Frequency and collocational correction in the writing of learners of Spanish

Abstract

This study aims to establish whether there is any relation between the correctness of col-locations present in the writings of learners of Spanish and the association their members display in a representative corpus of this language. In order to do that, starting from a sample of collocations extracted from a learner corpus where they have previously been identified by means of phraseological criteria, I study their frequency in a representative corpus of Spanish. Based on these data, I try to establish if the association between the constituents of a collocation, as measured in terms of frequency of co-occurrence and mutual information, has any influence on the probability wherewith learners produce such collocation correctly.