On the Effectiveness of Scaffolding Strategies and Task orientation on Receptive and Productive Knowledge of Lexical Collocations

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the effects of scaffolding strategies using input and output-oriented tasks on Iranian EFL learners' receptive and productive knowledge of lexical collocations. For this purpose, 540 adult intermediate-level EFL learners- both male and female- were selected and divided into six experimental groups; three input-oriented and three output-oriented tasks. Each experimental group received treatment under one of the three scaffolding strategies of direct corrective feedback, cooperative group technique, and visual cues. After the treatment period, a 40-item multiple-choice test and a 40-item fill-in-the-blanks test were administered to assess the participants' receptive and productive collocations knowledge. To analyze the data, two separate two-way ANOVA procedures were used. The results indicated that visual cues were the most effective scaffolding strategy in teaching lexical collocations. Moreover, the cooperative group technique had a significant positive impact on learning collocations compared to direct corrective feedback. The results also showed that the participants in the output-oriented tasks group significantly outperformed those in the input-oriented tasks group. These findings can have practical implications for language learners, teachers, and materials developers, and theoretical implications for researchers.