Language Proficiency And Cumulative Learning Experience as Correlates of Collocational Processing: Experimental Data On Learners of English as An L2

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the relationship between two measures of language processing, namely accuracy and reaction time, and measures of L2 proficiency and language exposure. The language processing data were collected using a phrasal decision task, L2 proficiency was measured using a short English language proficiency test, while the measures of language exposure were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire. The participants (N = 96) in the study were L2 speakers of English whose first languages were Croatian or Slovenian. The results show a statistically significant correlation between general L2 proficiency and both measures of processing. A more in-depth analysis of the correlations between accuracy and subcomponents of the proficiency test (vocabulary, grammar, spelling, reading) yielded mixed results, while reaction times were significantly correlated with all four components of the proficiency test in Experiment 1 and three out of four components in Experiment 2. The number of years spent learning English as an L2 was found to be reliably correlated with measures of processing (reaction times, specifically) and L2 proficiency in both experiments. The findings of the study indicate that both global and componential aspects of L2 proficiency, as well as cumulative learning experience, play critical roles in the ability of L2 speakers to process adjective–noun collocations.