Research on formulaic language pedagogy has shown that a wide repertoire of formulaic expressions can help second language (L2) learners to present themselves as proficient language speakers. Formulaic expressions often carry a strong sense of social contract and perform specific pragmatic purposes (Bardovi-Harlig, 2012) and therefore play a crucial role in developing L2 pragmatic competence. However, research in this area lacks solid findings about the role of explicit instruction in developing L2 pragmatic competence as well as in stimulating acquisition and retention of formulaic sequences that possess pragmatic functions. The present study investigated whether and how the explicit instruction of refusal and thanking formulaic expressions can foster acquisition and retention of these expressions and help L2 learners in developing their pragmatic competence and overcoming challenges they face while performing these speech acts. The research design consisted of pre-, post-and delayed post-tests, a 9-hour instructional intervention (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2012), and thematic analysis of students' written and oral reflections about the explicit instruction course. The results imply that explicit instruction of such expressions and semantic formulas can increase learners' understanding of the complex phenomenon of formulaicity and help their spoken language become more pragmatically appropriate, more grammatically accurate, more fluent, concise and confident. Explicit instruction also helps L2 learners to overcome the challenges they may face while performing refusal and thanking speech acts. These findings have practical implications for incorporating activities focused on meanings and pragmatic functions of various formulaic expressions into every day classroom practices.

A good mastery of a range of formulaic sequences appears to be an important component of successful language learning (Wood, 2015;Wray, 2002). Certain formulaic sequences, known as pragmatic formulas, play a vital role in developing second language pragmatic competence, as they are crucial for successful speech act realization (Bardovi-Harlig, 2012 (Wood, 2015;Wray, 2002). Certaines formules, qu'on appelle des formules pragmatiques, jouent un rôle essentiel dans le développement de la compétence pragmatique en langue seconde puisqu'elles sont cruciales à la réalisation des actes de langage (Bardovi-Harlig, 2012

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For researchers, the typical way of determining whether a pedagogical innovation works is by conducting an experiment. In migrant settings, however, experiments are more challenging to carry out due to the diversity of the learner population. Unfortunately, how to deal with these challenges is not addressed in a practical way in research methods textbooks, which typically provide a normative view of the research process. This paper aims to draw attention to the realities of classroom research carried out in the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) setting. These classes consist of adult immigrants and refugees from a wide range of cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds. We illustrate how this diversity along with other characteristics of LINC programs impact the decision-making of the researcher with respect to a pedagogical experiment focused on pragmatics. The study compared a formula-enhanced approach to teaching speech acts to the more mainstream approach aimed at raising learners’ meta-pragmatic awareness about speech act behaviour. The pre-post-delayed-post-test gains appear to favour the Formula group, but the interpretability of these results is compromised by the fact that the composition of the two classes was very different. Discussion of the limitations of this case study feeds into a broader consideration of the implications for classroom research of linguistic and cultural diversity typical of L2 educational contexts like LINC.