October 2008 home | PDF | SWF |

Title
The Impact of Collocational Instruction on the Writing Skill of
Iranian EFL Learners: A Case of Product and Process Study

Authors
Behzad Ghonsooli (Ph.D.)
Reza Pishghadam (Ph.D.)
Fatemeh Mohaghegh Mahjoobi (M.A.)

Bio Data
Behzad Ghonsooli is an associate professor in the English Department of Ferdowsi University, Mashad, Iran. His main research interests are language testing, ESP, and translation studies.

Reza Pishghadam is an assistant professor in the English Department of Ferdowsi University, Mashad, Iran. His main research interests are language testing, first language acquisition, and sociolinguistics.

Fatemeh Mohaghegh Mahjoobi holds MA in TEFL. She is currently teaching at high schools in Mashad, Iran.

Abstract
      This study attempts to investigate the effect of collocational instruction, on Iranian EFL learners' English writings through quantitative as well as qualitative methods in two phases: product phase and process phase. Thirty participants from the English Department of College of Ferdowsi University (in Iran) were involved in this study. Over the course of 21 teaching sessions, they were exposed to their course materials including audio, video and textual input. During exploration of those materials, the experimental students (N= 17) were made aware of word combinations, specifically, collocations through different techniques while in the control group (N=13), the conventional slot and filler approach was upheld. According to the results demonstrated by the statistical program, at the product phase, the experimental subjects got higher mean score in their collocation achievement test as well as test of written English (post test stage) after collocational instruction and at the process phase, the graphic comparisons of subjects' mean scores at each writing component showed vocabulary and fluency considerable promotion as a result of collocational instruction.

Key words: collocation, collocational instruction, consciousness-raising activities,  writing

| PDF | SWF |