Abstract
This literature review focuses on the use of formulaic language by English as a second language students (L2). Research on the field of phraseology has shown that mastery of formulas is central for fluency and linguistic competence (Ellis, 1996). Studies on the use of formulaic language by native speakers (Ellis et al., 2008) have shown that native speakers process these structures as a single word. Considering the use of formulaic language by L2 students, research has shown that this can be problematic to learners as they do not know the correct word association (Men, 2018). This paper presents a literature review on the studies of formulaic language, more specifically of collocations, used by L2 learners. The first part of this paper deals with the different definitions of collocations, while the second part focuses on studies on collocation use by L2 learners.
Highlights
Several studies (Erman & Warren, 2000; Biber & Conrad, 1999; Pawley & Syder, 1983) suggested that language is mainly composed of fixed or semi-fixed language sequences
Previous research established that native speakers process formulaic language as a single word, these investigations do not account for how speakers of English as a second language (L2) use and process formulaic language
In the total 23 papers were analyzed, most of them adopted a frequency approach to the study of collocations (Men, 2018; Paquot, 2018; Yoon, 2016; Crossley et al 2015; Bestgen & Granger, 2014; Granger & Bestgen, 2014; Namvar, 2012; Laufer & Waldman, 2011; Li & Schmitt, 2009; Durrant & Schmitt, 2009; Wang & Shaw, 2008; Nesselhauf, 2003; Altenberg & Granger, 2001; Granger, 1998)
Summary
Several studies (Erman & Warren, 2000; Biber & Conrad, 1999; Pawley & Syder, 1983) suggested that language is mainly composed of fixed or semi-fixed language sequences. Aside from formulas pervasiveness in language, research on formulaic language processing showed that native speakers of English (L1) process these formulas as one single element. While Perkins (1999, p.56) explains the use of formulaic language saying that “the main reason for the prevalence of formulaicity in the adult language system appears to be the simple processing principle of economy of effort”, Wray (2005) argues that even though humans have the ability for processing language grammatically, or rather analytically, the preferred way of coping with language input and output is through chunks of language. Previous research established that native speakers process formulaic language as a single word, these investigations do not account for how speakers of English as a second language (L2) use and process formulaic language
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