Corpus-based study of adjective-noun collocation in descriptive essays by algerian students of efl

Abstract EN

The present paper is a corpus-based study of the use adjective-noun collocations in the writing of Algerian students of English as a foreign language.

the corpus consists of 30 descriptive essays compiled as a classroom assignment.

a frequency-based approach was used to identify the most frequent adjective-noun pattern based on Howarth’s (1998) model of categorization of lexical collocations.

the study aims, inter alia to describe the factors influencing the production of these patterns as well as the strategies learners opt for when dealing with collocations.

the results demonstrated that 75% of the erroneous collocations are collocator-based error while 13% are collocate-based ones.

in addition, 57% of the errors are due to negative transfer from L1.

finally, the study recommends more explicit teaching of collocations in the Algerian university classes of English using corpus-based activities.