Does Consciousness Raising Task Promote EFL Learners’ Recall and Retention of Collocations?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of English Language and Literature, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran

2 Islamic Azad University, Toirbat Heidariyeh Branch, Torbat-e Heydariyeh, Iran

Abstract

This research aimed to explore the effects of consciousness-raising tasks on the ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners to recall and retain collocations. The study examined 60 female students, aged 18 to 25, who were selected from a language school in Tehran, Iran, and were similar in language proficiency. The experimental and control groups were randomly assigned, with 30 learners each. Initially, they were given a test of collocations as a pretest to ensure that both groups had equal knowledge of collocations. The treatment group received corrective feedback while the control group received the same instruction without feedback. After an eight-week treatment period, both groups were tested on their ability to recall collocations with an immediate post-test. One month later, the researchers gave the experimental group a delayed posttest to see how well they retained the learned grammatical collocations. According to the analysis of the immediate and delayed post-test data, it was found that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the post-test as they showed a significant improvement in recalling collocations. Moreover, the results revealed that learners’ retention of collocations is not affected by time, indicating that C-RTs enable retrieval during comprehension and retention. Furthermore, the participants in the experimental group were required to express their thoughts and feelings regarding the effectiveness of consciousness-raising techniques used during the treatment. The responses were analyzed, and categorized, and the most prominent ones were reported. The findings can help learners and practitioners develop appropriate learning behaviors.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Alqaed, Mai A. (2022). The Effect of an Explicit Awareness-Raising Approach on Lexical Collocation Awareness and Knowledge. Thesis, University of Leicester.
Al-Shammari, A. H. (2022). The Importance of Teaching Collocations in the Development of Kuwaiti ESL/EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension. Annals of the Faculty of Arts, 50.
Andrews, S. (2007). Teacher Language Awareness. Cambridge University Press.
Bahns, J. & Eldaw, M. (1993). Should we teach collocations? System, 21, 101-14.
Behbahani, H. K. & Khademi, A. (2022). The Concurrent Contribution of Input Flooding, Visual Input Enhancement, and Consciousness-Raising Tasks to Noticing and Intake of Present Perfect Tense. MEXTESOL Journal, 46(4), n4
Biskup, D. (1992). L1 Influence on Learners’ Renderings of English Collocations: A Polish/German Empirical Study. In Arnaud, P. J. L. & Béjoint, H. (eds). Vocabulary and Applied Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Boonraksa, T. & Naisena, S. (2022). A study on english collocation errors of thai efl students. English language teaching, 15(1), 164-177.
Condon, A. G. (2002). Improving intrinsic water-use efficiency and crop yield. Crop Science, 42(1), 122-131.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage.
Ellis, R. (1992). Second Language Acquisition in Language Pedagogy. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1997). SLA Research and Language Teaching. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (1999). Input-based approaches to teaching grammar: A review of classroom-oriented research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 19, 64-80.
Fan, M. (2009). An exploratory study of collocational use by ESL students: A task-based approach. System, 37,110-123.
Fatahzadeh, S. S. A., Shafiee, S. & Rahimi Esfahani, F. (2022). Impact of Consciousness-raising via Input Flooding vs. Vocabulary Input Enhancement on Reading Fluency of Iranian EFL Intermediate Learners. Journal of Language and Translation, 12(4), 119-130.
Fotos, S. & Ellis, R. (1991). Communicating about grammar: A task-based approach. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 605-628.
Goetz, T. H. (2023). “I am afraid if my students can’t understand me.”-A Consciousness-Raising Approach to Teaching the Modal System. European Journal of Language and Literature Studies, 9(1), 10-24.
Hernandez, T. (2008). The effect of explicit instruction and input flood on students’ use of Spanish discourse markers on a simulated oral proficiency interview. Hispania, 91(3), 665-675.
Kalanzadeh, G. A., Jafarigohar, M., Ghonsooly, B. & Soleimani, H. (2018). Mixed effects of input enhancement, explicit instruction, corrective feedback, and pushed output in an input-output mapping practice. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 9(1), 57-82.
Karim, K. & Nassaji H. (2019). The effects of written corrective feedback. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 3(1), 28-52.  
Karim, K. & Nassaji H. (2020). The revision and transfer effects of direct and indirect comprehensive corrective feedback on ESL students’ writing. Language Teaching Research, 24(4), 519-539.  
Khezrlou, S. (2024). Effects of task repetition with consciousness-raising in wiki-mediated collaborative writing on the development of explicit and implicit knowledge. Computer-assisted language learning, 37(1-2), 243-278.  
Lee, S. & Shin, S. Y. (2021). Towards an improved assessment of L2 collocation knowledge. Language Assessment Quarterly, 1-26.  
Levine, G. S. (2003). Student and instructor beliefs and attitudes about target language use, first language use, and anxiety: Report of a questionnaire study. The Modern Language Journal, 87(3), 343-364.
Lewis, M. (2000). Learning in lexical approach. In Lewis, M. (Ed.), Teaching Collocations: Further Developments in The Lexical Approach, 155-158. Hove: Language Teaching.
Li, F. & Sun, Y. (2023). Effects of different forms of explicit instruction on L2 development: A meta‐analysis. Foreign Language Annals, 57(1), 229-255.
Li, X. & Lei, L. (2022). Effectiveness of second language collocation instruction: a meta-analysis. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, (0).
Long, M. H. & Robinson, P. (1998). Focus on form: Theory, research, practice. In Doughty, C.and Williams, J. (Eds.). Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition, 15-41. Cambridge University Press.
Mackey, A. & Gass, S. M. (2013). Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge.
McCarthy, M. & O'Dell, F. (2006). English Collocations in Use: How Words Work Together for Fluent and Natural English; Self-Study and Classroom Use.  Stuttgart: Ernst KlettSprachen
Moghadam, S. P. & Pourmohammadi, M. (2023). The impact of explicit teaching of verb collocations on improving upper-intermediate EFL learners’ writing skills. European Journal of Alternative Education Studies, 8(2).
Namaziandost, E., Rezvani, E. & Polemikou, A. (2020). The impacts of visual input enhancement, semantic input enhancement, and input-flooding on L2 vocabulary among Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Cogent Education, 7(1), 1726606.
Nassaji, H. & Fotos, S. S. (2011). Teaching Grammar in Second Language Classrooms: Integrating Form-Focused Instruction in A Communicative Context. Routledge.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nesselhaulf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 223-242.
Norris, J. M. & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta‐analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417-528.
Ocleyarina, D. V., Anwar, K. & Marifah, U. (2022). The Correlation Between Students’ Speaking Self-Efficacy and Collocation Competence in Speaking at SMPN 1 Parengan. Journal of English Teaching, Literature, and Applied Linguistics, 5(2), 101-108.
Oliver, R. (2002). The patterns of negotiation for meaning in child interactions. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 97-111.
Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Rutherford, W. & M. Sharwood Smith (1985). Consciousness-raising and universal grammar. Applied Linguistics, 6, 274-282.
Safdari, S. & Farzi, S. (2018). Enhancing EFL Learners’ Self Efficacy Beliefs through Raising Metacognitive Awareness. Journal of Teaching English Language Studies, 6(4), 144-163.
Saito, K. & Liu, Y. (2022). Roles of collocation in L2 oral proficiency revisited: Different tasks, L1 vs. L2 raters, and cross-sectional vs. longitudinal analyses. Second Language Research, 38(3), 531-554.
Schmidt, R. (1995). Attention and Awareness in Foreign Language Learning. Honolulu, HI: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawai’i.
Schmitt, N. (2002). Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Scutt, V. M. & Fueute, M. J. (2008). What’s the problem? L2 learners' use of the L1 during consciousness-raising, form-focused tasks. The Modern Language Journal, 92(1), 100-113.
Skehan, P. (1998). A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning. Oxford University Press.
Svalberg, A. & Askham, J. (2020). Teacher and learner perceptions of adult foreign language learners’ engagement with consciousness-raising tasks in four languages. Language Awareness, 29(3-4), 236-254.
Tabak, M. & Takač, V. P. (2023). Relationship Between Collocational Competence and Collocation Learning Strategies in an English for Specific Purposes Context. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 5(2).
Tajalli, G. (2007). Idioms and Metaphorical Expressions in Translation. Tehran: Samat Publications.
Tanihardjo, J. & Stardy, R. (2024). using inductive and deductive consciousness-raising tasks to promote learners’ awareness of conditional sentences. In Proceedings: Linguistics, Literature, Culture and Arts International Seminar (LITERATES), 113-119.
Tilahun, S., Simegn, B. & Emiru, Z. (2022). Using grammar consciousness-raising tasks to enhance students’ narrative tenses competence. Cogent Education, 9(1), 2107471.
White, L., Spada, N., Lightbown, P. M. & Ranta, L. (1991). Input enhancement and L2 question formation. Applied Linguistics, 12(4), 416-432.
Willis, D. & Willis, J. (1996). Consciousness-raising activities. Challenge and Change in Language Teaching, 63-76.
Wu, M. J. & Ionin, T. (2023). The Effect of Input Flooding and Explicit Instruction on L2 Acquisition of English Inverse Scope. Language Teaching Research, 13621688231153759.
Xavier, R. & Gesser, A. R. (2022). The role of a consciousness-raising task in a focused-task sequence. Revista Da Anpoll, 53(1), 78-98.
Yip, V. (1994). Grammatical consciousness-raising and learnability. In Odlin, T. (Ed.), Perspectives on Pedagogical Grammar. Cambridge University Press.
Zhang, X. & Zhang, R. (2023). Feedback, Response, and Learner Development: A Sociocultural Approach to Corrective Feedback in Second Language Writing. SAGE Open, 13(1), 21582440231157680.
Journal of Studies in Language Learning and Teaching
Volume 2, Issue 1
February 2025
Pages 15-35

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 04 December 2023
  • Revise Date: 24 February 2024
  • Accept Date: 01 February 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics