Collocations for Confident Communication
NOTICE • INVESTIGATE • PRACTISE • REFLECT
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Scientific discovery relies on clear questions, carefully chosen methods, transparent data and conclusions that reflect the strength of the evidence.
Scientific progress depends on careful methods, evidence, collaboration, and willingness to revise an explanation when new findings emerge.
Explore the readingLexiLink · Science, Research and Innovation B2–C1 80 minutes
Complete the tasks, investigate research-related collocations in SkELL, and use the expressions to describe evidence, methods and scientific findings accurately.
Teacher-facing timing plan; the tasks below follow this sequence.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to interpret and use collocations related to scientific research, evidence and innovation; distinguish their meanings in context; test language hypotheses with SkELL evidence; and describe research procedures and findings precisely.
Study each word partnership, its precise meaning and related expressions. Pay attention to combinations that may be translated word for word from your first language, especially where English uses a different verb with a familiar research noun.
Read the text carefully or listen to it. Target collocations are shown in bold.
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A research project often begins with a question about a problem that deserves closer attention. Before collecting new information, a researcher should conduct research on what is already known and review the literature to understand previous findings. This process can reveal an unanswered question or address a research gap. The researcher may then formulate a hypothesis that can be examined through an appropriate method. A clear plan helps the team decide what information to collect and how to reduce avoidable bias.
The next stage is to collect data systematically and analyse data using methods suited to the research question. Researchers need to test an assumption, check alternative explanations and interpret results carefully. Evidence should support a claim; a strong-sounding argument is not enough if the data do not justify it. Researchers should also identify limitations, explain uncertainty and avoid overstating what a single study can show. It is important to draw a conclusion that follows from the findings rather than from personal expectations.
Scientific communication allows others to examine and build on a study. Researchers report findings clearly, explain their procedures and submit work to peer review, where other specialists evaluate the quality and significance of the research. Replication can help establish whether a result is consistent under similar conditions. When researchers share methods, provide evidence and remain open to revision, they can advance knowledge and make a significant contribution to a field. Innovation is more trustworthy when it develops from careful inquiry, transparent reporting and conclusions that are proportionate to the evidence.
Choose True or False according to the text.
Choose the paragraph number (1–3). Some paragraph numbers may be used more than once.
Start with recognition: choose the correct ending to complete familiar research collocations.
Build natural collocations by identifying the verb that combines naturally with research-related nouns.
Use sentence meaning and grammar to select a collocation that fits the context.
Choose verbs that form natural combinations in research and scientific contexts.
Choose complete expressions using context, register and meaning rather than word matching alone.
Open SkELL. Search research, results, claim and evidence in Word Sketch, inspect authentic example sentences and open Similar words. For each keyword, record two collocations, write an original sentence for each, add two related words and note one example that helped you test your initial hypothesis. Focus on typical verb–noun combinations and differences in meaning.
Teacher scoring: up to 10 points for accurate and varied collocations, original contextual sentences, relevant related words and evidence-based revision of a language hypothesis.
The structured fields are included in the lesson submission and appear as individual records in the teacher's spreadsheet.
Analyse naturalness: identify the expression that does not form a conventional collocation. Some distractors reflect common word-for-word translation errors.
Correct unnatural combinations by considering meaning, grammatical pattern and research context.
These tests become progressively harder: recognise common research collocations, choose expressions in context, distinguish evidence from interpretation, and evaluate realistic research decisions. The practice score is reported separately from the 115-point lesson total.
Write at least 100 words on Science, Research and Innovation. Use at least eight target collocations from this lesson. Write directly in the box; clipboard paste and drag-and-drop are disabled in this field.
Please compose your paragraph here rather than pasting a prepared text. Normal paste, cut/copy shortcuts and drag-and-drop are blocked in this writing field. This browser restriction supports the task rules but is not a complete plagiarism-detection system.
0 words — 100-word minimum to submit; no maximum
Write at least 100 words about a research question, method or innovation. Explain the evidence you would collect, how you would test an assumption, what limitations might arise, and how the findings could contribute to knowledge. Use at least eight target collocations and support your points with realistic examples.
Your name and group from the student profile above, your SkELL collocations and original sentences, related words, corpus notes, writing paragraph and available exercise scores will be collected in the teacher's spreadsheet.
Auto-scored sections: reading MCQ, True/False, paragraph matching, Matching, Sentence Completion, Odd One Out, Find the Collocate, Sorting, Lexical Cloze and Collocation Repair (100 points total). SkELL cluster (10) and productive writing (5) are teacher-scored. Maximum lesson total: 115 points. The 24-point Progressive Lexical Test is submitted as a separate practice result and is not added to the lesson total.
Vocabulary bank informed by the Lesson 22 topic, “Science, Research and Innovation,” in the supplied LexiLink lesson collection. Definitions, reading and interactive exercises were adapted or written for LexiLink.
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