摘 要

搭配一直以来是语言学研究感兴趣的话题和实际英语教学中的重点，搭配水平被认为是区分母语者和外语学习者的方法之一。 对于中国英语学习者来说，英语词语搭配一直是一个重难点。搭配失误在中国英语学习者写作的主要错误中占很大比例，而动宾搭配失误又是主要的搭配失误之一。国内外学者专家对搭配失误都进行过各种角度的研究，本文将运用错误分析相关理论，对采集的本科生和研究生的写作语料样本进行分析， 统计样本中的动宾搭配错误数量并对所有的错误根据特征进行分类，在对总体进行分析后比较本科生和研究生的数据 发现研究生群体总体和各类型错误数量较少，两组学习者写作中出现的动宾搭配错误的相同点是其中受母语影响和直接翻译导致的错误最多， 在最后的部分本文也根据错误的特征给出了一些相应的教学建议。

关键词：动宾搭配；错误分析；英语学习者

Abstract

Collocation is always a topic of interest in linguistic research and an important part in the practical English teaching and learning. Collocation proficiency is regarded as one of the way that differentiate native speakers from foreign English learners. To Chinese EFL learners, the collocation in English is difficult to learn and the collocation errors take a large proportion in the writing errors. The verb/object collocation error is the main part in the colocation errors. This study analyzes the writing samples from undergraduates and graduates English writing, collecting the verb/object collocation errors and classified them into different types according to the characteristics of the errors. Besides, this thesis compares the errors made by two different learner groups and the results show that graduates commit much less errors than undergraduates. And the similarity of the two group is that mother tongue’s influence takes largest percentage in all the error categories. Suggestions for collocation teaching and learning is also provided in conclusion based on the results in the study.

Key Words: verb/object collocation; Error Analysis; English learners

Contents

1. Introduction 1
   1. The Background of the Study 1
   2. The Purpose of the Study 1
   3. Structure of the Thesis 2
2. Literature Review 3
   1. Error Analysis 3
   2. Definition and Studies of Collocation 4
   3. Classification of Collocation Errors Based on CLEC 5
3. Research Methodology 7
   1. Research Questions 7
   2. Data Collection 7
   3. Classification of Errors 7
   4. Procedure of Analysis 8
4. Results 9
   1. Comparison Between Two Groups as a Whole 9
   2. Comparison Between Two Groups by Each Category 10
5. Discussion 12
6. Conclusion 13
   1. Summary 13
   2. Suggestion for Collocation Teaching and Learning 13
   3. Limitation in Present Study and Suggestion for Further Research 14

References 15

Acknowledgements 17

A Study on the Verb/Object Collocation Errors in Chinese EFL Learners' Writing

1 Introduction

This chapter is to give a brief introduction about this paper, including the research background, the purpose and significance of the study. Also, the structure of the thesis is listed afterwards.

The Background of the Study

For English language learners, vocabulary is one of the important standard that indicates their language proficiency. In China, to grasp the correct usage of vocabulary is still a big challenge for English learners, even for the undergraduates or graduates with English learning experience for more than ten years. The difficulty not only lies in the learners’ lack of the acquired vocabulary, but also lies in the shortage of certain vocabulary collocation ability. For example, the verb is an indispensable part in every language and the verb/object collocation is a key and difficult point in learning. In most cases, the lack of collocation knowledge is the reason why many students have acquired a large number of vocabulary but still cannot speak or write English as native speakers do.

Collocation is a topic of great interest in contemporary linguistics, especially corpus linguistics. And in the Second Language Acquisition field, the collocation knowledge is a very important aspect of word knowledge (for example: Laufer, 1997; N. Ellis,1997; Erik amp; Shaw, 2001). And collocation plays a crucial role in facilitating native-like fluency and helping learners choose appropriate language expressions. Researches and literatures on collocation are limited in verb and noun collocations.

The Purpose of the Study

Some studies have focused on non- English majors’ verb noun collocation errors based on CLEC (Chinese Learner English Corpus) so far. This thesis studies the verb/object collocation