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Article published In:
Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Vol. 17:2 (2019) ► pp.331–357

The effects of L1 congruency, L2 proficiency, and the collocate-node relationship on the processing of L2 English collocations by L1-Chinese EFL learners

| University of Macau, Faculty of Education
| University of Macau, Faculty of Education | University of Macau, Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences

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.

Keywords: L1 congruency, L2 proficiency, collocate-node relationship, collocation processing, EFL learners, formulaic language, L1 Chinese, L2 English, L2 collocations
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and background
  • 2.L1 Congruency
  • 3.L2 Proficiency
  • 4.Collocate-node relationship
  • 5.Problem statement and research question
  • 6.Methods
    • 6.1Participants
    • 6.2Materials
    • 6.3Procedures
  • 7.Results
    • 7.1Descriptive statistics
    • 7.2Inferential statistics
    • 7.3Planned comparisons
      • 7.3.1Congruency
      • 7.3.2Group and congruency
      • 7.3.3Collocate-node
  • 8.Discussion
    • 8.1L1 Congruency
    • 8.2L2 proficiency and congruency
    • 8.3Collocate-node relationship
  • 9.Pedagogical implications
    • 9.1L2 proficiency and congruency
    • 9.2Collocate-node relationship
  • 10.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 10 January 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00038.din
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