@Article{, title={Collocation Errors Made by Iraqi EFL Learners at University Level}, author={Muhammed Badea Ahmed}, journal={Journal of Tikrit University for Humanities مجلة جامعة تكريت للعلوم الإنسانية}, volume={15}, number={11}, pages={576-594}, year={2008}, abstract={AbstractAnalytic studies of EFL learners’ lexical errors in general and of collocations in particular are relatively rare. This paper attempts to present some empirical data of the errors made by Iraqi learners of English at university level. A test comprising 24 items of multiple choice and covering six areas of collocational structures has been administrated to (70) of the fourth year students in the Department of English-College of Education-Tikrit University to check their achievement in collocation. The total number of items in the test is (24) multiplied by the number of students (70), so the result is (1680). The correct answers are (499) representing 29.70 % of the total number of answers. This high rate of wrong answers reflects an overall weakness in mastering English lexicon. Students’ unsatisfactory achievement could be attributed to the lack of concentration on this area through subjects taught, the cultural differences, lack of specialized collocations dictionaries and the negative transfer from Arabic, though there is some positive transfer from Arabic in the test areas where there are some equivalent counterparts.These findings suggest the necessity to reconsider the syllabus, methods and techniques of teaching vocabulary during the years of study at the college.

} }