Translational Collocational Strategies of Arab Learners of English: A Study in Lexical Semantics

Arab learners of English encounter a serious problem with collocational sequences. Thepresent study purports to determine the extent to which university English languagemajors can use English collocations properly. A two-form translation test of 16 Arabiccollocations was administered to both graduate and undergraduate students of English.The first form included the English translation in a multiple-choice format whereas theother was given as a free translation task. The findings confirmed the writers’ hypothesisthat Arab learners of English at all levels face difficulty with English collocations.Moreover, the study aimed at the characterization of the communicative strategies imple-mentedby the subjects in their attempts to convey the English meaning. Twelve suchstrategies have been identified, exemplified and described. The findings have substanti-atedthe role of the NL in FL production as well as the need for explicit instructional focuson collocation in school and university.