"Do you talk English?": A collocational analysis of "to speak" and "to talk"

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

1997

Author dc:creator

• Lai, Jennifer Chun-ning

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kachru, Yamuna

• Teaching English as Second Language
• ESL learners Collocations
• Linguistic competence
• Communicative competence

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright owned by the author.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125898

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125898