Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Research background 1
1.2 Research objectives and questions 10
1.3 Research significance 12
1.4 Organization of the dissertation 14
Chapter 2 Literature Review 16
2.1 Working definition of collocations 16
2.2 Classification of collocations 20
2.3 Identification of collocations 21
2.4 Theoretical framework 23
2.4.1 Lexical priming theory 24
2.4.2 Usage-based theory and exemplar-based theory 26
2.4.3 Holistic processing theories 29
2.4.4 Analytic processing theory 31
2.4.5 Parallel processing theory 32
2.5 The processing of English collocation 33
2.5.1 The processing advantage of English collocation 33
2.5.2 Processing patterns of English collocation 38
2.5.3 Factors affecting the processing of English collocation 41
2.6 The processing of Chinese formulaic language 58
2.6.1 The processing of Chinese idioms 58
2.6.2 The processing of Chinese collocations 62
2.7 Conclusion 64
Chapter 3 Methodology 66
3.1 Introduction 66
3.2 Eye movements during reading 67
3.2.1 Background information of eye movements 67
3.2.2 Eye-tracking technology 72
3.2.3 Eye movement measures 73
3.2.4 Models of eye movement control during reading 75
3.2.5 Parafoveal processing during reading 81
3.3 Conclusion 88
Chapter 4 Study I: The Processing Advantages of Chinese Collocations 89
4.1 Introduction 89
4.2 Experiment 1: Comparison between Chinese collocations and non-collocations 90
4.2.1 Method 90
4.2.2 Results 96
4.2.3 Discussion 99
4.3 Conclusion 101
Chapter 5 Study II: Holistic or Analytic Processing 102
5.1 Introduction 102
5.2 Experiment 2: Manipulating the preview of the noun 108
5.2.1 Method 108
5.2.2 Results 113
5.2.3 Discussion 117
5.3 Experiment 3: Manipulating the preview of the last character 119
5.3.1 Method 119
5.3.2 Results 123
5.3.3 Discussion 127
5.4 Conclusion 128
Chapter 6 Study III: Influencing Factors 130
6.1 Introduction 130
6.2 Experiment 4: Effects of collocation strength and context 134
6.2.1 Methods 134
6.2.2 Results 138
6.2.3 Discussion 141
6.3 Experiment 5: Effects of association strength and context 143
6.3.1 Methods 143
6.3.2 Results 148
6.3.3 Discussion 152
6.4 Conclusion 153
Chapter 7 General Discussion 157
7.1 Introduction 157
7.2 The processing features of Chinese collocations 157
7.2.1 Quicker processing for collocations than non-collocations 157
7.2.2 Integration of both holistic and analytical processing 160
7.2.3 Linguistic factors influencing collocational processing 163
7.3 The processing model for Chinese verb-noun collocations 166
7.4 Conclusion 169
Chapter 8 Conclusion 170
8.1 Major findings 170
8.2 Implications 172
8.2.1 Theoretical implications 172
8.2.2 Practical implications 175
8.3 Limitations and suggestions for future studies 176
8.3.1 Limitations 176
8.3.2 Suggestions for future studies. 177
Appendices 178
Appendix 1: Materials for Experiment 1 178
Appendix 2: Materials for Experiment 2 185
Appendix 3: Substitute Characters for Experiment 2 191
Appendix 4: Materials for Experiment 3 194
Appendix 5: Substitute Characters for Experiment 3 200
Appendix 6: Materials for Experiment 4 203
Appendix 7: Materials for Experiment 5 212
References 220