Strategies for Reading Comprehension

definitions above, collocation is determined by structure and occurs in pattern which is considered from the statisticalfrequency-based perspective. On the other hand, other linguists defined the term of collocation from lexical point of view. Unlike statisticalfrequency-based definition of collocation, a lexical definition identifies collocation as a combination of two or more words that frequently occur in a language. 22 Michael Lewis pointed the words that to be considered as collocation, are not combined freely, but the words co-occur naturally. 23 In addition, the statements above are in line with McCarthy who argued that collocation is combination of words in a language which is closely associated each other in natural way, for instance, it is common to say she has got blonde hair rather than she has got yellow hair. 24 Although both of the sentences have similar meaning, learners are not suggested to collocate one word with other words as they wish. Since there are many words combinations that usually stick together, this does not mean that all co-occurring words can be considered as collocation. Then, there are no rules to combine words to be collocation, people usually determined the collocation by seeing the words that often stick together in common sense. In short, collocation consists two or more words that sound naturally for native language. From definitions above, it is worth noticed that there is no single definition of the word ‘collocation’. Since, there is no single meaning to describe what collocation is, the form of collocation is usually unclear for many EFL learners because sometimes the form of the words combination in target language have different meaning when it is translated into the native language. For example, the students may translate “membuat kesimpulan” from L1 into L2 “make a conclusion”. However, the words are not usual for native speakers because they usually use “draw a conclusion”, in which “membuat kesimpulan” as its definition in L1. Therefore, it is translated as “draw a conclusion” to make the words 22 Ronald Carter, Vocabulary Applied Linguistic Perspectives, 2 nd Ed., New York: Routledge, 1998, p. 51. 23 Michael Lewis, Op. cit., p. 132. 24 Michael McCharty and Felicity O’Dell, English Collocation in Use: Intermediate, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 4. acceptable without destroying the meaning and keep the original message in the source language.

2. Types of Collocation

Knowing patterns of collocation is important because the words occur together based on its patterns. Many experts classify collocation into several types. There are two major classifications of collocation; grammatical and lexical collocation.

a. Grammatical Collocation

Grammatical collocation is the words occur together within a combination of lexical and grammatical word. 25 In grammatical collocation, the co-occurring words consist of a noun, an adjective, or a verb, plus a preposition or a grammatical structure such as an infinitive or clause. 26 A grammatical item is a unit of language whose presence in the text is due to its grammatical function rather than to any meaning it may represent. According to Ilson, et al., in The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English, grammatical collocations fall into following combination: 27 Type Pattern Example G1 Noun + Preposition blockade against apathy towards G2 Noun followed by to + Infinitive It was a pleasure to do it. They had the foresight to do it. They felt a compulsion to do it. They made an attempt to do it. He was a fool to do it. G3 Noun followed by that clause we reach an agreement that she would represent us in court 25 Michael Lewis, Op. cit., p. 134. 26 Jens Bahns, Lexical Collocation: a Contrastive View, ELT Journal, Oxford University Press, vol. 47 1, 1993, p. 57. Retrieved from http:eltj.oxfordjournals.orgcontent47156 . 27 Robert Ilson, et al., The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 2010, pp. xix—xxx. Type Pattern Example G4 Preposition + Noun by accident in advance in agony on somebody’s advice G5 Adjective + Preposition They are angry at the children They are hungry for news. G6 Adjective and a following to + Infinitive Adjective with dummy subject “it”: It was necessary to work Adjective with real and animate subject: She the girl is ready to go. G7 Adjective followed by that clause She was afraid that she would fail her examination It was imperative that I be there at three o’clock G8 Verb Pattern of Collocation Verb with specific preposition and an object: They came by train Verb followed by an object + to infinitive: They permitted the children to watch television

b. Lexical Collocation

Lexical collocation is the words occur together within two lexical different elements. 28 Unlike grammatical collocation, lexical collocation does not contain of prepositions, infinitives, or clauses, but typically contains of various combination of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. 29 A lexical item is a unit of language which represents a particular area of meaning which has a unique pattern of combination with other lexical items. According to Ilson, et al., in The BBI 28 Michael Lewis, Loc. cit. 29 Jens Bahns, Loc. cit.