an evaluation of blueprint b 3
TRANSCRIPT
Örebro University
Department of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
English
How well do textbooks cover collocations?
An evaluation of Blueprint B 3.0
Author: Carl Wiström
Degree Project Essay
Term 8
Supervisor: Dr. Hayo Reinders
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Abstract
Collocations receive considerable interest in the second language acquisition literature, with a
growing interest in the way they are covered in English as a foreign language (EFL)
textbooks. Despite this, corresponding studies in the Swedish context are sparse. The aim of
this study was therefore to evaluate one of the most popular textbooks used in Swedish EFL
classrooms, Blueprint B 3.0, by identifying how it covers collocations in terms of frequency
and mode of presentation and how the collocational profile aligns with best practices as
recommended in the existing literature. A total of 529 unique collocations were identified, of
which 35 were targeted in exercises. The selection of collocations given explicit attention
follows recommendations from the literature in terms of type, but not in terms of frequency,
as less than half of the targeted multi-word units could not be identified as collocations with
the Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus (2013) and none with the list of first 100
collocations (Nation & Shin, 2007). As for mode of presentation, the identified exercises did
not follow recommendations, and by design increased the risk of learner error. I discuss a
number of pedagogical implications for teachers and textbook authors and offer some
suggestions for future research in this area.
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction 4
1.1 Research Questions 5
2. Literature review 5
2.1 What are collocations? 6
2.2 The importance of collocations 6
2.3 Learning collocations 7
2.4 Teaching collocations 8
2.4.1 What kind of collocations? 8
2.4.2 Frequency of collocations 9
2.4.3 Introducing collocations 9
2.4.4 Best practices 10
2.5 Collocations in Textbooks 12
2.6 Situation in Sweden 13
3. Methodology 14
3.1 Material evaluation 15
3.2 Selection of textbook 16
3.3 Procedure 16
3.4 Implications 19
4. Findings 19
4.1 Identified Collocations 19
4.1.1 Collocations identified with the Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus 19
4.1.2 Collocations identified with the list of 100 most common collocations in Spoken English 20
4.1.3 Summary 20
4.2 Information and exercises on collocations 22
4.2.1 Information about collocations 22
4.2.2 Exercises introducing and offering practice in collocations 22
4.2.3 Exercises containing collocations 25
4.2.4 Summary 26
4.3 Checklist of criteria 26
4.3.1 Summary 30
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5. Discussion 31
5.1 Blueprint B 3.0 31
5.2 Pedagogical Implications 36
5.3 Limitations of study 36
5.4 Future Research Implications 37
6. Conclusion 37
References 37
Appendix 1 43
Appendix 2 76
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1. Introduction
Researchers in the field of second language learning have been interested in collocations for
decades, with recommendations for how they can best be taught dating back to the seventies
(e.g. Brown, 1974). With a continuously growing interest, collocations have been researched
extensively to date, ranging from studies trying to uncover the nature of developing
collocational knowledge (e.g. Choi, 2017; Toomer & Elgort, 2019) to attempts to discover
effective methods for teaching collocations in L2 classrooms (e.g. Goudarzi & Moini, 2012;
Hennebry, Rogers, Macaro & Murphy, 2017). This trend has its origin in the consensus that
collocational knowledge is valuable to second language learners (Durrant & Schmitt, 2009;
Howarth, 19981). Despite widespread and longstanding interest in establishing the most
appropriate methods for teaching collocations in second language learning in other countries,
there seems to be a lack of corresponding research on and in Swedish upper-secondary
schools (Snoder, 2019).
The lack of attention directed to collocations could be traced back to the curriculum from the
Swedish Ministry of Education, which does not explicitly mention collocations before its
revision, which will take effect next year (Skolverket, 2011, 2019). Collocations are
mentioned under ‘reception’ in the core contents for English 6: “Hur variation och anpassning
som skapas genom meningsbyggnad, ordbildning och val av ord, till exempel regionala
varianter och kollokationer, i informella och formella sammanhang” (‘How variation and
adaptation is created through sentence structure, creation and choice of words, for example
regional variations and collocations, in informal and formal contexts’), (Skolverket Slutgitligt
förslag för kusplan engelska, 2019, p. 5)2. Since this content is categorized under reception,
the Swedish ministry of education seems to consider collocations to be of most interest in
relation to receptive vocabulary knowledge. Though, despite not being explicitly mentioned,
collocations can be argued to be a crucial part of a core content under ‘production and
interaction’ in English 6: “Språkliga företeelser, däribland uttal, vokabulär, grammatiska
strukturer och meningsbyggnad, stavning, textbindning, inre och yttre struktur samt
anpassning, i elevernas egen produktion och interaktion” (‘Linguistic phenomena, including
pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical and sentence structure, spelling, cohesion, internal
and external structure and adaptation, in students’ own production and interaction’)
1ButseeReynolds(2019)foranalternativeview.2Alltranslationsfromthenationalcurriculumaremine.
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(Skolverket Slutgitligt förslag för kusplan engelska, 2019, p.6). Therefore, it would be of
great interest to also examine productive collocational knowledge.
The revision from the Swedish ministry of education will require teachers to consider the way
collocations are taught in the English classroom in Swedish upper-secondary schools. In this
process, textbooks can function as a guide for teachers. Textbooks have been described as
“the backbone for English language education” (Işik, 2018, p.797). Therefore, it is important
to examine whether the teaching approaches in textbooks match recommendations from
current research, especially since collocations are a part of vocabulary that has been shown to
be both important and difficult for second language learners to acquire. Research on learning
English collocations for Swedish L1 users does exist (e.g. Gyllstad, 2007; Snoder, 2019), but
few studies about collocations in textbooks for English education in Sweden have been
conducted, with the exception of Hammarsten (2014). This suggests a gap in the body of
research on collocations in the context of English education in Sweden, where an evaluation
of the collocational profile in textbooks would offer beneficial contributions for developing
effective materials for teachers to use in the classroom. Following trends for collocation
exercises in English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks, as reported by Boers and Strong
(2017), Swedish textbooks should heavily rely on exercises working with broken-up
collocations.
1.1 Research Questions
Consequently, this degree project essay aims to answer the following research questions:
1) How do Swedish EFL textbooks cover collocations in terms of a) frequency, and b) mode
of presentation?
2) How does the collocational profile of Swedish EFL textbooks align with best practices as
recommended by existing literature?
2. Literature review
In this section we define collocations and give a working definition for this research paper.
We also present research on learning and teaching collocations, studies about collocations in
textbooks and an overview of the situation in Sweden.
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2.1 What are collocations?
Although collocations are commonly described as two or more words frequently co-occurring
(Henriksen, 2013; Pellicer-Sánchez, 2017), there are multiple ways of defining the
phenomenon of words collocating with each other. Yule (2010) suggests the following
definition: ”a relationship between words that frequently occur together” (p. 284), which like
the general description lacks the depth of clarification researchers in the field deem necessary.
Nesselhauf (2005) offers us two views of the term collocation. One is the phraseological
approach, viewing collocations as semi-fixed combinations of words. The other is a
frequency-based approach, which views collocations as closely co-occurring words, further
distinguishing between high and low frequency. For this research paper however, Nation’s
(2001) definition of collocations as “items frequently occurring together and with some
degree of semantic unpredictability.” (2001, p.517) will be used. This decision is motivated
by both the inclusive range this explanation gives, and the fact that it, like Nation (2001)
mentions, creates a clear connection between collocational knowledge and native-like use of
English.
2.2 The importance of collocations
Both Basal (2019) and Boers, Lindstromberg and Eyckmans (2014b) describe collocations as
a growing area within research on second language learning. A reason for this could well be
the consensus that collocations are important to learn for second language learners. Multiple
researchers describe collocational knowledge as important for the development of language
proficiency and fluency (Basal, 2019; Pellicer-Sánchez, 2017; Rogers, 2018; Zaabalawi &
Gould, 2017). Researchers also report collocations to be difficult for second language learners
(Basal, 2019). Boers, Lindstromberg and Eyckmans (2014b) describe how second language
learners’ acquisition of collocational knowledge is slow, a claim supported by the findings of
Teng’s (2018) study, showing collocations to be the most difficult part of vocabulary for
learners to acquire. In contrast, Pellicer-Sanchéz’s (2017) research found that collocations are
learned at a similar rate as other aspects of vocabulary, though the study only examined
incidental learning of collocations. Another aspect of difficulty in relation to collocations is
usage. Laufer and Waldman (2011) examined the usage of verb-noun collocations of second
language learners at three proficiency levels. The results indicated that only the number of
collocations in production increased at higher proficiency, but that the rate of correct usage of
collocations stayed the same, showing that even advanced learners of English as a second
language have problems with accurate production of collocations.
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2.3 Learning collocations
There are multiple studies of incidental learning of collocations, where results seem to be
split. On the one hand, studies like Farshi, Tavakoli and Ketabi’s (2019), examining how
different types of input affect incidental learning and retention of collocations in second
language classrooms, show that collocations can be learned incidentally. In accordance with
this, a study regarding incidental learning of collocations from reading, conducted by Pellicer-
Sánchez (2017), shows that collocational knowledge is learned at the same rate as other
lexical components. On the other hand, there is a range of opposing studies claiming that the
incidental acquisition of collocational knowledge, for example through reading, is limited. For
example, Boers and Lindstromberg (2009) examined the frequency of collocations consisting
of strong verbs and nouns in a thriller novel and concluded that the word-pairs occurred more
than once only to a very little extent, leading to suboptimal conditions for readers to recognize
word-pairs as solid collocations. In addition to this, other studies also found that reading had a
relatively low effect on acquiring collocations (Teng, 2018). In line with these findings,
Boers, Lindstromberg and Eyckmans (2014b) explore obstacles for incidental acquisition of
collocations, where attention is posed both as critical for memory retention and as
insufficiently supported in incidental acquisition. From their study aiming to investigate the
retention of collocations, Boers, Lindstromberg and Eyckmans (2014b) ultimately drew
conclusions supporting the justification for explicit approaches for teaching collocations.
Agreeing with the substantial limitations of incidental acquisition of collocations, findings
from Zaferanieh and Behrooznia’s (2011) study show a significant performance improvement
from explicit collocation instruction in comparison with implicit instruction. Therefore, even
though there are studies asserting positive results for incidental acquisition of collocations, a
majority of studies advocate explicit approaches to teaching.
For learning vocabulary in general, including collocations, Nation (2001) explains three
psychological conditions: noticing, retrieving, and generating. Noticing is described as a
process where learners' attention is directed to an item and should contribute to awareness of
the item’s usefulness. Nation (2001) also emphasizes decontextualization in relation to
noticing, where the deliberate focus is not given to the whole message of language, but to
individual language items, for example when the teacher provides a definition or translation
of a word. For the reinforcement of noticed language items in our memory, Nation (2001) also
suggests that retrieval is necessary. This process occurs either in input, where readers meet the
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form of a word and need to retrieve the meaning, or in output, when readers have the meaning
of a word and need to retrieve the form. The last presented condition for learning is generative
use, which in reception happens when learners meet the same word in different usage and
context and in production when learners use words in different contexts.
2.4 Teaching collocations
For teaching collocations, a distinction must be made between exercises ‘containing’,
‘introducing’ and ‘offering practice’ on collocations. Exercises containing collocations
without mentioning them belong to implicit learning, while exercises introducing and offering
practice on collocations belong to explicit learning.
2.4.1 What kind of collocations?
While researchers agree on the notion that collocations are an important aspect of second
language learning, they distinguish between different kinds of collocations in their studies,
trying to expand the knowledge base of the most valuable types of collocations for the
practice of second language learning. Based on the findings from three studies constituting his
thesis, Snoder (2019) presents three types of collocation as especially important for second
language learning: verb-noun, adjective-noun and adverb-adjective collocations. Snoder
(2019) supports this by highlighting a directed focus on the three types of collocations in
studies conducted by both L2 vocabulary researchers and applied linguists. To determine the
order of introducing different types of collocations, Nizonkiza and van de Poel (2014)
conducted a study examining the difficulty of adjective-noun and verb-noun collocation, as
well as the size of collocations across levels of proficiency in EFL learners. The collocations
were selected from different word bands, according to Nation’s (2006) chronological list of
words for vocabulary acquisition structured in 1000-intervals. The results revealed that
adjective-noun collocations were more difficult than verb-noun collocations, although neither
B2 nor C1 level learners had any serious problems with either type of collocation within the
2000-word band. Nizkonzia and van de Poel (2014) therefore drew the conclusion that the
type, restricted to adjective-noun and verb-noun collocations, does not matter when selecting
the order of which collocations should be taught. They did, however, recommend going
beyond the 2000-word band for the upper-intermediate level (B2).
Another resource for selecting collocations is the list of 100 most common collocations in
spoken English (Nation & Shin, 2007), based on words with the highest frequency in the
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spoken section of the British National Corpus. The criteria for inclusion were both based on
frequency and collocation types to promote useful items on the list. Since the source of items
was spoken language, the list is described to contain a range from formal to informal speech,
with some collocations being characteristic for British English.
2.4.2 Frequency of collocations
In addition to type of collocation, the number of times learners are exposed to the same
collocation is of interest to researchers. Some researchers, like Lee (2008), state that the
average exposure in terms of number of collocations and the intervals between occurrences
needed for effective acquisition of collocations are difficult to determine. Since then, multiple
researchers have examined this further. Peters (2014) conducted a study comparing the recall
of single words and collocations after one, three and five occurrences for learners. From the
results it was concluded that the group which encountered the collocations five times had a
major increase in recalling collocations compared to the group only encountering collocations
once. The importance of the number of encounters for collocation learning was also explored
by Webb, Newton and Chang (2013). In the study, learners were divided into four groups and
were exposed to collocations in reading and listening, with 1, 5, 10 and 15 encounters,
respectively. Results showed that increasing the number of encounters had a significant effect
on learning collocations, especially for the group with 15 encounters.
2.4.3 Introducing collocations
One of the recommendations for explicit teaching is to raise awareness of collocations in
different ways. Fan (2009) suggests that L2 learners should be made aware of their own
collocational use through raising awareness of differences in collocational use between their
L1 and L2, leading to both more sensitivity in noticing collocations in reception and being
ready to include collocations in production. To promote noticing by input enhancement has
been recommended by numerous previous studies. For example, highlighting (Tsai, 2014) and
recycling collocations (Lee, 2008; Tsai, 2014). Fazlali and Shanini (2019) conducted research
on the effect of consciousness-raising and input enhancement on increasing collocation
knowledge. Both methods included drawing attention to collocations by bolding them and
providing explanations of unknown collocations, including meaning, synonyms and L1
translations. In the consciousness-raising group, students worked with tasks explicitly in
relation to collocations, for example writing summaries of texts only using collocations. In the
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input enhancement group, students worked with tasks implicitly in relation to collocations, for
example answering reading comprehension where questions or answers included collocations.
Results from the study showed that enhanced input had a significant effect on lexical, but not
grammatical collocations. For the consciousness-raising instruction, however, a significant
increase for all collocations was found. Recommendations therefore included that teachers
design tasks where students notice features of collocations, especially how words form
collocations.
Further along the line of introducing collocations with information about them, Snoder (2019)
advocates introducing terminology of collocations to enable metalinguistic awareness,
especially for advanced learners. Although recognizing the complexity of terminology in
research, Snoder (2019) deems terms like “node” and “collocate” as necessary for both
teachers and learners to select, identify, and discuss collocations. Therefore, these terms are to
be considered of high value to be introduced and used in teaching of collocations.
Introducing collocations as intact units, or chunks, has been associated with benefits for
second language learners. Boers, Demecheeler, Coxhead and Webb (2014) conducted a study
comparing different exercises for teaching verb-noun collocations. In this study, one of the
aspects compared in different exercises was whether the collocations presented to learners
were intact or broken-up. Conclusions support presenting collocations as intact units, which
resulted in less error than exercises requiring learners to reunite collocations. In a study
examining the relationship between the noticing of collocational structures in reading and the
usage of them, Zabalaawi and Gould’s (2017) findings support working with collocations as
chunks and not separate words co-occurring. In a study of EFL textbooks, Tsai (2014)
concluded that collocations also are to be introduced in their natural context, where learners
can see the normal usage of the collocations.
2.4.4 Best practices
Boers and Strong (2017) present an overview of research on exercises in EFL textbooks that
aim to develop learners’ productive collocational skills. The authors report an increase in
research on collocations in the last 20 years, explained partially by the progress within corpus
linguistics and psycholinguistics, leading to discoveries of multi-word items’ natural
occurrence in language and impact on fluency. Furthermore, the importance and difficulty for
foreign language learners to acquire collocational knowledge is presented as a justification for
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designing pedagogic materials with an explicit directed attention towards collocations. On the
other hand, the authors describe the results of studies examining the effect on retention of
collocations based on learner’s directed attention as non-conclusive. Advocating the addition
of cognitive elements to the learning process of collocation, the authors stand positive to the
trend of textbooks including exercises in addition to promoting noticing in-text. Furthermore,
it is explained that the popular exercises in textbooks which require learners to determine
which set of multi-word items are correct and incorrect are based on the belief that learners
will retain the right combinations of words while forgetting the wrong ones. The authors
refrain from asserting the selection of collocations but offer the recommendation that
collocations to target should be chosen with difficulty and usefulness of given expressions in
mind. The range of advice based on research for collocation exercises in textbooks is
described as sparse, but the authors set out to review the studies available.
With a starting point in research of errorless learning in general (e.g Baddeley & Wilson,
1994; Warmington & Hitch, 2014) and specifically learning collocations (Boers,
Demecheeler, Coxhead and Webb, 2014; Boers, Deconick & Stengers, 2015), Boers and
Strong (2017) develop the claim that minimizing errors in textbook collocation exercises is of
utmost importance. Testing how effective different ‘reunite broken-up collocation’ exercises
are, Boers, Demecheeler, Coxhead and Webb (2014) found that learners’ mistakes in
exercises lead to faulty use of collocations later as well. From this perspective, Boers and
Strong (2017) present aspects and types of exercises that can cause errors for learners,
including reuniting broken-up collocations (Boers, Demecheeler, Coxhead and Webb, 2014)
and presenting semantically similar items (Webb & Kagimoto, 2011). The authors indicate
themselves that exercises as ‘find the odd one out’ and ‘find the mistake’ also may be inclined
to cause error. The results from the presented study by Boers et al. (2015) reveal a positive
effect for presenting model use of expressions to students before they initiate exercises,
though Boers and Strong (2017) are not convinced that the gain was enough on its own. To
explain this, the authors present several sources (Kang, 2010; Stengers, Deconinck, Boers, &
Eyckmans, 2016; Schmitt, 2008) which indicate that simply providing right answers to copy
can discourage engagement from students. Therefore, the authors advocate exercises that
minimize the risk of error and at the same time promote engagement. Boers and Strong (2017)
present recommendations on how to achieve this, for example by encouraging learners to look
up information of collocations themselves in collocation dictionaries (Komuro, 2009) or
corpus-based resources (Chen, 2011; Gao, 2011). On the same note, the authors make their
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own recommendation of having learners explore targeted collocations in context before
initiating exercises.
Furthermore, it is recommended to work with intact collocations, as the results from Boers,
Demecheeler, Coxhead and Webb’s (2014) study indicated that exercises with intact
collocations resulted in less errors than exercises with broken-up collocations. To make words
memorable the authors recommend, though yet to be tested in research, to give hints in ‘fill
the gaps’ exercises by providing the first letter of the missing word. Other ways presented to
promote vocabulary, specifically expressions being remembered by learners, is to draw
attention to alliteration, rhyme and near-rhyme in collocations, as proven beneficial by Boers,
Lindstromberg and Eyckmans (2014a; 2014c). Boers and Strong (2017) concludes that
learning new collocations by the means of textbook exercises can be difficult and that these
exercises should serve to reinforce knowledge of already introduced collocations.
2.5 Collocations in Textbooks
A few studies have examined the learning and teaching of collocations, specifically in
textbooks. Wang and Good (2007) investigated the repetition of collocations in textbooks for
EFL learners and found that 80% of verb-noun collocations identified in three textbooks, were
only repeated between one and five times. Conclusions from the results included that
approximately five to six verb-noun collocations would be taught per lesson when following
the three textbooks. Similarly, Tsai (2014) conducted a study to explore profiles of EFL
textbooks for verb-noun collocations. For frequency, the results showed that collocations
occurred 21.21, 22.24 and 27.52 times per 1000 words in the three examined textbooks. For
diversity, the collocations were compared to an exhaustive list of verified collocations types,
resulting in a coverage of 7.07%, 6.24%, and 7.2% for the three textbooks. Accounting for
text length, the number of collocation types per 1000 words was also calculated: 10.37, 10.72
and 11.44 respectively for each textbook. The third aspect examined was the recycling of
collocations. Here the results revealed that 90% of the collocations across all textbooks were
repeated fewer than five times, and that circa 60% was not repeated at all. In comparison, the
profile of identified collocations in the textbooks was also found to correspond to the written
production of native speakers.
Nation (2007) describes a framework for categorizing learning opportunities in language
courses. The framework consists of four strands, in which all language learning exercises can
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be classified. The strands are described through their learning conditions for their individual
focus, expressed as pedagogical principles. Three of the strands are meaning-focused,
working with language mostly familiar to the learners, in large quantities and with attention
directed to comprehending or communicating meaning. The meaning-focused input is
restricted to reading and listening, and the meaning-focused output is restricted to speaking
and writing. The third meaning-focus strand is fluency development, which includes all four
language skills and works with language completely familiar to learners. The fourth strand is
language-focused learning, which, as Nation (2007) describes, can have many names such as
focus on form and intentional learning, and focus on deliberate attention to language features.
The prerequisites for this strand include that learners’ attention is deliberately directed to
specific language features with deep reflection, and that the features are given repeated
attention while not being dependent on knowledge which learners do not have.
Further distinguishing between different exercises, Nation (2001) introduces the terms
‘receptive’ and ‘productive’ vocabulary knowledge. In terms of collocations, Nation (2001)
explains receptive knowledge as recognizing appropriate collocations and productive as
producing words with appropriate collocations. Studies comparing receptive and productive
learning relation to collocational knowledge are sparse, though, Webb and Kagimoto (2009)
examine the effects of receptive and productive learning collocations. The findings of this
study indicate that productive learning is overall more beneficial than receptive for more
advanced learners, if one type of learning must be preferred.
2.6 Situation in Sweden
Wolter and Gyllstad (2013) conducted a study to compare the collocational processing for
non-native speakers with Swedish as L1 and native speakers. Participants with Swedish as L1
were determined to have high proficiency in English, with a vocabulary comparable to the
higher levels of the CEFR framework. An acceptability judgement task was carried out, where
participants were measured for time and accuracy in deciding whether a two-word item was
commonly used in English or not. The results indicated that there were considerable
frequency effects for non-native speakers’ collocational processing, for both congruent and
incongruent collocations. Furthermore, a positive influence from the L1 was found in
processing congruent collocations compared to incongruent. It was concluded that both
frequency and L1 have an effect on collocational processing for non-native speakers with
Swedish as L1, specifically for speakers with high proficiency in English.
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While the aim of Wolter and Gyllstad’s (2013) study was to investigate how non-native
English speakers with Swedish as L1 process collocations, Snoder (2019) studies how
vocabulary and collocations are taught in the English classroom of Swedish schools. He
reports that wordlists with a focus on single words dominate the explicit vocabulary teaching
in Sweden. Further on this aspect, the results from one part of Snoder’s (2019) study showed
that the model of decontextualized lists of collocations with consecutive tests was effective
for deliberate learning. Another indication was that lexical collocations should be given extra
focus out of all formulaic language types since they are important for communicating
meaning as well as heavily used by native speakers.
An earlier study of collocations in the English subject in Sweden was conducted by
Hammarsten (2014), with the aim to explore teachers’ awareness of, and attitudes towards,
collocations and the support given by materials such as textbooks. To examine this, a survey
and a textbook analysis was conducted, as well as interviews carried out with four teachers,
three of them operating in the upper-secondary school. The survey gave insight into teachers’
view of incorrect use of collocations among their students, and showed that teachers rated
collocational mistakes low on a scale of written mistakes, being less important than, for
example, mistakes like “does/doesn’t” and “false friends”. Answers from interviews, along
with findings from the textual analysis of two textbooks used by the teachers, resulted in a
description of teachers’ knowledge of collocations, teachers’ attitudes toward the support their
textbooks offered on collocations and the extent to which textbooks provided information and
exercises on collocations. In the interviews, teachers expressed that they did not have lesson
plans for collocations, nor did they think that teaching collocations was important for lower-
achieving students. The interviews also revealed that teachers did not have a clear definition
of collocations, and that it was often confused with idiomatic expressions. The textbook
analysis showed that only one of two textbooks, Blueprint B 2.0, contained collocation
exercises and that it only accounted for four out of sixty exercises present. All the four
exercises prompted students to find a word that often occurs with another word, without any
explanation of what a collocation is.
3. Methodology
As described in the introduction and literature review, research on collocations in the context
of English education in Swedish upper-secondary school is limited, with research on
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collocations specifically in textbooks being even more so. Since collocations are shown to be
of great importance in second language learning, along with the new explicit directives from
the Swedish Ministry of Education on teaching collocations, this study aims to fill an
important gap in current research by examining how textbooks’ inclusion of collocations
aligns with recommendations from recent research.
3.1 Material evaluation
There are multiple ways of evaluating educational material and to choose between one or
another is primarily based on the purpose of the evaluation. One recommended option in
materials evaluation is to determine criteria, presented in checklists. These works consist of
questions and statements used for evaluating textbooks, which should be based on underlying
principles of language teaching and acquisition (Tomlinson, 2012). Since the aim of this study
is to evaluate how the chosen textbook selects, provides information of, introduces, and offers
practice in collocations in comparison to recommendations from research, the checklist would
have to be based on said research. This means that general checklists (e.g. Işik, 2018) would
not suffice to answer the research questions. As Boers and Strong (2017) report, the range of
research for exercises on collocations in textbooks is limited, making the accessible checklists
for evaluation of collocation exercises even slimmer. Therefore, recommendations for best
practices of teaching collocations will be the foundation for creating a pre-use evaluation list
of criteria, in agreement with Tomlinson’s (2013) guidelines for creating and evaluating
criteria in materials development.
The best practices from Boers and Strong (2017) will be used as the base for
recommendations, since 1) it is a recent publication by renowned authors, and 2) it reviews
the research available on collocation exercises in textbooks. However, since it is not an
exhaustive overview of research on collocations, specifically lacking in discussing the
selection of collocations, other sources will be used to complement the best practices.
Recommendations for the recycling of collocations are provided by Peters (2014) and Webb
et al. (2013). In selection, recommendations are provided by Nizonkiza and van de Poel
(2014), Snoder (2019), Nation and Shin (2007) and Nation (2006). For categorizing exercises,
Nation’s (2007) framework of the four strands, and terminology of receptive and productive
knowledge (Nation, 2001) will be used.
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3.2 Selection of textbook
The initial selection of textbooks was made by performing a google search for “läromedel
engelska 6 gymnasiet” to get an overview of all possible candidates. From the top 15 hits,
publishers and available textbooks for English 6 were identified. To determine which
textbooks would be most suitable for the evaluation, first we considered “Is it representative
of the genre?” to ensure that the selected materials could represent the full range of textbooks
available in the country. Therefore, the selected textbook is specifically developed for the
curriculum in Swedish upper-secondary schools. Next, we considered for each possible
candidate for inclusion “Is it a popular textbook?”. This question is more difficult to answer
since like others have reported (Demir, 2010), no records are being kept of which textbooks
are used in Swedish schools. Furthermore, the publishers of textbooks do not share their
statistics of bestselling books, which makes it difficult to obtain information on which
textbooks are most popular. As an alternative, a small e-mail survey was conducted. The
question of which textbook is used, was sent to 45 active English teachers in the upper-
secondary school. Based on the answers from teachers and reasoning around these two big
questions, the following textbook has been chosen for the evaluation: Blueprint B Version 3.0
(Lundfall & Nyström, 2018).
One point needs to be discussed regarding the chosen textbook, which is that a previous
analysis of a ‘Blueprint’ textbook has been done by Hammarsten (2014). However, this
analysis was 1) conducted on an earlier edition of the ‘Blueprint’ textbook for English 6, and
2) focusing on the information about collocations provided in the textbook. Therefore, this
study will contribute with a deeper and broader perspective beyond information of
collocations, including an evaluation of the selection of collocations, as well as introduction
and teaching of collocations. By evaluating a newer edition of the same textbook, this study
will also be able to provide an insight into the development from the textbook's authors by
comparing the identified collocation exercises.
3.3 Procedure
The type of evaluation is ‘pre-use evaluation’ since it predicts the possibilities and limitations
of the material, without observing learners use it. To make a pre-use evaluation less
subjective, Tomlinson (2013) suggests using principled criteria. Tomlinson’s (2013)
instructions on materials evaluation were used to create the checklist, phrasing evaluation
17
questions based on the best practice paper of Boers and Strong (2017), with possible answers
on a scale from 1-5. Analysis questions were constructed to determine what the textbook
contained and not, with yes and no as the only possible answers, building a foundation for
answering the evaluation questions. Below is the step-by-step procedure of this study,
structured by the research questions.
How do Swedish EFL textbooks cover collocations in terms of frequency?
1. Identify collocations in the textbook with the Longman Collocations Dictionary and
Thesaurus (2013).
2. Identify collocations in the textbook with the list of 100 most common collocations in
spoken English (Nation & Shin, 2007).
3. Cross-reference words in targeted collocations in 10.000-word bands for learning
vocabulary (Nation, 2006).3
How do Swedish EFL textbooks cover collocations in terms of mode of presentation?
4. Identify information about collocations in the textbook.
5. Identify exercises containing collocations in the textbook.
6. Identify exercises which explicitly introduce and offer practice in collocations.
How does the collocational profile of Swedish EFL textbooks align with best practices as
recommended by existing literature?
7. Apply the checklist of criteria to the findings from the previous steps.
Table 1
The compiled checklist of criteria
Evaluation questions
Analysis questions
To what extent does the textbook provide explicit attention to useful collocations?
Are targeted collocations of the type “verb-noun”?
Are targeted collocations of the type “adjective-noun”?
Are targeted collocations of the type “adverb-adjective”?
Do the collocations include words beyond the 2000-word band?
Are targeted collocations found in the list for 100 most common collocations?
3The lists from Nation (2006) are retrieved from https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/paul-nation 2020-05-22
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To what extent does the textbook provide information about collocations?
Does the textbook make learners aware of L1-L2 differences?
Does the textbook introduce terminology of collocations?
Does the textbook provide etymological elaboration of collocations?
To what extent does the textbook introduce collocations to effectively facilitate learning?
Do collocation exercises point out the presence of alliteration in collocations?
Do collocation exercises point out the presence of rhyme in collocations?
Do collocation exercises point out the presence of near-rhyme in collocations?
Are collocations presented in their contextualized use before targeted in exercises?
Do targeted collocation recur 5 or more times?
To what extent is the textbook likely to provide collocation exercises that ensure sufficient engagement?
Do collocation exercises urge learners to look for the required information themselves in collocation dictionaries?
Do collocation exercises urge learners to look for the required information themselves in corpus-based resources?
To what extent are the collocation exercises in the textbook likely to minimize the risk of error?
Do collocation exercises give learners access to model input to mime for the correct answers?
Are learners given hints in the exercise items?
Do collocation exercises work with intact collocations?
To what extent is the collocation exercises in the textbook likely to increase the risk of error?
Do collocation exercises require learners to reunite broken-up pairs?
Do collocation exercises ask learners to find the odd one out?
Do collocation exercises target multiple new collocations in one go?
Do collocation exercises generate errors?
Do collocation exercises rely on corrective feedback?
Do exercises contain collocations with semantically similar words?
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3.4 Implications
The findings from this study will help teachers, and potentially textbooks authors to get an
overview of the possibilities and limitations of textbooks in the present market regarding
teaching collocations. In depth, this study will provide an insight into the collocational profile
of Blueprint B 3.0 in terms of selection, information, introduction, and practice on
collocations in relation to best practice recommendations. This will help teachers to consider
the usage of the textbook in question and the authors for potential material development areas.
4. Findings
This section presents findings from the textbook Blueprint B 3.0 (Lundfall & Nyström, 2018).
The first section presents identified collocations in the text, vocabulary lists and exercises,
with the help of 1) the Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus (2013) and 2) the List
of 100 most common collocations in spoken English (Nation & Shin, 2007). The next section
presents 1) information in the textbook about collocations, and 2) exercises that either a)
contain, or b) introduce and explicitly offer practice with collocations. The last section
includes a comparison with best practices as recommended by research, where the checklist of
criteria will be applied to the findings from the previous sections.
4.1 Identified Collocations The aim of this section is to provide an answer to part one of the first research question:
How do Swedish EFL textbooks cover collocations in terms of frequency? To assert this
question, collocations are identified with the help of the Longman Collocations Dictionary
and Thesaurus (2013) and the list of 100 most common collocations in spoken English
(Nation & Shin, 2007). The appendixes show which collocations are identified, what type of
collocation they are, the number of occurrences and the page numbers where they occur in the
textbook. In respective tables, it is shown whether the collocation appears in exercises, and if
the collocations are targeted in the exercises. Words included in the list of the first 10.000
words (Nation, 2006) are also presented for targeted collocations.
4.1.1 Collocations identified with the Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus
Table 2 Summarized selected data of Appendix 1 Collocations Appear in
exercises Targeted in exercises
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449 132 35 For complete data, see Appendix 1. 4.1.2 Collocations identified with the List of 100 most common collocations in Spoken English
Table 3 Summarized selected data of Appendix 2 Collocations Appear in
exercises Targeted in exercise
80 42 0 For complete data, see Appendix 2. 4.1.3 Summary
Identified collocations with the help of the Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus
(2013), as presented in Table 2, and the collocations appearing in the list of 100 most
common collocations in spoken English (Nation & Shin, 2007), as presented in Table 3,
together present a number of 529 unique collocations. These collocations make up a total of
1366 occurrences throughout the textbook. 80 unique collocations are present in Nation and
Shin’s (2007) list, constituting 15,1% of the total number of different collocations in the
textbook. The 80 unique collocations presented also reveals that 80% of the list of 100 most
common collocations in spoken English (2007) is covered in the textbook. 42 of these
collocations do appear in exercises, though none are explicit targets for teaching. Among all
collocations, the top three types are: adjective + noun, with 184 entries (34,8%), verb + noun
with 132 entries (24,9%), and noun + noun with 50 entries (9,4%).
Chart 1
Overview of collocations appearing and being targeted in exercises
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In Chart 1, we can see the proportion of collocations present in the textbooks which appear in
the context of exercises and to what extent those collocations are the explicit target of the
exercise. Notable is that only three targeted collocations (“presidential-election”, “attend-a
meeting” and “retain-control”) occurred more than once, meaning that it could be found
outside of the collocation exercise. Of the 35 unique collocations targeted in exercises, 23 are
of the type verb + noun, 11 are of the type adjective + noun and one is of the type noun +
verb. Three quarters of the words present in the targeted collocations are found in the first
three thousand bands in the list of 10.000 first words (Nation, 2006), as seen in Table 3 below.
Table 3
Overview of words from targeted collocations in the frequency-bands
Word band 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000 Not
present
Number of
words
12 18 25 2 1 12
One last important note to reflect upon is the fact that out of 91 targeted multi-word items in
exercises labeled as “collocations exercises”, just 35 could be identified with the Longman
Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus (2013) and none with the list of 100 most common
22
collocations in spoken English (Nation & Shin, 2007). The 56 multi-word items that could not
be confirmed will therefore not be included and treated as collocations.
4.2 Information and exercises on collocations The aim of this section is to provide an answer to part b of the first research question:
How do Swedish EFL textbooks cover collocations in terms of mode of presentation?
4.2.1 Information about collocations
This part contains all information about collocations present in the textbook. This includes
any meta-information, such as definitions of relating terms and explanations for how
collocations should be treated or used. In the textbook this information is communicated in
two main ways. One is through the introductions and headings for the exercises explicitly
treating collocations. Here information is provided in the form of mentioning different types
of collocations and usage of the term collocate. The other part of the textbook which
communicates information about collocations is found in the preface:
I Blueprint B Version 3.0 tillämpar vi ett tydligare lexikaliskt synsätt. Både i
ordövningar och i de nya gloslistorna övas collocations, det vill säga ordpar eller
grupper av ord som normalt förekommer tillsammans och bör läras in som språkliga
enheter eller hela fraser. Det är också viktigt att ta till sig de sammanhang som orden
förekommer i för att kunna första exakta betydelser och senare kunna använda orden
korrekt i produktion. (‘In Blueprint B Version 3.0, we are applying a more coherent
lexical approach. Both in word work and in the new vocabulary lists include practice
of collocations, i.e. word-pairs or groups of words which normally occur together and
should be taught as linguistic units or complete phrases. It is also important to explore
the context in which the words occur to understand the precise meaning and to later be
able to use the words correctly in production’) (p. 3)
4.2.2 Exercises introducing and offering practice in collocations
This part presents exercises that explicitly introduce and offer practice in collocations. These
exercises are presented in the “word work” section across five chapters of the textbook. In
each of these chapters, collocation exercises are connected to each other and presented as
“Part 1”, “Part 2” and “Follow Up” under the same headings. Therefore, the exercises under
respective heading will be presented and summarized as a continuous series of exercises.
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“Collocations with verbs and nouns” page 48 Description: This series of exercises belongs to the strand of language-focused learning, focuses on
promoting productive knowledge, and includes one “reunite broken phrases” exercise and one
“translation” exercise. The first exercise requires learners to match verbs with suitable
additions to construct full sentences and reunite verb-noun collocations. Explicit attention is
given to the language feature “collocation”, with the type verb-noun specified. Learners have
to weigh their options and conclude which addition includes a noun that agrees with the given
verb and make up a collocation. The exercise requires learners to translate sentences from
Swedish (their L1) to English using the verbs and nouns from part one. By working with the
same vocabulary, the whole series of exercises provides repeated attention to verb-noun
collocations. Some of the sentences in the translation exercise, though, do not include the
same verb-noun collocations as in the first exercise. For example, the collocation “descend +
slope” is reversed in the translation exercise, presenting a new, similar collocation: “ascend +
slope”. This shift requires learners to process the collocation and reflect upon the meaning and
how the verb and noun work together.
“Collocations with verbs” page 106 Description: This series of exercises belongs to the strand of language-focused learning, focuses on
promoting productive knowledge, and includes one “reunite broken phrases” exercise, one
“fill the gaps” exercise and one “oral output” exercise. The first exercise requires learners to
match verbs with suitable additions or nouns to form collocations. The distinction between
additions and nouns, along with the title of the exercise-series, would indicate that the
targeted collocations include verbs and either nouns or words of unspecified word class. All
collocations in the first exercise though, are of the type verb-noun. There are more additions
and nouns presented than verbs, leaving some of the right column items without a match. The
second exercise requires learners to use the verbs listed in the first one to fill gaps in
otherwise complete sentences. The verb gets a new noun to collocate in all sentences. The
“follow up” exercise work with oral output. Learners are prompted to communicate the
sentences from the second part of the exercise to classmates without looking at the verbs they
selected as appropriate. Throughout the exercise there is a directed, repeated attention to the
listed verbs and how they collocate with, mostly, different nouns.
“Collocations - empowering your English” page 168
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Description: This series of exercises is of the strand language-focused learning, focuses on promoting
productive knowledge, and includes one “fill the gaps” exercise and one “written output”
exercise. Both exercises have a deliberate focus on the language feature collocation, giving
specific attention to adjective-noun collocations. In the first exercise, learners are prompted to
fill gaps in sentences with suitable groups of adjectives. The available options consist of three
adjectives, all collocating with the same noun. The nouns are highlighted with italics in the
sentences, taking place right after the gap. Learners are instructed to check that they
understand all adjectives before starting to fill the gaps, giving room to use a dictionary or
corpus, though without specifying possible aids. The second exercise requires learners to
write eight new sentences, using the italicized nouns and one of the adjectives commonly used
with respective nouns. The sentences should then be shared with classmates.
“Collocations” page 206-207 Description: This series of exercises belongs to the strand of language-focused learning, focuses on
promoting productive knowledge, and includes one “reunite broken phrases” exercise and one
“fill the gaps” exercise. Both exercises work with verb-noun collocations, which is stated in
the instruction for the first exercise. Here learners are given a scrambled list of verbs and
nouns to reunite into collocations. The term collocate is used to describe the relationship
between the verbs and nouns that fit together. The second exercise builds on the first and
requires learners to fill the gap in sentences with words from the first exercise, changing the
form where necessary. Furthermore, since all of the recurring words are verbs, attention is
given to verb-noun collocations throughout the series of exercises.
“Collocations with verbs” page 226-227 Description: This series of exercises belongs to the strand of language-focused learning, focuses on
promoting productive knowledge, and includes one “reunite broken phrases” exercise, one
“fill the gaps” exercise and one “oral output” exercise”. The instructions from the first
exercise ask learners to combine verbs with nouns or additions from a list. Since there are
fewer verbs than additions, learners have to choose the most suitable ones to match the verbs.
The answer key provides one correct phrase for each verb but indicates that there are more
possible solutions. In the second exercise, learners should fill in the gaps of sentences with
verbs from the previous exercise, changing the form where necessary. In these sentences, the
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verbs are given new collocates, though still constructing verb-noun collocations. The third
exercise requires learners to read the completed sentences to a classmate without the aid of the
verb list and sentences. Throughout this series of exercises, attention is given to verb
collocations, specifically of the type verb-noun, providing recurring opportunities for learners
to work with the targeted language feature in different contexts.
4.2.3 Exercises containing collocations
This part presents exercises containing collocations without mentioning them, as presented in
Table 3.
Table 3 Type, frequency and page numbers of exercises containing collocations
Type of exercise Number of exercises Page numbers Fill the gaps 14 37, 73, 106, 107, 108, 120,
144, 161, 168, 188, 197, 206, 226, 248
Group discussion 9 63, 72, 79, 109, 124, 143, 153, 167, 179
Listening comprehension 8 67, 130, 146, 179, 212, 229, 241, 243
Reading comprehension 7 72, 79, 124, 187, 222, 225, 247
Written output 7 54, 65, 134, 168, 173, 216, 252
Oral output 7 53, 107, 132, 171, 214, 227, 250
Synonyms 4 22, 47, 135, 153 Reunite broken phrases 4 48, 106, 206, 226 Match words with definitions
3 37-38, 64, 189
Translate 2 48, 73 Table 3 includes a total of 65 exercises containing collocations, across ten types of exercises.
The exercises containing collocations also range across all four language skills. ‘Fill the gaps’
exercises have most occurrences of collocations with a coverage of 14 separate exercises,
followed by ‘group discussion’ with nine exercises. However, this table only shows the
number of exercises in which collocations occur, not how many instances of the same
collocation, or different collocations, that each type of exercise covers.
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4.2.4 Summary
As previously described, information on collocations is provided in two main ways by the
textbook. One is through the exercises themselves, where titles such as “Collocations with
verbs and nouns” (page 48) and instructions such as “Combine the verbs with the nouns that
they would normally collocate with” (page 206) give learners hints of what type of
collocations exists and the relationship between words in multi-word units. Definitions of
terminology or a list of collocation types, however, are not provided. The other medium of
information is found in the preface. Here the authors explain their intentions and approaches
to the textbook’s arrangement, including the teaching of collocations. The present “coherent
lexical approach” (page 3) is described, explaining how collocations are a part of the
vocabulary lists and word work exercises. The importance of teaching multi-word units as
complete phrases is expressed, along with the notion that learners be given the opportunity to
explore the context of words to use them correctly in production.
In total, there are 65 exercises which contain collocations and out of these there are twelve
exercises in the textbook that explicitly treat collocations. These exercises occur in series
throughout the chapters, where the exercises under the same heading treat the same specific
language feature. Since collocations are an explicitly targeted language feature throughout the
exercises, the language-focused strand is heavily represented. Consistency can be found in the
series of exercises, where the same type of exercise often is targeted throughout the exercises.
This is shown for example in the exercises under the heading “Collocations” (page 206-207),
where the verbs used in the first exercise to reunite broken phrases are also used to fill the
gaps in the second exercise, giving the verbs new collocates. This coherence in attention
given to specific types of collocations, often with the same headword, extends to the written
and oral output exercises. These often occur last in the series of exercises and require learners
to produce or communicate sentences with already familiar collocations from previous
exercises.
4.3 Checklist of criteria The aim of this section is to provide an answer to the second research question: How does the
collocational profile of Swedish EFL textbooks align with best practices as recommended by
existing literature? Applying the criteria of the checklist to the findings from previous sections
establish the foundation for answering the question of whether the textbooks collocation
27
profile aligns with best practices. The analysis questions are answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’,
and supply information needed to answer the corresponding evaluation question.
To what extent does the textbook provide explicit attention to useful collocations? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5
yes / no if “yes”, how many? Are targeted collocations of the type “verb-noun”?
yes 22
Are targeted collocations of the type “adjective-noun”?
yes 11
Are targeted collocations of the type “adverb-adjective”?
no -
Do the collocations include words beyond the 2000-word band?
yes 28 (words)
Are targeted collocations found in the list for 100 most common collocations?
no -
To what extent does the textbook provide information about collocations? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5 yes / no If “yes”, how?
- Does the textbook make learners aware of L1-L2 differences?
no -
- Does the textbook introduce terminology of collocations?
yes The term “collocate” is mentioned in one exercise
- Does the textbook provide etymological elaboration of
no -
28
collocations?
To what extent does the textbook introduce collocations to effectively facilitate learning? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5
yes / no If “yes”, how often? Do collocation exercises point out the presence of alliteration in collocations?
no -
Do collocation exercises point out the presence of rhyme in collocations?
no -
Do collocation exercises point out the presence of near-rhyme in collocations?
no -
Are collocations presented in their contextualized use before targeted in exercises?
yes once
Do targeted collocation recur 5 or more times?
no -
To what extent is the textbook likely to provide collocation exercises that ensure sufficient engagement? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5 yes / no If “yes”, how?
Do collocation exercises urge learners to look for the required information themselves in collocation dictionaries?
no -
Do collocation exercises urge no -
29
learners to look for the required information themselves in corpus-based resources?
To what extent are the collocation exercises in the textbook likely to minimize the risk of error? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5 Do’s yes / no If “yes”, how?
Do collocation exercises give learners access to model input to mime for the correct answers?
no -
Are learners given hints in the exercise items?
yes By italicizing the collocates
in one “fill the gaps” exercise
Do collocation exercises work with intact collocations?
no -
To what extent is the collocation exercises in the textbook likely to increase the risk of error? 1 --- 2 --- 3 --- 4 --- 5 Don’ts yes / no If “yes”, how?
Do collocation exercises require learners to reunite broken-up pairs?
yes By presenting lists of
headwords and possible collocates to match
Do collocation exercises ask learners to find the odd one out?
no -
Do collocation exercises target multiple new collocations in one go?
yes By introducing multiple collocations in the same
exercise
Do collocation exercises generate errors?
yes By working with broken
collocations without providing model use
30
Do collocation exercises rely on corrective feedback?
yes
By not providing model use of collocations to
consider before answering exercises
Do exercises contain collocations with semantically similar words?
yes
Through exercises providing groups of
similar words collocating with the same word
4.3.1 Summary
The answers from the analysis and evaluation questions indicate to what extent the textbook
aligns with the recommendations from recent research. The first evaluation question results in
a score of three. For the related analysis questions, a positive answer was given in three out of
six questions, revealing that targeted collocations include 22 verb-noun and 11 adjective-noun
collocations, as well as 28 words beyond the 2000-band. No targeted collocations were of the
type adverb-adjective or present in the list for 100 most common collocations in spoken
English (Nation & Shin, 2007). The second evaluation question results in a score of two. For
the related analysis questions, a positive answer was given in one out of three questions,
showing that the term ‘collocate’ is present in one exercise and that no exercises made
learners aware of L1-L2 differences or provided etymological elaboration. The third
evaluation question results in a score of one. For the related analysis questions, a positive
answer was given in one out of five questions, revealing that exercises do not point out
alliteration, rhyme, near-rhyme, and that targeted collocations are not recycled five times or
more. One collocation was presented in context before being targeted in an exercise. The
fourth evaluation question results in a score of one. For the related analysis questions, a
positive answer is given in zero out of two questions, meaning that exercises do not urge
learners to look for required information in collocation dictionaries or corpus-based resources.
The fifth evaluation question results in a score of two. For the related analysis questions a
positive answer is given in one out of three questions, revealing that exercises do not provide
model input or work with intact collocations. Learners are given hints in the form of italicized
collocates in one ‘fill the gaps’ exercise. The sixth evaluation question results in a score of
five. For the related analysis questions, a positive answer is given in five out of six questions.
This shows that exercises require learners to reunite broken-up pairs, introduce multiple
31
collocations at one, generate errors, rely on feedback and contain semantically similar words.
The exercises do not, however, ask learners to ‘find the odd one out’.
5. Discussion
The discussion will be structured as follows: First, the findings from the evaluation questions
will be interpreted, discussed, and put in relation to the body of research presented in the
literature review. Next, the findings will be discussed in the light of the Swedish curriculum,
with a special interest in the core contents introduced in the introduction. Lastly, the
discussion will be directed to pedagogical implications and recommendations based on the
findings before ending in a brief commentary on limitations of the study and future research
implications.
5.1 Blueprint B 3.0
The first evaluation question considers the explicit attention given to useful collocations by
the textbook. ‘Adverb-adjective’ is the only collocation type recommended by research which
is not present. However, given the fact that 34 out of 35 targeted collocations in the textbook
are of the type ‘verb-noun’ or ‘adjective-noun’, it is arguable that the textbook aligns with
recommendations for which type of collocations to give explicit attention (e.g Snoder, 2019).
The list of 100 most common collocations in spoken English (Nation & Shin, 2007) poses a
good source for selecting which collocations to give explicit attention, especially in relation to
the Swedish curriculum’s description of informal contexts (Skolverket Slutgitligt förslag för
kusplan engelska, 2019). Despite the vast coverage of collocations from Nation and Shin’s
(2007) list with 80 collocations occurring throughout the textbook, none of them are explicitly
targeted in exercises. One reason for this might be that Nation and Shin’s (2007) list is based
on spoken language, while the collocation exercises in the textbook worked with written text.
Another alarming finding is that out of the 91 targeted multi-word items targeted in
collocation exercises, just 35 collocations could be identified with the Longman Collocations
Dictionary and Thesaurus (2013). There are two possible reasons for this: 1) the textbook
used other inclusion criteria for determining collocations, and 2) the textbook failed to target
established collocations in 56 instances. In both cases, it can be argued that the selection of
collocations to give explicit attention is not optimal. Regarding the words constituting the 35
targeted collocations, 28 out of 70 words appear in the 3.000-10,000-bands in the list of
32
headwords for the first 10.000 words (Nation, 2006). However, twelve of the words were not
present in either 1000-band, leaving 30 words in the first two thousand lists. To consider the
words as ranging beyond the 10.000-band would be reasonable. In relation to Nizkonzia &
van de Poel’s (2014) suggestion of targeting collocations with words beyond the 2000-band,
the textbook would follow the recommendations to a good extent when counting the
unidentified words as beyond the 10.000-band.
The second evaluation question examines to what extent the textbook provides information
about collocations. The exercises targeting collocations do not include any etymological
elaboration. In one case though, learners are encouraged to look up the meaning of words they
are not familiar with, which could potentially lead them to sources such as corpora or
collocation dictionaries which can include etymological information, given that they take the
initiative to look up the meaning of the words as parts of collocations. Since there is no
elaboration in the actual textbook though, it is hard to argue that the textbook itself provides
any direct opportunity. The same can be argued about differences in the target and native
language for Swedish learners. Of the twelve exercises targeting collocations, one is a
translation exercise. This type of exercise does open the possibility for thinking about
differences in languages, as recommended by Fan (2009) and Fazlali and Shanini (2019), but
no further instructions or explanations are given to explore this aspect.
Regarding terminology of collocations, just one term is mentioned: collocate, which is one of
the two terms Snoder (2019) suggests including. This term, however, is only present in one of
the twelve exercises, without a clear explanation of what it means. From the context, learners
are able to predict the meaning, since it is used for explaining the relationship between two
words in a collocation, but since no definition is given, it would be reasonable to consider the
term as used but not introduced. The information given in the preface on the textbook’s
approach of teaching collocations does not include terminology of collocations but does
provide an L1 explanation of the phenomena. The textbook’s authors also explain that
collocations should be treated as lexical units and that learners should explore the usage of
collocations in their natural context. Both of these points align with recommendations from
Boers & Strong (2017). To what extent the textbook lives up to these notions will be
discussed in the next evaluation question.
33
The third valuation question considers the extent to which the textbook introduces
collocations effectively. In the instances where targeted collocations alliterate, such as “relax
restriction” and “decline to discuss”, or where near-rhyme occurs, for example “high tides”,
learners are not being made aware of these features, which could have facilitated learning. In
terms of presenting collocations in their natural context, the textbook only has one instance
where learners meet a targeted collocation in-text before engaging with it in exercises. This
collocation, “presidential election”, occurs twice in the preceding texts of the exercise which
treat it and once in a vocabulary list after the exercise. Furthermore, there are only two other
targeted collocations, “attend a meeting” and “retain control”, which also can be found in the
vocabulary list at the end of the textbook. None of the targeted collocations recurred five or
more times. However, it can be argued that collocations are presented through the exercises
targeting them, leading to collocations already being familiar in the last exercises in the series
focusing on the same collocations. One example of this is when learners are instructed to read
re-constructed sentences to classmates and when learners write new sentences with
collocations from previous exercises. One aspect to consider is the fact that exercises do not
provide a model for the usage of targeted collocations, leading students to rely on their own
answers unless correcting them before moving on to the next exercise. When taking all these
points into consideration, it translates to a textbook profile where collocations are not being
introduced in their natural context and where learners are not made aware of certain features
of the targeted collocations. This does not align completely with the view on learning
collocation the textbook's authors expressed in the preface. On the one hand, collocations are
presented in their natural context when learners answer the ‘fill the gaps’ exercises correctly,
giving learners model usage to bring to the next exercise. On the other, targeted collocations
are, with a few exceptions, present outside of the exercises, meaning that learners have to rely
on trial and error for unlocking correct usage of the collocations, which Boers and Strong
(2017) advise against.
The fourth evaluation question examines to what extent the textbook provides collocation
exercises that ensures sufficient engagement from learners. One out of twelve exercises
instructs learners to look up the meaning of unfamiliar words, but, as reasoned under
evaluation question number two, does not instruct learners to look for the meaning of words
as a part of the collocation. In relation to receptive collocational knowledge, explained by
Nation (2001) as recognizing appropriate collocations, the exercise would have promoted
receptive collocational knowledge if it had requested learners to use resources such as corpora
34
or collocation dictionaries. However, given that learners are not directly instructed to consider
the meaning of words in the context of collocations, the link between the exercise and
receptive collocational knowledge weakens.
The fifth evaluation question considers the textbook’s likeness to minimize the risk of error in
collocation exercises. Learners are given hints of the correct use of targeted collocations in
one of the “fill the gaps” exercises, focusing on verb-noun collocations. In this exercise, the
nouns are italicized in the sentences giving learners information about which noun the verb
should collocate with. On the other hand, learners are not given access to the model use of
collocations as support for choosing correct combinations in the exercises. As discussed under
evaluation question three, only one targeted collocation can be found in its natural context
outside of the exercises. When adding the fact that collocations are not being introduced in
intact units, learners are given little ground to make qualified guesses when answering
questions in the exercises. This in turn will generate more errors for learners in the textbook’s
collocation exercises.
The sixth evaluation question considers the textbook’s likeliness to increase the risk of error
in collocation exercises, posing as an opposite to evaluation question five. All of the five
series of exercises targeting collocations require learners to reunite broken-up collocation
pairs. Target collocations are, to a great extent, presented in lists of broken-up units, meaning
that multiple collocations are introduced at the same time. A product of introducing multiple,
broken-up collocations at the same time, along with the lack of examples of model use, is that
exercises generate errors and rely on corrective feedback. Furthermore, in one exercise, the
headwords of targeted collocations are presented in groups of three collocating with the same
word. Some of the words in these groups are semantically similar, such as
“brief/casual/unexpected”, all collocating with the noun “encounter”. This type of exercise
may lead to confusion or doubt in learners, especially since there are no examples to figure
out the difference of use in the similar headwords. One type of exercise however, which does
not appear in the textbook, is to ‘find the odd one out’. Therefore, even though collocations
are not presented as intact units, they are also not presented in the wrong intact units.
To put the findings of this study into the context of previous research on textbooks in Sweden
regarding collocations, a comparison with Hammarsten’s (2014) study would be of interest.
Since Hammarsten (2014) examined an older edition of Blueprint B 3.0, this comparison can
35
give a unique look into the development of English textbooks in Sweden regarding teaching
collocations. The first apparent difference is the number of exercises targeting collocations.
Hammarsten (2014) reports four different collocation exercises, compared to twelve
collocation exercises identified in the newer edition. Reportedly, all four exercises in the older
edition work with reuniting broken-up collocations and ‘fill the gaps’ exercises, which also
covers eight out of twelve collocation exercises in the newer edition. Regarding the
information on collocations, Hammarsten (2014) reported little to none provided information,
explaining that the exercises vaguely informed learners of the relationship between words in
collocations. Even though the author did not report it, one of the tables illustrating a
collocation exercise revealed that the term ‘collocate’ was present. The four collocation
exercises also reportedly included the word ‘collocations’ in their headings. This kind of
information can be recognized in the newer edition, where the term ‘collocate’ is used but not
explained. One difference, however, is the information provided in the preface of the newer
edition. Even though the information might not be considerably helpful for learners, it gives
us the indication that the textbook's authors are moving towards a more directed approach to
teaching collocations, aligning with Boers & Strong’s (2017) observation of the trend in EFL
textbooks of an increasing focus on collocations.
In the revised version of the curriculum for English in the Swedish upper-secondary school
(Skolverket Slutgitligt förslag för kusplan engelska, 2019), collocations are explicitly
mentioned under the core contents for reception. However, as presented in the findings, the
exercises which explicitly taught collocations to a great extent rely on productive learning.
Although productive learning has been shown to foster receptive collocational knowledge to
some degree (Webb & Kagimoto, 2009), the focus in the collocation exercises in Blueprint B
3.0 is reasonably argued to be directed towards productive knowledge. This would mean, at
least for the explicit teaching of collocations, the practice offered in the textbook lean more
towards the productive core content in English 6: “Linguistic phenomena, including
pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical and sentence structure, spelling, cohesion, internal
and external structure and adaptation, in students’ own production and interaction”
(Skolverket Slutgitligt förslag för kusplan engelska, 2019, p. 6). Collocations as a ‘linguistic
phenomena’ in production align well with the production-oriented exercises on collocations,
requiring learners to choose the right words to form appropriate collocations for different
contexts in ‘translation’, ‘fill the gaps’ and creative ‘written output’ exercises.
36
5.2 Pedagogical Implications
The scores of the evaluation questions guide pedagogical implications of this study. Scoring a
three, the textbook does, to a great extent, target useful collocation in terms of both type and
frequency of included words. However, less than half of the targeted multi-word items could
be identified with the Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus (2013) and none of
the targeted collocations were listed in the 100 most common collocations in spoken English
(Nation, 2006). Teachers would therefore be advised to use a collocation dictionary to check
the targeted multi-word items in exercises. As the other evaluation questions scored 1’s and
2’s, except for the increased risk of error scoring a five, a few recommendations can be made
to align the use of this textbook with the best practices of teaching collocations. First, teachers
can provide beneficial information about collocations in the form of etymological elaboration,
the introduction of terminology such as ‘collocate’ and make learners aware of differences in
L1 and L2. Second, teachers can effectively introduce targeted collocations by drawing
attention to different details, such as alliteration, rhyme and near-rhyme. Third, teachers can
urge learners to use collocation dictionaries and corpus-based resources to look up the
meaning of words, to introduce them to the collocational context of vocabulary and ensure
sufficient engagement in collocation exercises. Fourth, teachers can support learners in
exercises which by design produce errors, by providing model usage of targeted collocations
before engaging in exercises and urge students to work with target collocations one at a time.
Teachers can use the list of gathered collocations from the textbook, either as a resource when
working with Blueprint B 3.0, or as a general list of collocations to work with in the
classroom. The method used in this study can also be adapted by teachers when deciding
material to use in their teaching, either by following existing checklists or by creating a
checklist based on relevant literature, following Tomlinson’s (2013) guidelines. By applying
the same recommendations given to teachers, textbook authors can also develop their material
to align with best practices for explicit collocational exercises. Furthermore, another
recommendation for the authors would be to carefully select useful collocations to target in
exercises, based on lists such as Nation (2006) or derived from dictionaries such as the
Longman Collocations Dictionary and Thesaurus (2013).
5.3 Limitations of study
One limitation of the present study is the lack of best practice recommendations for receptive
learning of collocations. Even though receptive collocational knowledge was not the main
37
focus of exercises in this textbook, considering the Swedish national curriculum, pedagogical
implications could have included recommendations for adding or expanding exercises
promoting receptive knowledge. Another limitation is that the study only evaluates one
textbook. To get more reliable results and be able to draw firmer generalizations, more
textbooks would have to be evaluated.
5.4 Future Research Implications Based on the findings and limitations of this study, an interesting addition for future research
would be to evaluate a larger range of textbooks, focusing on explicit collocation exercises
promoting receptive knowledge. This would enable drawing stronger connections between the
development of collocation exercises in EFL textbooks in Sweden and international trends.
6. Conclusion
The study evaluated the textbook Blueprint B 3.0 with the aim to answer the questions of how
Swedish textbooks cover collocations in terms of frequency and mode of presentation, as well
as how this aligns with best practices as recommended by existing literature. Findings show
that targeted collocations are selected according to recommendations for type (Snoder, 2019)
and frequency of included words (Nizonkiza & van de Poel, 2014). However, surprisingly
over half of the targeted multi-word items targeted in collocation exercises could not be
confirmed as established collocations. From applying the checklist of criteria, the textbook
received low scores for information on collocations, introducing collocations, as well as
providing sufficient engagement for learners and reducing the risk of error in collocation
exercises. Nonetheless, a comparison with an earlier study of the ‘Blueprint series’ of
textbooks revealed a growing awareness of collocations from the textbook’s authors. The
international trend of increased interest in collocation exercises in textbooks, as observed by
Boers & Strong (2017), could be linked to Sweden with further research on EFL textbooks.
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Appendix 1
List of identified collocations accompanied by meta-information
44
Collocation Type Nr. of occurrences
Page number
Appear in exercises
Targeted in exercises
10.000 list
form + groups
verb + noun 37 9, 21, 25, 27, 36(x2), 46, 50, 52, 72, 74, 84, 85, 91, 105, 109, 112, 115, 124, 128, 132, 143, 153, 167, 170, 179, 187, 206, 210, 213, 214, 222, 225, 228, 236, 240, 277
yes
video + game noun + noun
22 39(x4), 41(x2) 42(x5), 43(x5), 45(x4), 47, 49
background + information
noun + noun
15 53, 54, 134, 215, 269, 275, 282, 284, 286, 288, 289, 293, 294, 298, 303
yes
in (possessive pronoun) + opinion
phrase 13 34, 38, 51, 53, 104, 132, 135, 161, 171, 215, 236, 280(x2)
health + care noun + noun
11 146(x2), 147(x3), 184(x2), 188(x2), 325, 329
yes
give + reasons
verb + noun 11 25, 36(x2), 53, 105(x2),
45
132(x2), 161, 172, 215,
end + of + the (something)
phrase 9 16, 22, 72, 78, 87, 134, 295, 300, 326
yes
catch (somebody’s) + attention
verb + noun 9 134, 265, 270, 272, 284, 286, 289, 290, 292
yes
feel + about phrase 7 24, 132, 152, 225, 280(x3)
write + down verb + adverb
7 51, 79, 121, 265, 267, 268, 269,
yes
risk + factor noun + noun
6 41(x2), 43, 46(x2), 47
climate + change
noun + noun
6 161, 168, 171, 286(x2), 287
yes
culture + clash
noun + noun
6 4(x2), 180, 189, 323, 324
in + your + own + words
phrase 6 55, 84, 238, 259, 260(x2)
open + the door
verb + noun 6 112, 123(x4), 256
think + about verb + preposition
6 50, 71, 152, 234, 267, 280
good + guy adjective + noun
5 39, 40(x2), 41 46
real + life adjective + noun
5 42(x2), 47, 89, 192
46
different + aspects
adjective + noun
5 54(x2), 282, 283, 288
yes
main + point adjective + noun
5 55, 109, 265(x2), 320
yes
firmly + believe
adverb + verb
5 51, 53 161, 171, 215
child + labour
noun + noun
5 28, 52(x3), 54,
yes
eye + contact noun + noun
5 86, 112, 113, 172, 265
the age + of (something)
noun + preposition
5 42, 93(x3), 193
piece + of (something)
noun + preposition
5 62, 164, 260, 266, 269
take + care + of
phrase 5 24, 30, 285(x2), 329
no + doubt phrase 5 17, 34, 69, 97, 178
sit + down verb + adverb
5 44, 94, 102, 148, 233
bad + guys adjective + noun
4 40(x3), 41
(most) important + thing
adjective + noun
4 53, 172, 215, 225,
possible + solution
adjective + noun
4 54(x2), 216, 283
yes
close + friend adjective + noun
4 75, 80, 94, 143
47
mobile + phone
adjective + noun
4 86, 172, 251, 314
prime + minister
adjective + noun
4 120, 186(x2), 187
yes
presidential + election
adjective + noun
4 148, 149, 168, 323
yes yes - Elect (2.000)
strongly + believe
adverb + verb
4 53, 132, 171, 215
amusement + park
noun + noun
4 75(x2), 76, 80
living + conditions
noun + noun
4 168, 185(x2), 188
yes
connection + between
noun + preposition
4 39(x3), 46(x2)
loud + and + clear
phrase 4 25, 51, 72, 109
yes
something + else
pronoun + adjective
4 63, 68, 272, 328
yes
have + fun verb + noun 4 76(x4)
fill in + a gap verb + noun 4 107, 120, 197, 236
yes
staying + at verb + preposition
4 24, 285(x3),
main + thing adjective + noun
3 53, 172, 215
(most) important + reason
adjective + noun
3 53, 172, 215
48
smooth + transition
adjective + noun
3 53, 133, 215
good + idea adjective + noun
3 54, 234, 269
yes
that + night adjective + noun
3 58, 76, 80
increased + risk
adjective + noun
3 42, 43, 47
increased + risk
adjective + noun
3 42, 43, 47
distinctive + feature
adjective + noun
3 52, 132, 214
economic + growth
adjective + noun
3 120, 161, 317
yes
sexual + abuse
adjective + noun
3 211, 320, 327
military + force
adjective + noun
3 291(x3)
heart + disease
adjective + noun
3 123, 124, 184
yes
child + abuse adjective + noun
3 144, 320(x2)
illegal + immigrant
adjective + noun
3 146(x3)
young + adult adjective + noun
3 47, 174, 175
endangered + species
adjective + noun
3 145, 189, 324
yes
49
car + crash noun + noun
3 66, 67, 310
yes
attitude + to / towards
noun + preposition
3 50, 180, 320
a series + of (something)
noun + preposition
3 52, 149, 214
study + shows
noun + verb 3 42, 147, 226
study + finds noun + verb 3 42, 45, 47
in + my view phrase 3 53, 171, 215
yes
listen + carefully
verb + adverb
3 8, 179, 242
yes
see (somebody’s) + point
verb + noun 3 53, 133, 215,
present + arguments
verb + noun 3 134, 289(x2)
make + a living
verb + noun 3 204, 220, 221, 222
yes
have + a point
verb + noun 3 53, 133, 215
yes
attend + a meeting
verb + noun 3 106, 314, 321
yes yes attend (2.000) -
cope + with verb + preposition
3 39, 43, 79 yes
job + interview
noun + noun
3 230, 250, 256
yes
50
physical + abuse
adjective + noun
2 24, 320
wild + card adjective + noun
2 44, 311
opposing + team
adjective + noun
2 53, 215
positive + side
adjective + noun
2 54, 141 yes
regular + customer
adjective + noun
2 59, 308
negative + sides
adjective + noun
2 52, 175
final + point adjective + noun
2 86, 275
specific + example
adjective + noun
2 90, 294
human + society
adjective + noun
2 151, 214
original + text
adjective + noun
2 260(x2)
key + aspect adjective + noun
2 262, 275
positive + aspects
adjective + noun
2 298, 301
ethnic + community
adjective + noun
2 324(x2)
advisory + board
adjective + noun
2 40, 310
51
blurred + vision
adjective + noun
2 78, 314
friendly + tone
adjective + noun
2 110, 112
vicious + attack
adjective + noun
2 120, 317 yes
physical + exhaustion
adjective + noun
2 121, 125 yes
blue + sky adjective + noun
2 121, 122
presidential + campaign
adjective + noun
2 147, 330 yes
reckless + driving
adjective + noun
2 161, 322 yes
severe + pain adjective + noun
2 139, 199
opening + paragraph
adjective + noun
2 174, 216 yes
clearly + shows
adverb + verb
2 36, 288
briefly + describe
adverb + verb
2 38, 216
briefly + describe
adverb + verb
2 38, 216
fully + understand
adverb + verb
2 159, 221
living + room noun + noun
2 45, 148
52
age + limit noun + noun
2 39, 46
death + camp noun + noun
2 140, 142
fossil + fuel noun + noun
2 171, 216 yes
health + problem
noun + noun
2 184, 187 yes
refugee + camp
noun + noun
2 193, 325
contingency + plan
noun + noun
2 248, 330 yes
a link + between (things)
noun + preposition
2
42(x2)
the front + of (something)
noun + preposition
2 64, 65
research + show
noun + verb 2 229, 284 yes
the fight + for + equality
phrase 2 89, 126
before + long phrase 2 178(x2)
with + pleasure
preposition + noun
2 37, 201
without + a scratch
preposition + noun
2 42, 47
become + aware
verb + adjective
2 257(x2)
53
feel + superior
verb + adjective
2 179, 180 yes
surrender + unconditionally
verb + adverb
2 48, 311
seeking + information
verb + noun 2 25, 72, yes
give + examples
verb + noun 2 36, 271
express + your opinion
verb + noun 2 38, 161 yes
state + your opinion
verb + noun 2 38, 289,
improve + the situation
verb + noun 2 38, 171,
share + your ideas
verb + noun 2 25, 39
solve + a problem
verb + noun 2 41, 42
provide + service
verb + noun 2 64, 203 yes
get + ready verb + noun 2 44, 156
drink + a glass (of something)
verb + noun 2 61(x2)
give (someone) + advice
verb + noun 2 67, 131 yes
make + a joke
verb + noun 2 67, 90 yes
54
have + a chance (to do something)
verb + noun 2 20, 69
draw + blood verb + noun 2 70, 232
make + a recommendation
verb + noun 2 55, 283 yes
provide + examples
verb + noun 2 8, 87, 217 yes
providing + a service
verb + noun 2 64, 203 yes
make + notes verb + noun 2 85, 171
reach + your goal
verb + noun 2 93, 306
agree + to marry
verb + noun 2 92, 99
retain + control
verb + noun 2 106, 316 yes yes retain (3.000) control (1.000)
do (someone) + a favor
verb + noun 2 111, 114
bite + your lip
verb + noun 2 140, 199
find + help verb + noun 2 150, 153
drop out + of university
verb + noun 2 163(x2)
show + an interest (in something)
verb + noun 2 116, 184
55
appeals + to + you
verb + preposition
2 25, 250
tell (somebody) + about (something)
verb + preposition
2 61, 270
depend + on verb + preposition
2 102, 256
object + to (something)
verb + preposition
2 103, 321
participate + in (something)
verb + preposition
2 138, 319
lean + against verb +preposition
2 59, 97
psychological + abuse
adjective + noun
1 24
the greatest + gift
adjective + noun
1 24
difficult + time
adjective + noun
1 42
physical + activity
adjective + noun
1 42,
mental + problems
adjective + noun
1 42
social + competence
adjective + noun
1 43,
dire + prediction
adjective + noun
1 43
the whole + family
adjective + noun
1 44
56
starting + point
adjective + noun
1 45
hard + time adjective + noun
1 45,
serious + matter
adjective + noun
1 55, yes
broken + bottle
adjective + noun
1 58,
elderly + woman
adjective + noun
1 59
electric + light
adjective + noun
1 64 yes
cool + air adjective + noun
1 65
cool + breeze adjective + noun
1 323
good + intention
adjective + noun
1 68
surgical + gloves
adjective + noun
1 68
lovely + day adjective + noun
1 69
big + responsibility
adjective + noun
1 69
hidden + camera
adjective + noun
1 70,
minor + breach
adjective + noun
1 70
57
whole + lifetime
adjective + noun
1 71
a nice + day adjective + noun
1 71
key + message
adjective + noun
1 75
earlier + study
adjective + noun
1 42
mental + illness
adjective + noun
1 43
digital + media
adjective + noun
1 46
earlier + studies
adjective + noun
1 42
mental + illness
adjective + noun
1 43
digital + media
adjective + noun
1 46
inappropriate + behaviour
adjective + noun
1 51
various + aspects
adjective + noun
1 54 yes
specific + issue
adjective + noun
1 54 yes
stark + contrast
adjective + noun
1 72 yes
sharp + contrast
adjective + noun
1 72 yes
58
negative + aspects
adjective + noun
1 72 yes
democratic + society
adjective + noun
1 72 yes
positive + effect
adjective + noun
1 80
basic + structure
adjective + noun
1 85
social + status
adjective + noun
1 89
a social + function
adjective + noun
1 96
feminist + movement
adjective + noun
1 126
active + participant
adjective + noun
1 133
physical + presence
adjective + noun
1 141
legal + status adjective + noun
1 146 yes
high + percentage
adjective + noun
1 147
special + relationship
adjective + noun
1 152
unintended + consequences
adjective + noun
1 156
general + consensus
adjective + noun
1 157
59
significant + difference
adjective + noun
1 158
significant + change
adjective + noun
1 159
possible + consequences
adjective + noun
1 159
public + transport
adjective + noun
1 171
high + rate adjective + noun
1 184
social + environment
adjective + noun
1 194
physical + appearance
adjective + noun
1 195
domestic + violence
adjective + noun
1 211, 212 yes
main + focus adjective + noun
1 243 yes
personal + interests
adjective + noun
1 250
serious + offence
adjective + noun
1 258
useful + information
adjective + noun
1 259
academic + writing
adjective + noun
1 262
religious + beliefs
adjective + noun
1 264
60
limited + range
adjective + noun
1 264
first + draft adjective + noun
1 266
serious + consequences
adjective + noun
1 271
personal + experience
adjective + noun
1 274
heated + debate
adjective + noun
1 277
major + difference
adjective + noun
1 284
scientific + evidence
adjective + noun
1 285
a major + reason
adjective + noun
1 286
major + impact
adjective + noun
1 286
nuclear + power
adjective + noun
1 291
nuclear + weapons
adjective + noun
1 291
technical + support
adjective + noun
1 299
necessary + information
adjective + noun
1 303
scarce + resources
adjective + noun
1 311
61
defining + characteristic
adjective + noun
1 312
public + perception
adjective + noun
1 319
cultural + diversity
adjective + noun
1 320
legal + action adjective + noun
1 321
global + market
adjective + noun
1 322
wide + range adjective + noun
1 323
local + community
adjective + noun
1 324
great + fun adjective + noun
1 79 yes
possible + answer
adjective + noun
1 79 yes
initial + reaction
adjective + noun
1 80
loyal + friend adjective + noun
1 81
unrealistic + expectations
adjective + noun
1 91
traditional + role
adjective + noun
1 92
difficult + situation
adjective + noun
1 93
62
minor + offence
adjective + noun
1 108 yes
deep + admiration
adjective + noun
1 108 yes
growing + resentment
adjective + noun
1 108 yes
personal + insult
adjective + noun
1 108 yes
free + choice adjective + noun
1 109 yes
back + door adjective + noun
1 110
humble + origin
adjective + noun
1 116
humble + origins
adjective + noun
1 120 yes
final + scene adjective + noun
1 126
a high + threshold
adjective + noun
1 130 yes
incoming + tides
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes tide (2.000)
high + tides adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes high (1.000) tide (2.000)
fair + election
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes fair (1.000) elect (2.000)
gradual + deterioration
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes gradual (1.000) deteriorate (4.000)
63
absolute + obedience
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes absolute (1.000)
blind + obedience
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes blind (2.000)
unquestioning + obedience
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes -
brief + encounter
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes brief (2.000) encounter (3.000)
casual + encounter
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes casual (2.000) encounter (3.000)
unexpected + encounter
adjective + noun
1 168 yes yes encounter (3.000)
public + transportation
adjective + noun
1 171 yes
main + objective
adjective + noun
1 179 yes
strong + desire
adjective + noun
1 180
overseas + market
adjective + noun
1 182
raw + material
adjective + noun
1 182
cheap + labour
adjective + noun
1 182
great + opportunity
adjective + noun
1 182
rainy + season
adjective + noun
1 183
64
poor + hygiene
adjective + noun
1 184, 188
financial + problem
adjective + noun
1 189 yes
a clear + signal
adjective + noun
1 195
practical + application
adjective + noun
1 197 yes
recent + history
adjective + noun
1 211
low + wages adjective + noun
1 223
important + factor
adjective + noun
1 229 yes
effective + way
adjective + noun
1 236 yes
serious + mistake
adjective + noun
1 236 yes
socially + acceptable
adverb + adjective
1 158
stunningly + beautiful
adverb + adjective
1 192
virtually + impossible
adverb + verb
1 41
fully + developed
adverb + verb
1 264
truly + love adverb + verb
1 119
65
turning + point
noun + noun
1 42
customer + service
noun + noun
1 302
space + travel noun + noun
1 44
family + value
noun + noun
1 45
warning + sign
noun + noun
1 45
warning + signal
noun + noun
1 287
death + threat noun + noun
1 49
summer + evening
noun + noun
1 58
glass + door noun + noun
1 58
orange + juice
noun + noun
1 61
pay + phone noun + noun
1 62
murder + weapon
noun + noun
1 63 yes
planet + earth noun + noun
1 70
recycling + bin
noun + noun
1 71
66
gender + equality
noun + noun
1 89
gender + stereotypes
noun + noun
1 91
risk + assessment
noun + noun
1 291
diary + entry noun + noun
1 91
class + structure
noun + noun
1 99
bus + driver noun + noun
1 107 yes
plane + ticket noun + noun
1 114
tourist + attraction
noun + noun
1 120 yes
the weather + forecast
noun + noun
1 130 yes
heart + condition
noun + noun
1 139
soccer + team noun + noun
1 153 yes
life + expectancy
noun + noun
1 186
budget + deficit
noun + noun
1 189 yes
pop + music noun + noun
1 212 yes
67
business + idea
noun + noun
1 225 yes
a world + record
noun + noun
1 244
a relationship + breaks up
noun + verb 1 75
a light + flashes
noun + verb 1 139
research + suggests
noun + verb 1 169
a price + increase
noun + verb 1 226 yes yes price (1.000) increase (2.000)
police + station
noun+ noun 1 241 yes
a slip + of + paper
phrase 1 69, 319
(somebody’s) tone + of + voice
phrase 1 72 yes
get + a kick + out + of (something)
phrase 1 80
have + no + effect
phrase 1 102
in + a matter + of + seconds
phrase 1 115
a period + of + time
phrase 1 122
difficult + to + understand
phrase 1 122
68
the scene + of + an accident
phrase 1 123
(something ) is worth + the risk
phrase 1 159
a sense + of + optimism
phrase 1 161 yes
state + of + mind
phrase 1 167 yes
at + first + glance
phrase 1 183
have + enough + to eat
phrase 1 185
the immediate + future
phrase 1 195
an eye + for + detail
phrase 1 231
the terms + of + employment
phrase 1 247 yes
dead + or + alive
phrases 1 71
over + the noise
preposition + noun
1 76
on + record preposition + verb
1 9
target + audience
noun + noun
1 313
fall + asleep verb + adjective
1 42
69
feel + sick verb + adjective
1 76
became + aware
verb + adjective
1 110
become + obvious
verb + adjective
1 144
find (something) + impossible
verb + adjective
1 96
last + forever verb + adverb
1 15
look + carefully
verb + adverb
1 61
hang + loose verb + adverb
1 77
react + negatively
verb + adverb
1 99
reveal + the truth
verb + noun 1 9
losing (his) + patience
verb + noun 1 21
give + up + fight
verb + noun 1 127
makes (ironic) + remarks
verb + noun 1 21
loses + (his) grip
verb + noun 1 22
come + to + an agreement
verb + noun 1 25
70
provides + description
verb + noun 1 36
call + for + change
verb + noun 1 38
call + for + action
verb + noun 1 172
leave + room verb + noun 1 40
grasp + the concept
verb + noun 1 42
offer + service
verb + noun 1 44
make + a call verb + noun 1 44
resolve + conflict
verb + noun 1 45
ascend + slope
verb + noun 1 48 yes yes descend (3.000) slope (3.000)
descend + slope
verb + noun 1 48 yes yes ascend (5..000) slope (3.000)
ruin + (somebody’s) life
verb + noun 1 49
make + a profit
verb + noun 1 52
make + money
verb + noun 1 52
tell + a story verb + noun 1 59
71
go down + on your knees
verb + noun 1 62
build + a nest verb + noun 1 65
make + a sound
verb + noun 1 69
leave + a room
verb + noun 1 71
deal with + tragedy
verb + noun 1 75
get + attention
verb + noun 1 75 yes
take + responsibility
verb + noun 1 38
take + responsibility
verb + noun 1 38
provide + an alternative
verb + noun 1 70
take + a role verb + noun 1 153
find + evidence
verb + noun 1 153
reduce + emissions
verb + noun 1 216
completed + a task
verb + noun 1 225
make + transitions
verb + noun 1 256
72
give + a presentation
verb + noun 1 269
use + a technique
verb + noun 1 272
establish + a relationship
verb + noun 1 274
make + comments
verb + noun 1 278
develop + strategies
verb + noun 1 280
discuss + a topic
verb + noun 1 282
draws + attention
verb + noun 1 290
give + an impression
verb + noun 1 303
face + a problem
verb + noun 1 311
set + targets verb + noun 1 313
conduct + a survey
verb + noun 1 319
conduct + research
verb + noun 1 329
get + sick verb + noun 1 76
create + tension
verb + noun 1 79 yes
73
challenge + a view
verb + noun 1 81
make + a count
verb + noun 1 83
dampen + (somebody's) mood
verb + noun 1 84
give + a talk verb + noun 1 85
find + an example
verb + noun 1 87
prove + a point
verb + noun 1 87
challenge + a notion
verb + noun 1 92
cease + production
verb + noun 1 106 yes yes cease (3.000) -
decline + an invitation
verb + noun 1 106 yes yes decline (3.000) invitation
fulfil + an obligation
verb + noun 1 106 yes yes fulfil (3.000) -
submit + a report
verb + noun 1 106 yes yes submit (3.000) report (1.000)
withdraw + cash
verb + noun 1 106 yes yes withdraw (3.000) cash (2.000)
submit + a proposal
verb + noun 1 106 yes yes submit (3.000) -
cover + the cost
verb + noun 1 107
74
lose + count verb + noun 1 111
express + (your) feelings
verb + noun 1 113
cross + (your) arms
verb + noun 1 113
plant + evidence
verb + noun 1 114
break + the news
verb + noun 1 121
fold + (your) hands
verb + noun 1 122
flick + a switch
verb + noun 1 139
sign + a petition
verb + noun 1 141
give + an order
verb + noun 1 143 yes
pay + rent verb + noun 1 189 yes
get + an advantage
verb + noun 1 195
fire + a shot verb + noun 1 197 yes
keep + the noise + down
verb + noun 1 205
flick through + a magazine
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes flick (4.000) magazine (2.000)
75
meet + demand
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes meet (1.000) demand (2.000)
relax + restriction
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes relax (2.000) -
scream + abuse
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes scream (2.000) abuse (3.000)
deserve + a reward
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes deserve (3.000) reward (3.000)
relax + controls
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes relax (2.000) control (1.000)
hurl + abuse verb + noun 1 207 yes yes hurl (5.000) abuse (3.000)
complete + a task
verb + noun 1 225 yes
employ + workers
verb + noun 1 226 yes yes employ (1.000)
assign + a task
verb + noun 1 226 yes yes assign (3.000) task (3.000)
decline to + discuss
verb + noun 1 226 yes yes decline (3.000) discuss (2.000)
employ + a technique
verb + noun 1 226 yes yes employ (1.000) technique (3.000)
stay at + a hotel
verb + noun 1 247 yes
offer + the chance (to do something)
verb + noun 1 248 yes
76
attend + an interview
verb + noun 1 250 yes
stick to + the facts
verb + noun 1 250 yes
identify + source
verb + noun 1 55, yes
express + your thoughts
verb + noun 1 87
employ + a strategy
verb + noun 1 226 yes yes employ (1.000) strategy (3.000)
seal + an envelope
verb + noun 1 206 yes yes seal (2.000) envelope (2.000)
put + out verb + preposition
1 15
moving + around
verb + preposition
1 24
protect (somebody) + against (something)
verb + preposition
1 69
depend + upon
verb + preposition
1 34
knock + at the door
verb + preposition
1 148
let (somebody) + know
verb + verb 1 112
Appendix 2
List of identified collocations from Nation & Shin’s (2007) list, accompanied by meta-information
77
Collocation Type Nr. of occurrences
Page number
Appear in exercises
Targeted in exercise
10.000 list
make + sure verb + adjective
30 25, 44, 45, 46, 48, 51, 53, 69, 73, 106, 133, 148-49, 150, 159, 179, 215, 226, 246, 247, 248, 254, 269, 273(x5), 277, 282, 320
yes
(number) + years
number + noun
27 9, 39, 43, 60, 67, 93, 112, 200, 116, 129, 134, 150, 151, 178, 180, 182, 185(x2), 192, 195, 233, 290, 300, 305(x3), 328
yes
you + know pronoun + verb
27 19, 20, 26, 44, 45(x2), 46, 76(x2), 85, 94, 97, 101, 104, 111, 163(x3), 168, 171, 179, 221, 250, 269(x2), 270, 274
yes
as + well adverb + adverb
24 44, 54, 87, 97, 101, 126, 137, 159, 165, 233, 242, 257, 260(x3), 262,
yes
78
264(x2), 286, 298, 300(x2), 301, 303,
for + example preposition + noun
20 21, 36, 51, 52, 173, 174(x2), 175, 182, 214, 216, 250, 256, 262, 264, 271, 278, 282, 288, 296
yes
a lot + of noun + preposition
19 17, 46, 71, 158, 164, 185(x4), 204, 205, 233, 245(x2), 248, 261, 315, 318, 326
yes
at + the end preposition + noun
19 16, 22, 55, 78, 87, 134, 154, 259(x2), 260(x2), 275, 283(x2), 290, 294, 300(x2), 326
yes
(number) + minutes
number + noun
18 38, 41, 51, 58, 60(x3), 65, 71, 131, 142, 152, 161, 199(x2), 200, 224, 233,
yes
looking + at verb + preposition
17 32, 48, 73, 77, 95, 107(x2), 120, 125, 155, 161, 197, 201, 227, 248,
yes
79
290, 320 (number)+ percent
number + noun
14 41, 47, 130, 139(x2), 140(x4), 141, 142(x2), 226, 328
yes
so + much adverb + adverb
13 9, 35, 55, 80, 99, 184, 195(x2), 198, 224, 225, 234, 291
yes
rather + than adverb + preposition
13 63, 68, 71, 115, 151, 167, 191, 245, 257, 285, 303, 315, 326
yes
I + think pronoun + verb
11 20, 53, 107, 133, 152, 157, 171, 215, 280, 281, 285
yes
looked + at verb + preposition
10 29, 78(x2), 98, 99, 113, 162, 208, 235, 309
yes
even + if adverb + preposition
9 13, 61(x2), 114(x2), 115, 207, 250, 282
yes
know + that noun + determiner
9 26, 31, 76, 85, 101, 164, 171, 268, 270
yes
it + seems pronoun + verb
9 45, 67, 149, 159, 183, 198, 276, 280, 284
yes
find + out verb + preposition
9 41, 47, 62, 138, 223, 269, 303, 313, 320
yes
believe + that verb + preposition
9 33, 107, 114, 191,
yes
80
285, 286, 290(x2), 300
it + comes pronoun + verb
9 10, 71, 91, 164, 170, 198(x3), 225,
yes
too + much adverb + adverb
8 76, 81, 104, 148, 149, 166, 272, 273
that + way determiner + noun
8 68, 69, 78, 86, 164, 172, 195, 245
yes
thank + you noun + pronoun
8 69, 97, 98. 203, 235, 295(x2), 300
I + see pronoun + verb
7 53, 114, 118, 133, 171, 185, 215
yes
talking + about verb + preposition
7 19, 271(x6) yes
some + people determiner + noun
6 75(x2), 202, 290, 291, 316
other + people adjective + noun
5 114, 147, 168, 220, 231
yes
interested + in adjective + preposition
5 20, 148, 170, 254, 298
yes
not + sure adverb + adjective
5 53, 69. 215, 280, 281
yes
n’t (not)+ mind adverb + verb
5 221, 223, 230(x3)
a + bit determiner + noun
5 78, 179, 194, 276, 280
yes
(number) + pounds
number + noun
5 111, 201, 202(x2), 325
(number) + number + 5 9, 180, 185, yes
81
years + ago noun + preposition
211, 220
in + fact preposition + noun
5 45, 92, 166. 224, 244
at + home preposition + noun
5 192, 212, 285(x3)
yes
used + to verb + preposition
5 78, 179, 194, 276, 280
yes
looking + for verb + preposition
5 44. 131, 202, 233, 267
yes
talking + to verb + preposition
5 60, 110, 118, 241, 256
yes
go + back verb + adverb
5 18, 114, 166, 249, 257
last + time adjective + noun
4 121, 234(x3)
very + good adverb + adjective
4 32, 33, 244, 256
very + much adverb + adverb
4 30, 33, 37, 203
yes
much + more adverb + adverb
4 41, 42, 147, 195
this + year determiner + noun
4 185, 197, 286, 311
yes
this + time determiner + noun
4 32, 33, 111, 166
as + far + as phrase 4 13, 65, 239, 322
yes
in + the morning
preposition + noun
4 44, 133. 221, 223
come + back verb + adverb
4 60, 204, 239, 246
said + to verb + preposition
4 76, 164, 199, 295
thought + that verb + preposition
4 15, 147, 149, 163
yes
want + it verb + pronoun
4 159, 200, 202, 204
at + the time preposition 4 99(x2), 150,
82
+ noun 305, number + (number)
noun + number
3 224, 230, 303,
out + there preposition + adverb
3 45, 158, 272
I + hope pronoun + verb
3 32, 97, 313
come + on verb + preposition
3 76, 149, 280
come + in verb + preposition
3 76, 138, 183,
come + out verb + preposition
3 160, 191, 200
yes
very + nice adverb + adjective
2 34, 205
not + really adverb + adverb
2 49, 263 yes
any + more determiner + adjective
2 79, 201 yes
this + morning determiner + noun
2 32, 25
all + the time determiner + noun
2 18, 20,
I + suppose pronoun + verb
2 110, 118
going + out verb + preposition
2 18, 34
(quantity) + a week
(noun / number) + noun
1 111
last + year adjective + noun
1 195
last + week adjective + noun
1 107 yes
next + week adjective + noun
1 195
very + well adverb +adverb
1 233
and + so + on phrase 1 154 yes a number + of noun +
preposition 1 28
sort + of + thing
phrase 1 18
83
(number) + times
number + noun
1 67 yes
at + the moment
preposition + noun
1 101
that + sort preposition + noun
1 18
mean + that verb + determiner
1 111
get + in verb + preposition
1 71
go + out verb + preposition
1 223
thank + you + very + much
phrase 1 203