The Mental Representation of L2 Collocations and the Effect of Cross-language Congruency on Processing L2 Collocations by Arab Learners of English

Abstract

Previous research indicates that collocations in the first language are represented and processed as holistic units compared with novel constructions. However, with respect to processing L2 collocations, different results were reported in the literature. Some research (e.g., Wray, 2002) suggested that L2 learners cannot process L2 collocations as holistic units as in L1, while other studies (e.g., Wolter & Gyllstad, 2011) indicated that the degree of congruency between L1 and L2 accelerates the processing of L2 collocations. In the current study, 15 native speakers of English and 15 Arab learners of English performed a lexical decision task combined with priming to two different types of English (L2) collocations: congruent collocations (e.g., black market) that exist in English and Arabic, and incongruent collocations (e.g., strong coffee) that exist in English only. The results showed significant priming in both groups of participants and in both types of collocations, suggesting that the mental representation of collocations in L2 is similar to L1 representation. However, while the NSs’ priming effects in the two types of collocations were largely similar, L2 learners’ priming effect in the congruent collocations was greater than that in the incongruent ones. The results suggest that even though L2 learners can achieve a degree of autonomy in L2, the role of L1 can hardly be eliminated when the processing is entirely in L2.