Multi-word Lexical Items and the Advanced Foreign Language User: Awareness Raising in the Context of Oral and Written Translation Training

Abstract

The paper has two main objectives: the first is to present an overview of the phenomenon of multi-word items in English, and discuss their prevalence in native speaker usage. The second is to discuss how proficient non-native speakers of English, and in particular those who are training to become translators, may benefit from classroom training that increases awareness of the primary role of chunks and other multiword units in native-like speech. It is argued that classroom training may tend to emphasise grammar rules and lexis over building a repertoire of multi-word items; more practise in this area may improve fluency, conserve energy, and enhance long-term language learning among adult foreign language users with nuanced foreign language performance goals.