Online processing of verb-noun collocation for Chinese learners of English as a foreign language

This study focused on two distinct Chinese groups of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners: those with advanced proficiency and those with basic proficiency. The objective was to explore the mechanisms used by Chinese EFL learners in processing and comprehending verb-noun collocations in an online context. The key metrics under consideration were learner response time, the influence of collocation appropriateness, and the alignment between their native language (L1) and English (L2). The findings reveal that: 1）The advanced learners demonstrated significantly faster reaction times overall, particularly when dealing with both appropriate and inappropriate collocations. 2）Accuracy was higher for appropriate verb-noun collocations compared to inappropriate ones, and the advanced group outperformed the basic group in this regard. 3）Notably, there was no significant difference in processing time between the two proficiency levels for both appropriate and inappropriate collocations. These results provide valuable empirical insights into the factors influencing EFL learners’ online comprehension of verb-noun collocations, highlighting the role of L2 proficiency and the congruence with their L1.