搭配字錯誤對英語為第二外語的學習者來說，是普遍的錯誤之一。其難度在於搭配字的選字限制(例如：豪雨應該用heavy rain而不是strong rain，強風則應該用strong wind 而不是heavy wind)。字的選用限制無法完全以文法或是語意來判斷(Sinclair, 1991)。本研究欲探討學習者對於字的搭配之覺察改變，此改變即是觀察學習者是否能夠注意到字的選用存在著一定的限制。況且，增加對於字的搭配之覺察有助於搭配字的學習。 本研究利用質性個案研究來探求學習者在使用一個以瀏覽為主的工具UWiLL Collocator的情況下之搭配字覺察的改變。使用上，Collocator被安裝於使用者的瀏覽器工具列上，能偵測並標示使用者正在閱讀的英文網頁中之搭配字。本研究徵求了兩位受訪者，他們接受八次的面談並在面談前展示他們使用Collocator的實際狀況。訪談稿、銀幕錄影、以及登入紀錄三種資料分析後，了解到受訪者在使用過Collocator後，對於搭配字的覺察產生了改變。受訪者能夠在沒有使用Collocator的情況之下思考字詞搭配的方式。本研究價值在於呈現了以質性研究取向來了解搭配字覺察，以及給予不認同偶發學習(incidental learning)價值的學習生態下的語言學習工具設計之建議。 Collocation errors are one of the most common vocabulary error types in L2 (second language) vocabulary learning. The difficulty in mastering the subtle restrictions on word collocability (for example, heavy rain but not strong rain, and strong wind but not heavy wind) is often attributed to the fact that these restrictions cannot be derived from more general rules of grammar or semantics (Sinclair, 1991). This study investigates changes in learners’ awareness of collocability. The leading idea is that a learners’ (un)awareness that words are selective in the company they keep is an unexplored but potentially crucial factor in the attention they devote to noticing such selectivity, in turn possibly affecting collocation learning. A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate how learners’ collocation awareness changed with the use of a browser-based tool, UWiLL Collocator, developed by Wible et. al (2004; 2011). Collocator is embedded in the user’s web browser; it detects and highlights collocations in English web pages that a user is viewing. Two participants were recruited and interviewed over eight sessions in which Collocator was used. The analysis of interview protocols, screen traces, and login records indicated that the participants developed collocation awareness after using Collocator, eventually considering word pairs as possible collocations independently of the tool. This study shows the value of a qualitative approach to understanding collocation awareness and contributes to the design of language tools.
