Lexical Collocations in a Sample Corpus of Nursing Research Articles (SCNRA)
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Abstract
This corpus-based study was conducted in an attempt to facilitate the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) as well as English for Specific Purposes (ESP) by exploring lexical collocations in a Sample Corpus of Nursing Research Articles (SCNRA). The SCNRA, with a corpus size of over 1.25 million running words, was compiled from 300 research articles from 10 nursing journals. Under the set criteria, 717 keywords were obtained using the AntConc version 3.4.4. The majority of the keywords were nouns (63.51%), followed by adjectives (21.54%), verbs (13.44%), and adverbs (1.51%) respectively. The keywords then were used as “nodes” to find their “collocates” which generated 2,148 pairs of lexical collocations with 14 combination types, where six combination types were in accordance with the set framework adapted from Benson et al.’s (2010). The majority of them were Noun + Noun (41.39%), Adjective + Noun (28.4%), and Noun + Verb (11.17%) respectively. The lists of the keywords and the collocations produced are provided.
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Research Articles
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References
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Borucinsky, M., & Kegalj, J. (2015). Collocations in marine engineering English. Scripta Manent. 10(2): 36-51.
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McCretton, E., & Rider, N. (1993). Error gravity and error hierarchies. International Review of Applied Linguistics. 31: 177-88.
Menon, S., & Mukundan, J. (2012). Collocations of high frequency noun keywords in prescribed science textbooks. International Education Studies. 5(6): 149-160.
Miščin, B. E. (2013). Verb collocations in medical English. US-China Foreign Language. 11(8): 609-618.
Mohajeri, M. & Ketabi, S. (2013). The knowledge and use of collocations and their relation with English speaking proficiency among upper- intermediate to advanced Iranian EFL learners. ELT Voices – India. 3(5): 1-21.
Molavi, A., Koosha, M., & Hosseini, H. (2014). A comparative corpus–based analysis of lexical collocations used in EFL textbooks. Latin American Journal of Content and Language Integrated Learning. 7(1): 66-81. doi:10.5294/laclil.2014.7.1.4 eISSN 2322-9721.
Mudraya, O. (2006). Engineering English: A lexical frequency instruction model. English for Specific Purposes. 25: 235-256. [On-line]. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2005.05.002
Namvar, F., Mohd Nor, N. F., Ibrahim, N., & Mustafa, J. (2012). Analysis of collocations in the Iranian postgraduate students’ writings. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies. 18(1): 11-22.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nattinger, J. R., & DeCarrico, J. S. (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Nesselhauf, N. (2005). Collocations in a learner corpus. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Paltridge, B. (2006). Discourse analysis: an introduction. London, UK: Continuum
Parkinson, J. (2015). Noun-noun collocations in learner writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 20: 103-113.
Sadighi, S., & Sahragard, R. (2013). The effect of lexical collocational density on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The Journal of Teaching Language Skills. 5(1): 111-136.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2015). Collocation in beginner learner writing: A longitudinal study. System. 53: 148-160.
Suwitchanphan, P., & Phoocharoensil, S. (2014). Adjective + noun collocational competence of L1 Thai learners: A comparative study of a regular program and an English program. Asian Social Science. 10(17): 210-221.
Takač, V. P., & Miščin, E. (2013). Exploring the collocational competence of non- native users of medical English. JAHR. 4(7): 235-256.
Tekingül, B. (2013). Collocation teaching effect on reading comprehension in advanced EFL setting. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 70: 1078-1089.
Thongvitit, S., & Thumawongsa, N. (2017). A Corpus-Based Study of English Collocations Found in the Abstracts of Research Articles Written by Thai EFL Writers. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity. 7(12): 751-755.
Usen, A., & Musigrungsi, S. (2015, 5-6 June). Effectiveness of teaching collocations to primary school students. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, “ASEAN 2015: Challenges and Opportunities”. Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University.
Wang, J. T., & Good, R. L. (2007). The repetition of collocations in EFL textbooks: A corpus study. Paper presented at The Sixteenth International Symposium and Book Fair on English Teaching in the Republic of China, Taipei. [On-line]. Available: http://0-files.eric.ed.gov.opac.msmc.edu /fulltext/ED502758.pdf
Wang, J., Liang, S., & Ge, G. (2008). Establishment of a medical word list. English for Specific Purposes. 27: 442-458.
Ward, J. (2009). A basic engineering English word list for less proficient foundation engineering undergraduates. English for Specific Purposes. 28: 170-182.
Webb, S., Newton, J., & Chang, A. (2013). Incidental learning of collocation. Language Learning. 63(1): 91-120. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00729.
Yang, M.-N. (2015). A nursing academic word list. English for Specific Purposes. 37: 27-38.
Yumanee, C., & Phoocharoensil, S. (2013). Analysis of collocational errors of Thai EFL students. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network. 6(1): 88-98.
Anthony, L. (2014). AntConc (Version 3.4.4) [Computer Software]. Tokyo, Japan:Waseda University [On-line]. Available: http://www.laurenceanthony.net/.
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.
Attar, E. M., & Allami, H. (2013). The Effects of Teaching Lexical Collocations on Speaking Ability of Iranian EFL Learners. Theory and Practice in Language Studies. 3(6): 1070-1079.
Bahns, J. (1993). Lexical collocations: a contrastive view. ELT Journal. 47(1): 56-63.
Baker, P. (2006). Using corpora in discourse analysis. London, UK: Continuum.
Bennett, G. R. (2010). Using corpora in the language learning classroom: Corpus linguistics for teachers. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan University Press.
Benson, M., Benson, E. & Ilson, R. (2010). The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English: Your guide to collocations and grammar (3rd ed.). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Borucinsky, M., & Kegalj, J. (2015). Collocations in marine engineering English. Scripta Manent. 10(2): 36-51.
Carter, R. (1998). Vocabulary: Applied linguistic perspectives. (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
Cheng, W. (2012). Exploring corpus linguistics: Language in action. London, UK: Routledge.
Chung, T. M., & Nation, P. (2003). Technical vocabulary in specialised texts. Reading in a Foreign Language. 15(2): 103-116.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly. 34(2): 213-238.
Demir, C. (2017). Lexical Collocations in English: A Comparative Study of Native and Non-native Scholars of English. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies. 13(1): 75-87.
Ebrahimi-Bazzaz, F., Samad, A. A., bin Ismail, I. A., Noordin, N., (2012). Measuring Collocational Competence of Iranian Learners by Using C-test. The Iranian EFL Journal. 2. 227-240.
Eidian, F., Gorjian, B., & Aghvami, F. (2013). The impact of lexical collocation instruction on developing writing skill among Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World. 4(3): 273-283.
Englander, K. (2014). Writing and publishing science research papers in English: A global perspective. New York, NY: Springer.
Farrokh, P. (2012). Raising awareness of collocation in ESL/EFL classrooms. Journal of Studies in Education. 2(3): 55-74.
Firth, J. R. (1957). Papers in Linguistics, 1934-1951. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Gledhill, C. (2000). Collocations in science writing: Volume 22 of language in performance. Tübingen, Germany: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Granger, S., & Bestgen, Y. (2014). The use of collocations by intermediate vs. advanced non-native writers: A bigram-based study. IRAL. 52(3): 229-252.
Hill, J. (2000). Revising priorities: From grammatical failure to collocational success. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching Collocation: Further Developments in the Lexical Approach (pp. 47-69). London, UK: Language Teaching Publications.
Hoey, M. (1991). Patterns of lexis in texts. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hsu, J.-Y. (2007). Lexical collocations and their relation to the online writing of Taiwanese college English majors and non-English majors. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching. 4(2): 192-209.
Hsu, J.-Y., & Chiu, C.-Y. (2008). Lexical Collocations and their Relation to Speaking Proficiency. The Asian EFL Journal. 10(1): 181-204.
Hsu, J.-Y., & Hsu, L.-C. (2007). Teaching lexical collocations to enhance listening comprehension of English majors in a technological university of Taiwan. Soochow Journal of Foreign Languages & Cultures. 24: 1-32.
James, C. (1998). Errors in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis. Harlow, England: Pearson.
Khittikote, R. (2011). The ability to use collocations for business purposes by Thai EFL learners. Unpublished master’s thesis, Language Institute, Thammasat University, Thailand.
Lewis. M. (2002). Implementing the lexical approach: Putting theory into practice. London, UK: Heinle, Thomson Corporation.
Martin, M. (1984). Advanced vocabulary teaching: The problem of synonyms. Modern Language Journal. 68(2): 130-137.
McCretton, E., & Rider, N. (1993). Error gravity and error hierarchies. International Review of Applied Linguistics. 31: 177-88.
Menon, S., & Mukundan, J. (2012). Collocations of high frequency noun keywords in prescribed science textbooks. International Education Studies. 5(6): 149-160.
Miščin, B. E. (2013). Verb collocations in medical English. US-China Foreign Language. 11(8): 609-618.
Mohajeri, M. & Ketabi, S. (2013). The knowledge and use of collocations and their relation with English speaking proficiency among upper- intermediate to advanced Iranian EFL learners. ELT Voices – India. 3(5): 1-21.
Molavi, A., Koosha, M., & Hosseini, H. (2014). A comparative corpus–based analysis of lexical collocations used in EFL textbooks. Latin American Journal of Content and Language Integrated Learning. 7(1): 66-81. doi:10.5294/laclil.2014.7.1.4 eISSN 2322-9721.
Mudraya, O. (2006). Engineering English: A lexical frequency instruction model. English for Specific Purposes. 25: 235-256. [On-line]. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2005.05.002
Namvar, F., Mohd Nor, N. F., Ibrahim, N., & Mustafa, J. (2012). Analysis of collocations in the Iranian postgraduate students’ writings. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies. 18(1): 11-22.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nattinger, J. R., & DeCarrico, J. S. (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Nesselhauf, N. (2005). Collocations in a learner corpus. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Paltridge, B. (2006). Discourse analysis: an introduction. London, UK: Continuum
Parkinson, J. (2015). Noun-noun collocations in learner writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 20: 103-113.
Sadighi, S., & Sahragard, R. (2013). The effect of lexical collocational density on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The Journal of Teaching Language Skills. 5(1): 111-136.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2015). Collocation in beginner learner writing: A longitudinal study. System. 53: 148-160.
Suwitchanphan, P., & Phoocharoensil, S. (2014). Adjective + noun collocational competence of L1 Thai learners: A comparative study of a regular program and an English program. Asian Social Science. 10(17): 210-221.
Takač, V. P., & Miščin, E. (2013). Exploring the collocational competence of non- native users of medical English. JAHR. 4(7): 235-256.
Tekingül, B. (2013). Collocation teaching effect on reading comprehension in advanced EFL setting. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 70: 1078-1089.
Thongvitit, S., & Thumawongsa, N. (2017). A Corpus-Based Study of English Collocations Found in the Abstracts of Research Articles Written by Thai EFL Writers. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity. 7(12): 751-755.
Usen, A., & Musigrungsi, S. (2015, 5-6 June). Effectiveness of teaching collocations to primary school students. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, “ASEAN 2015: Challenges and Opportunities”. Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University.
Wang, J. T., & Good, R. L. (2007). The repetition of collocations in EFL textbooks: A corpus study. Paper presented at The Sixteenth International Symposium and Book Fair on English Teaching in the Republic of China, Taipei. [On-line]. Available: http://0-files.eric.ed.gov.opac.msmc.edu /fulltext/ED502758.pdf
Wang, J., Liang, S., & Ge, G. (2008). Establishment of a medical word list. English for Specific Purposes. 27: 442-458.
Ward, J. (2009). A basic engineering English word list for less proficient foundation engineering undergraduates. English for Specific Purposes. 28: 170-182.
Webb, S., Newton, J., & Chang, A. (2013). Incidental learning of collocation. Language Learning. 63(1): 91-120. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00729.
Yang, M.-N. (2015). A nursing academic word list. English for Specific Purposes. 37: 27-38.
Yumanee, C., & Phoocharoensil, S. (2013). Analysis of collocational errors of Thai EFL students. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network. 6(1): 88-98.