This paper assesses the relationship between EFL proficiency, lexical competence, and collocational competence (cf. Meara 1996; Pawley & Syder 1983; Read 1993, 1997, 2000; Bonk 2001). Two paper-based tests, a proficiency test and a vocabulary test, were presented to English majors at the University of Burundi. Scores on both tests significantly correlate and distinguish between levels. This confirms that lexical competence is a reliable predictor of L2 proficiency, which strengthens and extends earlier findings (Meara 1996; Bonk 2001; Gyllstad 2005, 2007; Zareva et al. 2005). Furthermore, mastery of collocations is found to be related to frequency and to predict lexical competence. Thus, the findings of this study underline earlier indications that proficiency testing may be simplified.
2024. Developing and validating a post-admission screening-diagnostic assessment procedure to offer language support in diploma programs. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 27:1 ► pp. 51 ff.
Lundell, Fanny Forsberg, Klara Arvidsson & Andreas Jemstedt
2023. The importance of psychological and social factors in adult SLA: The case of productive collocation knowledge in L2 Swedish of L1 French long-term residents. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 45:2 ► pp. 558 ff.
Xia, Tian, Xuemin Chen, Hamid R. Parsaei & Feng Qiu
2023. An intelligent vocabulary size measurement method for second language learner. Language Testing in Asia 13:1
Estaji, Masoomeh & Mina Hashemi
2022. Phraseological competence in IELTS academic writing task 2: phraseological units and test-takers’ perceptions and use. Language Testing in Asia 12:1
Estaji, Masoomeh & Mohammad Reza Montazeri
2022. The Representation of Collocational Patterns and Their Differentiating Power in the Speaking Performance of Iranian IELTS Test-Takers. Frontiers in Education 7
Ghaemi, Hamed
2022. Phraseological competence in IELTS academic writing task 2: A study of Indian test-takers’ perceptions and use. International Journal of TESOL & Education 2:4 ► pp. 48 ff.
Zhang, Yanhui & Weiping Wu
2021. How effective are lexical richness measures for differentiations of vocabulary proficiency? A comprehensive examination with clustering analysis. Language Testing in Asia 11:1
Nizonkiza, Déogratias, Kris Van de Poel, Tobie Van Dyk & Henk Louw
2020. Towards modelled testing of productive knowledge of collocations. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 38:4 ► pp. 307 ff.
Lee, Jang Ho
2012. Reassessment of English-only approach in EFL context in view of young learners’ attitudes, language proficiency, and vocabulary knowledge. Multilingual Education 2:1
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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