Investigating academic collocations in efl textbooks and student knowledge

Abstract

As collocations are crucial for EFL students' language skills, this study examined the distribution of academic collocations in a textbook used by first-year EFL students (‘Pathways (VN Ed.) (2 Ed.) Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking 2’ by Vargo, 2018) and investigated students' knowledge of academic collocations. The goals were to assess the textbook as a resource for fostering academic collocation learning and to identify student needs. Ninety students participated in an academic collocation recognition test, and writing samples were collected from 54 students. The findings revealed a limited variety of academic collocations in the textbook and weak student performance in recognizing and using academic collocations in writing. These findings highlight the need for a more comprehensive approach to academic collocation to UFLS students.