{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125898"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125898","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"\"Do you talk English?\": A collocational analysis of \"to speak\" and \"to talk\"","abstract":"Some English as a Second Language (ESL) learners progress quite far in their skill with English grammar and vocabulary, yet they still lack the ability to communicate fluently in English. One of the keys to unlocking this mystery may lie in collocations, words which have a strong tendency to co­ occur. The typical model of linguistic competence has included grammar and vocabulary but has not particularly emphasized collocational usage. It is proposed that grammar and lexis alone are insufficient in developing linguistic and, subsequently, communicative competence in ESL learners. Therefore, contrastive collocational information is also needed to develop native-like fluency in English. Two particular lexical items which confuse ESL learners are the verbs \"to speak\" and \"to talk.\" A collocational analysis of these verbs will be provided along with implications and suggestions for teaching-collocations in the ESL classroom.","abstract_html":"Some English as a Second Language (ESL) learners progress quite far in their skill with English grammar and vocabulary, yet they still lack the ability to communicate fluently in English. One of the keys to unlocking this mystery may lie in collocations, words which have a strong tendency to co­ occur. The typical model of linguistic competence has included grammar and vocabulary but has not particularly emphasized collocational usage. It is proposed that grammar and lexis alone are insufficient in developing linguistic and, subsequently, communicative competence in ESL learners. Therefore, contrastive collocational information is also needed to develop native-like fluency in English. Two particular lexical items which confuse ESL learners are the verbs "to speak" and "to talk." A collocational analysis of these verbs will be provided along with implications and suggestions for teaching-collocations in the ESL classroom.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lai, Jennifer Chun-ning"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Teaching English as a Second Language","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kachru, Yamuna"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1997,"date_issued":"1997","date_published":"1997","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z","subjects":["Teaching English as Second Language","ESL learners Collocations","Linguistic competence","Communicative competence"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright owned by the author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125898","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kachru, Yamuna"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lai, Jennifer Chun-ning"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["1997"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teaching English as a Second Language"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Teaching English as Second Language","ESL learners Collocations","Linguistic competence","Communicative competence"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright owned by the author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125898"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Some English as a Second Language (ESL) learners progress quite far in their skill with English grammar and vocabulary, yet they still lack the ability to communicate fluently in English. One of the keys to unlocking this mystery may lie in collocations, words which have a strong tendency to co­ occur. The typical model of linguistic competence has included grammar and vocabulary but has not particularly emphasized collocational usage. It is proposed that grammar and lexis alone are insufficient in developing linguistic and, subsequently, communicative competence in ESL learners. Therefore, contrastive collocational information is also needed to develop native-like fluency in English. Two particular lexical items which confuse ESL learners are the verbs \"to speak\" and \"to talk.\" A collocational analysis of these verbs will be provided along with implications and suggestions for teaching-collocations in the ESL classroom."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"Do you talk English?\": A collocational analysis of \"to speak\" and \"to talk\""]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kachru, Yamuna"],"dc:creator":["Lai, Jennifer Chun-ning"],"dc:date":["1997"],"dc:description":["Some English as a Second Language (ESL) learners progress quite far in their skill with English grammar and vocabulary, yet they still lack the ability to communicate fluently in English. One of the keys to unlocking this mystery may lie in collocations, words which have a strong tendency to co­ occur. The typical model of linguistic competence has included grammar and vocabulary but has not particularly emphasized collocational usage. It is proposed that grammar and lexis alone are insufficient in developing linguistic and, subsequently, communicative competence in ESL learners. Therefore, contrastive collocational information is also needed to develop native-like fluency in English. Two particular lexical items which confuse ESL learners are the verbs \"to speak\" and \"to talk.\" A collocational analysis of these verbs will be provided along with implications and suggestions for teaching-collocations in the ESL classroom."],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125898"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright owned by the author."],"dc:subject":["Teaching English as Second Language","ESL learners Collocations","Linguistic competence","Communicative competence"],"dc:title":["\"Do you talk English?\": A collocational analysis of \"to speak\" and \"to talk\""],"dc:type":["Dissertation/Thesis","text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Teaching English as a Second Language"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:02Z"}