The Comparative Effect of Teaching Collocations through Literary vs. Non-Literary Content on EFL Learners

Main Article Content

Elahe Saedpanah
Adel Dastgoshadeh

Abstract

This study investigates the comparative effect of teaching collocations through practicing them in literary and non-literary contents. The participants were composed of 30 EFL students selected from a cohort of 52 intermediate students in an English language institute in Sanandaj City, Iran. They were selected based on their scores on the Preliminary English Test (PET) and a collocation test, developed and piloted in advance. The selected participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups. Collocations were taught through literary content in one group; the others were instructed via non-literary content. At the end of the period of treatment with both groups, a collocation test was administered to both groups as a posttest. The analysis of collected data, using One-way ANCOVA and Descriptive Statistics, reveals that teaching the new collocations through literary contents proved significantly more effective than teaching them through non-literary contents.

Article Details

How to Cite
Saedpanah, E., & Dastgoshadeh, A. (2019). The Comparative Effect of Teaching Collocations through Literary vs. Non-Literary Content on EFL Learners. HOW, 26(1), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.19183/how.26.1.473
Section
Research Reports
Author Biographies

Elahe Saedpanah, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj Branch (Iran)

She has received her MA in TELF from Azad University, Sanandaj Branch (Iran). She has been teaching English language in different institutes for more than six years.

Adel Dastgoshadeh, Azad University, Sanandaj Branch (Iran)

He holds a PhD in TELF. He is an assistant professor at Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj Branch (Iran). His research interests include sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and teacher education.

References

Arnaud, P. J. L., & Savignon, S. J. (1997). Rare words, complex lexical units and the advanced learner. In J. Coady& T. Huckin (Eds.), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (pp. 157-173). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bagherkazemi, M., & Alemi, M. (2010). Literature in the EFL/ESL Classroom: Consensus and Controversy. Linguistic and Literary Broad Research and Innovation, 1(1), 1-12.

Bahns, J., & Eldaw, M. (1993): Should We Teach EFL Students Collocations? System, XXI, Elsevier, 101–114.

Bourke, J. M. (2008). A rough guide to language awareness. English teaching forum, 2, 12-21.

Carter, R. (2007). Literature and language teaching 1986-2006: a review. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17 (1), 3-13.

Channell, J. (1981). Applying semantic theory to vocabulary teaching. ELT Journal, 35(2), 115-122.

Coady, J., &Huckin, T. (1997).Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Collie, J., & Slater, S (1994).Literature in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

De Riverol, J. E. (1991). Literature in the teaching of English as a foreign language. The British Council, Valencia: Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses.

Ebrahimi-Bazzaz, F., AbdSamad, A., Arif Bin Ismail, I., & Noordin, N. (2014). Verb-noun collocation proficiency and academic years. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 3(1), 157-163.

Ellis, N. C. (1996). Sequencing in SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(01), 91-126.

Ghonsooli, B., Pishghadam, R., & Mohaghegh Mahjoob, F. (2008). The impact of collocational instruction on the writing skill of Iranian EFL learners: A case of product and process study. Iranian EFL Journal, 2(1), 36-59.

Ghosn, I. K. (2002).Four good reasons to use literature in primary school ELT. ELT Journal 6(2), 172-79.

Hadaway, N. L., Vardell, S. M., & Young, T. A. (2002).Literature-based instruction with English language learners. Boston: Allyn& Bacon.

Higuchi, M. (1999).Collocational problems in EFL learning. Retrieved November 10, 2016 from http://bambi.u-shizuokaken. ac.jp/~kiyou4228021/13_1_04.pdf.

Hirvela, A. (2001). Connecting reading and writing through literature. In D. Belcher & A. Hirvela (eds.), Linking Literacies: Perspectives on L2 reading-writing connections. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 109–134.

Hulstijn, J. H., & and Laufer, B. (2001). Some empirical evidence for involvement load hypothesis in vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning, 51, 539-558.

Jackson, H. (1988). Words and their meaning. London: Longman Group UK Limited.

Kallkvist, M. (1998). Lexical infelicity in English: the case of nouns and verbs. In K. Haastrup & A. Viberg (Eds.), Perspectives on Lexical Acquisition in a Second Language (pp. 149-174). Lund: Lund University Press.

Khatib, M., &, &Rahimi, A. H. (2012). Literature and Language Teaching. Journal of Academic and Applied Studies, 2(6), pp. 32- 38.

Khoii, R., &Sharififar, S. (2013). Memorization versus semantic mapping in L2 vocabulary acquisition. ELT journal, 67(2), 199-209.

Krashen, S. (1988).Second language acquisition and second language learning. New York: Pergamon.

Lewis, M. (1997).Implementing the lexical approach: Putting theory into practice. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.

Maley, A. (1989).Down from the Pedestal: Literature as Resource. In Literature and the Learner: Methodological Approaches. Cambridge: Modern English Publications.

Mazzeo, C., Rab, S. Y., & Alssid, J. L. (2003).Building bridges to college and careers: Contextualized basic skills programs at community colleges. Brooklyn, NY: Workforce Strategy Center.

McCarthy, M. (1990).Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Melcuk, I, (1998).Collocations and Lexical Functions. In: Cowie, A. P. (ed.) Phraseology. Theory, Analysis, and Applications, pp. 23-53. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Miyakoshi, T. (2009).Investigating ESL learners’ lexical collocations. The acquisition of verb + noun collocations by Japanese learners of English. (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation). Honolulu: University of Hawai`i.

Nation, I. S. P. (2001).Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nation, I.S.P. (ed.) (1994) New Ways in Teaching Vocabulary. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

Pahlavani, S. D., Bateni, B., & Shams Hosseini, H. (2014).Translatability and Untranslatability of Collocations in Ernest Hemingway’s Novels. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 3(4), 1195-1206.

Pei, C. (2008). Review of empirical studies on collocations in the field of SLA. CELEA Journal, 31(6), 72-81.

Produoromo, L. (2003). Idiomaticity and the non-native speaker. English Today, 19(2), 42.

Rieder, A. (2002). A cognitive view of incidental vocabulary acquisition: From text meaning to word meaning? Retrieved from http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/views/02_1&2/AR.PDF.

Shahbaiki, A., & Yousefi, M. (2013).A comparative study of adjective-noun collocations from English into Persian in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics, Applied Linguistics World, 4(3), 13-23.

Shehata, A. K. (2008). L1 influence on the reception and production of collocations by advanced ESL/EFL Arabic learners of English. (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation). Athens: OH: Ohio University.

Tanseen, W. (2010). Literary texts in the language classroom: A study of teachers’ and students’ views at international schools in Bangkok. Asian EFL Journal, 12, 4.

Tosun, F. P. (2008). Contextualized language instruction: Exploring the role of authentic animated stories on the attitudes of young EFL learners towards learning English (Unpublished MA Thesis). Çukurova University Institute of Social Sciences, ELT Department, Adana, Turkey.

Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Vural, E. (2010). Explicit and incidental teaching of English verb-noun collocations in an EFL context. Anadolu University Graduate School of Educational Sciences. Anadolu, Turkey.

Waller, T. (1993).Characteristics of near-native proficiency in writing. In H. Ringbom (ed.) Near-native Proficiency in English (pp. 183-294).Åbo: Åbo Akademi University.

Wilkins, D. (1972). Linguistics in language teaching. London: Edward Arnold.