Abstract
This study, based on Jiang’s (2000. Lexical representation and development in a second language. Applied Linguistics 21(1). 47–77) bilingual lexicon model, investigates the learnability of collocations among 34 Japanese EFL learners and examines the influence of their L1 on such learning. An acceptability judgment task assessed the knowledge of three different types of collocations: English-only collocations that cannot be directly translated into Japanese (e.g., flat rate); congruent collocations that can be translated into Japanese without changing their meaning (e.g., cold tea); and Japanized collocations that are infelicitous in English, but felicitous in Japanese (e.g., yellow voice). After the task, participants translated the collocations and rated the difficulty on a four-point Likert scale. The relationship between the accuracy of these collocations and the translation difficulty rating scores was analyzed using mixed-effects logistic regression modeling to assess L1 influence. The results showed that with increasing L2 proficiency, learners tend to regard congruent and English-only collocations as acceptable, but even highly proficient learners did not fully reject the Japanized collocations. This suggests that as L2 proficiency increased, participants learned to accept felicitous collocations but did not learn to reject Japanized infelicitous ones. In addition, the influence of L1 was evident in English-only and Japanized collocations and could not be avoided by those with increasing proficiency.
Funding source: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Award Identifier / Grant number: 20K13123
Acknowledgments
We utilized ChatGPT only to refine the language in the manuscript. No single idea in the manuscript was generated with ChatGPT.
-
Competing interests: The authors declare none.
References
Bates, Douglas, Reinhold Kliegl, Shravan Vasishth & Harald Baayen. 2015. Parsimonious mixed models. arXiv:1506.04967. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.04967v2 (accessed 14 December 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Bates, Douglas, Martin Maechler, Ben Bolker & Steven Walker. 2021. lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4 [R package version 1.1-27.1]. Available at: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/lme4/index.html (accessed 14 December 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Bahns, Jens. 1993. Lexical collocations: A contrastive view. ELT Journal 47(1). 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/47.1.56.Search in Google Scholar
Bahns, Jens & Moira Eldaw. 1993. Should we teach EFL students collocations? System 21(1). 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(93)90010-E.Search in Google Scholar
Bruton, Anthony. 2000. What exactly are positive and negative evidence in SLA? RELC Journal 31(2). 120–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/003368820003100206.Search in Google Scholar
Carrol, Gareth, Kathy Conklin & Henrik Gyllstad. 2016. Found in translation: The influence of the L1 on the reading of idioms in a L2. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 38(3). 403–443. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263115000492.Search in Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on government and binding. Holland: Foris Publications.Search in Google Scholar
Davies, Mark. 2008. The corpus of contemporary American English (COCA): 520 million words, 1990–present. Available at: https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ (accessed 10 August 2019).Search in Google Scholar
Fang, Nan & Ping Zhang. 2021. L1 congruency, word frequency, collocational frequency, L2 proficiency, and their combined effects on Chinese–English bilinguals’ L2 collocational processing. International Journal of Bilingualism 25(5). 1429–1445. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069211024747.Search in Google Scholar
Fernández, Beatriz González & Norbert Schmitt. 2015. How much collocation knowledge do L2 learners have? The effects of frequency and amount of exposure. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 166(1). 94–126. https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.166.1.03fer.Search in Google Scholar
Jiang, Nan. 2000. Lexical representation and development in a second language. Applied Linguistics 21(1). 47–77. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.1.47.Search in Google Scholar
Jiang, Nan. 2002. Form–meaning mapping in vocabulary acquisition in a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24(4). 617–637. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263102004047.Search in Google Scholar
Jiang, Nan. 2004. Semantic transfer and its implications for vocabulary teaching in a second language. The Modern Language Journal 88(3). 416–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.00238.x.Search in Google Scholar
Jiang, Nan & Tatiana M. Nekrasova. 2007. The processing of formulaic sequences by second language speakers. The Modern Language Journal 91(3). 433–445. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00589.x.Search in Google Scholar
Matuschek, Hannes, Reinhold Kliegl, Shravan Vasishth, Harald Baayen & Bates Douglas. 2017. Balancing Type I error and power in linear mixed models. Journal of Memory and Language 94. 305–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.001.Search in Google Scholar
Meara, Paul & Glyn Jones. 1990. Eurocentres vocabulary size tests 10KA. Zurich: Eurocentres Learning Service.Search in Google Scholar
R Core Team. 2021. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria. Available at: http://www.R-Project.org.Search in Google Scholar
Revelle, William. 2021. Psych: Procedures for psychological, psychometric, and personality research [R package version 2.1.9]. Available at: https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/psych/index.html.Search in Google Scholar
Smith, Michael Sharwood. 1991. Speaking to many minds: On the relevance of different types of language information for the L2 learner. Second Language Research 7(2). 118–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765839100700204.Search in Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, Anna & Ana Pellicer-Sanchez (eds.). 2018. Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315206615Search in Google Scholar
Sonbul, Suhad & Dina El-Dakhs. 2020. Timed versus untimed recognition of L2 collocations: Does estimated proficiency modulate congruency effects? Applied PsychoLinguistics 41(5). 1197–1222. https://doi.org/10.1017/S014271642000051X.Search in Google Scholar
Van Vu, Duy & Elke Peters. 2022. Incidental learning of collocations from meaningful input: A longitudinal study into three reading modes and factors that affect learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 44(3). 685–707. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263121000462.Search in Google Scholar
White, Lydia. 1990. The verb-movement parameter in second language acquisition. Language Acquisition 1(4). 337–360. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327817la0104_2.Search in Google Scholar
Wolter, Brent & Henrik Gyllstad. 2011. Collocational links in the L2 mental lexicon and the influence of L1 intralexical knowledge. Applied Linguistics 32(4). 430–449. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amr011.Search in Google Scholar
Wolter, Brent & Henrik Gyllstad. 2013. Frequency of input and L2 collocational processing: A comparison of congruent and incongruent collocations. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 35(3). 451–482. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263113000107.Search in Google Scholar
Wolter, Brent & Junko Yamashita. 2015. Processing collocations in a second language: A case of first language activation? Applied PsychoLinguistics 36(5). 1193–1221. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716414000113.Search in Google Scholar
Wolter, Brent & Junko Yamashita. 2018. Word frequency, collocational frequency, L1 congruency, and proficiency in L2 collocational processing: What accounts for L2 performance? Studies in Second Language Acquisition 40(2). 395–416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000237.Search in Google Scholar
Yamashita, Junko. 2018. Possibility of semantic involvement in the L1-L2 congruency effect in the processing of L2 collocations. Journal of Second Language Studies 1(1). 60–78. https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.17024.yam.Search in Google Scholar
Yamashita, Junko & Nan Jiang. 2010. L1 influence on the acquisition of L2 collocations: Japanese ESL users and EFL learners acquiring English collocations. Tesol Quarterly 44(4). 647–668. https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2010.235998.Search in Google Scholar
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston