LEXICAL TRANSFER IN L3 CHINESE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF COLLOCATIONAL ERRORS AMONG SERBIAN-SPEAKING LEARNERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35120/sciencej0501161nKeywords:
lexical transfer, L3 Chinese, collocational errors, cross-linguistic influence, conceptual transfer, false synonyms, qualitative error analysisAbstract
This paper investigates lexical transfer in L3 Chinese through a qualitative analysis of collocational errors produced by Serbian-speaking learners. The study focuses on how cross-linguistic influence shapes learners’ use of Chinese collocations and how conceptual patterns from the first and second language, as well as dictionary-mediated lexical choices, lead to semantically deviant combinations. A corpus of learner collocations, gathered from written production across several HSK proficiency levels, was compiled and manually annotated. Each erroneous collocation was analysed in terms of presumed source expression in Serbian or English, and type of transfer involved. The analysis identifies two major groups of errors: (1) conceptual transfer from Serbian or English and (2) errors driven by “false synonyms”, where near-synonymous items treated as equivalent in dictionaries and English-based materials are not interchangeable in Chinese. The results indicate that collocational competence in Chinese as a third language is strongly constrained by L1 and L2 conceptualisation, the mediating role of English, bilingual lexicographic practices and structural properties of Chinese, rather than by overall proficiency alone. The study concludes that teaching materials and dictionaries for Serbian speaking learners of Chinese should be designed to highlight collocations rather than isolated words, systematically contrast Serbian, English and Chinese ways of expressing high-frequency concepts, and make subtle semantic and collocational differences between near-synonymous items explicit. As additional data, the study offers a qualitatively annotated set of learner collocations, their reconstructed Serbian and English source expressions and their target equivalents in Chinese, which can be used as a resource for further research and for the development of classroom activities focusing on collocational awareness.
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