The Correlation Between Teaching Collocations and Lexical Bundles and the Improvement in the Writing Skill of First-Year University Students

Abstract

This study explores the correlation between the teaching of collocations and lexical bundles and the improvement of the writing skill of first-year university students. The thesis addresses three research questions. First, to what extent can the explicit teaching of collocations and lexical bundles assist the students in learning them and can later use the acquired collocations and lexical bundles morphologically and grammatically accurately in writing? Second, the study asks if there is a correlation between using the collocation and lexical bundle and improving the writing grade. Finally, the study investigated if there is a relationship between the increase in the number of collocations and lexical bundles and the difference in the writing grade and whether such an increase leads to improvement in the overall score. It is worth mentioning that the collocations and lexical bundles are two of the leading representatives of the Formulaic language. Many studies discussed the significant role that collocations and the lexical bundles play in helping English as a foreign language students (EFLs) to express themselves accurately in writing, besides providing them with the knowledge to produce coherent and precise text. The study implemented quantitative research, and the findings were the outcome of the statistical analysis of the pre-test and post-tests and written assignments of the control and experimental groups. The findings concluded that the explicit instruction of the collocation and lexical bundles significantly improved the overall writing grade of the experimental group. The study identified some commonly used collocations and lexical bundles among the high-achieving participants, and the number of the collocations and lexical bundles used in writing positively correlated with an improved overall grade. More suggestions will be discussed on how more attention should be given to incorporating the collocation and lexical bundles in the English for Academic Purposes programmes in universities.