Comparing knowledge of formulaic sequences across L1, L2, L3, and L4

Spöttl, Carol; McCarthy, Michael

doi:10.1075/lllt.9.11spo

Cited by 20 publications

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“…Some of the other languages where formulaic sequences have been noted include French (Arnaud and Savignon 1997;Cardey and Greenfield 2002), Spanish (Butler 1997), Italian (Tognini-Bonelli 2002, German (Bahns 1993; Glä ser 1998), Swedish (Bolander 1989), Polish (Zabor 1998), Arabic (Farghal and Obiedat 1995), Hebrew (Laufer 2000), Turkish and Greek (Tannen and Ö ztek 1981), and Chinese (Xiao and McEnery 2006). Not only do formulaic sequences exist in many languages, but Spö ttl and McCarthy (2004) found that their multilingual participants were largely able to transfer the meaning of formulaic items across L1, L2, L3, and L4. Although it is much too early to confidently declare formulaic sequences as a universal trait of all languages, the widespread existence of formulaicity in the above languages strongly suggests that such an assumption is not unreasonable, and is probably worth allowing until proven otherwise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulaic Sequences: Are They Processed More Quickly than Nonformulaic Language by Native and Nonnative Speakers?

Conklin

Schmitt

2008

Applied Linguistics

436

277

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It is generally accepted that formulaic sequences like take the bull by the horns serve an important function in discourse and are widespread in language. It is also generally believed that these sequences are processed more efficiently because single memorized units, even though they are composed of a sequence of individual words, can be processed more quickly and easily than the same sequences of words which are generated creatively (Pawley and Syder 1983). We investigated the hypothesized processing advantage for formulaic sequences by comparing reading times for formulaic sequences versus matched nonformulaic phrases for native and nonnative speakers. It was found that the formulaic sequences were read more quickly than the nonformulaic phrases by both groups of participants. This result supports the assertion that formulaic sequences have a processing advantage over creatively generated language. Interestingly, this processing advantage was in place regardless of whether the formulaic sequences were used idiomatically or literally (e.g. take the bull by the horns ¼ 'attack a problem' vs. 'wrestle an animal'). The fact that the results also held for nonnatives indicates that it is possible for learners to enjoy the same type of processing advantage as natives.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulaic Sequences: Are They Processed More Quickly than Nonformulaic Language by Native and Nonnative Speakers?

Conklin

Schmitt

2008

Applied Linguistics

436

277

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“…They may serve as input or targets for second language acquisition (SLA). It is these expressions that researchers describe as late learned and whose mastery may characterize highly advanced learners (De Cock, 2000; Foster, 2001; Granger, 1998; House, 1996; Howarth, 1998; Nesselhauf, 2004; Scarcella, 1979; Schmitt & Underwood, 2004; Spöttl & McCarthy, 2004; Yorio, 1989). The terms formula and conventional expression may describe the same string of words, but the term conventional expression emphasizes the social aspect of use—namely, a speech community's preference for a particular string—and avoids the psycholinguistic claim regarding storage and retrieval.…”

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confidence: 99%

Conventional Expressions as a Pragmalinguistic Resource: Recognition and Production of Conventional Expressions in L2 Pragmatics

2009

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This study investigates the source of second language (L2) learners' low use of conventional expressions-one part of pragmalinguistic competence-by investigating the relationship between recognition and production of conventional expressions in L2 pragmatics. Two tasks-an aural recognition task and an oral production task-were completed by 122 learners of English as a second language with mixed-language backgrounds and 49 native speakers of English divided among peers and teachers. The aural recognition task presented 60 expressions to which participants responded with one of three levels of self-assessed familiarity, operationalized as an estimate of how often they hear a given expression (I often/sometimes/never hear this). The computer-delivered production task included 32 scenarios to which participants responded orally. Results show that recognition of conventional expressions is a necessary condition for production but not sufficient. Lower use of conventional expressions by learners may have multiple sources: lack of familiarity with some expressions; overuse of familiar expressions, which subsequently reduces the opportunity to use more targetlike expressions; level of development; and sociopragmatic knowledge.

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“… A number of researchers have suggested that formulaic sequences are stored and processed holistically (Altenberg, 1998; Raupach, 1984; Schmitt & Carter, 2004; Spöttl & McCarthy, 2004). However, the evidence for this hypothesis has not been conclusive.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Processing of Formulaic Sequences by Second Language Speakers

Jiang

Nekrasova

2007

The Modern Language Journal

190

126

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A number of researchers have suggested that formulaic sequences are stored and processed holistically (Altenberg, 1998; Raupach, 1984; Schmitt & Carter, 2004; Spöttl & McCarthy, 2004). However, the evidence for this hypothesis has not been conclusive. The present study examined the representation and processing of formulaic sequences in two online grammaticality judgment experiments. English as a second language speakers and native English speakers were tested with formulaic and nonformulaic phrases matched for word length and frequency. The results showed that both native and nonnative speakers responded to the formulaic sequences significantly faster and with fewer errors than they did to nonformulaic sequences. The findings provide prevailing evidence in support of the holistic nature of formula representation and processing in second language speakers.

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Comparing knowledge of formulaic sequences across L1, L2, L3, and L4

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Formulaic Sequences: Are They Processed More Quickly than Nonformulaic Language by Native and Nonnative Speakers?

Formulaic Sequences: Are They Processed More Quickly than Nonformulaic Language by Native and Nonnative Speakers?

Conventional Expressions as a Pragmalinguistic Resource: Recognition and Production of Conventional Expressions in L2 Pragmatics

The Processing of Formulaic Sequences by Second Language Speakers

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