Formulaic sequences and EAP writing development: Lexical bundles in the TOEFL iBT writing section

Staples, Shelley; Egbert, Jesse; Biber, Douglas; McClair, Alyson

doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2013.05.002

Cited by 127 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The findings obtained in the current study further support the findings obtained in the study conducted by Rafieyan (2018) who found a strong positive relationship between language learners' knowledge of formulaic sequences and their level of language proficiency. The findings obtained in the study, however, do not support the findings obtained in the studies conducted by Staples et al (2013) and Serrano et al (2015) who found a lack of correlation between knowledge of formulaic sequences and language proficiency.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…The findings obtained in the study conducted by Staples et al (2013), however, were not consistent with the findings obtained in the studies conducted by Bardovi-Harlig et al (2008), Qi &Ding (2011), andRafieyan (2018). In their study, Staples et al (2013) investigated whether the frequency, function, and fixedness of lexical bundles used by learners of English as a foreign language in a controlled environment vary across proficiency levels or not.…”

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 58%

“…In another study, which supported the findings by Staples et al (2013), Serrano et al (2015) investigated whether intensive exposure is more beneficial for lower proficient language learners, or whether a certain command of the target language is necessary before language learners can benefit from intensive exposure to the language. The participants in the study included 124 Spanish/Catalan learners of English as a foreign language at three different levels of proficiency: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.…”

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 85%

“…While some studies found that higher knowledge of formulaic sequences leads to higher level of language proficiency (e.g., Bardovi-Harlig et al, 2008;Qi & Ding, 2011;Rafieyan, 2018), some other studies found a slight or a lack of correlation between knowledge of formulaic sequences and language proficiency (e.g., Staples et al, 2013;Serrano et al, 2015). In one of these studies, Bardovi-Harlig et al (2008) investigated the production of a specific type of formulaic sequences referred to as conventional expressions by learners of different first language backgrounds at different levels of language proficiency, from low intermediate to low advanced, at the intensive English program of a university in the United States.…”

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their study, Staples et al (2013) investigated whether the frequency, function, and fixedness of lexical bundles used by learners of English as a foreign language in a controlled environment vary across proficiency levels or not. The study used the data from a corpus composed of written responses to items on the TOEFL iBT.…”

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Role of knowledge of formulaic sequences in language proficiency: significance and ideal method of instruction

Rafieyan

2018

Asian. J. Second. Foreign. Lang. Educ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Formulaic sequences comprise a large body of language and their mastery is supposed to be a key determiner of language proficiency. However, despite their significance in language learning, they are seldom taught in any principled manner in language classrooms and their correct and appropriate use remains a particular challenge to language learners, even at advanced levels. To address this issue, the current study investigated the relationship between knowledge of formulaic sequences and language proficiency as well as the most efficient method of instructing formulaic sequences. Participants of the study were 42 Japanese learners of English as a foreign language at three different levels of language proficiency (low intermediate, intermediate, and high intermediate) at the intensive English program of a university in Japan. Instruments used for data collection consisted of a reading comprehension book containing a large number of formulaic sequences for intervention sessions and an oral-production discourse completion task adopted from Bardovi-Harlig et al. (2015) for testing knowledge of formulaic sequences as pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test. The study followed an experimental design by administering the pre-test, randomly assigning participants to two equal groups of 'focus on form' and 'focus on forms', conducting intervention sessions for four consecutive weeks (following the noticing, retrieving, and generating process) to teach formulaic sequences to both groups but at different levels of explicitness, administering the post-test immediately following intervention, and administering the follow-up test a period of time following the post-test. The findings of the study revealed that knowledge of formulaic sequences is a strong predictor of language proficiency and both 'focus on form' and 'focus on forms' methods of instructing formulaic sequences are equally effective in developing and retaining knowledge of formulaic sequences. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested incorporating knowledge of formulaic sequences in every language instruction.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Relationship Between Knowledge Of Formulaic Sequences and Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Role of knowledge of formulaic sequences in language proficiency: significance and ideal method of instruction

Rafieyan

2018

Asian. J. Second. Foreign. Lang. Educ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A Comparative Study of Chinese Test Takers’ Writing Performance in Integrated and Discrete Tasks: Scores and Recurrent Word Combinations in PTE Academic

Chen

Zheng²

2022

Assessing the English Language Writing of Chinese Learners of English

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite an increasing number of studies on L1 Chinese students' L2 English writing in recent years, little research is conducted on Chinese test takers' performance in high-stakes international tests, particularly in terms of how integrated and discrete assessment may impact on their writing. This book chapter, therefore, aims to fill this gap by comparing Chinese and non-Chinese test takers' responses in different writing tasks of PTE Academic in terms of scoring and use of recurrent word combinations. As an international test of academic English, PTE Academic includes both the traditional design of independent essay writing as well as two integrated tasks of summary writing from listening or reading input.Written samples from 500 Chinese test takers and another 500 test takers of other L1s were randomly chosen from PTE Academic and analysed. The results indicate that Chinese test takers outperformed their non-Chinese peers in the tasks of read-to-summarise and essay writing. Chinese test takers also tended to write longer responses with more occurrences of recurrent word combinations, and they used more stance expressions in the essays compared with their peers. A closer examination of highly frequent word combinations, however, suggests a relationship between task type and the language elicited, regardless of test takers' L1.

show abstract

Shifting Views of L2 Writing

Green

2022

Research and Practice in Language Assessment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Formulaic sequences and EAP writing development: Lexical bundles in the TOEFL iBT writing section

Cited by 127 publications

References 13 publications

Role of knowledge of formulaic sequences in language proficiency: significance and ideal method of instruction

Role of knowledge of formulaic sequences in language proficiency: significance and ideal method of instruction

A Comparative Study of Chinese Test Takers’ Writing Performance in Integrated and Discrete Tasks: Scores and Recurrent Word Combinations in PTE Academic

Shifting Views of L2 Writing

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About