The effect of hands-on and hands-off data-driven learning on low-intermediate learners’ verb-preposition collocations

Abstract The present study compared the role of hands-on and hands-off data-driven learning (DDL) in learning verb-preposition collocations by Iranian learners of English. It also elicited learners’ attitudes towards DDL through a questionnaire. A total of 60 female pre-intermediate learners were randomly divided into a hands-on, a hands-off, and a control group. During the 10-session treatment, the hands-on group searched some verb-preposition collocations in concordancing, on the screen of the computer, while the hands-off DDL group received the same collocations on paper-based corpus. The experimental groups were provided with dialogue, i.e., teacher guidance, as to how to benefit from DDL in the first session of the treatment. The control group received the same collocations explicitly through traditional approaches. Results indicated that the experimental groups outperformed the control group in learning verb-preposition collocations on the immediate posttest with no significant difference between the experimental groups. However, the hands-on group maintained the gain into the delayed posttest significantly better than the hands-off group. The results of the questionnaire revealed that all learners had positive perception of DDL to learn collocations. Results of the current study suggest using both hands-on (followed by dialogue) and hands-off DDL to help pre-intermediate learners develop their collocational competence.