35.1312, Review: Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning: Szudarski (2023)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1312. Wed Apr 24 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.1312, Review: Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning: Szudarski (2023)

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Date: 24-Apr-2024
From: Benjamin Naismith [ben.naismith at duolingo.com]
Subject: Applied Linguistics: Szudarski (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.3603

AUTHOR: Paweł Szudarski
TITLE: Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning
SERIES TITLE: Elements in Corpus Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Benjamin Naismith

SUMMARY

This book is part of the Elements in Corpus Linguistics series, edited
by Susan Hunston. Books in this series are intended to provide concise
yet comprehensive overviews of key areas of applied linguistics. These
books cast a wide net in terms of intended audience, from graduate
students, to researchers, to practitioners (presumably language
teachers in this case). This particular volume focuses on the
relationship between collocations, corpora, and language learning. As
described in the introduction and conclusion, this is a burgeoning
area of linguistic research, part of the “corpus revolution” of the
last 20 to 30 years. It is therefore both an important inclusion in
the series, as well as an impressive feat given the amount of material
to cover in a limited space. In total, the book is 89 pages,
consisting of 75 pages of content in 5 sections, followed by 14 pages
of references. This review of the book is therefore correspondingly
brief.

Section 1 provides a short introduction, clearly stating the aims of
the book and the questions which the subsequent sections are intended
to answer. In essence, these sections relate to how collocations are
defined (Section 2), how collocations are analyzed and measured
(Section 3), how collocations are learned and taught (Section 4), and
how collocations might be researched in the future (Section 5). The
structure and format of the book is also briefly described.

Section 2 focuses on how research has conceptualized collocations. To
do so, collocation research is situated within the broader area of
research into formulaic language, starting with earlier work and
ideas, such as Sinclair’s pioneering efforts in the 1980s with the
COBUILD Corpus and his 1991 description of the open-choice and idiom
principles. A link is then made to more current collocation research,
which views collocations as a graded phenomenon (e.g., Granger, 2021).
In turn, the different dominant approaches to collocation
identification are described, starting with the phraseological
approach, moving on to the frequency-based approach, before concluding
with recent hybrid approaches. The topic of the psycholinguistic
reality of collocations is also touched upon, that is, the extent to
which collocations are represented and processed as single units in
the mental lexicons of speakers. Throughout this (and all) sections,
the ways in which corpus research has impacted our understanding of
collocations is underscored.

Section 3 then transitions into a description of the multitude of ways
in which collocations have been analyzed and measured, primarily in
terms of corpus-derived measures of frequency. First, descriptions of
historically popular measures are provided, for example t-scores and
Mutual Information (MI). The author takes care not to dismiss such
measures, but points out the need for caution in interpreting
findings, as well as the benefits of considering multiple measures
when conducting research in this field. Next, more recent collocation
measures are described, for example Delta P and Log Dice, which
attempt to address the limitations of more traditional measures (e.g.,
the lack of information about directionality or the over importance
given to infrequent words). This section concludes with  a description
of how these types of quantitative collocation measures can be
integrated with qualitative analyses (e.g., analysis of concordance
lines in the Key Word in Content format) to reveal insights into
collocational patterns, as evidenced in the Martinez (2013) study box.

The final main section, Section 4, looks at corpus-based studies which
might inform how collocations are learned and taught in second
language (L2) contexts. These studies are situated within usage-based
approaches to language learning (e.g., Ellis, 2002), focusing on the
importance of frequency in input for acquiring language. Learner
corpora studies are then examined as a means to understanding
learners’ collocation use, with consideration of factors such as
learners’ first language (L1), age of acquisition, etc. Such research
is described to demonstrate the important link between different
aspects of collocational proficiency and overall language proficiency.
Importantly, when comparing L1 and L2 collocation use, the author
takes care to avoid presenting an L2-deficit model focusing solely on
errors, instead showing how corpus data can descriptively compare
different populations of speakers (e.g., in the Altenberg and Granger,
2001 study box). Learner corpus research is also presented to
highlight how collocations contribute to different aspects of lexical
proficiency (e.g., lexical richness and sophistication). The final
part of this section deals with how corpora can be utilized for
teaching purposes, whether directly or indirectly. As part of this
description, a number of accessible online resources are described,
including VocabProfile, AntWordProfiler, and various collocation word
lists.

Section 5 is a short concluding section. It reiterates the importance
and potential for corpus research to enhance our understanding of
language and how we learn/teach L2 collocations. Four avenues for
future research are then presented, highlighting the need for further
collocation-related investigations into individual learning
trajectories, as well as more interdisciplinary research, replication
studies, and attempts to bridge collocation research and
teaching/learning practices. The section concludes with optimistic
closing remarks endorsing the value of collocation research
explorations.

EVALUATION

As noted, this book is extremely compact, and yet the author admirably
manages to cover a wide range of issues relevant to our current
understanding of collocations at  the intersection of corpus
linguistics and second language acquisition. That the author is able
to do so is the result of several factors. At the surface level, the
writing is clear and accessible throughout, with the sections ordered
logically to build upon one another. There is also an excellent
balance of theoretical considerations, historical background, and
concrete examples. The ‘study boxes’ are particularly useful as case
studies, though if in a rush, readers could skip these and still
understand the main text.

In terms of content, the author is very successful in covering the
gamut of perspectives on issues related to collocation identification
and measurement, acknowledging the positive aspects and contributions
of each. For example, qualitative and quantitative approaches are each
given due consideration, with mixed-method studies highlighted as
being particularly informative. Similarly, in Section 3, when
comparing earlier common measurements and rule-of-thumb thresholds,
the author acknowledges their utility before suggesting more nuanced
and comprehensive approaches for future research. One final example of
a modern applied linguistics viewpoint occurs when the author
succinctly addresses the issue of using L1-speaker norms as the target
for L2 learners, as well as the now dispreferred ‘native speaker’
terminology.

As a reader, only a few minor critical observations came to mind.
Superficially, most of the figures, for example of corpus output, were
insufficiently high resolution. As a result, the details were
illegible, at least in the print version. Another minor critique is
the number of self-citations; although the author is an expert in the
field, the number was noticeable, with seven as first author and one
as third author (including one “under review”). Finally, I questioned
whether all of the stated intended audience is truly best served by
this treatment, specifically “language practitioners who may want to
turn to corpora as a way of addressing practical challenges linked to
selecting and teaching examples of specific word pairs deemed
important for L2 pedagogy” (pp. 1-2). I worry that language
practitioners looking to better understand collocations for the first
time and looking for practical ideas may find much of the research
methods discussion less relevant to their needs, with the exception of
Section 4. Nevertheless, apart from this perhaps overly ambitious
desired readership, I would highly recommend this volume for any
linguists interested in learning more about state-of-the-art
collocational research.

REFERENCES

Altenberg, B., & Granger, S. (2001). The grammatical and lexical
patterning of MAKE in native and non-native student writing. Applied
Linguistics, 22(2), 173–195. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/22.2.173.

Ellis, N. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing: A review
with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language
acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(2), 143–188.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263102002024.

Granger, S. (2021). Phraseology, corpora and L2 research. In S.
Granger (Ed.), Perspectives on the L2 phrasicon: The view from learner
corpora (pp. 3-21). Multilingual Matters.

Martinez, R. (2013). A framework for the inclusion of multiword
expressions in ELT. ELT Journal, 67(2), 184–198.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccs100.

Sinclair, J. (1991). Corpus, concordance, collocation: Describing
English language. Oxford University Press.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Ben Naismith is a Senior Assessment Scientist at Duolingo. Ben has
worked in numerous contexts as a teacher, teacher trainer, materials
developer, assessment specialist, and researcher. He holds a PhD in
Applied Linguistics, and his research interests lie in the fields of
second language acquisition, corpus linguistics, language assessment,
and teacher education.



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