Assessing receptive collocation knowledge in learner Italian: developing tests for use with intermediate-advanced learners

Despite recent advancements in L2 vocabulary assessment research, carefully validated tools for collocation assessment remain limited, especially for languages other than English. This thesis aims to address this gap by developing and evaluating the CombITA test (Combinations in Italian test), a tool for assessing collocation knowledge in intermediate-advanced L1 Greek learners of Italian, using an argument-based approach to validation. Evidence supporting the interpretation of CombITA scores is collected through four empirical studies. Two preliminary studies examine test format in terms of practicality, while exploring relationships between scores and corpus frequency of target collocations (Study 1), their semantic transparency (Study 2), as well as test takers’ vocabulary size. The main study (Study 3) employs a refined definition of collocation and provides evidence to address most claims, warrants and assumptions of the CombITA’s validity argument. A follow-up study (Study 4) examines test scores’ stability in digital form. Findings show that collocation frequency is moderately related to performance, semantic transparency strongly affects scores, and vocabulary size correlates moderately to strongly with collocation knowledge, suggesting their interconnected yet probably distinct nature. The validation process highlights the necessity of further research to refine item selection, to address guessing strategies, and to evaluate washback effects. Moreover, it suggests the need to strengthen the validity argument’s backings to expand the CombITA usability, with further investigation including groups of test takers with diverse linguistic backgrounds. The results contribute to the theoretical understanding of collocations and practical advancements in the assessment of collocation knowledge in learners of Italian, highlighting the effectiveness of argument-based validation in guiding and evaluating vocabulary assessment tools.