University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

"Do you talk English?": A collocational analysis of "to speak" and "to talk"

Lai, Jennifer Chun-ning

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125898

Description

Title
"Do you talk English?": A collocational analysis of "to speak" and "to talk"
Author(s)
Lai, Jennifer Chun-ning
Issue Date
1997
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Kachru, Yamuna
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Teaching English as a Second Language
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • Teaching English as Second Language
  • ESL learners Collocations
  • Linguistic competence
  • Communicative competence
Language
eng
Abstract
Some English as a Second Language (ESL) learners progress quite far in their skill with English grammar and vocabulary, yet they still lack the ability to communicate fluently in English. One of the keys to unlocking this mystery may lie in collocations, words which have a strong tendency to co­ occur. The typical model of linguistic competence has included grammar and vocabulary but has not particularly emphasized collocational usage. It is proposed that grammar and lexis alone are insufficient in developing linguistic and, subsequently, communicative competence in ESL learners. Therefore, contrastive collocational information is also needed to develop native-like fluency in English. Two particular lexical items which confuse ESL learners are the verbs "to speak" and "to talk." A collocational analysis of these verbs will be provided along with implications and suggestions for teaching-collocations in the ESL classroom.
Type of Resource
text
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125898
Copyright and License Information
Copyright owned by the author.

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois