Investigating Problems Facing EFL Secondary School Students in Using English Collocations

Abstract

This research aimed at investigating the problems facing secondary school students in understanding and using English collocations. The researcher adopted a descriptive analytical methodology for the study and used a test and a questionnaire for the data collection process. The population of the study was confined to the secondary school students, the third level in Khartoum Locality. The students participated in this study were 30 students (male & female) for the test besides, 20 English school teachers for the questionnaire. The sample of the study was selected using the simple random sampling from the wide population of the study. The research concluded that, Secondary school students are not able to use collocation correctly and that Secondary school students are not able to identify the types of collocation besides, mistakes regarding the use of collocation happen in speaking more dominantly than in writing. Accordingly, the researcher recommended that, Teachers should teach the types of collocations to students and use exercises that draw on the types of collocations and that learners should be provided with videos and DVDs of conversations and speaking practice to enhance their understanding and learning collocation. Most importantly, teachers should deal with mistakes related to collocation sensitively so as to encourage students in learning English collocations.