Corpus-Based Evidence for Teaching English Synonyms in EFL Contexts: Implications from Quick, Rapid, and Speedy

Abstract

The appropriate use of near-synonymous adjectives is crucial for effective communication in English, as these words can differ subtly in meaning, collocation, and distribution in a sentence. Although quick, rapid, and speedy share meanings related to short duration or high rates, their usage differs across different contexts and genres. This corpus-based study investigates the similarities and differences among three target synonyms: quick, rapid, and speedy, based on their distribution across genres and collocational patterns. Data were collected from two primary sources: (1) online learner dictionaries, namely the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) and the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD), to examine definitions and semantic distinctions, and (2) the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), and their top noun collocates were identified using Mutual Information (MI scores ≥ 3). The findings indicate that rapid is predominantly used in formal and academic contexts (21,977 tokens), whereas quick appears more frequently in less formal genres (82,113 tokens). In contrast, speedy has a limited range of use and is normally found in fixed or semi-fixed expressions (3,710 tokens). The three adjectives cannot be used interchangeably in all contexts. In terms of collocational patterns, 20 noun collocates for quick, 30 for rapid, and 12 for speedy were identified and categorised into themes based on their semantic preferences. In conclusion, such adjectives cannot be used interchangeably because they represent different preferences. Consequently, corpus-based evidence plays a crucial role in ensuring the appropriateness of vocabulary use in EFL and ESL learning contexts.