The development and initial validation of LexCombi 2: a research-oriented elicitation instrument for L2 learners’ productive collocation knowledge

Abstract Collocations are ubiquitous in language and important in successful second language (L2) use. Yet L2 learners’ knowledge of collocations, particularly their productive knowledge, is often considered inadequate. To further understanding of how learners’ productive collocation knowledge develops, effective methods of accessing and assessing this knowledge are necessary. To date, validated instruments for measuring productive collocation knowledge are lacking and ad hoc tools that appear to have undergone limited development prevalent. This paper therefore reports on the development of an instrument for measuring L2 learners’ productive collocation knowledge. Starting with an existing instrument that was considered promising, the paper sets out how a series of iterative trialling and development studies were undertaken to assess the instrument and enhance its validity. With revisions to its format, scoring and cues, a summative evaluation of the new form of the instrument, LexCombi 2, is described, and an initial evaluation of LexCombi 2’s validity given.