Dictionary Use for Collocation Production and Retention: a CALL-based Study

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the effects of dictionary use on the production and retention of collocations. With the aid of an electronic dictionary, fifty-two English majors at a Chinese university were asked to fill in the missing verbs in twelve v + n collocations in gapped sentences. A CALL program with built-in log files was developed to record any input into or click on the dictionary. It was found that the dictionary significantly improved the participants’ productive collocation knowledge, but their performances in the collocation task were still not satisfactory. The participants showed inadequate dictionary use skills. They were reluctant to use the hyperlink function of the electronic dictionary to further look up relevant information or too careless to notice it, unable to distinguish between entry subsenses, inclined to choose the sense listed at the beginning of an entry, and apt to lose patience when faced with overcrowded entry information. The study also revealed that after one week the participants were no longer able to remember most of the collocations they had managed to find in the dictionary. Besides, the number of lookups proved to have no impact on collocation production or retention. The author also discusses the implications of the study for dictionary use instruction and collocation teaching.

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