1. Introduction

This article introduces the origin and development of the concept of collocation, emphasizes the importance of collocation in psycholinguistics, and discusses the impact of collocation knowledge on the vocabulary mastery of second language learners. At the same time, it pointed out the problems that second language learners have in collocation use, including insufficient familiarity with second language collocation and being influenced by their mother tongue, as well as the phenomenon of the highest proportion of collocation errors in the form of verb noun collocation.

2. Literature review

This article summarizes the influence of native language on second language collocation acquisition, particularly the role of Chinese in English collocation processing. Research has mainly explored from the perspectives of language transfer and psychological lexicon, distinguishing between consistent and inconsistent collocations, and pointing out that the consistency between the mother tongue and the second language is the key factor affecting it. Most studies support the processing advantage of consistent collocations, but there is no unified conclusion on the impact of native language collocations that are unique to a single language. There are also differences in the impact of second language proficiency on collocation processing. Studies have shown that high-level learners are better at judging collocation speed and accuracy than low-level learners, while other studies have found no significant difference. In addition, the interaction between native and second language proficiency may affect collocation processing. Existing research mostly adopts traditional psychological experimental paradigms, while this study uses eye tracking technology to examine the processing of English verb noun collocations by Chinese English learners with a Chinese background, while controlling for variables such as collocation familiarity, transparency, and word frequency, in order to explore the specific effects and interactive effects of Chinese and second language proficiency on collocation processing.

3. Research Design

A detailed description of the design process of an eye movement study was provided, including subject selection, preparation of experimental materials, experimental steps, and data collection and analysis methods. The subjects were 66 graduate students from a university in Shanghai, divided into two groups: English majors and non English majors. They were divided into a high-level group and a low-level group through the Oxford Quick Placement Test. The experimental materials include three types of verb noun collocations and corresponding control word strings, all of which have been screened through pre experiments and questionnaire surveys to ensure no significant differences in frequency, word length, familiarity, and other aspects. The Eyelink 1000 Plus eye tracker was used in the experiment to record the eye movement data of participants when reading English short sentences containing verb noun combinations. The experimental steps include pre experiment, formal experiment, practice, formal reading, and retrospective interview. Eye tracking data focuses on multiple indicators of target phrases, end words, and entire sentences, and is analyzed using methods such as one-way ANOVA. Finally, valid data from 60 subjects were obtained, and data that did not follow a normal distribution were processed.

4. Results

This study explores the impact of Chinese and second language proficiency on the processing of verb noun collocations by Chinese English learners through eye tracking research. Single factor analysis of variance showed that in the high-level group, there were significant differences in the first reading time, total reading time, and fixation frequency of the target phrase among the three types of collocations, while the last word was only significant in total reading time and fixation frequency, and there was no significant difference in the whole sentence indicator. The low-level group only found significant differences in the first reading time of the target phrase. The independent sample t-test results indicate that there is no significant difference between the high-level group and the low-level group in English Chinese consistent collocation processing, but there is a significant difference in English specific collocation processing, especially in total reading time and fixation frequency. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of Chinese and second language proficiency on multiple indicators of target phrases and end words, but the interaction effect between the two was not significant. Overall, the high-level group performed better in eye movement indicators than the low-level group, demonstrating an advantage in reading processing.

5. Discussion

This study explores the impact of Chinese and second language proficiency on the processing of verb noun collocations by Chinese English learners through eye tracking research. Research has found that Chinese has a significant impact on the processing of English verb noun collocations, and the impact is more significant in the high-level group. Consistent collocation is superior to inconsistent collocation in terms of processing speed, while the processing speed of Chinese unique collocation is slower than that of English Chinese consistent collocation and English unique collocation. In addition, the high-level group showed faster processing speed and stronger comprehension ability when processing unique English collocations. The interaction effect between second language proficiency and Chinese is not significant, but the impact of second language proficiency on English collocation processing is more pronounced and can regulate the influence of Chinese on English verb noun collocation processing. The retrospective interviews of the subjects further confirmed the moderating role of second language proficiency in the processing of Chinese specific collocations and English specific collocations. High level learners have a richer knowledge of horizontal combinations of vocabulary in their psychological lexicon and stronger second language vocabulary abilities.

6. Conclusion

The impact of Chinese and second language proficiency on English verb noun collocation processing was studied through eye tracking experiments. Research has found a consistency effect in collocation, where Chinese knowledge is automatically activated and may cause interference in collocation processing. Second language proficiency has an impact on English collocation processing and can regulate the influence of Chinese on collocation processing. The study provides insights for English collocation teaching, suggesting that teachers help students enhance their collocation awareness, overcome native language interference, and adopt corresponding teaching strategies based on collocation types. There are limitations to the research, such as small sample size and simple matching. In the future, the sample and matching quantity can be expanded to consider the combined effects of familiarity, transparency, and other factors.