The effects of input flood and consciousness-raising approach on collocation knowledge development of language learners

Abstract

Many researchers stress the importance of lexical coherence and emphasize the need for teaching collocations at all levels of language proficiency. Thus, this study was conducted to measure the relative effectiveness of explicit (consciousness-raising approach) versus implicit (input flood) collocation instruction with regard to learners’ knowledge of both lexical and grammatical collocations. Ninety-five upper-intermediate learners, who were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups, served as the participants of this study. While one of the experimental groups was provided with input flood treatment, the other group received explicit collocation instruction. In contrast, the participants in the control group did not receive any instruction on learning collocations. The results of the study, which were collected through pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test, revealed that although both methods of teaching collocations proved effective, the explicit method of consciousness-raising approach was significantly superior to the implicit method of input flood treatment.