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 lex Chart The percentage of gra Chart A comparison of lexic course book Chart The percentage of mo book Table The result of multiple Table The result of collocat Table The result of gap-filli Table The result of translati Chart A comparison of the w in the test Chart The percentage of wr Table Teachers' attitudes tow teaching and their frequency of teaching collocation Table The collocation in the Table The suitable stages fo Table Reasons for teaching Table Methods for presentin Table 10 The language skills in Table 11 Causes for students' c Table 12 The methods to impro Table 13 The types of supplem of collocation TABLE OF CONTENTS Submission of the final thesis Aknowledgements List of abbreviations Abstract List of tables and charts Table of contents PART A: INTRODUCTION 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 1.3.3 Collocations are not nescessarily adjacent 1.3.4 Collocations are non-reciprocal 1.4 The distinction among free word combination, idiomatic expression and collocations 1.4.1 Free word combinations 1.4.2 Idiomatic expressions 1.4.3 Collocation versus free word combination and idiom 1.5 The importance of collocation for learners of English 1.6 Teaching and learning collocations 1.6.1 Teaching collocations 1.6.2 Learning collocations An overview of errors and error analysis 2.1 The concept of errors in English Language Teaching 2.2 The significance of errors and error analysis 2.3 Classification of errors 2.4 The sources or possible causes of errors 2.5 Collocational errors and their possible causes CHAPTER 2: THE METHODOLOGY Research method Context of the research Subjects of the research Data collection methods 4.1 Course book analysis 4.2 Collocational test 4.3 Questionnaire survey CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Course book analysis 1.1 Aims of the analysis 1.2 The course book under study 1.3 Data analysis 1.3.1 In terms of the struture 1.3.1.1 Lexical collocations 1.3.1.2 Grammatical collocations 1.3.1.3 Long collocations 1.3.1.4 A comparison of the number of lexical, grammatical and long collocations 1.3.2 In terms of the strength 1.4 Collocational test Summary of the findings 10 2.1 Aims of the test 2.2 The target population of the test 2.3 Description of the test 2.4 Test result analysis 2.4.1 An analysis of the results of each task 2.4.2 A comparison of the percentage of wrong answers among different types of collocations 2.4.2.1 In terms of the structure 2.4.2.2 In terms of the strength 2.5 Summary of the findings Survey questionnaire analysis 3.1 Aims of the survey 3.2 The target population of the survey 3.3 Discription of the survey questionnaires 3.4 Data analysis 3.5 Summary of the findings CHAPTER FOUR: SUGGESTIONS Teaching collocations 1.1 What to teach 1.2 When to teach 1.3 How to teach 1.3.1 Teaching collocations of new individual words 1.3.2 Presenting the meaning of a collocation 1.3.3 Integrating teaching collocations in teaching language skills 1.3.4 Giving exercises on collocations Learning collocations 2.1 Forming the habit of learning words in collocations 2.2 Using a good dictionary to look up collocational information 2.3 Doing exercise on collocations 2.4 Keep a record of common collocations 2.5 Making comparison between English collocations and their Vietnamese equivalents 11 PART C: CONCLUSION Major findings Limitations and suggestions for further research 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” 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 favorite sport fed up with feed the world feel ill fill with (2) film star final decision find a way flight attendant for a long time for a walk for a while (5) for ages for lunch foreign country foreign food foreign language (3) foreign students full of get a cold 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 get advice (5) get angry get better get dressed get lost get married (5) get on with (3) get out get past get ready get satisfaction girl friend (2) give a call give a lift give a present give a ring (2) give advice give answer give away (2) give information give up go away (2) 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 go clubbing go for go for a drink go for a walk go out for a meal go skiing go to bed go to the toilet (2) good at (2) good idea (2) good job good luck good night good time grams of cheese great fun (2) great time grow up grow up together hard work have a bath have a coffee have a good 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) have a look have a rest (2) have access to have breakfast have fun have no idea have parties (2) have the shower (2) have troubles high school home to horrible to horror movie horror story housewife huge debt huge tragedy impolite to important to (3) in advance in fact (4) 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) in medicine in particular in prison (2) in the afternoon in the end in the evening in the middle(2) in the moonlight in the morning in the summer instead of job interview join the army keep apart keep secret kilo of patatoes kind invitation kind to (2) language school large dog last june last night last night (3) 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) last year (2) late for lead guitar leave school lie down lie to line with listen to (4) litre of petrol little girl little time live music loaf of bread look after (2) look at (2) look for (2) look forward to (3) look into look out look up lose money (2) lose passport 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 lose the way lose weight loud noise lunchtime main ambition main square make a cake make a change make a choice (2) make a fortune make a noise (2) make a phone call make a sandwich make cars make clothes make coffee make complaint make friends (2) make invention make of make redundant make the discovery make the journey 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 manage to miss school miss the ball miss the bus miss the family mobile phone mobile phone (2) movie industry music business nice dog nice time night club (2) night life normal life off screen on a date on call on foot (2) on holiday (3) on one's own on site on the beach (4) 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 on the phone on time on TV (3) on weekdays one of opinion of order a meal over the world own business own practice pack of cigarettes pack with paper mill parking ticket particular interest pass the exam (3) pay attention to pay bills (2) pay for (3) pay the bills pencil sharpener perfect English personal assistant 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) pint of milk plan for play havoc with point straight at prepare for pretty bad Printer break private school problem page properly cook put on make-up put out put through put up railway station reach destination ready for real heart real problem really awful really exciting really frightened 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 really hard really nice really untidy related to report a fault ride a horse roll of toilet paper rough sea rude to rude to run out of (3) rush hour say goodbye say hello say sorry science fiction scientific research search engine secret agent see the doctor send emails (2) sensitive to seriously hurt 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 sit down social life (2) sorry for sort of (3) sparkling mineral water speak to (4) spend holiday spend money (2) spend time (3) star sign stay calm study hard subway station sun glasses switch off T shirt take a long time (2) take a message take a photo take a test take care of (3) take drugs (3) 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) take medicine take off talk about (2) talk to (4) tall building teapot tell a joke tell a lie tell jokes tell the truth (2) terrible accident text friends The heart thump The phone ring the sun rise think about think of (6) throw away tired of (2) tourist bus tragic life train hard train journey 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 travel a lot travel addict travel card trendy bar truly amazing try on tube of toothpaste turn off (2) turn on (2) turn round unlocked carefully volcanoes erupt wash your hair watch TV (3) water taxi wear a uniform (3) wear a watch wear jeans weblink whisper urgently work hard work the dog 45 works of 45 worried about (3) ... 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... 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 major students at Hanoi University of Science. .. 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