LAELI_a08_t15

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Raising Students’ Awareness of Collocations 
Collocation is a phenomenon whereby some words (usually two) occur next to 
each other, or very near each other. “Throw a party“, “heavy rain“, “make an 
arrangement“, “rancid butter” and “answer the phone” are some examples of 
collocations. For a teacher, these combinations may be very simple; however, for 
learners they may sound slightly (or totally) weird. 
In Brazil, for example, “fazer uma festa” is literally translated as “#make a 
party#” or “#do a party#“. None of these two combinations sound natural in English. 
When learners are told that in English the most common and natural way to say 
“fazer uma festa” is “throw a party“, they feel fairly uncomfortable. The same 
happens to other combinations: “chuva forte” gives “#strong rain#“, but in English is 
“heavy rain“; “atender o telefone” seems like “#attend the telephone#”, but in 
English is “answer the phone“. 
There are thousands of examples. They may not be easy for learners to get. 
So, teachers must help them to become aware of such natural combinations of 
words. The question is: how can that be done? 
The best way to raise your students’ awareness of collocations is to help them 
notice collocations. Noticing is a vital prerequisite for learning. So, teachers have a 
key role in helping learners to notice collocations. Helping them to develop their 
noticing skill is something that can be done from basic levels. There’s no point in 
keeping this as a secret to be revealed at intermediate/advanced level. The sooner 
learners get the idea of learning/noticing collocations, the faster they will develop 
their vocabulary and fluency. 
In order to improve learners’ noticing skill, the teacher must avoid focusing 
on single words. So, if a student asks the teacher the meaning of a word, the teacher 
had better ask the student to say what words are next to that specific word. Then, 
the teacher writes the collocation on the board and gives the meaning of the whole 
sequence of words plus some other examples. 
For example, let’s say a student asks you the meaning of the word “source“. 
Instead of just saying that “source” means “fonte“, you can ask them to say what 
words are next to “source“. Student may read “main source of income” from the 
text, then you write the collocation on the board and tell him/her the meaning of it – 
“principal fonte de renda“. You can also provide some other examples such as: 
“source of information” (fonte de informação), “source of inspiration” (fonte de 
inspiração), “source of food” (fonte de alimento). Keep in mind that these extra 
examples have to be given according to students’ level (basic, intermediate, 
advanced). 
Another thing the teacher can do is to explain what collocation is. Then, the 
teacher provides some common examples and show students how they are used. 
Finally, the teacher can compare English combinations with students’ first language. 
After doing so, the teacher gives students a short text (maybe one from the 
lesson/coursebook they’re having at that moment) and ask them to underline (circle, 
color or copy to a notebook, etc.) some word combinations they may find interesting. 
Dealing with collocations in a direct way will certainly help learners to keep 
their eyes wide open for collocations. In the beginning, they may feel like noting 
down lots of word combinations. To avoid this, the teacher would better tell 
students to “select those collocations which are crucial to their particular needs” 
(Woolard in Lewis, 2000, p. 35). You may find this weird at first, however remember 
that “if students can notice and find more examples for themselves, they have more 
chance of acquiring new language” (McCarthy, O’Keefe & Walsh, p. 36). 
Now, it’s your turn to share some info: Do you usually tell your students about 
collocations? How do you approach collocations in the classroom? Is there any 
 
 
different technique for basic and advanced learners? How do your students react to 
the idea of learning/noticing collocations? 
(Fonte: http://www.denilsodelima.com.br/articles/raising-students-
awareness-of-collocations/)