Mehrdad Mohajeri & Saeed Ketabi: The knowledge and Use of collocations and their Relation with English Speaking
Proficiency among Upper- intermediate to Advanced Iranian EFL Learners
2 | E L T V o i c e s – I n d i a ( V o l . 3 I s s u e 5 ) | O c t o b e r 2013
 I S S N 2 2 3 0 - 9136 ( P r i n t ) 2321 – 7170 ( O n l i n e )


Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge and use of English
lexical collocations and their relation to the speaking proficiency among upper-
intermediate to advanced Iranian EFL learner students at Sadr Institute of higher
Education. It is worth mentioning that all of the students had already passed placement
test and were preparing themselves for IELTS exam. Data for the study were collected
from 20 students. The participants were asked to take 2 tests. The first one was a lexical
collocational test for estimating the knowledge of lexical collocation. Another one was
an IELTS speaking test, to collect the participants ‘use of lexical collocation and
understanding their speaking fluency. Data analysis for correlations between the
subjects’ knowledge of lexical collocations and their speaking proficiency showed that
there was a significantly positive correlation between students ‘knowledge of lexical
collocation and their speaking proficiency in IELTS success. Current study concluded
that knowledge of lexical collocation play a significant role in developing speaking
proficiency particularly in IELTS exam.
Key words: collocation, lexical collocation, speaki