Chapter 1 the study of collocations

5.5  Summary of the Discussion 
 
 
With regard to the main questions in this study - is there development of 
collocational knowledge in L2 learners as their overall language proficiency 
develops; and are there any differences in development between and within 
proficiency levels? - the answer is affirmative.  There is significant development of 
collocational knowledge as overall language proficiency develops.  Evidence has 
been provided by both production (essay data) and knowledge of collocations 
(translation and blank-filling data).  The development of collocational knowledge 
has been defined in the differences in the use and knowledge of collocations 
between and within three different proficiency levels: post-beginners, 
intermediate, and post-intermediate. 
 
This study also explored what possible factors can account for the 
acquisition of English collocations by L2 learners, and whether there are 
identifiable patterns of acquisition of that part of vocabulary previously described 
as 'ruleless'.  As with most of the developmental studies, the main emphasis has 
been on describing the emerging patterns of acquisition of English collocations.  
The large number of structures examined by this study has led to the emergence of 
a number of different patterns of acquisition.  Where possible, explanations 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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pertaining to theories of second language acquisition have been provided with 
regard to specific patterns of acquisition.  The present study has shown that an 
overall explanation of lexical acquisition may require a modular theory of 
language acquisition with different modules on the grammatical complexity, 
learnability, processability, and developmental order of the different collocational 
structures. 
 
The ultimate aim of this study has been to shed light on the acquisition of 
collocations, which are considered an important aspect of L2 acquisition.   
 
In the next section, some pedagogical implications of the results of the 
present study are given.  It is hoped that the data can also provide language 
instructors with an anchor point in the teaching of English collocations.