Phraseology and language pedagogy: Semantic preference associated with English verbs in the British National Corpus
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Graeme Kennedy✝
Abstract
The key role of phraseology in language acquisition and use has been recognised by a number of distinguished linguists during the twentieth century. Research in cognitive science has shown that frequency of occurrence and frequency of experience establishes words and collocations as units of learning, and becomes a determinant in their use. This chapter first describes the distribution of phraseology associated with a number of very high frequency lexical verbs in the British National Corpus, and explores the extent to which the collocates of particular verbs tend to reflect underlying semantic preference and grammatical processes. Collocations associated with the verbs enjoy, give, receive, start, begin, stop, end,and finish are analysed. Frequency of occurrence and the extent of collocational bonding as revealed by the Mutual Information measure are used in the study to identify collocational relations. The chapter then explores why, in light of the evidence from corpora on the nature and pervasiveness of phraseology, there has not been a more explicit and prominent place in language pedagogy for the learning of multi-word units.
Abstract
The key role of phraseology in language acquisition and use has been recognised by a number of distinguished linguists during the twentieth century. Research in cognitive science has shown that frequency of occurrence and frequency of experience establishes words and collocations as units of learning, and becomes a determinant in their use. This chapter first describes the distribution of phraseology associated with a number of very high frequency lexical verbs in the British National Corpus, and explores the extent to which the collocates of particular verbs tend to reflect underlying semantic preference and grammatical processes. Collocations associated with the verbs enjoy, give, receive, start, begin, stop, end,and finish are analysed. Frequency of occurrence and the extent of collocational bonding as revealed by the Mutual Information measure are used in the study to identify collocational relations. The chapter then explores why, in light of the evidence from corpora on the nature and pervasiveness of phraseology, there has not been a more explicit and prominent place in language pedagogy for the learning of multi-word units.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Phraseology: The periphery and the heart of language 1
- Introduction 15
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Section I. Extracting and describing phraseological units
- Phraseology and language pedagogy: Semantic preference associated with English verbs in the British National Corpus 21
- Essential collocations for learners of English: The role of collocational direction and weight 43
- Phraseology effects as a trigger for errors in L2 English: The case of more advanced learners 67
- Contrasting English-Spanish interpersonal discourse phrases: A corpus study 85
- Exemplification in learner writing: A cross-linguistic perspective 101
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Section II. Learning phraseological units
- Why can't you just leave it alone? Deviations from memorized language as a gauge of nativelike competence 123
- Phraseology and English for academic purposes: Challenges and opportunities 149
- Multiword expressions and the digital turn 163
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Section III. Recording and exploiting phraseological units
- Phraseology in learners' dictionaries: What, where and how? 185
- Compilation, formalisation and presentation of bilingual phraseology: Problems and possible solutions 203
- The phraseological patterns of high-frequency verbs in advanced English for general purposes: A corpus-driven approach to EFL textbook analysis 223
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Section IV. Concluding remarks
- Phraseology in language learning and teaching: Where to from here? 247
- Author index 253
- Subject index 257
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Phraseology: The periphery and the heart of language 1
- Introduction 15
-
Section I. Extracting and describing phraseological units
- Phraseology and language pedagogy: Semantic preference associated with English verbs in the British National Corpus 21
- Essential collocations for learners of English: The role of collocational direction and weight 43
- Phraseology effects as a trigger for errors in L2 English: The case of more advanced learners 67
- Contrasting English-Spanish interpersonal discourse phrases: A corpus study 85
- Exemplification in learner writing: A cross-linguistic perspective 101
-
Section II. Learning phraseological units
- Why can't you just leave it alone? Deviations from memorized language as a gauge of nativelike competence 123
- Phraseology and English for academic purposes: Challenges and opportunities 149
- Multiword expressions and the digital turn 163
-
Section III. Recording and exploiting phraseological units
- Phraseology in learners' dictionaries: What, where and how? 185
- Compilation, formalisation and presentation of bilingual phraseology: Problems and possible solutions 203
- The phraseological patterns of high-frequency verbs in advanced English for general purposes: A corpus-driven approach to EFL textbook analysis 223
-
Section IV. Concluding remarks
- Phraseology in language learning and teaching: Where to from here? 247
- Author index 253
- Subject index 257
