2025/05/26 by Sekou SISSOKO & Mamoutou COULIBALY
#FOS: Languages and literature
paper · doi:10.48734/akofena.n016.vol.2.08.2025
Abstract: Over the last three decades many studies have shown that learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) are facing enormous problems because of the influence of their first language on their proficiency of English congruent and incongruent collocations. Thus, we conducted a descriptive mixed study to explore Malian EFL learners’ proficiency of congruent and incongruent collocations both receptively and productively. It also highlights the interrelationship between Malian EFL learners’ mastery of collocations and their academic level and gender. One hundred and fifty students took part in this study. Data were collected through multiple choice test and translation test and analyzed with the software SPSS version 21.0. The results revealed that Malian EFL learners’ proficiency is higher in congruent collocations than incongruent ones. We also found out that the more EFL learners are exposed to language, the better becomes their proficiency of incongruent collocations both receptively and productively. Thus EFL teachers should put a particular stress on incongruent collocations in teaching English as a foreign language. Keywords : congruent collocations, incongruent collocations, EFL learners, Mali, proficiency.