The present study examined the receptive and productive knowledge of collocations of second language (L2) and heritage speakers of Korean and also investigated the influence of phrasal frequency, exposure to Korean, and phonological short-term memory (PSTM). Seventeen L2 learners and 14 heritage speakers of Korean were tested on 30 Korean noun-verb collocations, which varied in phrasal frequency, using an acceptability judgment task and a collocation completion test. The results showed that both L2 and heritage speakers demonstrated considerable receptive knowledge of Korean collocations while productive knowledge was more limited for both groups. The mixed-effects modelling results of four independent variables of interest (i.e., phrasal frequency, exposure via media, academic use, and PSTM) showed that phrasal frequency was the only significant predictor of receptive knowledge of collocations for both L2 and heritage speakers; none of the four factors had a significant impact on productive knowledge of collocations for either group. These data are discussed in relation to previous studies on collocation development of L2 learners and heritage speakers.

Developing small learner and native corpora, this case study examines how Korean L2 learners used six types of lexical collocations in L2 writing to address (a) the frequency and acceptability of learner collocations, (b) problematic constituents of deviant collocations, and (c) possible sources of the learner difficulties. The overall frequency (about 8% of each corpus) and relative frequencies of each collocation type were similar between the learner and native corpora in descending order of adjective-noun, verb-noun, noun-noun, adverb-verb, adverb-adjective, and noun-verb combinations. The average and individual acceptability rates of each collocation type were around 70% and the problematic constituents were found both in nodes and collocates. L2 influence on learner difficulties mostly lied in confusions about synonyms, overuse of delexical verbs, and use of correct collocations in wrong contexts. Relying on L1 semantic representations, the learners produced non-habitual combinations, misrepresented the intended meaning, and paraphrased L2 collocations. Pedagogical implications arose for teaching L2 collocations about the importance of considering the immediate context of L2 writing and taking different approaches to different types of collocations.

Collocational competence is important part of L2 English amplifier acquisition. This competence entails learners' ability to use the right combination of words with natural-sounding semantic prosody. It is known to be an integral part of mastering pragmatic function of L2 English vocabulary, which also is a challenge for the learners at the same time (Zhang, 2008). Despite the importance, previous studies on ESL/EFL learners' amplifier use lacked empirical evidence and insight about semantic prosody. The purpose of present learner corpora-based study was to fill the existing research gap by finding patterns of amplifiers. Two existing corpora were selected, coded, and analyzed to fulfill this purpose; they are Korean EFL learners and native speakers of English (NE). Results from analysis found Korean learners' overall underuse in amplifiers. Also, frequently occurring amplifier ranks for each corpus differed. Semantic prosody analysis revealed that amplifier associated with dominantly positive connotation were very, really, and highly. Amplifiers associated with dominantly negative connotation were extremely, absolutely, severely, and greatly. Contrast analysis showed that the only amplifier that Koreans and NEs used amplifier to signal same semantic prosody dominantly was severely (negative). Other than that, Koreans and NE showed salient discrepancies in semantic prosody use. The pedagogical implication of the present study is that vocabulary teaching need to include semantic prosody, and the first step will be to conduct ESL/EFL teacher education about it (Zhang, 2009). It's important to remind them of the value of semantic prosody in language communication (S Lee, 2011).

This study compares the collocation of Korean and Mongolian language, using the noun 'head', which indicates the part of body. The purpose of this study is to analyze the semantic and syntactic aspects coping of collocation and give the linguistic explanation to the regularly appearing collocation aspects coping.The collocations can be defined as a nuclear of collocation which has transparent meaning, and limited combination of old vocabulary, which has no transparent meaning. Korean noun 'head' participates in the collocation usually with the meanings such as 'part of body, hair, inside of the head, spirit'. Especially, the meaning 'hair' appears the most frequently. In this case, the meaning of the 'head' equals to 'us', not the 'tolgoi'. This is because, mongolian noun 'tolgoi' has no meaning of 'hair'. Only one exception exists, where 'wash the head/wash the hair' can be represented in mongolian collocation “tolgoi ugaah/u's ugaah”. (wash the head/wash the hair) Consequently, among the 31 korean collocations there can be 27 mongolian collocation corresponding forms. And 16(+1) of them are composed with meaning 'tolgoi'. Furthermore, this study analyzes the mongolian word 'tolgoi' as a starting point and searches for its collocation corresponding forms. Mongolian noun 'tolgoi' has participated in the collocations with the meanings such as 'part of the body, spirit'. Among 22 collocations with the word 'tolgoi', there exists 16 korean collocation corresponding forms. 14 of them were with the meaning 'head'. In comparing the lexical semantic representation, mongolian and korean collocations may be equal. But the verbal meaning is not equal. And there are occasions where collocation corresponding forms does not exist at all. In this case, they can be interpreted by free join or an independent word. Syntactically, korean and mongolian collocations have shown almost the same configuration.

Vocabulary expansion is essential for learners to gain proficiency in L2, but learners’ lexical knowledge has not drawn much research attention in SLA (Howarth, 1996). In an attempt to throw light on a neglected aspect of learners’ competence, this paper investigates the use of a lexical item in the writing corpora. In particular, it compares the frequency and distribution of intensifiers in the EFL corpus with those in a native English corpus. The result of the frequency analysis in the EFL corpus offers an evidence of significant overuse of the limited types of maximizers and boosters, which in turn result in the inflated frequency of intensifiers. Further, the present study uses the mutual information score to measure the strength of the bond between selected intensifiers and adjacent lexical items. The result does not clearly demonstrate associations between the intensifier and the adjacent words due to the small corpus size, but it provides some possible pedagogical implications for L2 teaching. The frequency information rather than the information on the strength of associations between intensifiers and adjacent words, for example, would be more helpful to EFL learners.

With the changing status of vocabulary, the notion of vocabulary has been broadened from single words to multi-word expressions or units. Many lexicologists focus on vocabulary rather than grammar, and maintain that these lexical units or collocations are the most powerful force in comprehension and production of language. Little action research, however, has been performed to identify the best practices and to aid students in learning English in a real classroom. Collocational approaches to vocabulary acquisition view the basic premise of language learning as noticing and acquiring multi-word units like individual words. Focusing on this concept, this research presents practical collocation teaching methods, beginning with a brief definition, the pedagogical implications, and the most commonly occurring collocations. It suggests eight collocation- teaching methods, to be directly used in classroom activities. Finally, implementation of the suggestions presented here will produce more meaningful and effective vocabulary learning activities so that the EFL learners acquire knowledge of the English language more communicatively.

This research deals with teaching techniques of the English vocabulary. The study reviews the characteristics of the vocabulary; what types of the vocabulary there are, what it means when we know a word and what aspect of words we teach. After discussing the theory of the vocabulary teaching, the study introduces sample vocabulary exercises developed by others and the author, and the results of English classes which was experimented on with emphasis on the vocabulary teaching. The study concludes that teaching English with emphasis on the vocabulary improves English proficiency and communicative competence as well. The study suggests that it be very helpful to have students understand the importance of vocabulary and learn vocabulary effectively and systematically to improve their English proficiency.