Download Mendeleev Alexey Ivanovitch,

Usukhno Svitlana Ivanivna,
Korets Tetiana Vasylivna,
Chernihiv National University of Technology,
lecturers, the Faculty of Foreign Languages
E-mail: [email protected]
The importance of terminological competence developing for business English learners
Abstract: The aim of the present paper is to deal with the main issues to the learning
terminological collocations in business English. The main emphasis is laid on the importance of
collocations for learners of English as a foreign language as well as the actuality importance of
their use in the cross cultural business communication. The examples of some frequently used
business collocation patterns are provided.
Keywords: communicative competence, collocation, intercultural communication skills, business
environment.
In the modern business world of globalization, special attention is paid to the
development of the intercultural communication skills. Intercultural communication takes place
in the environment of major cultural differences in communicative competence of its
participants. These differences have significant influence on the communication success.
Communicative competence refers to a language user's knowledge of grammar, morphology,
syntax, phonology and social knowledge about how and when to use it appropriately according
to the principles of communicative interaction.
These days, forming communicative competence is essential not only for the participants
of international conferences, symposia or meetings, but also for every professional in any field of
science and technology, and especially businesses. English, being an intermediate language for
communication between representatives of different nations and cultures has a special role in the
intercultural communication.
An important place in international communication in the business environment is given
to commercial and business documentation, special scientific and professional literature,
participation in negotiations and other international events. In order to have a stable and positive
image, one should use vocabulary which is stylistically correct, i.e. lexical units corresponding to
the appropriate subject, following rules, typical of the particular language environment. The
knowledge of English terminological collocations in the field of business is considered to be an
important condition for intercultural communication.
The use of stylistically correct lexical units in speech improves the speaker’s status,
shows the level of his awareness and competence, as well as contributes to the success of
international business project implementation. The knowledge and well developed skills of
business collocation use in practice contributes to bilingual and bicultural development of
learners which facilitates the process of communication with other cultures.
Undoubtedly, in order to maintain diverse and multilevel contacts, learners should not
only know the rules of a foreign language culture, but the value of language in culture can hardly
be overestimated. Problems often arise in intercultural verbal communication due to the fact that
the word is not confined to only one denotation, and to a large extent it depends on the lexical
and phraseological compatibility and connotations. It is impossible to translate words only by
using a dictionary, which gives a long list of possible meaning variations.
This article aims at studying lexical phrases (collocations) in the English language in the
business sphere and making some recommendations on learning methods based on collocation
combinations.
The term ‘collocation’ has been defined in various ways in the specialist literature. Thus, the
Collins Cobuild Dictionary (1987) gives the following definition: “collocation – the way that some
words occur regularly whenever another word is used. In a similar way, the Longman Advanced
American Dictionary (2002) defines a collocation as “the way in which some words are often used
together”. The number of words in a collocation varies from two to seven. John R. Firth was the
first British linguist who studied collocations. He actually popularized the term collocation
which derived from the Latin word collocare which means “to assemble”.
The term ‘collocation’ defines words which frequently appear together. It is a pair or
group of words that are often used together. These combinations sound natural to native
speakers, but learners of English have to make a special effort to learn them because they are
often difficult to guess. Some combinations just sound wrong to native speakers of English.
Learning collocations is an important part of learning the vocabulary of a language. Some
collocations are fixed, or very strong, others are more open, where several different words may
be used to give a similar meaning.
Collocations can be classified into grammatical and lexical collocations. Structurally
speaking, lexical collocations consist of nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and propositions. They can
be divided into ten main types. The following table illustrates the most common patterns of
collocations used in the language of business:
Collocation type
Type 1
Type 2
Type 3
Type 4
Type 5
Type 6
Type 7
Type 8
Type 9
Type 1
Collocation patterns
Verb + Noun/Prepositional phrase
Adjective + Noun
Noun + Noun
Noun + Verb
Noun + Adjective
Link verb + Adjective
Verb + Adverb
Adverb + Adjective
Preposition/Adverb + Noun
Noun + Preposition + Noun
Example
to carry out/conduct/do research
fair/tough competition
product development/launch
a competitor outbids/outsells/undercuts
cost-effective
to come expensive/cheap
to increase/rise/climb steeply/abruptly
fiercely/keenly competitive
at the bottom, at the market
return-on-investment
Here are some examples of the different collocation types used in the sentences.
Adjectives and nouns
Notice adjectives that are typically used with particular nouns.
 We had a brief chat about the presentation but didn't have time to discuss them properly.
 Unemployment is a major problem for the government at the moment.
Nouns and verbs
Notice how nouns and verbs often go together. The examples below are all to do with economics
and business.
 The economy boomed in the 2010s, [the economy was very strong]
 The company has grown and now employs 50 more people than last year. The company has
expanded and now has branches in most major cities.
 The two companies merged in 2013 and now form one very large corporation. The company
launched the product in 2012 . [introduced the product]
 The price increase poses a problem for us. [is a problem]
 The Internet has created opportunities for our business, [brought new opportunities]
Noun + noun
There are a lot of collocations with the pattern a ... of... .
As Sam read the lies about his business partner, he felt a surge of anger, [literary: a sudden
angry feeling]
Verbs and expressions with prepositions
Some verbs collocate with particular prepositional expressions.
I was filled with horror when I read the newspaper report of the explosion.
Verbs and adverbs
Some verbs have particular adverbs which regularly collocate with them.
She smiled proudly as she looked at the training certificate she had just got.
Adverbs and adjectives
Adjectives often have particular adverbs which regularly collocate with them.
I am fully aware that there are serious problems. [I know well]
Translating English business collocations into Russian can sometimes arise certain
difficulties which are caused by the lack of the grammatical and lexical knowledge. Therefore it
is recommended for learners not to translate the words in a collocation separately but to
memorize the meaning of the whole phrase. For example, the word “agreement” should be
learned within the following collocation patterns:
Collocation patterns
Russian equivalent
Keyword:
Agreement (adj. + n)
free (trade) agreement
labor agreement
bilateral agreement
collective agreement
operating agreement
collateral agreement
Agreement (v. + n)
to conclude (an) agreement
to forge (an) agreement
to negotiate (an) agreement
to ratify (an) agreement
to reach (an) agreement
to secure (an) agreement
to sign (an) agreement
to come up to (an) agreement
договор / соглашение
торговый договор, соглашение о свободной
торговле
трудовой договор
двусторонний договор
коллективный договор
договор на эксплуатацию
дополнительное соглашение
договор / соглашение
заключить договор
подготовить соглашение
вести переговоры о соглашении
ратифицировать соглашение
достичь соглашения
обеспечить соглашение
подписать соглашение
прийти к соглашению
The following list includes adjectives and verbs that are commonly used with the noun
‘money’. Those that are similar in meaning are grouped together:
Collocation sheet
Russian equivalent
Keyword:
Money (adj. + n)
bonus money / extra money
earned money
public / taxpayers' money
pocket / spending money
lunch / rent money
grant / scholarship money
stolen money
bribe money
pension / retirement money
counterfeit / fake money
Money (v. + n)
to coin / print money
to count money
деньги
бонусные деньги
заработанные деньги
деньги налогоплательщиков
карманные деньги
деньги на ленч / деньги за аренду
грант / стипендия
украденные деньги
взятка
деньги по выходу на пенсию
фальшивые деньги
печатать деньги
считать деньги
to earn / make money
to borrow money
to lend money
to bank / deposit money
to take out / withdraw money
to pay out / spend money
to hoard / save money
to contribute / donate money
to pay back / refund money
to owe money
to change / exchange money
to allocate / earmark money
зарабатывать деньги
занимать деньги
давать деньги взаймы
класть деньги на депозит
снимать деньги
тратить деньги
экономить деньги
пожертвовать деньги
выплачивать деньги
задолжать
обменивать деньги
выделять деньги
Learning collocations is a good idea because they can:
a. give the most natural way to say something
b. give alternative ways of saying something, which may be more colorful / expressive or more
precise instead of repeating
c. improve the style in writing
d. provide "chunks" of English that are ready to use
e. give the text more variety and make it read better
f. save a lot of time and effort when trying to express the idea
It is not always easy to separate collocations, compounds and phrasal verbs.
In contrast to collocations compounds are units of meaning. They are formed with two or
more words and they are nouns. Their meaning of compounds can often be guessed by knowing
the meaning of each separate word.
However, collocations differ significantly from phrasal verbs. Collocation is considered
to be a relatively free combination of words. ‘Phrasal verbs’ are formed from two or three words.
Their distinctive feature is that they have a particular meaning. Phrasal verbs are words that
consist of a verb and a participle. Participles can be prepositions or adverbs like: at, for, in, of, in
and (a) round. Phrasal verbs don’t have to stand directly next to each other. Therefore it’s good
to know the grammar patterns of phrasal verbs. Which means the subject or object related to the
phrasal verb can stand between or at the end of the phrasal verb.
H. Jackson believes that “collocation refers to the combination of words that have a
certain mutual expectancy”. S. Johansson refers collocation to “habitual combinations of lexical
items”. H. Jackson underlines that “it is not a fixed expression, but there is a greater than a
chance likelihood that the words will co-occur” is also a collocation.
Although both components of the collocation or their order can not be replaced, unlike
phrasal verbs, the mean idea of the collocation can be derived from of the meanings of its
components.
Stable non-idiomatic phrases exist in all languages. For example, the Ukrainian language
has quite a lot of words, which are characterized by a kind of anomaly in compatibility: their
syntax position can be replaced by the fixed group of semantically similar words. (e.g. вести:
преговоры, разговор, хозяйство, дела, etc.). For Ukrainians these collocations are rather
common, unlike foreigners who find it quite difficult for foreigners to understand their meaning.
This is one of the basic features of collocations in the Ukrainian language. Therefore,
collocations belong to the peripheral units of both traditional lexicology which deals mainly with
free compatibility and phraseology, which focuses on idioms. Collocations occupy an
intermediate position in the language system, appearing on the border between the phraseology
and lexicology. Compatibility lexemes should make a special branch of linguistics.
At the present stage collocations are examined by one of the sections of lexical semantics
called lexical syntagmatics. Lexical phrases or collocations consist solely of the most significant
parts of speech, i.e. noun, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
From the linguistic point of view, collocations are of a great importance.
Firstly, all languages are full of collocations. Due to this fact, they are of the relevant
significance in any language as its grammar.
Secondly, collocations specify the meaning of the words they contain. The exact meaning
of the word in any context is determined by its environment, its collocutors or words,
surrounding them. Collocations always enrich languages and, as a rule, make them more
specific.
Thirdly, the way of combining words in a collocation is fundamental to all languages;
words in the language are not arbitrary and their options are limited.
Finally, collocations are important in all languages as they may help to predict the
collocutor of the main word. For example, an English noun market has a predictable set of
matching words: developing domestic, down, established, expanding, mass, niche, overseas,
shrinking, bond, commodity, equity, free, futures, illegal, etc.
An important challenge for foreign language learners is learning a large number of words.
It has been proved that a major part of our lexicon consists of so called 'prefabricated chunks of
different kinds', or ready made blocks of different types of words. The most important of these
blocks are collocations, which, according to many Western linguists should be a priority in the
process of language learning.
The mental lexicon of any native speaker is huge; where collocations are the most
important in the process of communication. Linguists state that when describing a situation,
phenomenon or in communication, the priority is given to using word combinations instead of
single words. The most commonly used combinations, collocations, are fixed in our mind and
any person's vocabulary, his mental lexicon, includes all the words and their collocations,
organized not alphabetically but thematically, and can be used according to the thematic
situations. Therefore, native speakers do not make mistakes in speech because they know the
correct words that should be used in the particular cases.
The every learner’s purpose of language studying is forming his own mental lexicon of,
which is constructed of a huge reservoir of vocabulary. It is a known fact that, the main
difference between the learners of an intermediate and advanced level is not in the use of
complex grammatical structures, but in creating a sufficiently large mental vocabulary, which
simplifies the communication process. Consequently, one of the main purposes of forming
mental lexicon should be the understanding of the importance of the collocation study.
The study of collocations has to be effectively focused on the so-called ‘collocation field
of words’, revealing the differences in the meanings of their combinations. It is advisable to take
into consideration the way how the words are combined and used in reality, but not what they
mean separately. It leads to the conclusion that it is important for a language learner not only to
enrich vocabulary by learning a large number of new words but also by using their new
combinations.
For example, a foreign language leaner that has mastered 2,000 words and has a idea how
to use them in different combinations immediately acquires communicative competence and
improves his practical language skills. Many native speakers using very limited vocabulary are
perfect communicators due to their high collocation competence.
Studying collocations is both useful and productive. It allows a foreign language learner
to think and speak faster. It is known that native speakers use a range of ready-made vocabulary
units available in their mental lexicon. It should be acknowledged that it makes it easier to use
ready-made phrases than to build a phrase using single words. The main difficulty of
understanding listening and reading lies in the presence of definite amounts of unrecognized
collocations in the text. Learners assimilated a greater percentage of collocations, speak a foreign
language easier and in more understandable way.
The knowledge of a large number of phrases improves speech fluency which is acquired
with experience and contributes to the verbal expression of complex ideas simply and clearly.
However, the correct use of collocations depends on the quantity and quality of their
assimilation.
Thus, the main objectives of success communication should be oriented on developing
understanding of different collocation types; expanding mental lexicon; studying various real life
situations. To achieve tangible results in mastering a foreign language one should use collocation
dictionaries, a relatively new resource in linguistics. These dictionaries contain multiple contexts
and a wider range of collocations than traditional ones. However, firstly, they can not include all
collocations, especially themed, and secondly, they usually monolingual, which is often an
obstacle to a language learner who cannot use them productively.
As researchers have revealed learners need to encounter a word/phrase about seven times in
different contexts to be able to acquire it. Therefore vocabulary acquisition is a gradual process and it
takes time and training. For instance, collocations associated with a situation familiar to students (e.g.
a case study) will stimulate the students to use them.
The wrong choice of collocations can lead to incorrect perception of information, and
often to the confusion that can complicate the communication and even affect the image of the
speaker. It is especially important in the era of globalization due to the expansion of cooperation
between foreign companies with a growing volume of business interaction.
Conclusion
In recent times it has become ever more obvious that a good knowledge of specialist
vocabulary plays a crucial part in enhancing the learner’s communicative competence and
improving in this way the overall communication process. That is the main reasons why learners
should be focused on forming their mental lexicon for effective intercultural communication in
business. Intercultural communication and the effective exchange of information in the field of
business is impossible without language competence.
References:
1. Benson, M., BBI Dictionary of English, Philadelphia, 2006
2. Borisov E.G. Collocations. What is it and how to study them. Moscow, 2005.
3. Borisov E.G. Word in the text . Collocations dictionary, English- Russian dictionary of
keywords. Moscow, 2008
4. Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, London and Glasgow, Collins, 2011
5. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, OUP, 1996
6. Catelly, Y.M. The Teaching of Collocates – Some Proposals, vol. I, No 1/2005, 7-19
7. Denisov P.N., Collocations Dictionary Russian language. Moscow, 2010
8. Farrall C., Lindsley M. Professional English in Use - Business, Cambridge, CUP, 2008
9. Firth J.R., Modes of Meaning, Oxford, OUP, 1957, 190-215