Corpus Evidence on English Collocational Patterns in Scientific Writing━ Implications for Effective Writing Development ━Hiroshi OHTAKE1・Brian MORREN2
1 Introduction
How may learners be helped to write acceptable academic articles? What type ofassistance do they require in becoming more competent and effective writers? These arequestions that language teachers have long been struggling to address. In this connection,
the present study focuses on how to make Japanese learners more aware of word
collocations in English, since such awareness has tended to be largely neglected in
English teaching in Japan. When native speakers learn their own language in a natural
setting, they can quickly pick up common word patterns through being immersed in thelanguage and by relying on their intuitions. This type of implicit knowledge is acquired
unconsciously through frequent exposure to the strings of words and set phrases
encountered in everyday communicative interaction (Kirsner, 1994). In the case of
non-native learners, however, exposure to the target language is not so readily available
and opportunities for implicit learning are greatly reduced. They therefore do not haveaccess to the significant store of core words and collocations that form the basis of native
speaker fluency. Consequently, when second language learners are required to write in
the target language, they usually try to use their grammar with imperfect understandingof vocabulary, which often results in skewed or awkward English such as a highpossibility. They may also be hampered by the constraints of cognitive capacity in thatthey do not have ready-made language patterns at their disposal that can be automatically
retrieved from long-term memory. In particular, they lack the ability for native-likeselection (Pawley & Syder, 1983) in that they are less able to choose the preferredlinguistic sequence from a number of grammatically acceptable alternatives. They
therefore do not have the same level of fluency and pragmatic competence that they
possess in their first language.
In this regard, it has been found that learners consider vocabulary as most importantin relation to writing needs followed by grammatical accuracy (Gosden, 1996; Leki &Carson, 1994; Muncie, 2002). In particular, learners are frustrated by their inability toquickly retrieve or access relevant lexical/grammatical forms (Snellings et al., 2002).
1
2

Department of Foreign Languages, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine
Center for Languages, Arts, and Sciences, Fukui Prefectural University

1Vocabulary deficits also account for imprecision in the expression of their thoughts and
impede the flow of their writing in that they sometimes have to settle for an inappropriate
word substitute which does not accurately express their intended meaning. Such a
concern for vocabulary is also shared by those involved in the assessment of learnerwriting who tend to view an inadequate knowledge of vocabulary unfavorably. In thisrespect, it has been shown that lexical content has a great influence on their judgementsin that mistakes in lexical selection are considered less acceptable than other types oferror (Engber, 1995; Harley & King, 1989; Santos, 1988). Learners are aware of theirdeficiencies at the basic level and that this is holding them back from becoming more
accomplished writers. In order to accelerate their language processing and develop
greater efficiency, therefore, they need to have greater control over basic vocabulary andgrammatical conventions.
2 Learning Vocabulary
Knowledge of vocabulary is an essential component in written production in that
quality of writing is closely related to vocabulary proficiency (Astika, 1993). However,rather than the number of words a reader knows, it is the depth of word knowledge that is
critical in the production of text (Liu & Shaw, 2001). If readers have only a partial
knowledge of a particular word, this may not be sufficient to grasp the full range of
meanings of the word as it is used in various contexts (Hunston & Francis, 1998). It isalso important to know which particular patterns are common in a given register andwhich are not. Such information would certainly be useful to learners (Biber & Conrad,
2001). In the absence of such knowledge, learners of all levels of proficiency are likely
to remain insensitive to the range of potential meanings expressed by a given word andexperience difficulties in producing the appropriate sense of a word in their academic
writing.
Instruction involving the completion of vocabulary exercises or the consulting of adictionary may increase vocabulary knowledge but may have relatively little beneficial
effect on student writing. In order to improve written production, it is necessary to havemore than just a superficial understanding of words. In addition, there is a need to haveready access to that vocabulary if learners are to enhance their skills in language use.
Without such lexical access, the production processes will not be able to proceedsmoothly and the resulting text will be impaired (McCutchen et al., 1994). It isimperative, therefore, to ensure that learners have sufficient opportunities for developing
their knowledge and skills in using vocabulary.

2

3 Lexical Relations
In recent years, the trend in vocabulary learning has been to view words not as
independent, separate entities but as constituents of lexical phrases. As such, their rangeof meaning is determined by their relations with the accompanying words in the text andby their syntactic and collocational patterns (Beheydt, 1987; Leffa, 1998). In this respect,advances in corpus linguistics have allowed us to gather useful language data andprovided insights into recurring lexical patterns that have hitherto gone undetected(Sinclair, 1991; Willis, 1990). We are now more aware of the importance of lexical
relations and how these are governed by rules whereby words interact with each othernot in random clusters but in a clearly principled way. Furthermore, it is now known thatlexis has a lot in common with syntax and phonology in that there is a great deal that is
automatic in the routine behavior of words. Namely, in normal language use, words form
predictable and stable combinations which consistently occur in fixed linguistic patterns
in conventional everyday discourse.
The view of language as a phraseological system differs radically from thetraditional concept of a clear distinction between lexis and grammar (Lewis, 1993;
Nattinger & DeCarrico, 1992). In the case of lexis, it is necessary to know about thesyntactic patterns in which it appears, since in the absence of such information, we will
not know how a particular lexical item is actually used in discourse, and accuracy andfluency will suffer. The same applies to grammar in that a certain syntactic pattern isdependent on particular lexical items that have the same pattern. In other words, lexis
may not be described without reference to syntax, nor syntax without reference to lexis
since words and patterns are inextricably linked. They are therefore interdependent andnot separate features of language organization (Hunston & Francis, 1998).
In particular, styles of language are governed by certain norms and conventions.
Knowledge and observance of such conventions are essential in creating conditions forclear articulation of meaning, and smooth and rapid processing. Moreover, in the case ofacademic writing, observing the conventional collocational forms is critical in achieving
precision of expression (Howarth, 1998). Where word combinations deviate from thenorm, this may cause difficulties in processing and comprehension. If readers haveproblems in understanding a writer’s intent due to stylistic dissonance or imprecision,
this could result in loss of clarity (Martin, 1984). Even though the underlying meaning
may still be grasped, unconventional collocations are likely to distract from what thewriter is trying to say. Such communicative deficiencies on the part of writers may
ultimately lead to their marginalization within the academic community (Lennon, 1998).

3

4 Corpus Analysis
There are regularities underlying the way in which words co-occur. Words tend tobe subject to certain constraints or preferences which affect language choice in discourse
in a systematic way. Furthermore, Stubbs (2001) notes that “native speakers’
unconscious knowledge of collocations is an essential component of their idiomatic andfluent language use and an important part of their communicative competence” (p. 73). A
knowledge of collocations is exactly what distinguishes native speakers from foreign
learners and evidence derived from corpus analysis may contribute to narrowing the gap
between the two. For example, with regard to English synonyms, it has been found that
one way to distinguish their subtle differences of meaning is to focus on theircollocational behavior. In particular, any positive or negative nuances they exhibit may
not be considered as an essential property of a particular lexical item acting alone but as
the result of its association with particular collocates. In other words, an examination of aword’s immediate collocational environment can provide great insight into the particular
nuances expressed (Partington, 1998).
In view of this, there is a need to familiarize learners with frequent patterns byfocusing their attention on the lexical items that immediately precede or follow a given
word (in their immediate linguistic context). In certain cases, words at a further remove
may also be examined in that the key word may appear in a fixed expression involving acluster of words each of which must be included to convey a particular meaning. For
example, prepositions and compounds are notoriously difficult for learners to master sothat they might benefit from having an array of one-line samples of use. This might thenhelp to highlight which words will typically co-occur with a given lexical item and makewriting a more fluent, less laborious, and ultimately more successful task for learners.
5 Corpus Evidence
In this section, we present a number of case studies focusing on lexical or
collocational errors/deviations, which are found in Japanese scientific research writingthat has been published and is also available via the Internet. This type of error is known
to be one of the most difficult to identify by non-native writers but is also one that is
likely to be most detrimental to their efforts to express themselves adequately in English.
We intend to show how certain words are used in a given context by taking advantage ofcorpus analysis, concordance, collocation, and statistical data. In particular, we illustrate
what kinds of patterns are the norm among native speakers and then provide examples of4

faulty expressions found in Japanese scientific papers so as to draw attention to certain
stylistic infelicities that appear repeatedly in such writing and that need to be avoided.
For the purpose of gathering statistical data and concordance samples, we consulted
the Life Science Dictionary Project corpus, which has been compiled by storing English
texts in medical journals mainly through the public MEDLINE database that contains
numerous scientific articles published all over the world. The corpus currently consists ofover 29 million running words.
In this study, we focus only on the highlighted part of the selected sentences and do
not concern ourselves with other types of error (e.g., incorrect use of determiners,
singular/plural number agreement) that may appear in the sample sentences.
5.1 potential/potentiality/possibility/probability
Sample Sentences:(1a) Free radical scavenger … will have the possibility to become themedicine for the dementia.
(1b) These findings clearly suggest the therapeutic potentiality of …
as a novel approach for the treatment of … .
On reading the above sample sentences, native speakers of English are likely to say
they prefer to use potential in place of possibility and potentiality. However, for mostJapanese learners of English, knowing how to properly differentiate the meanings ofpotential, potentiality, possibility, and probability is an extremely difficult task since they
can find one common Japanese equivalent kanousei (可能性) for these four English words
in English-Japanese dictionaries. As a result, few Japanese students pay attention to the
distinctive differences among them, especially their usages. Although they may read
explanations given in dictionaries –– according to which the likelihood of occurrence isconsidered higher when probability is used instead of possibility, and potential is defined
as referring to future possibility –– these explanations do not seem to be much help to
non-native speakers of English. This is because they lack the information about how eachof these words is actually used, namely with what other English words they typicallyoccur. When learners are required to use these four words, they may consider only the
degree of likelihood and not know how to properly discriminate among them in theirwriting. The above sentences produced by Japanese researchers are a good example ofthe inadequacies of grammar books and dictionaries. While learning possibility, they5

may have neglected to learn the common and natural collocational patterns that
accompany it (Table 1). The sample sentences introduced here can be translated into
natural-sounding Japanese sentences, which makes this type of error not so salient fromthe perspective of Japanese learners of English.

(Table 1: Excerpt from concordance for the possibility)
120 ...
These results open
121 ...es as both inputs and output, they open
122 ...
Microarray technology has opened
123 ...
Our finding opens
124 ...e identification of such peptides opens
125 ...
We can rule out
126 ...
These data rule out
127 ...
Our measurements rule out
128 ...
To rule out
129 ...
To rule out
130 ...
We rule out
131 ...this smaller sample, we cannot rule out
132 ...
These findings effectively rule out
133 ...ential entry of these fac tors rules out
134 ...extrin system was used, which precludes
135 ...requiring consecutive responses prevent
136 ...
They also raise
137 ...
These results also raise
138 ...
Our observations also raise
139 ...NARE-mediated membrane fusion and raise
140 ...-activated MAP kinase pathway and raise
141 ...s effects of oxidative stress and raise
142 ...new pathway of p53 regulation and raise
143 ...week of mammalian development and raise
144 ...nge in neurological diseases, and raise
145 ...n retinal capillary pericytes and raise
146 ...sion in activated macrophages and raise
147 ...dependent protein phosphatase and raise

the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibility
the possibilityof using the supF tRNA am...
of communication between ...
of evaluating the express...
of searching for the addi...
of using these sequences ...
of a negatively charged b...
of an egg effect in which...
that chromosome stretchin...
that HS3 is required for ...
that membrane attachment ...
that monoallelic expressi...
that small numbers of div...
that the presence of nonc...
that they are transported...
of cross-contamination be...
of using the most desirab...
that disrupting multiple ...
that IL-7 therapy could b...
that neurons use a burst ...
that additional component...
that environmental condit...
that humans with heterozy...
that increased MDM4 level...
that multiple isozymes of...
that neuromodulators may ...
that PGs may play a role ...
that PPARgamma ligands...
that regulation of other ...

When asked what was wrong with the sample sentence (1a), some Japanese learners
replied that possibility should be replaced by probability. In so doing, they thought they
could convey the higher expectations of some possible future occurrence and werecompletely unaware of the fact that have the possibility to ... and have the probability
to ... are not widely used collocational patterns in English and should be considered as
deviating from the norm. In view of this, seemingly grammatically correct English
sentences represent a serious problem for non-native speakers of English, even for thoseat a rather advanced level. It is not until they have been immersed in a sea of natural
English expressions/sentences that they learn that have the possibility to ... is not6commonly used among native speakers.
Searching through the corpus data, it can be seen that in the concordance forpossibility there are no instances where have the possibility to ... is used. Statisticalresults (Table 2) show that the most frequently occurring verb before possibility is raise,that suggest the possibility is also a quite common expression, and that open thepossibility and rule out the possibility are also used although far less frequently. Thus,
learners should focus on the conventional forms of expression when using possibility andbecome aware of its common collocations.

Table 2: Positional frequency for the possibility (2,362)
2nd left
1st left
1st right
2nd right
we
221 raise348
that
1641 the292
and
166 raises
227
of
655 a
144
to
156 raising216
for
20 this76
results 116 investigated 77
is
8 these62
findings 69 with
67
to
6 an
47
have
65 raised66
remains
5 using
39
this
62 suggest
64
exists5 it
35
data
54 examined59
was
4 other
23
also
53 suggesting 51
existed3 some21

As for the expression raise the possibility, there still remains a problem concerning
Japanese learners who are not accustomed to this expression since they may falsely
assume that it means ‘to increase the likelihood’ of something, whereas it is actuallysimilar in meaning to suggest the possibility. According to the Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary, the meaning of raise is (1) ‘to lift or move something to a higher
level,’ with which most Japanese learners are familiar, and (2) ‘to mention something forpeople to discuss,’ which they are less likely to have come across.
Here in the sample sentence (1a), the expression have the potential to ... shouldhave been used instead of the unnatural collocational pattern have the possibility to ... .
The concordance results show that for the word potential, the most frequent verb forms
appearing just before it are have and has, and that have/has the potential to ... is therefore
a commonly used expression when referring to future possibility (Tables 3 & 4).

7

(Table 3: Excerpt from concordance for the potential)
23 ...ly than unmodified oligonucleotides and have
24 ...studied, and we believe that these loci have
25 ...taining single amino acid substitutions have
26 ...
These cells ha ve
27 ...
These primers have
28 ...venting the function of these receptors have
29 ...f substrates (rubbed films of proteins) have
30 ...ls arising in fetal or neonatal tissues have
31 ...tems based on HIV or other lentiviruses have
32 ...ation, intestinal transplant procedures have
33 ... patients with inflammatory myopathies have
34 ... stigated whether quinol -GSH conjugates have
35 ...
Such transplants have
36 ... workers are not well characterized and have
37 ... heparan sulfate pro teoglycans (HSPGs) havethe potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential
the potential

Table 4: Positional frequency for the potential (3,210)
2nd left
1st left
1st right
to
395
has
342
to
644
and
155
have
221
for
476
we
149
of
150
of
425
results 76
and
142
role
291
that
41
with
107
use
65
study
40
demonstrate 85
utility55
have37
investigate
81
importance 48

to be used as diagnost...
to be used as polymorp...
to be used for modulat...
to be used for restora...
to be used in a PCR as...
to be useful anti-canc...
to be useful in a vari...
to become B-1a cells c...
to become important to...
to become the standard...
to behave as antigen p...
to behave as genotoxic...
to benefit retinal dis...
to bias the measures f...
to bind and directly r...

2nd right
of
959
the
79
be
53
for
39
this
39
form
34
between 33

As for the sample sentence (1b), suggest the potentiality is not found in the corpus
and does not seem to appear anywhere among commonly used English sentences. In thisrespect, since it may be difficult to recognize the definitional difference regarding
potential and potentiality in English-Japanese dictionaries, Japanese learners should bestrongly encouraged to make the most of concordance evidence. Such evidence showsthat the number of instances of potentiality is only four, compared to 17,274 in the caseof potential, which clearly indicates that potentiality occurs only rarely while potential isfar more common.
Some Japanese learners may assume that have the probability to ... can be used
when referring to something whose likelihood of occurrence is very high, but theexpression is not accepted as a natural English expression as seen in the concordance
results for probability (Table 5). We learn from the statistical analysis that the mostfrequent verb coming before probability is increase (Table 6). As the statistical results
demonstrate, it may be useful to suggest to learners that they first get accustomed tousing the most commonly used expression for each word: have the potential to ... , raise8the possibility of ... , and increase the probability of ... . Learners should be well awarethat neither raise the probability nor suggest the probability is generally used, eventhough these awkward word patterns may sound natural when translated into Japanese.
The corpus evidence also shows that increase the possibility is not very widely used.
(Table 5: Excerpt from concordance for the probability)
179 ...
These alterations increase
180 ...ssay sensitivity, and they can increase
181 ...by no more than 2 kcal/mol can increase
182 ...
Predators may increase
183 ...
Such techniques often increase
184 ...rs can reduce the powe r and/or increase
185 ...constraints, can substantially increase
186 ...multisite enhancer elements to increase
187 ...e potential which may serve to increase
188 ...in-protein interactions, which increase
189 ...y of actin polymerization and increased
190 ...n time of single channels and increased
191 ...creased HIV -1 replication and increased
192 ...tion of the proviral enhancer increased
193 ...and radio/television) further increased
194 ...moval of external Ca(2+) ions increased
195 ...ephrins or mechanical probing increased
196 ...red blood cells significantly increased
197 ... prolonged visual stimulation increased
198 ..., showing that PKC activation increases
199 ...
We show that the cHS4 increases
200 ...he wild-type POR considerably increase s
201 ...
Mutation of CIN genes increases
202 ...ain abnormal findings greatly increases
203 ...cially pe ricentric inversion, increases
204 ...phosphorylation of VR1 by PKC increases
205 ...linked allele rather than by increasing
206 ...d DNA damage and, second, by increasing
207 ...ory synaptic transmission by increasing
208 ... via heparin -like molecules, increasing

the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability
the probability

Table 6: Positional frequency for the probability (538)
2nd left
1st left
1st right
to
32
in
23
of
403
and
15
and
22
that
68
by
14
that
18
distribution 15
that
12
of
18
density8
increase 10
increase
17
for
6
may
10
increases 17
and
5
or
8
increasing 15
distributions 4
estimate 6
increased 15
profile4

9

for abnormal thalamocorti...
of a diagnosis by verifyi...
of nucleation of disorder...
of prey extinction result...
of detecting linkage, but...
of obtaining false positi...
of cell immortalization. ...
of an interaction between...
of neoplastic progression...
of establishing an active...
of further Cdc42 accumula...
of their failure to open....
to target HIV-1 IN in inf...
of maintenance-coupled de...
of supine placement (OR, ...
of channel opening (Po) s...
of lead growth cone retra...
of pore formation by GPI-...
of the up state.
...
of channel opening rather...
that integrated proviruse...
of photoactive state form...
that whole chromosomes or...
of breast cancer.
...
of genetic isolation amon...
of channel gating by agon...
of establishing transcrip...
of recombination with dec...
of transmitter release vi...
that the virus will bind ...

2nd right
a
45
the
34
of
18
an
14
release9
survival
9transmitter 7
detecting65.2 may/should/possibly/probably
Sample Sentence:
During the process of … , a loss of the anticoagulant property … may
probably occur.
This sentence requires Japanese learners to be highly sensitive to how the English
modal auxiliaries may and should interact with the adverbials possibly and probably.
However, it is not surprising to encounter this type of error in Japanese writing, given thelack of sensitivity to these words on the part of Japanese learners (Ohtake & Morren,2001). As is the case with the differentiation of possibility and probability, Japaneselearners are generally weak at discriminating may from should when these words areused in referring to the possibility or probability of something happening. Especiallywhen Japanese learners use should, they appear to exclusively use it to ‘indicate
obligation, duty, or correctness’ (Concise Oxford English Dictionary: COD), as often
found in the concordance results for should derived from an English corpus of Japanesewriting. Few Japanese learners appear to effectively or successfully use should to‘indicate what is probable’ (COD) and thus neglect to learn that should probably sounds
natural while may probably does not (Table 7).
(Table 7: Excerpt from concordance for should)
40 ...
Our approach
41 ...ed genetic and pharmacological approach
42 ...
Our present approach
43 ...
This approach
44 ...
This approach
45 ...
The assay
46 ...
This assay
47 ...
DNA chip -based assays
48 ...
The coupled assays
49 ...ators and inhibitors in in vitro assays
50 ...lanations as to why observed behaviours
51 ...
Characterization of URE3 -BP
52 ...de range of attenuation for mouse brain
53 ...he view that hydrophobic surface burial
54 ... postentry steps of HIV -1 infection but
55 ...ocking drug efflux with fumitremorgin C

shouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldbe applicable to other membrane pr...
allow analysis of the specific rol...
facilitate the generation of multi...
be applicable for the creation of ...
have significant future implicatio...
be particularly useful for kinetic...
serve as a useful criterion for as...
play a valuable role in high throu...
be widely applicable since the pro...
clarify the role of individual mot...
differ from the optimal behaviour ...
provide insight into transcription...
prove useful in fine-tuning recomb...
be commensurate with hydrogen-bond...
also help to enhance the efficacy ...
allow for functional analysis of t...

The most defective aspect may arise from their heavy dependence on bilingual
dictionaries (Ohtake & Morren, 2002; Schmitt, 1997) and persistent belief that each andevery English word has its exact counterpart in the Japanese lexicon. This results in10

learners acquiring only a partial definition of English words and remaining unaware of
the full range of meanings they can express. In the case of should, most Japanese learners
seem to associate it with the Japanese phrase suru beki da (するべきだ), which is arelatively strong expression and not normally used in polite situations such as whengiving advice to one’s elders. Consequently, they assume that should is to be avoided insuch situations and tend to use had better instead, which is often translated into Japanese
as shita hou ga yoi (したほうがよい) and has a less commanding and much softer tone inJapanese. Owing to the false connotation derived from the Japanese translated
expressions, it is not unusual to encounter Japanese learners who firmly believe thatshould is equivalent to suru beki da in Japanese and had better is the same as shita hou
ga yoi. In view of this, it should be pointed out to learners that, on a scale of intensity,
should appears more neutral than had better in that should suggests ‘advisability’ while
had better implies a ‘strong recommendation’ and has a more forceful connotation. Thismight also account for learners’ excessive use of had better rather than should in the
mistaken belief that it behaves the same way as in Japanese and is the preferred choice inmore formal contexts. Moreover, in terms of register, semi-modals such as had better
have been found to appear far more frequently in conversation than modal verbs but aremuch less common in formal writing (Biber et al., 1999). In the case of had better, its
use is therefore mainly confined to spoken English while it is almost non-existent in theconservative medium of academic writing. Conversely, the modal should iswell-established in academic writing and is considered more stylistically appropriate.

(Table 8: Complete concordance for may possibly: 14)
1 ...es in estrogen metabolism and, thereby,
2 ...rogesterone may stimulate breathing and3 ...to changes in iron content and form and4 ...or studying rapid channel movements and5 ...t that mechanoperception in p lant cells
6 ...ectin further suggests how some domains
7 ...
While various unknown factors
8 ...
Microfilaments
9 ...an unitary displacements, this mutation
10 ...
A meaningful fraction of patients
11 ...
This local response
12 ...d implicate them in CNS disorders, that
13 ... to trigger transcription and therefo re
14 ...ogs have not been fully explored, which

may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly
may possibly

11

explain interindividual diff...
improve symptoms of hypovent...
be used as indicators of suc...
act as a fluorescent activit...
be transduced through intrac...
be important for protein int...
give rise to selective activ...
act by uncoupling Lyn from t...
perturb the mechanical coord...
be cured when treated as agg...
assist in limiting the clini...
be induced or exacerbated by...
serve as a transcription act...
have limited the scope of th...

(Table 9: Excerpt from concordance for may occur: 417)
104 ...ctivation, PI 3 -kinase-sensitive events
105 ...
Such events
106 ...am in serial radiographic examinations)
107 ...ntalizing sugge stion that base excision
108 ...nic disease, relevant dietary exposures
109 ...erve distinct functions; axon extension
110 ...
Bone marrow (BM) fibrosis
111 ...y, dynamic protein backbone fluctuation
112 ...
Fractionation
113 ...ate that endopin 2 inhibitory functions
114 ...iated repair of physiological functions
115 ...
Intravascular gas
116 ...at the regulation of the rat MnSOD gene
117 ...s in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome

may occur both upstream of Ras and betwee...
may occur in inflammatory bowel disease d...
may occur more rapidly, and with less bet...
may occur by cleavage of the glycosidic b...
may occur over decades.
...
may occur predominantly in the outermost ...
may occur in myeloproliferative diseases,...
may occur , enabling Cys532 to move within...
may occur in aqueous solution during equi...
may occur in the regulated secretory path...
may occur independently of integrin reloc...
may occur as a transient incidental findi...
may occur not only at the transcriptional...
may occur during therapy.
...

(Table 10: Excerpt from concordance for probably occur: 44)
25 ... G. chilensis and the Galapagos lineage
26 ...adiation of major lepidopteran lineages
27 ...n regulation of perforin -mediated lysis
28 ...is decrease in IAA within the mesocotyl
29 ...pression pattern in the cortex, it most
30 ...osomal breakage between Nubp2 and Nubp1
31 ...ded from pre -human strata; three others
32 ...ns, indicating that the phosp horylation
33 ...e CA1 region suggests that this process
34 ...
Much of this new productivity
35 ...onal activation of this docking protein
36 ...
The latter two reactions
37 ...erefore, both CB(1) and CB(2) receptors
38 ...
Reinitiation
39 ...
Repositioning
40 ...
Most select ion

probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probably
probablyoccurredoccurredoccursoccursoccursoccurredoccurredoccursoccursoccurredoccursoccur
occur
occursoccurredoccurs6 to 12 million years a...
during the Late Jurassi...
without direct interacti...
primarily by a change in ...
independently from it, an...
during the evolution of...
on 'Eua in pre-human ti...
on a conserved histidine ...
before CA3, possibly in t...
in microbial mats, whic...
through the IGF-1R.
...
within RPE phagolysoso...
throughout the vertebrat...
through a different pathw...
by disassembly of the i...
at birth and will be grea...

(Table 11: Complete concordance for should occur: 13)
1 ...han the free electron mass --exciton BEC
2 ...In acute infection, a beneficial effect
3 ...pectations that morphological evolution
4 ...n of phosphorylated [8 -14C]-ganciclovir
5 ...eration of treatm ent for this infection
6 ...beta-hydroxyacylthioester intermediates
7 ...r accumulation of deleterious mutations
8 ...ques than others --ie, irregular plaques
9 ...
This process
10 ...e picket fence model, maximal quenching
11 ... Consequently, amino acid replacements
12 ...n stratification due to climate warming
13 ...ankton-to-higher trophic level food web

shouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshouldshould12

occur at temperatures of about 1 K...
occur .
...
occur largely within Pleistocene r...
occur almost exclusively in tissue...
occur in any patient with cystic f...
occur during the reactions catalys...
occur on polysomic chromosomes wit...
occur in multiple vascular beds in...
occur , for example, in periodicall...
occur at two different levels in t...
occur at a higher rate in compleme...
occur .
...
occur when this ratio falls below ...

To correct the flaw in the sample sentence, if the writer wants to retain either one of
the two originally used words, may probably should be replaced with either may possiblyor should probably to conform to a natural standard English expression. However, theconcordance results reveal that the frequency of may possibly in the corpus is rather low(Table 8), and no instances of should probably were retrieved, even though Harrison’s
Principles of Internal Medicine (1998) contains a considerable number of instances forthis particular pattern. As for the corpus sentences that include occur, the most frequently
appearing expression is may occur, followed by probably occur, and then should occur(Tables 9, 10, & 11). This may be partly because may possibly and should probably
sound rather redundant in English, whereas rather straightforward expressions tend to bepreferred in scientific journals.
5.3 study on/about, research on/about
Sample Sentences:(3a) The localization of … warrants further study about the role of … in
the induction of hepatocellular damage.
(3b) The epidemiological research about cataract frequency … has totake into account that … .
Prepositions are known to be a major obstacle in learning English for most Japanese
students, especially when writing in English. It is not an exaggeration to say that few, ifany, students are confident enough to choose an appropriate preposition from among
others when there is room for another to be filled in. The following short passage
consisting of 53 words includes as many as 11 prepositions. This original passage, withall but one preposition (within) deleted, was given to 252 Japanese university students
andFill in the following blanks with an appropriate preposition:
But here it gets complicated. Does higher testosterone produce moreaggressive behavior? Or does the more aggressive male – whose
aggression was learned, say, #1# home or #2# school or #3# theneighborhood or #4# the team or #5# the culture #6# large – call #7# arelease #8# testosterone #9# within himself #10# assistance?
(Extract from ‘Are You Man Enough?’ in Time Magazine April 24, 2000, Vol.
155, No. 16. See original passage in Appendix.)13and a number of native speakers of English as a task in which they were required to fillin each blank with an appropriate preposition.
As for the native speakers of English, all their responses were perfectly correct anduniform except for one or two variants that were also possible substitutes in the context.
However, in the case of the Japanese university students, their answers were far fromsatisfactory and they achieved an average score of only around 46%. These results
clearly show that with regard to prepositions, native speakers will usually infer thecorrect ones because they are familiar not only with idioms but also natural collocations,while non-native speakers have difficulty here because of the tendency for prepositions
to have multiple meanings and for the choice to be context-dependent.
In this connection, it is well known that English prepositional usage is exceedingly
complicated and difficult to learn and may pose problems for even advanced learners.
While there are generally few problems when dealing with prepositions that refer tosimple spatial relations and movements (e.g., on the table; to the station), it is in otherareas of usage that preposition selection may appear rather arbitrary (Rastall, 1994). In
certain instances, the choice of preposition is determined by the context and the
preposition itself may contain little or no information value. It is therefore often a matterof convention and the preposition makes little contribution to meaning. As such, they
may be classified as either ‘free’ or ‘bound’ prepositions, where the former carry an
independent meaning irrespective of other words in the context, while the latter havelittle independent meaning and are directly influenced by some word in the context(Biber, et al., 1999). Nevertheless, research has shown that prepositions do not merely
serve a grammatical function but also have semantic content that may influence thewords with which they are linked. That is to say, prepositions can have a salient spatial
sense that shapes the accompanying words and imbues them with a certain shade ofmeaning. A preposition may also have an extended meaning which is derived from its
underlying spatial characteristics (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). They therefore have thepotential to affect how a certain phrase is interpreted. In view of this, it is important forlearners to be aware of the basic spatial meaning of prepositions and of how this may be
extended into more figurative meanings. In other words, prepositions should not be
considered simply as lexically empty grammatical categories since they havecommunicative value and add to the information in the text.
With regard to preposition entries in dictionaries, they appear to suffer from various
defects including disorganized scattering of semantic information, confused presentationof sense information, lack of information on semantic contrasts, and omitted usages(Lindstromberg, 1996). Such deficiencies may be due to the tendency to list entries

14according to their order of frequency. While this provides learners with important
information on the most common uses of prepositions, it also tends to conceal
information about semantic similarities and contrasts so that for learners who wish to
examine a particular entry, they often have to scan a long undifferentiated list of
examples if they wish to locate the object of their search. Consequently, learners may
become discouraged and despair of ever finding the information they are looking for.
They may thereby refrain from using dictionaries in their search for prepositional
meanings. Through the use of concordances, however, learners may be able to pinpointcertain usages that either do not appear in dictionaries or are poorly presented. They may
then be able to learn the relevant information inductively through careful scrutiny of theconcordance samples. Although they may still have no clear idea about why certain
prepositional collocations are allowed while others are not, this may gradually become
apparent with sufficient practice and experience in using prepositions accurately. They
may in time sharpen their intuitions and learn to distinguish the various senses of
prepositions from each other and use them appropriately not only through memorization
but also through applying their knowledge of a preposition’s semantics and extended
meanings. While information about frequency is useful in helping learners to collocate
words correctly, there would also seem to be a place for helping learners become moreaware of the semantic scope of prepositions and why they collocate in the way they do.
With regard to the sample sentences, Japanese learners usually have difficulty indiscriminating about from on when used to mean concerning. The difference between
these two prepositions does not appear to be very important, and indeed these two
prepositions can be used interchangeably. However, when we examine the conventional
patterns containing these prepositions, we find that the use of about just after study or
research is rarely, if ever, found in the English corpus (Tables 12 & 13), even though a
few instances of a study/research about ... were found when we examined a corpus ofJapanese writing.
As for information, however, the frequency of the accompanying prepositions,about and on, is almost the same. This implies that even if the choice between the twoseems to be rather arbitrary, researchers constantly favor the use of on with study andresearch, while they are not so consistent in choosing one of the two prepositions withinformation (Table 14). For the distinction between study on and study about,explanations and definitions given in dictionaries do not seem to be much help andinstead may only serve to confuse learners (Lindstromberg, 1996, 2001). Particularly forJapanese learners, the distinction does pose a problem because there is one Japaneseequivalent for these two prepositions, ... ni tsuite (〜について). When we look at the15

Table 12:
Positionalfrequency forstudy (77,448)
1st right
of
6594
in
2905
with
1280
to
1023
on
895
by
808
for
320
at
231
from
174
under
51
：
：
about
1

Table 13:
Positionalfrequency for
research (2,713)
1st right
on
135
in
102
into
48
to
40
with
23
for
16
by
11
of
7
at
6
over
4
：
：
about
0

Table 14:
Positionalfrequency for
information(6,847)
1st right
about
795
on
732
from
338
to
276
for
255
on
237
of
48
with
46
evidence

evidence obtained in the form of concordance and statistics, we can see that on is themuch preferred preposition occurring immediately after study or research.
This kind of information may be useful in deciding which preposition to choose.
Nevertheless, this does not explain the reason for the different collocational distributionof on and about when used to mean ‘on the subject of’ or ‘concerning’ a particular topic.
To account for such differences, we should know that these two prepositions may also be
distinguished in terms of formality in that on is used in more formal contexts while about
is not (Quirk et al., 1985). Since academic writing may be considered a relatively formal
affair, this would then account for the choice of on as the preferred collocate for study
and research respectively. In addition, from the semantic perspective, on would seem to
imply a more concentrated focus in contrast to about where the focus is more dispersed(Leech & Svartvik, 1975). This may be understood as derived from the literal sense of onas being ‘positioned upon some particular base.’ In this case, the extension of the spatial
meaning of the preposition on serves to represent the image of the object of investigation(the topic) as the basis upon which study is positioned (with direct contact) for the
purpose of elucidation (Lindstromberg, 1996). On the other hand, the preposition about
has a wider, more scattered focus (without direct contact). It therefore has a less specificorientation than on so that the area of research is less clearly demarcated.
With respect to prepositions, therefore, it would seem sensible for learners to viewthe concordance lines and note the types of collocations that appear. The more common

16patterns and collocates could then be committed to memory and treated simply as
contextually determined forms. However, the apparently arbitrary nature of prepositional
fixing would preclude the need for any semantic interpretation that might help to clarify
the role of the preposition in assigning meaning to its particular collocate. This isunfortunate, since a clear understanding of the spatial senses may help us to explain why
one preposition rather than another is chosen to express a given meaning. In this way, it
may be useful for learners to view prepositions in terms of a continuum of meaning
senses extending from prototypical to metaphorical (Maclennan, 1994). The use of thistype of imagery may also promote deeper cognitive processing and thereby assist inenhancing learner recall (Boers, 2000; Boers & Demecheleer, 1998).
6 Pedagogical Implications
In the literature on the learning of vocabulary, it has been shown that learners needto have opportunities to encounter lexical items in multiple contexts in order to engage indeeper processing and thereby derive a fuller understanding of their various meaning
senses (Laufer, 1990; Schmitt, 1997). This type of intensive exposure to representative
patterns of language use may therefore enable learners to better understand the ways inwhich certain words behave. In this respect, the insights gained from concordances may
be used in the design of appropriate classroom activities to promote a clearer
understanding of the typical uses of particular linguistic expressions (Thurston &Candlin, 1998). Certainly, learners should be made aware of how such words are boundtogether with other words so that they may learn to express their ideas with greater
clarity and fluency. In this regard, care must be taken to ensure that awkward, non-native
expressions are eliminated. Care should also be taken to focus on the particular
collocations that are relevant to learners’ needs and that may be of some benefit to them.
Learners should be encouraged to explore their various functions and uses and adopt
those patterns that are relevant to their own particular communicative purpose in writing.
In this regard, it is useful to select key words in their particular field (most common,
frequently used words) that may pose problems for learners.
Concordances should therefore be considered as a dynamic resource in that learners
may use them as another type of text whereby they may see a certain word exemplified
in a number of usage examples, which may serve to provide further exposure to the arrayof meanings it may express in different situations. Furthermore, the ability to conduct
corpus-based research independently would obviate the need to have access to native
speakers (who are not always available) and pave the way toward further learner17autonomy. Language corpora may also be used by learners as a reference for the purposeof correcting their own lexical errors. By studying concordance samples of language use,
they may derive the particular linguistic rules and patterns governing a given word’s
behavior (Johns, 1991; Makino, 1993; Todd, 2000). In this respect, it would appear thatthe use of concordances may be a valuable tool in encouraging learners to discover forthemselves the syntactic and collocational properties of words.
At the same time, however, pedagogical decisions should not rely on frequency
information alone since this might lead to the neglect of certain structures andexpressions that, while relatively rare, might be of particular use to learners. Coupledwith quantitative evidence, therefore, there is also a need for qualitative analysis todetermine the particular communicative functions of recurring lexico-syntactic patterns(Conrad, 1999). It is also important to remember that concordance techniques are notcompletely objective in that subjective decisions are involved at various points regarding
which particular items to analyze and certainly in the interpretation of results.
Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that the patterns of language found throughconcordances do not necessarily offer suitable models that learners may reproduce in all
circumstances. This is because the samples found cannot be expected to reflect typicalusage in every case. Moreover, while the linguistic data in corpora are authentic, they areopen to reinterpretation once they have been removed from their original context(Gavioli & Aston, 2001). Learners therefore have to understand that such data have aparticular communicative function in a particular context and should not be consideredas all-purpose items that can be used in completely different contexts (Milton, 1999). In
view of this, rather than indiscriminately importing certain features found inconcordances, learners should be encouraged to explore their various functions and uses
and learn how to manipulate the patterns they find if they wish to achieve greater
flexibility and balance in their writing.

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Dictionaries Cited
COD = Concise Oxford English Dictionary. J. Persall (Ed.). London: Oxford University
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AppendixOriginal passage from ‘Are You Man Enough?’ in Time Magazine April 24, 2000, Vol.
155, No. 16:
But here it gets complicated. Does higher testosterone produce moreaggressive behavior? Or does the more aggressive male – whose aggression
was learned, say, at home or in school or in the neighborhood or on the teamor in the culture at large – call for a release of testosterone from within himself
for assistance?
Notes
1 Information about the Life Science Dictionary Project can be obtained at
http://lsd.pharm.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
2 Information about MEDLINE can be obtained at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed.

21