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A corpus-based dictionary entry of the verb COMPLY
Introduction
Vocabulary items are important for language learners. In order to learn a vocabulary item in a better way, English learners not only have to learn its form (pronunciation and spelling), they also need to understand its grammar and collocation (Ur, 1991).
On the other hand, dictionaries are an important source of information for language learners. With the advancement in technology, online dictionaries are easily accessible by English learners. Consider the following example from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online (LDOCE), which is a corpus-based dictionary:
[FONT='Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif']com?ply[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][/font]past tense and past participle [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']complied[/font], present participle [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']COMPLYing[/font], third person singular [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']complies[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [intransitive][/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] formal[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']to do what you have to do or are asked to do[/font][FONT='Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif'] [[/font][FONT='Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif']? [/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']compliance, compliant][/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']COMPLY with[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Failure to COMPLY with the regulations will result in prosecution.[/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']The newspaper was asked by federal agents for assistance and agreed to COMPLY.[/font]
(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online, 2008)
In the above entry, the definition, phonetic transcriptions, the inflected forms, the verb type (intransitive) of COMPLY and two sample sentences are included. Nevertheless, while it tells learners that COMPLY often occurs with ‘with’, does the verb COMPLY has other frequent collocates? Besides, does the verb COMPLY show any tendency to occur with a particular semantic grouping of words (or semantic preference (Adolphs, 2006:56)). These, which are helpful for learners to better understand the meaning and usage of COMPLY, are not available in this dictionary entry.
Before computerized corpora were available for linguists, the study of collocation was heavily relied on intuition. While some examples of collocation can be detected intuitively such as time is consumed or computer programs run (Grreenbaum 1974:83, cited in McEnery, Xiao & Tono 2006:83), intuition is deemed by many linguists to be a poor guide to collocation. For example, Partington (1998:18) observes that there is no total agreement among native speakers on which collocations are acceptable and which are not. Krishnamurthy (2000: 32-33) also argues that since each of the native speakers only has a partial knowledge of the language, they have prejudices and preferences on collocation information. In light of this, Hunston (2002:68) points out that it is more reliable to measure collocation statistically, and therefore a corpus is essential. Stubbs (2001:53) shares a similar view and points out that a corpus can reveal this information across many speakers’ intuition and usage, to which individual speakers have no access. Moreover, determining frequency of co-occurrence is a daunting task. Therefore, corpus technique is essential for finding out the collocation information of COMPLY.
Therefore, this project aims to investigate collocation information COMPLY through corpus investigation in the British National Corpus (BNC) and find out whether COMPLY has other important frequent collocates. Furthermore, semantic preference of COMPLY, which can be found out based on collocation information (because semantic preference is highly collocational (McEnery, Xiao & Tono 2006:59)), will also be investigated. In the following, the motivation of the choice of word for this investigation (COMPLY) will be stated. Then the research question will be pointed out. The relevant methodology used to tackle the research question will also be elaborated in detail. The research findings will then be presented and an enriched version of the entry for ‘COMPLY’ will be presented, followed by a discussion on the results and the potential limitations of the research.
Motivation of the choice of the word COMPLY
According to the examination report of the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination—Use of English (2005:page), which provides feedback on exam performance so that English teachers and students can pay special attention to the common errors made by Hong Kong students, it is pointed out [ENG1]that candidates failed to show an understanding of the meaning and usage of the verb COMPLY, as reflected in a multiple-choice question [ENG2]in which 63% failed to get the correct answer. This suggests that the word COMPLY is particularly difficult for Hong Kong students. Therefore, this verb is chosen for investigation.
A corpus-based dictionary entry of the verb COMPLY
Introduction
Vocabulary items are important for language learners. In order to learn a vocabulary item in a better way, English learners not only have to learn its form (pronunciation and spelling), they also need to understand its grammar and collocation (Ur, 1991).
On the other hand, dictionaries are an important source of information for language learners. With the advancement in technology, online dictionaries are easily accessible by English learners. Consider the following example from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online (LDOCE), which is a corpus-based dictionary:
[FONT='Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif']com?ply[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][/font]past tense and past participle [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']complied[/font], present participle [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']COMPLYing[/font], third person singular [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']complies[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [intransitive][/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] formal[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']to do what you have to do or are asked to do[/font][FONT='Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif'] [[/font][FONT='Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif']? [/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']compliance, compliant][/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']COMPLY with[/font][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'] [/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Failure to COMPLY with the regulations will result in prosecution.[/font]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']The newspaper was asked by federal agents for assistance and agreed to COMPLY.[/font]
(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online, 2008)
In the above entry, the definition, phonetic transcriptions, the inflected forms, the verb type (intransitive) of COMPLY and two sample sentences are included. Nevertheless, while it tells learners that COMPLY often occurs with ‘with’, does the verb COMPLY has other frequent collocates? Besides, does the verb COMPLY show any tendency to occur with a particular semantic grouping of words (or semantic preference (Adolphs, 2006:56)). These, which are helpful for learners to better understand the meaning and usage of COMPLY, are not available in this dictionary entry.
Before computerized corpora were available for linguists, the study of collocation was heavily relied on intuition. While some examples of collocation can be detected intuitively such as time is consumed or computer programs run (Grreenbaum 1974:83, cited in McEnery, Xiao & Tono 2006:83), intuition is deemed by many linguists to be a poor guide to collocation. For example, Partington (1998:18) observes that there is no total agreement among native speakers on which collocations are acceptable and which are not. Krishnamurthy (2000: 32-33) also argues that since each of the native speakers only has a partial knowledge of the language, they have prejudices and preferences on collocation information. In light of this, Hunston (2002:68) points out that it is more reliable to measure collocation statistically, and therefore a corpus is essential. Stubbs (2001:53) shares a similar view and points out that a corpus can reveal this information across many speakers’ intuition and usage, to which individual speakers have no access. Moreover, determining frequency of co-occurrence is a daunting task. Therefore, corpus technique is essential for finding out the collocation information of COMPLY.
Therefore, this project aims to investigate collocation information COMPLY through corpus investigation in the British National Corpus (BNC) and find out whether COMPLY has other important frequent collocates. Furthermore, semantic preference of COMPLY, which can be found out based on collocation information (because semantic preference is highly collocational (McEnery, Xiao & Tono 2006:59)), will also be investigated. In the following, the motivation of the choice of word for this investigation (COMPLY) will be stated. Then the research question will be pointed out. The relevant methodology used to tackle the research question will also be elaborated in detail. The research findings will then be presented and an enriched version of the entry for ‘COMPLY’ will be presented, followed by a discussion on the results and the potential limitations of the research.
Motivation of the choice of the word COMPLY
According to the examination report of the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination—Use of English (2005:page), which provides feedback on exam performance so that English teachers and students can pay special attention to the common errors made by Hong Kong students, it is pointed out [ENG1]that candidates failed to show an understanding of the meaning and usage of the verb COMPLY, as reflected in a multiple-choice question [ENG2]in which 63% failed to get the correct answer. This suggests that the word COMPLY is particularly difficult for Hong Kong students. Therefore, this verb is chosen for investigation.