Effect of Persian and English colour collocations on L2 learners' proficiency

Collocations play an important role in L2 teaching and learning. The present study investigated the effect of colour collocations in L2 learning. This study was done in 2 phases: In the first phase, the frequency of colour collocations was calculated in English and Persian. Two lists of English and Persian colour collocations were chosen. Each list included 100 colour collocations. The English collocations were chosen from English collocation dictionaries, but the Persian colour collocations were chosen by the Persian native speakers. Chi-square results indicated that there were some differences between the 2 languages, but the differences were not statistically significant. In the second phase, the (possible) effect of colour collocations on upperintermediate and advanced L2 learners’ proficiency was investigated. Sixty upper-intermediate and advanced L2 learners, both male and female, were chosen from a private language institute in Isfahan, Iran. The minimum and maximum ages of the participants were about 15-38, and their homogeneity was tested by the OPT. Participants were given a pretest in order to measure their colour collocational knowledge. Then, after the treatment, a posttest was administered. Results revealed that teaching collocations had a significant effect on the participants’ proficiency.