Parallel Processing of Collocations: A Comparative Study between Native Speakers and Non-Native Speakers

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24720252
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University
• Principal Investigator: MATSUNO Kazuko 静岡大学, 大学教育センター, 講師 (80615790)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: コロケーション / 言語情報処理過程 / コーパス / 反応時間 / プライミング / 言語転移 / 第二言語習得 / multi-word units

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of the present study is to examine whether native speakers and non-native speakers access pre-constructed patterns and those of each single word in a parallel way when the meanings of collocations are retrieved. The current study discusses collocational processing not only holistically or analytically but also "holistically and analytically." In the experiments conducted on native speakers of English/Japanese and learners of English/Japanese, the following conclusions were obtained: (1)native speakers generally process collocations in parallel but some kinds of collocations are solely processed; (2)learners solely process collocations and utilize less prefabricated patterns. It appears to be challenging for learners to run several processes simultaneously. This study suggests that experiences such as implicit knowledge and explicit learning influence memory formation of prefabricated patterns and expression characteristics impact what processing methods are adopted.

Free Research Field

第二言語習得