Collocation Research Based on Corpora Collected from Japanese Textbooks in China and Japanese Native Speakers

Abstract

In order to look for a way of improving Japanese textbooks, this study investigated collocations from Japanese textbooks in China and compared them to the usage of collocations by Japanese native speakers (NSs) . The research findings showed that firstly, collocations in these textbooks were more than those used by NSs, not only in terms of number but also in variety. Secondly, if textbooks were able to include collocations frequently used by NSs, it would complement the Japanese education syllabus and the teaching of elementary vocabulary. However, textbooks did not pay attention to the usage of collocations by NSs. In particular, textbooks had the tendency not to include some collocations which are not topic-oriented such as eikyō o ukeru ‘receive influence'. and yakuwari o hatasu ‘fulfill a role'. Thirdly, textbooks did not present new vocabulary in collocations which are often used by NSs, and over-presented collocations which are not often used by NSs. Suggestions were made for improvements to textbooks based on these findings.