Assessing receptive collocation knowledge in learner Italian: Developing tests for use with intermediate-advanced learners
This project aims to develop and evaluate the CombITA test (Combinations in Italian Test), designed to assess collocation knowledge in intermediate-advanced L1 Greek learners of Italian using an argument-based validation approach. Evidence is gathered through four empirical studies: two preliminary studies examine test format, and the relation between scores and vocabulary size, collocation frequency (Study 1), and semantic transparency (Study 2). The main study (Study 3) refines collocation definition, while a follow-up (Study 4) assesses score stability in digital form. Findings highlight moderate to strong correlations between scores and target collocation frequency, their semantic transparency, and test takers’ vocabulary size. This contributes to both theoretical understanding of collocations and practical assessment advancements, highlighting the value of argument-based validation in vocabulary testing.
Corpus Linguistics, Learner Corpus Research, Second Language Acquisition, L2 Italian, Language Testing and Assessment.
Zanda, F. (forthcoming). Assessing the role of semantic transparency in a receptive collocation knowledge test of learner Italian.
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Spina, S., Fioravanti, I., Forti, L., & Zanda, F. (2023). The CELI corpus: Design and linguistic annotation of a new online learner corpus. Second Language Research, 40(2), 457-477.
Santucci, V., Bartoccini, U., Mengoni, P., & Zanda, F. (2022). A computational measure for the semantic eradability of segmented texts. In O. Gervasi, B. Murgante, S. Misra, A.M.A.C. Rocha, C. Garau (Eds.), Computational science and its applications – ICCSA 2022 workshops. ICCSA 2022 (pp. 107-119). Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Vol. 13377). Springer, Cham.
Spina, S., Fioravanti, I., Forti, L., Santucci, V., Scerra, A., & Zanda, F. (2022). Il Corpus CELI: una nuova risorsa per studiare l'acquisizione dell'italiano L2. Italiano LinguaDue, 14(1), 116-138.
Rini, D., & Zanda, F. (2022). Il CELI 5 dell’Università per Stranieri di Perugia. Torino: Loescher. ISBN: 9788858341230.
Rini, D., & Zanda, F. (2021). Il CELI 4 dell’Università per Stranieri di Perugia. Torino: Loescher. ISBN: 9788858341223.
Spina, S., Forti, L., & Zanda, F. (2020). Verso un corpus di riferimento dell’italiano parlato dialogico: il modello BNC2014. Rivista Italiana di Dialettologia, 44, 89-106.