Abstract
Past collocation studies have focused on the effectiveness of collocation instruction and learners’ difficulty in collocation learning. The issue of how learners developed collocation competence, however, remained unanswered. Little was known about how learners built up Verb-Noun (V-N) collocation knowledge with high-frequency verbs such as have, do, take, make, and get over time. Longitudinal study was in need to tap into changes in the collocation uses with high-frequency verbs within timescale. This 24-week study aimed to investigate changes in V-N collocations with high-frequency verbs in terms of frequency, variety, and accuracy from DST perspective. Changes in inter-individual variations and intra-individual variabilities were examined in the current study. Fifteen undergraduate and graduate students from four universities in northern Taiwan were recruited. At two-week intervals, data were collected from elicited writing, one-on-one interviews, collocation tests, and written assignments from academic courses to profile changes in collocation knowledge across and within individuals over the research period. The results revealed that learners’ collocation uses with high-frequency verbs were relatively stable in frequency, variety, and accuracy. With more qualitative analysis, inter-individual variations and intra-individual variabilities in accuracy could be observed in the repetition of inter-individual and intra-individual repeated deviant V-N collocations with high-frequency verbs and in the various patterns of oscillation among correct, inter-individual, and intra-individual repeated deviant V-N collocations with high-frequency verbs. Limited amount of English writing, semantic transparency in collocations, delexicalized uses in high-frequency verbs, and slow pace of collocation development might possibly contribute to the relatively static state in collocation knowledge over 24 weeks.