The Use of Grammatical Collocations with Prepositions and Attitude towards Collocations Learning of Thai EFL Undergraduate Students

Abstract

This study aimed to (1) investigate the use of grammatical collocations, which emphasizes on the combination of preposition patterns, among EFL undergraduate students, (2) compare the use of grammatical collocations among EFL undergraduate students, and (3) find out the attitudes towards collocations learning of EFL undergraduate students at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna Phitsanulok. The participants of the study were 300 students (N = 1,069) from three faculties, Faculty of Science and Agriculture Technology (SAT), Faculty of Business Administration and Liberal Arts (BALA), as well as Faculty of Engineering (EN). The cloze test with 3 multiple choices and questionnaire were applied as a tool of the study. Descriptive statistics, with mean and percentage in interpreting data, were applied in the study. The results were revealed that although students from BALA gained the highest means score (12.12 out of 30); it was in the low level, followed by SAT students (11.21), and EN students (10.42). When compared to the number of students who were able to use the three patterns of grammatical collocations, it was found that BALA students can apply pattern 1 (Noun + Preposition) in the first rank at 41.66%, 42.57% for pattern 2 (Preposition + Noun), and 38.90% for pattern 3 (Adjective + Preposition). After doing the test, students were required to do the questionnaire to investigate their attitude towards collocations learning.Consequently, it was found that most students responded in the “Agree” level and the top three opinions were: 1. Students agreed (4.27) that English collocations should be introduced and learned at university level, 2. Students agreed (4.17) that English collocations should be more focused in the classroom and finally, 3.Students agreed (4.17) that people with good collocations were more successful in Englishlanguage learning.