A Corpus-Based Study of Lexical Collocations in English Textbooks from Uzbekistan and Korea

This comparative corpus-based study examines the use of lexical collocations in high school English textbooks from Uzbekistan and South Korea, with a particular focus on size, diversity, and adherence to the British National Corpus (BNC). The study involved the analysis of four textbooks: two from Uzbekistan and two from South Korea. Uzbek textbooks were selected from the 10^th and 11^th grades, published in 2021. South Korean textbooks were “English” and “English I,” published by Neungyul in 2018. Data were analyzed using WordSmith Tools and AntConc 3.5.9, and statistical analysis was performed with R Studio. The study indicates significant differences between the two sets of textbooks, with South Korean texts demonstrating a more extensive and broad variety of collocations that closely match native English use patterns as displayed by the BNC. In contrast, Uzbek textbooks, despite having a larger vocabulary size, contain a more limited set of collocations. Moreover, Uzbek textbooks deviate more from the BNC, potentially limiting students’ exposure to authentic language use and hindering their preparedness for diverse communication situations. Specifically, the study suggests that improving the diversity of collocations in Uzbek textbooks could better equip students to communicate effectively in English across different contexts.