The effects of L1 congruency, L2 proficiency, and the collocate-node relationship on the processing of L2 English
collocations by L1-Chinese EFL learners
This study investigated the effects of first language (L1) congruency, second language (L2) proficiency, and the
collocate-node relationship (i.e., verb-noun, adjective-noun, noun-noun) on collocation processing by logographic L1-Chinese
learners of English. Comparisons were made of accuracy rates and response times to a collocation lexical decision task completed
by L1-Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) English Majors (n = 30), L1-Chinese EFL non-English Majors
(n = 30), and L1-English Native Speakers (n = 26). Analysis of the data revealed that while
congruent collocations were processed more accurately and faster than incongruent collocations by both L1-Chinese participant
groups, the English Majors showed a processing advantage over their non-English Major peers. Further analysis revealed a
processing advantage for noun-noun collocations, providing additional evidence in explaining the difficulties L1-Chinese have in
acquiring verb-noun collocations. These results and other nuanced statistical findings are discussed in relation to pedagogical
means of enhancing L2 collocation acquisition by L1-Chinese speakers.
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