Paper Title
Collocation Instruction Through Communicative Activities to Enhance 10th-Grade Students’ English Writing Ability

Abstract
This research was designed to investigate the effectiveness of collocation instruction through communicative activities. Two classes of 30 students studying in Grade10 in a school in the remote area of Thailand were randomly selected to participate in the study. The experimental group received collocation instruction through communicative activities, whilst the control group received regular collocation instruction. Two tests, a 30-item multiple-choice collocation test and a paragraph-writing test, were administered before and after the instructions. A five-scale questionnaire was also used to obtain the students’ attitudes towards the instructions. Data from post-test administration were analyzed by using t-test to determine whether there are significant differences between test scores of the students in both groups. A one-tailed Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient was also employed to investigate whether scores on the Collocation Test and those on the Writing Test were positively correlated. The results showed that students’ scores on both tests improved after the instructions. However, with the aid of communicative activities, students in the experimental group obtained significantly higher scores than those in the control group on both tests. Positive correlations between the test scores on collocation and writing were also found. Data retrieved from the questionnaire were analyzed for descriptive information. It was found that students in both groups had positive attitudes towards collocation instructions. The results of this research provide an alternative to teaching writing. Collocation instruction can be employed to promote students’ writing ability. In addition, the incorporation of communicative activities into the instruction is applicable and highly recommended to motivate students to pay more attention to not only the lecture they attend, but also the activities they do. Keywords - English Collocation, Collocation Instruction, Communicative Activities, English Writing