How Korean EFL Learners Use the Progressives: A Collostructional Analysis

Abstract

Avoidance behavior has been one of the interesting topics in the field of learner behavior studies. However, due to the difficulty arising from the detection of avoided constructions, avoidance behavior has been rather less studied for the last few decades. The current study is geared towards applying collostructional analysis for the precise detection of Korean EFL learners’ avoidance of English progressive aspect. The results indicate that Korean EFL learners tend to use the ing form as deverbal adjective, gerundive nominal, and phrases rather than as the progressives. As the cause of avoidance behavior, the semantic and affective factors were suggested. Following the analysis of Korean EFL learners’ avoidance behavior, the pedagogical implications of the present study are discussed. We expect that this study can reinvigorate an interest on avoidance by showing that the collostructional approach helps detect L2 learners’ avoidance behavior.