Collocation with Delexicalised Verbs

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Introduction
This essay will focus on collocation with delexicalised verbs.  Thornbury notes that collocation is “…perhaps the single most elusive aspect of the lexical system and the hardest, therefore, for learners to acquire (2002, p.7).  In my own teaching experience, I have noticed that incorrect collocation is a problem for all levels.  Elementary learners can often have trouble expressing meaning because of incorrect collocation.  This includes the group of upper-elementary Thai students that I am currently teaching.  At the advanced level, collocation stops students from sounding natural, and failure to use collocations can have a negative impact on standardized proficiency tests like the IELTS speaking exam (IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors). 
I decided to focus on collocations with delexicalised verbs because of their high frequency in English language, which makes them useful for elementary learners (Juknevičienė, 2008).

1. Analysis
1.1 Collocation
Collocation is defined as “the way in which words are used together regularly” (Richards & Schmidt, 2002, p.87).  Words are said to collocate if they appear together more frequently than we would expect (Willis, 2003, p.45).  The words in a collocation do not always have to appear directly next to each other, and can be separated by one or more words (Thornbury, 2002, p.7).  With the advent of corpus linguistics, in which large amounts of text can be stored and analysed by computers, the study of collocations has moved into the field of statistics, and it is now possible to describe collocations by the statistical probability that two words will appear next to each other, or in the same sentence (Corbett, 2017).  Important to note is that the concept of collocation is used not only to describe which words can occur together, but also which words cannot.  So, for example, in English it is possible to say “weak tea” and “mild cheese” but not “mild tea” or “weak cheese” (Willis, 2003, p.46).
Thornbury (2006) divides collocation into two types: grammatical and lexical.  Grammatical collocation is, for example, when verbs appear with certain prepositions, or when delexicalised verbs appear with a noun.  Lexical collocation is when two content words appear next to each other, such as a noun and an adjective (p.34). 
Collocations fall on a spectrum between fixed versus free.  A fixed collocation is one in which there is no variation allowed.  These include compound words, multi-word units, lexical chunks, and idioms.  A less-fixed collocation allows more variability in how it is phrased.  For example, in a less-fixed delexicalised verb collocation, the determiner before a noun may be variable (do the homework versus do my homework), or there could be the option of inserting adjectives between the verb and the noun (take a hot shower) (Thornbury, 2002, p.7).  On the opposite end would be a completely free collocation, which is a novel or creative combination (Lewis, 2002, p.94).  The spectrum can also be expressed in terms of weak and strong.  Strong collocations are very frequent, whereas weak collocations are less frequent, but still co-occur with greater than average frequency.  For example, “make a wish” is a strong collocation because very few other words can occur with “wish”.  However, “big house” is a weak collocation in both directions, because many other words can occur with both big and house (Collocation, Cambridge Grammar Dictionary).
The strength of the collocation is not always bi-directional.  Many nouns can have several verbs they collocate with.  For example, bill can collocate with: pay, foot, receive, present, reduce, and submit.  Likewise many verbs can collocate with several nouns.  But sometimes one word can more strongly suggest the other.  For example, murder strongly collocates with the verb commit, but commit can suggest other nouns besides murder (Lewis, 2008, p.28).

1.2 Delexicalised Verbs
Delexicalised verbs are part of a group of collocations known as multiword verbal expressions.  Multiword verbal expressions consist of a verb and one or more other words.  The other words could consist of an adjective, an infinitive, a participle, or a phrase beginning with a preposition.  However, most typically the other words are nouns or articles plus nouns.  In the cases of multiword verbal expressions, the verbs are thought to contribute nothing to the meaning.  For example, in the expressions “have dinner” or “go swimming” it is the words dinner and swimming which give the meaning, and not have or go.  Therefore the verbs in these expressions are known as “delexicalised verbs”, because they have no meaning.  Delexicalised verbs that frequently occur in multiword verbal expressions are: do, get, give, go, have, make, put, set, take (Parrott, 2000, p.144-145).
Delexicalised verbs are used more in speaking than in writing (Carter and McCarthy in Dowling, 2005).  However within the realm of speaking they are not considered to be informal.  Rather they are usually the neutral form for speaking, and the one-word Latinate equivalent is the formal alternative—for example, the delexicalised phrase “give in” is neutral in tone, whereas “concede” is formal (Parrott, 2000, p.145-146).
Authors differ in their assessment of delexicalised verbs.  Some treat the delexicalised verbs as totally empty of meaning, and therefore collocation is random.  Others make generalizations about some patterns of use in delexicalised verb (Parrott, 2000, p.145).  Examples of some theorized patterns are below.
* Do is used for indefinite activities, work and jobs, e.g. do homework (Swan, 2005, p.147)
* Get is used to refer to movement of some kind, e.g get to work (Swan, 2005, p.199)
* Give is often used to refer to sounds made by people e.g. give a shout (Swan, 2005, p.201) or for a sense of contributing to something, e.g. give an opinion (Parrott, p.145)
* Have is often used to talk about actions and experiences, e.g. have a fight (Swan, 2005, p.205)
* Make is often used to talk about constructing, building or creating, e.g. make dinner (Swan, 2005, p.148)

1.3 Pronunciation
Elements of connected speech can affect the pronunciation of delexicalised verb phrases.  The /t/ sound is often elided when it is between two consonants, or assimilates to the articulation of the next word, so this could affect collocations with get, set and put.  So, for example, get dark might be pronounced as /ɡe dɑːk/ or get busy could be pronounced as /ɡeb bɪz.i/.  For collocations with go, the dipthong /əʊ/ is usually reduced in connected speech, and may drop the /ʊ/altogether, so that “go shopping” is pronounced /ɡəˈʃɒp.ɪŋ /.  In cases where an article is inserted (e.g. “take a shower”) then the article is not stressed, so “a” is usually pronounced as /ə/ instead of /eɪ/.  In the case of the article “a” before a consonant, liaison may occur, so that “take a” is pronounced as / teɪkə/  (Underhill, 1994, p. 60-65). 


2. Issues 
2.1 Recognizing Collocations
Learners need a certain amount of exposure before they can begin to recognize co-occurring words as collocations.  The first time they encounter a collocation, such as a delexicalized verb, learners may assume a literal meaning, or assume that each word contributes equally to the meaning (Parrott, 2000, p.146).  Also, the first time learners encounter a collocation, they will have no idea if this is a “one-off” usage, or a useful collocation to be remembered.  This is particularly a problem with lower-level learners who have had less exposure.  The problem can be exacerbated if the learners are primarily using English that has been simplified for teaching purposes (such as most beginning textbooks) because this act of simplification will tend to edit out many natural collocations (Thornbury, 2002, p.116).  In my own teaching experience, I have noticed that this is a common problem with beginning and elementary learners.

2.2 Remembering Collocations
Collocation has been called one of the hardest elements of the language system to acquire (Thornbury, 2002, p.7).  This is in part because of the memory load that it puts on to learners.  In general, it is very difficult for learners to remember vocabulary words from a single exposure.  Learners can retain receptively only 40% of the words they are taught, and only 30% productively (Nation, 2014).  It is therefore even more difficult for learners to remember pairs of words together.

2.3 L1 Interference
Words can collocate differently in different languages, and this can often result in L1 interference.  Dowling (2005) gives examples from his L1 Portuguese learners, who are prone to say “visited the cinema” instead of “went to the cinema” because of the Portuguese influence.  In my own experience in Japan, I have noticed that Japanese learners will overuse “do” in for activity collocates which collocate with different delexicalised verbs in English because of the influence of their L1.  For lower-level learners, this was evident in common collocations (e.g. “do running”) but tended to get better with the more advanced students.  However, more advanced students who had spent a lot of time exposed to classroom English still had trouble with delexicalised verb collocations in topics unlikely to be covered in the classroom.

2.4 Avoidance
Many learners avoid using collocations with delexicalised verbs.  At an elementary level, this is usually because they do not yet know the correct collocations, and so try to use single-word verbs which often sound archaic or unnatural in the context (Parrott, 2000, p.147).  At a more intermediate level, this avoidance may be because learners mistakenly believe that phrases with delexicalised verbs are informal, and will opt for the Latinate single verb version instead (e.g dine, have dinner).  In fact, delexicalised verbs are the neutral version, and the Latinate version often makes the learner sound overly formal (Parrott, 2000, p.145-146)

3. Suggestions
3.1 Word Maps
Aim: To help students recognize and remember collocations with delexicalised verbs
Procedure: The delexicalised verb is placed in the center of the map.  Lines are drawn from the verb in several directions to show its range of different meanings.  Similar meanings are grouped together.  Learners can either make their own maps (using dictionaries) or finish a pre-existing map (Thornbury, 2002, p.120).  See Appendix 1 for an example.
Evaluation: This is a very visual way for learners to see a range of meanings of one delexical verb.  It should be good for visual learners, and will help to stick in their memory.  In my own classroom, however, I have noticed that some learners dislike having to make these type of word maps, but it can be introduced to a class as an optional strategy.  Recognizing English collocations should also help correct L1 interference.

3.2 Odd One Out Tasks
Aim: To help students recognize and remember collocations with delexicalised verbs
Procedure: Students are given a table of words.  On the left is a delexicalised verb, and to the right is a row of words that collocate with the verb.  Students have to find the one word in each row that does not collocate with the verb (Thornbury, 2002, p.121)
Evaluation: This should be a good task to raise student awareness of which words can collocate with certain verbs, and which words cannot.  The potential problem is that the activity is removed from real language uses.  Thornbury (2002, p121) adds that it should be balanced with activities encouraging students to recognize collocations in real language. 

3.3 Highlighting Collocations in Natural Language
Aim: For students to recognize collocations in natural language
Procedure: The teacher brings in a short song or text, and encourages students to recognize the collocations in it.
Evaluation: This should help students realize how common delexicalised verbs are in real language, and help with issues of avoidance.

3.4 Delexicalised Choices
Aim: For students to recognize patterns in delexicalised verb collocations
Procedure: The teacher selects some common delexicalised verbs (for example: do, take, give, make).  Students write these words in their notebooks.  The teacher then reads out 30 words that collocate with these verbs, and students write the words down under the appropriate verb in their notebook.  Afterwards students compare lists with each other to see where they have placed each collocation.  The answers are given, and students are encouraged to look for patterns (Dowling, 2005).
Evaluation: 30 collocations is probably too much to ask the students to put into their long term memory.  However, the focus of this activity appears to be on pattern recognition, not memorization.  This activity appears based on the assumption discussed in the analysis section that delexicalised verbs are not entirely meaningless, but still convey some meaning.  Dowling suggests that this activity be followed up in future classes by having students continue to record future delexicalised verb collocations that they encounter into this same notebook.

3.5 Stories Using Delexicalised Verbs
Aim: For students to recognize and understand the meaning of delexicalised verb phrases in the context of a story
Procedure: A series of events are related using sentences that have repeated uses of a single delexicalised verb.  For example a narrative using get could have: got wet, got sick, got mad, got fired.  The activity, as related by Martinez (2008, p. 147-152) has a couple variations.  The teacher could tell the story, and the students could match the events to the pictures, and then the students could re-tell the story using the pictures as cues.  Alternatively, the students could be given word cards using phrases with a delexicalised verb, and they would have to make a story out of it.  See appendix 2.
Evaluation: Using the same delexicalised verb repeatedly in every sentence of the story will result in a frequency count which is unnatural.  However the unnatural repetition creates an element of playfulness to these sentences, which Martinez reports the students enjoy, and this enjoyment could lead to better remembering.  The activity sounds like a type of input flooding, which typically results in students having more positive evidence of what the language can do, but does not provide them with negative evidence (Lightbown & Spada, 2013, p.162-163).  In this case, the missing negative evidence would be the words that cannot collocate.

3.6 Guessing Game
Aim: For students to practice memorizing and recall of delexicalised verb collocations
Procedure: The class is divided into two teams.  A number of delexicalised verb phrases are written on the board.  One member of a team sits with their back to the board (so they are unable to see the phrases) and their teammates give them hints about the phrases behind them.  Their team members give them clues without saying the phrases directly.  The team member tries to guess all the phrases within one minute.
Evaluation: This activity is suggested by Martinez specifically for delexicalised verbs (2008, p.152), but I have used this game in my classes for a wide-range of vocabulary sets.  I have found it very useful in helping students to remember vocabulary, but to truly move these words into long term memory the game has to be repeated for several classes over many weeks.  The fact that the game is an all class activity decreases the participation of any one student, but it can be adapted to a pair activity, particularly if the words are printed on cards instead of written on the blackboard.

Bibliography 

Collocation. Cambridge Grammar Dictionary.  Cambridge Dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/about-words-clauses-and-sentences/collocation

Corbett, John. (2017). Introduction to Corpus Linguistics: Exploring Collocation. https://youtu.be/h1W8kyiMvno

Dowling, Shaun. (2005). Delexicalised verbs. British Council Resources. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/delexicalised-verbs

IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors (Public Version). British Council. IDP IELTS Australia. University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/IELTS_Speaking_band_descriptors.pdf

Juknevičienė, Rita. (2008). COLLOCATIONS WITH HIGH-FREQUENCY VERBS IN LEARNER ENGLISH: LITHUANIAN LEARNERS VS NATIVE SPEAKERS. http://web.vu.lt/flf/r.jukneviciene/files/2009/06/collocations-20081.pdf

Lewis, Michael. (2002). The Lexical Approach: The State of ELT and a Way Forward. Heinle.

Lewis, Michael. (2008). Implementing the Lexical Approach. Heinle

Lightbown, Patsy and Nina Spada. (2013). How Languages are Learned Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press.

Martinez, Ron. (2008). Classroom Report 2. p. 146-152 In Lewis, Michael. (2008). Implementing the Lexical Approach. Heinle

Nation, Paul. (2014). Dealing with Vocabulary in Class : Vocabulary and Intensive Reading. Compass Publishing—Kor. https://youtu.be/o9Bl2kjGYeo

Parrott, Martin. (2000). Grammar for English Language Teachers. Cambridge University Press.

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Thornbury, Scott. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Macmillan Education.

Underhill, Adrian. (1994). Sound Foundations. Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. Macmillan Educaion.

Willis, Dave. (2003). Rules, Patterns and Words: Grammar and Lexis in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.