Development of collocational proficiency in a workshop on English for General Business Purposes for Taiwanese college students (China).

摘要

The study investigated whether the teaching of lexical collocations in a business English workshop would enhance Taiwanese college EFL learners' development of language fluency and collocational proficiency. In addition, this study examined factors determining the learnability of lexical collocations. It further described the participants' attitudes toward the collocation-targeted workshop and the relation of this workshop to future business English courses in Taiwan.; Data for this study were collected in an intensive workshop on English for General Business Purposes where nine Taiwanese students, consisting of English and Banking & Finance majors, participated over a one-month period at Matou Campus, Aletheia University, Taiwan. The Taiwanese researcher served as the teacher and designer of the workshop. Utilizing primarily the qualitative research method, the study drew on students' writings, the teacher-researcher's class notes, pre- and post-workshop tests, student interviews, and videotapes of the workshop sessions.; The findings of this study are: (1) The direct emphasis on lexical collocations seemed to have assisted the students to acquire new collocations in the written and spoken discourses, and possibly helped them reanalyze, divide, and use previously acquired collocations in new and creative ways. (2) There seemed to be a positive connection between the students' use of lexical collocations and their proficiency. (3) Factors affecting the learnability of lexical collocations included classroom instruction, prior learning experience, learner needs, L1/L2 difference, degree of idiomaticity, morphological complexity of collocation components, and frequency of collocation components. (4) Regarding the learning of collocations, two sets of group patterns emerged: the enthusiastic and resistant groups. Regarding the attitudes toward the workshop design, English majors were more supportive than Banking & Finance majors. (5) The workshop participants overall considered the main textbook, presentation of collocations, and types of teaching activities highly effective. (6) This workshop showed that raising learners' awareness of collocations and introducing the reference of collocations were possible alternatives for future business English courses. (7) It also showed that it is highly applicable for a non-native teacher to incorporate the teaching of collocations into an EFL classroom.