Re: Help with collocations, please

On Jun 3, 10:25 pm, Glenn Knickerbocker <N...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:21:17 GMT, Django Cat wrote:
> >Anyway.  One of the early things we teach is collocation with 'make'
and =
'do' -
> >'do the shopping', 'make the beds' 'do the wa****ng up'.  Is 'make the
bed=
' a
> >cliche?  Or shall we all start doing the beds, instead?
>
> I don't see how this is a matter of collocations and not simply of
> meaning.  These two words are difficult for many non-native speakers
> because their meanings are rolled up into one verb in so many languages.
> Sure, each one has a whole host of idiosyncratic uses, of which "make
the
> bed" might be one, but "do the any-verb-ing" isn't a specific
> collocation, it's an application of the most basic and general meaning
of
> "do."  Even the difference between "make the bed" and "do the dishes"
> seems better to me to explain in terms of meaning than specific uses.
> I'd save the list of collocations for things like doing a performance
but
> making an appearance.
>
> =ACR  \\\  http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/bsinl.html
///  T E A M W O R
K
> Together Everyone Achieves More Worthless Objectives, Reducing Knowledge

Have you looked at Swales/Feak and their excellent book called
"Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills
(2nd edition) yet? It includes an impressive collection of
collocations that you might add. Another useful text, geared more
toward intermediate and advanced ESL students, is In Focus: Strategies
for Academic Writers by Myra Shulman. Again, you will find long,
detailed list of appropriate collocations.

As for the distinction between cliches and practical language chunks,
I'm not sure that is most useful paradigm here. ESL teachers need to
tailor their instruction and class materials on the actual needs of
students, and they need to know these common expressions to understand
their textbooks, their readings, and write appropriate research
papers.

Good luck!