Lexical and Grammatical collocations: A formidable problem in EFL writing

تعالج الدراسة موضوع أسباب ضعف طلبة جامعة الكويت لقسم اللغة الإنجليزية في المتلازمات اللفظية في تعلم اللغة الأجنبية والتي تشكل عنصرا أساسياً من عناصر الكفاءة التواصلية. وبما ان ضعف الطلبة في التلازم اللفظي سيلقي بضلاله على مجمل أدائهم في المهارات الكتابية، فلذلك تهدف الدراسة إلى تحليل المتلازمات المعجمية والنحوية المتصفة بالثبات في كتابة المقالة حول مواضيع متعارف عليها من قبل طلبة الجامعة. وتتكون مادة الدراسة من 100 مقالة والتي تحتوي كل منها على 500 كلمة مرتبطة بمقرر كتابة المقال في قسم اللغة الإنجليزية. وستستخدم الدراسة تحليلا كمياً ونوعياً لأخطاء الطلبة، ودور اللغة العربية في الأخطاء التي يرتكبها المتعلمون في المتلازمات المعجمية والاستراتيجيات المستخدمة في التعامل مع هذه المتلازمات

The present project deals with collocations as a challenging feature of foreign language learning and as an integral component of communicative competence. Specifically, the study will examine institutionalized lexical and grammatical collocations in Kuwait University (KIJ) EFL learners` essay writing on familiar topics of general interest, which is a stage that immediately precedes their progression to literature and linguistics courses in the Department of English as qualified English majors. The learner database will consist of 100 essays (about 550 words each) written as final examinations for ENG 208 (Essay Writing). Due to the common complaint made by KU instructors of subsequent subject-matter courses about their students` poor quality writing and the claims in the existing literature (e.g. Farghal & Obeidat 1995; Howarth 1998; Nesselhauf 2003), it is hypothesized that KU English major deficiency in collocational competence will overshadow their overall performance in writing tasks. In particular, it is expected that many EFL students will show a weakness in middle ground lexical collocations where errors stem from clusters of overlapping collocations such as `arrange one`s time` instead of `organize one`s time`, `perform a project` for `do carry out project` and `make a party` instead of `have/give a party. These collocations, which are not as fixed as `dial a number` or `hazel eyes`, seem to play a key role in the production of natural discourse in EFL writing. The role of Ll (Arabic) in the production of unacceptable English lexical collocations will be explored, in addition to creative construction and other strategies such as circumlocution. Equally expected in the database is a lack of adequate awareness of grammatical collocations involving verbs that subcategorize certain particles and clauses, e.g. `account for` and `can`t help V+ing`. The study will provide both quantitative and qualitative analyses of student errors