Qualitative findings for reflective cycle four.

The qualitative data was elicited through the use of an open-ended item administered at the end of the intervention. The students’ responses were organized based upon the patterns which emerged through analysis and provided insight into the following themes:

• The value of studying collocations. • The level of the material used.

• The procedures used during the intervention.

Category Sub-category Example from data Value of studying collocations Collocations in general

I don’t like that in Japanese classes, English is taught according to a fixed rule with words, and it makes the meaning. I thought that it was very beneficial as a person using English that the relationship of real English was able to be studied from Mr. Joshua who is an English native and understands such points. Thank you.

By repeating the study of collocations, many English words could be memorized and it was useful. Since the opportunity to come into contact with English was increased by studying collocations compared to high school, I think that collocation activity was good.

I think studying collocations is very useful to learn English effectively. I wanna learn more collocations. The adjective + noun

collocations from reflective cycle four

It was difficult to learn the native ways of using properly words, such as Current and Present.

I thought that the collocation learned in the class was very practical, and helpful for the future. There were many words which were alike rather than the first half, and although it was easy to memorize, proper use of the fine meaning was difficult.

Although the words were not difficult and there was no problem in particular, since many words which are the same or were alike were used, it was hard to memorize.

I thought that it was difficult because combinations of adjective + noun which used different words had the same meaning. However, various expressions can be studied.

Level Comparison with collocations from reflective cycle three

The material of the verb plus noun felt easy. A verb plus noun was easier to understand, even if the adjective plus noun collocation has an example and it has scene-setting.

At the point, I think that the collocations of the second half had a less clear meaning than the first half. Since the verbs in the first half was known, I thought that it was easier.

Collocations from reflective cycle four

Since the adjective and nouns were easy and contained mostly in daily conversation, it was easy to memorize.

It was easy to translate into Japanese but it was difficult to make an English sentence. I think that I was able to learn grammar and daily conversation in relation to the collocations. Crossword puzzle was interesting.

Initial collocation exercises

I can also check the homework myself and I think that it was good.

As in the previous reflective cycles, the students indicated through the open-ended item on the questionnaire that they thought an increased focus on collocations was worthwhile. They also identified the targeted collocations in this reflective cycle as being problematic due to the similarities in several of the collocates’ meanings. The high frequency of the targeted

collocations and their problematic nature appeared to justify the explicit instruction used during the intervention. However, my field notes which were taken during the speaking exercises indicated that the students had trouble productively using the collocations as seen in the following quotations:

‘The speaking exercises are more challenging than last semester.’ ‘The students often misuse the collocations.’

The students also commented on the relative difficulty of the collocations targeted in this reflective cycle compared with cycle two:

‘At the point, I think that the collocations of the second half had a less clear meaning than the first half.’

‘Since the verbs in the first half was known, I thought that it was easier.’

The students’ responses indicate that while the targeted structures were useful, they were more challenging than the previous semester’s collocations.

The qualitative data also indicated that the delexicalized verb collocations from reflective cycle three were easier than the adjective + noun collocations for this cycle. The students mentioned that the collocations last semester were familiar and their meaning was easier to understand. While frequency of the collocations and the individual collocates was a criterion for inclusion on this semester’s collocation list, delexicalized verbs are still much more frequent and likely more familiar to the students. Additionally, the noun components of collocation list three were specifically chosen because their meaning varies depending upon the adjective with which they are used.

The final group of responses focused on the procedures used during the intervention. Similar to the qualitative data from previous reflective cycles, the students’ responses

indicated they endorsed the use of productively demanding tasks. These tasks were difficult as seen in the quotations from my field notes above and the example responses from the data in Table 6.19; however, the students felt it was necessary to use the targeted structures productively if acquisition was to occur.

In the following section, I discuss the findings of reflective cycle four. I will juxtapose the quantitative and qualitative data in order to address each research question.