Introduction: Researching L2 Collocation Knowledge and Development

Abstract

For anyone learning or teaching a second language, collocation is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating (and at times frustrating) challenges that they will face. Equally, for those interested in researching second language (L2) collocation knowledge and development, the challenges are both fascinating and frustrating, but for different reasons. Although several wide-ranging volumes of research in L2 vocabulary acquisition have been published in the last 15 years or so (Arnaud and Béjoint, 1992; Coady and Huckin, 1997; Schmitt and McCarthy, 1997; Read, 2000; Schmitt, 2000; Nation, 2001; Schmitt, 2004; Bogaards and Laufer, 2004; Daller et al., 2007; Fitzpatrick and Barfield, 2009), they have rarely included dedicated studies of L2 collocation knowledge and development. In fact, in the last decade, only five book-length publications in English stand out for the more specific focus that they take on L2 collocation knowledge and use (Cowie, 1998c; Lewis, 2000; Nesselhauf, 2005; Schmitt, 2004; Meunier and Granger, 2008). The first situates collocation within the broader field of phraseology and provides a far-ranging exposition of corpus-based studies, some of which are collocation-focused. Teaching Collocation, edited by Lewis, is also multi-authored and is directed towards the pedagogic treatment of collocations in the classroom.