AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF TEACHING VOCABULARY COLLOCATİON

T.C.
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ
SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ
YABANCI DİLLER EĞİTİMİ ANABİLİM DALI
İNGİLİZCE ÖĞRETMENLİĞİ BİLİM DALI
AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF TEACHING VOCABULARY:
COLLOCATIONS
YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ
DANIŞMAN
YRD. DOÇ. DR. ECE SARIGÜL
HAZIRLAYAN
GÖKHAN ŞİMŞEK
KONYA 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………..................i
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………...ii
CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION………………….…………………...…………………..1
1.1. Background of the Study ………………………………………………………..1
1.2. Statement of the Problem ……………………………………………………….2
1.3. Goal and Scope of the Study …………………………………………………….3
1.4. Significance of the Study ………………………………………………………...4
1.5. Research Questions ……………………………………………………………...5
CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW …………………...................………………….6
2.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...6
2.2. Vocabulary Teaching in ESL / EFL Settings …………………………………..7
2.2.1. Historical Overview ………………………………....……………………......10
2.3. The Definition and Categorization of Collocation ……………………..…….16
2.3.1. Definitions of Collocation ……………………………………………………16
2.3.2. Types of Collocations ……………………………………………………...…24
2.3.3. Classification of Collocations ……………………………………………..…26
2.4. The Importance of Collocations in EFL Context …………………………….29
2.5. Difficulties in Collocational Use ……………………………………………….33
2.6. Empirical Studies on Collocations …………………………………………….36
CHAPTER III – METHODOLOGY ……………………….………………………….….40
3.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………….40
3.2. Subjects ……………………..…………………………………………………..40
3.3. Materials and Procedure ……………………………………………………....40
CHAPTER IV – DATA ANALYSIS ………………….………………………………...…43

4.1. Data Analysis Procedures ………………………………...…………………………...44
CHAPTER V – CONCLUSION ………………………...…………………………………48
5.1. Conclusions and Discussions ……………………..……………………………………48
VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………..……...…………………………………………...…52
APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………………………55
APPENDIX A ………………………………...……………………………………………..55
APPENDIX B ………………………………………………………….……………………57
APPENDIX C ……………………………………………….………………………………60
APPENDIX D ……………………………….………………………………………………61
APPENDIX E ………………………………………………….……………………………63
APPENDIX F ……………………………………………………..…………………………64
APPENDIX G ……………………………………………….………………………………65
APPENDIX H ……………………………………………………………………………….66
APPENDIX I ………………………………………………………………………………..68
APPENDIX J ………………………………………………………………………………..69

i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest gratitude and special thanks to my advisor Assist.
Prof. Dr. Ece SARIGÜL who helped and guided me in completing my thesis.
My thanks goes to Lec. Gülgün SERTKAYA and Dr. Osman DÜLGER for being so
kind to let me implement the data analysis procedure in their lessons.
I owe my special thanks to my mother and father for their endless help, patience and
encouragement.
Finally, I would like to thank my cousin Hasan BABALIK who has been a great
support to me for parts especially related to the statistical analysis.

ii
ABSTRACT
In foreign language teaching vocabulary has been a neglected area for a long time.
Since 1970s, the perspective on vocabulary teaching has changed. It must be highlighted that
as far as communication is concerned, vocabulary is just one of the components in the whole
system. Vocabulary should be recognized as a central element in language instruction from
the beginning stages. With the recognition of the importance of vocabulary, many techniques
and approaches to teaching and learning vocabulary have emerged. One of these is teaching
vocabulary through collocation.
Teaching vocabulary through collocation is a comparatively new technique. The
purpose of this study is to investigate whether teaching vocabulary through collocations will
result in better vocabulary learning than teaching vocabulary using classical techniques such
as using definition, synonym, antonym and mother tongue translation. The study was
conducted at Selçuk University, Faculty of Education, ELT Department. The participants
were 79 undergraduates of first-graders.
In the first chapter, the background of the study, statement of the problem, goal and
scope of the study, siginificance of the study and research questions are presented.
The second chapter includes literature review which centers on the place of vocabulary
in foreign language teaching and the definition and types of collocation.
In the third chapter, the method of the study, participants, materials, procedure and
information about the statistical analysis are given.