Measuring Collocational Strength in Persian ‘Noun + Adjective’ Fixed Expressions and Its Pedagogical Applications

This research seeks to evaluate the collocational strength of fixed expressions in Persian, specifically those formed by combining nouns and adjectives, while also exploring potential educational applications. The study utilizes the Bijankhan corpus to conduct a 2-gram analysis, examining the frequency and concentration of noun-adjective pairings. To assess the concentration of these combinations, the researchers employed market concentration ratios (CR) and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). The findings reveal a significant number of fixed expressions where certain noun-adjective combinations occur with notably higher frequency than expected. Furthermore, through an Observed/Expected (O/E) ratio analysis, the study identified fixed expressions with combinations that appeared much more frequently than anticipated. These expressions are proposed for inclusion in Persian language teaching materials. The researchers anticipate that the results of this study will contribute to alleviating the learning burden on students of Persian and improving overall learning efficiency.