Differential Effects of Input/Output Tasks on Learning English Collocations by Iranian EFL Learners Through the Corpus-Based Instruction

Abstract

Learning of English collocations has been found quite demanding for many language learners in general and for the Iranian EFL learners in particular. Recent second language educators have proposed two crucial perspectives for teaching collocations: the corpus-based view and the traditional methods. This study examined the mixed effects of explicit instruction, collaborative output, pushed output, corrective feedback, and visual input enhancement through a set of corpus-based instructional materials for the learning of English collocations. Using a quasi-experimental research design, the data were obtained through a pretest, a posttest, and a delayed posttest. Participants included 125 intermediate EFL students, who were assigned to 4 experimental (E1, E2, E3, and E4) groups and 1 control group (n = 25 for each group). Fifty collocations were selected as the teaching materials in both control and experimental groups. Experimental groups were taught the collocations through corpus-based materials, and the control group was taught through a conventional method. One-way ANOVA and a series of post hoc Scheffé tests were performed on the obtained data. Results indicated that all the combined procedures had positive effects on the learning of the English collocations. Also, the results showed that all the experimental groups could retain their collocational knowledge. Final conclusion led us to the idea that the input-output and corpus-based instructions were the learners’ strategies in solving the problem of understanding the collocations. The results may also have some pedagogical implications for ESL/EFL practitioners, too: The input-based and output-based instructions can assist L2 teachers to employ successful techniques to raise their learners’ knowledge of collocations.

Keywords

• corpus-based instruction
• input/output instruction
• english collocations