The acquisition of formulaic language by EFL learners

Abstract

Most of the studies on the use of phraseology by second language learners concentrate on advanced L2 users. Researchers attempt to tease out to what extent learners’ phraseology is different from the native one. There are almost no accounts of formulaic language emerging at the early stages of learning, particularly in foreign language settings. The research reported in this paper attempts to bridge this gap. It is exploratory in nature and investigates the emergence and use of lexical bundles by a range of students learning English in the classroom setting. The data analyzed in the study were drawn from the ICCI corpus and are examined with reference to learners’ ages, stages of proficiency, and L1 backgrounds. The probed essays were written by students in grades 6, 9 and 12 with Chinese, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Polish and Spanish as their L1s.