Adj+Prep good idea (2) Adj+N x x good job Adj+N x x good luck Adj+N x x good night Adj+N x x good time Adj+N x x grams of cheese Quant+ N x great fun (2) Adj+Prep x x great time Adj+Prep x x grow up V+Prep x grow up together V+Adv+Adv hard work Adj+N x have a bath V+N x have a coffee have a good V+N V+Adj+N x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 112 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 22 22 22 time(3) have a good trip (2) have a great time (2) V+Adj+N x x V+Adj+N x x have a look V+N x x have a rest (2) V+N x x have access to V+N+Prep have breakfast V+N x x have fun V+N x x have no idea V +Adj +N have parties (2) have the shower (2) V+N x x V+N x x have troubles V+N x x high school N+N x home to N+Prep x x horrible to Adj+Prep x x horror movie N+N x x horror story N+N x x housewife N+N x x huge debt Adj+N x x huge tragedy Adj+N x x impolite to Adj+Prep x x important to (3) Adj+Prep x x in advance Prep+N x x in fact (4) Prep+N x x x x x x x 113 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 in love (2) Prep+N x x in medicine Prep+N x x in particular N+Prep x x in prison (2) Prep+N x x in the afternoon Prep+N x x in the end Prep+N x x in the evening Prep+N x x in the middle(2) Prep+N x x in the moonlight Prep+N x x in the morning Prep+N x x in the summer Prep+N x x instead of N+Prep x x job interview N+N x x join the army V+N x x keep apart V+Adv x x keep secret V+Adj x x kilo of patatoes Quant+ N x x kind invitation Adj+N x kind to (2) Adj+Prep language school N+N x x large dog Adj+N x x last june Adj+N x x last night last night (3) Adj+N Adj+N x x x x x x x 114 24 24 24 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 last week (3) Adj+N x x last year (2) Adj+N x x late for Adj+Prep lead guitar N+N x leave school V+N x lie down V+Prep x x lie to V+Prep x x line with V+N listen to (4) V+Prep litre of petrol Quant+ N x little girl Adj+N x x little time Adj+N x x live music Adj+Prep loaf of bread Quant+ N x look after (2) V+Prep x look at (2) V+Prep x x look for (2) look forward to (3) V+Prep x x look into V+Prep x x look out V+Prep x x look up V+Prep lose money (2) V+N x x lose passport V+N x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x V+Adv+Prep x x x 115 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 29 29 29 29 lose the game V+N x x lose the way V+N x x lose weight V+N x x loud noise Adj+N x x lunchtime N+N x x main ambition Adj+N x x main square Adj+N x x make a cake V+N x x make a change make a choice (2) V+N x x V+N x x make a fortune V+N x x make a noise (2) make a phone call V+N x x V+N x x make a sandwich V+N x x make cars V+N x make clothes V+N x x make coffee V+N x x make complaint V+N x x make friends (2) V+N x x make invention V+N x make of V+Prep make redundant make the discovery make the journey V+Adj x V+N V+N x x x x x x x x x 116 29 29 29 29 29 29 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 make up one's mind V+Prep+N manage to V+Prep miss school V+N x x miss the ball V+N x x miss the bus V+N x x miss the family V+N x x mobile phone N+N x x mobile phone (2) N+N x x movie industry N+N x x music business N+N x x nice dog Adj+N x x nice time Adj+N x x night club (2) N+N x x night life N+N x x normal life Adj+N x x off screen N+Prep x x on a date Prep+N x x on call Prep+N x x on foot (2) Prep+N x x on holiday (3) x x on one's own Prep+N Prep+Possessi ve+N on site Prep+N x x on the beach (4) Prep+N x x x x x x x x 117 31 31 31 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 34 on the internet Prep+N x x on the phone Prep+N x x on time Prep+N x x on TV (3) Prep+N x x on weekdays Prep+N x one of N+Prep x opinion of N+Prep x order a meal V+N over the world Prep+N own business Adj+N x x own practice Adj+N x x pack of cigarettes Quant+ N x x x x x x x x x pack with V+Prep x x paper mill N+N x x parking ticket N+N x x particular interest Adj+N x x pass the exam (3) V+N x x pay attention to V+N+Prep pay bills (2) V+N pay for (3) V+Prep pay the bills V+N x x pencil sharpener N+N x x perfect English Adj+N personal assistant Adj+N x x x x x x x x x x x 118 34 34 34 34 34 34 34 34 34 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 36 36 36 36 pick up (2) V+Prep x x pint of milk Quant+ N plan for N+Prep play havoc with V+N+Prep x x point straight at V+Adv+Pre x x prepare for V+Prep pretty bad Adv+Adj x Printer break N+V x x private school Adj+N x x problem page N+N x x properly cook Adv+V x x put on make-up V+Prep+N put out V+Prep x x put through V+Prep x x put up V+Prep x x railway station N+N x x reach destination V+N x x ready for Adj+Prep real heart Adj+N x x real problem Adj+N x x really awful Adv+Adj x x really exciting Adv+Adj x x really frightened Adv+Adj x x x x x x x x x x x x x 119 36 36 36 36 36 36 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 38 really happy Adv+Adj x x really hard V+Adv x x really nice Adv+Adj x x really untidy Adv+Adj x x related to Adj+Prep report a fault V+N x x ride a horse roll of toilet paper V+N x x Quant+ N x x rough sea Adj+N x x rude to Adj+Prep x x rude to Adj+Prep x x run out of (3) V+Adv+Prep rush hour N+N x x say goodbye V+N x x say hello V+N x x say sorry V+Adj x x science fiction scientific research N+N x x Adj+N x x search engine N+N x x secret agent N+N x x see the doctor V+N x send emails (2) V+N x sensitive to seriously hurt Adj+Prep Adv+Adj x x x x x x x x x x 120 38 38 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 41 similar to Adj+Prep x x sit down V+Adv x x social life (2) Adj+N x x sorry for Adj+Prep x x sort of (3) N+Prep sparkling mineral water Adj+Adj+N x x speak to (4) V+Prep x spend holiday V+N x x spend money (2) V+N x x spend time (3) V+N x x star sign N+N x stay calm V+Adj x study hard V+Prep subway station N+N x x sun glasses N+N x x switch off V+Prep T shirt take a long time (2) N+N take a message V+N x x take a photo V+N x x take a test V+N x x take care of (3) V+N+Prep take drugs (3) V+N x x x x x x x x x x V+Adj+N x x x x x x x 121 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 42 43 43 43 43 43 take it easy (2) V+N/Pro+Adj x x take medicine V+N x x take off V+Adv x x talk about (2) V+Prep x x talk to (4) V+Prep x x tall building Adj+N x teapot N+N x x tell a joke V+N x x tell a lie V+N x x tell jokes V+N x x tell the truth (2) V+N x x terrible accident Adj+N x text friends V+N x x The heart thump N+V x x The phone ring N+V x x the sun rise N+V x x think about V+Prep x x think of (6) V+Prep x x throw away V+Adv x x tired of (2) Adj+Prep x x tourist bus N+N x x tragic life Adj+N x x train hard train journey V+Adv N+N x x x x x x 122 43 43 43 43 43 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 translate into V+Prep x travel a lot V+Adv x x travel addict N+N x x travel card N+N x x trendy bar Adj+N x x truly amazing Adv+Adj x x try on tube of toothpaste V+Prep Quant+ N x turn off (2) V+Adv x turn on (2) V+Prep x turn round unlocked carefully V+Prep x V+Adv x x volcanoes erupt N+V x x wash your hair V+N x x watch TV (3) V+N x x water taxi wear a uniform (3) N+N x x V+N x x wear a watch V+N x x wear jeans V+N x x weblink N+N x x whisper urgently V+Adv x x work hard V+N x x work the dog V+N x x x x x x x x x 123 45 works of N+Prep 45 worried about (3) Adj+Prep x x x x ... out common errors in collocations by non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology; 14  Identifying possible causes of the collocational errors made by non English major. .. What are the common errors in collocations made by non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology?  What are the possible causes of the collocational errors by non English. .. common errors in English collocations by non English major students at Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Khảo sát kết hợp từ giáo trình New Headway Pre – Intermediate lỗi sinh viên không