scholarly journals Formulaic language in native speakers: Triangulating psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics, and education

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick C. Ellis ◽  
Rita Simpson-Vlach
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Formulaic Language

Do we teach the real language?

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-241
Author(s):  
Yevgen Matusevych ◽  
Ad Backus ◽  
Martin Reynaert
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Recurrent Patterns

This article is about the type of language that is offered to learners in textbooks, using the example of Russian. Many modern textbooks of Russian as a foreign language aim at efficient development of oral communication skills. However, some expressions used in the textbooks are not typical for everyday language. We claim that textbooks’ content should be reassessed based on actual language use, following theoretical and methodological models of cognitive and corpus linguistics. We extracted language patterns from three textbooks, and compared them with alternative patterns that carry similar meaning by (1) calculating the frequency of occurrence of each pattern in a corpus of spoken language, and (2) using Russian native speakers’ intuitions about what is more common. The results demonstrated that for 39 to 53 percent of all the recurrent patterns in the textbooks better alternatives could be found. We further investigated the typical shortcomings of the extracted patterns.

scholarly journals The use of collocations across proficiency levels: a literature review

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 34129
Author(s):  
Larissa Goulart
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Correct Word ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
L2 Learners

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.

Unconventional Expressions: Productive syntax in the L2 acquisition of formulaic language

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig ◽  
David Stringer
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Current Usage ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Independent Process ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Simulation Task

This article presents a generative analysis of the acquisition of formulaic language as an alternative to current usage-based proposals. One influential view of the role of formulaic expressions in second language (L2) development is that they are a bootstrapping mechanism into the L2 grammar; an initial repertoire of constructions allows for statistical induction of abstract grammatical categories, such that formulaic language is the data source from which syntactic rules are derived. This study brings evidence to bear on this debate from three studies of the acquisition of conventional expressions by L2 learners of English. A total of 271 learners and 58 native speakers completed either an oral conversation-simulation task or an aural-written elicited imitation task. The data show that while learners exhibit knowledge of both contextualized use and the lexical core of conventional expressions, production data reflect the morphosyntactic knowledge of learners at particular stages of development. Formulaic language does not drive the acquisition of syntax; rather, the acquisition of syntax as an independent process drives changes in the production of conventional expressions. Their gradual transformations allow for insights not only into the acquisition of syntax, but also into the nature of multi-word expressions in the mental lexicon.

scholarly journals Methodological Corpora Toolkit and its Possibilities for Modelling Cognitive and Semantic Matrices

2020 ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
N. M. Bober
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Methodological Principle ◽  
Structural Method ◽  
New Model ◽  
Semantic Clustering ◽  
Cognitive Semantic ◽  
Structural Semantics ◽  
Narrow Context

The article substantiates the necessity and effectiveness of involvement of corpus tools for studying the semantics of a word from the standpoint of interpretation of its cognitive nature, whose representatives have defended the encyclopaedic nature of meaning in general, unlike the views of scholars of classical structural semantics. In this connection, the correctness of Plungyan’s hypothesis that linguistics “outlines the contours of a new model of language, which is significantly and fundamentally different from the former models postulated in the last quarter of the XX century,” is commented on. Given this understanding of linguistic meaning and its role in presenting a new model of language, it has been suggested that it is important to study it in a broad and narrow context, in particular in terms of the combinatorial potencies of words – their lexical and grammatical compatibility, closely linked in corpus linguistics with such concepts such as collocations and colligations. The definitions of both terms have been clarified, and convincing arguments have been made in favour of the fact that collocations are conditionally free combinations of words used to characterize stereotypical situations and are displayed in the language of the native speakers in the form of ready phrases with inherent semantics, while colligations are limited by the morphological-syntactic frame of a certain structure. The methodological experience of corpus studies of colligations and collocations is analysed and proposed to be used to construct cognitive-semantic matrices of phrasal verbs in English. The main focus is on the capabilities of the Sketch Engine corpus system, in particular the availability of tools (Collocations, Word sketch, Thesaurus, Clustering, Sketch diff, etc.) that allow to integrate the classical (structural) method of distribution-statistical analysis of phrase-verbal collocations and colligations, and the method of lexico-semantic clustering, and the method of combinatorial syntagmatics. A hypothetical conclusion has been formulated that these and other procedural methods together will facilitate the disclosure of cognitive-semantic connections between the units under study with quantitative and statistical calculations of their performance. It is proved that the corpus-oriented principle of combinatorial syntagmatics becomes the leading methodological principle of modern cognitive-interpretative semantics.

Der Einfluss der préciosité auf das Gegenwartsfranzösische. Eine korpusbasierte Untersuchung formelhafter Wendungen aus Molières Les Précieuses ridicules (1659)

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-54
Author(s):  
Sandra Issel-Dombert ◽  
Marie Serwe
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Molière’s farce Les Précieuses ridicules (1659) contains a vast selection of formulaic expressions. The play serves as a historical reference for the identification of formulaic language influenced by a period called the préciosité, originating in 17th-century France. Based upon a survey of French native speakers, this paper will deal with the question of whether these formulaic expressions have left traces upon present day French. Given the empirical evidence, one must conclude that the majority of these expressions are widely known and are in general use today. Furthermore, the hypothesis that such expressions predominate in higher-register French (cf. Klare 2011: 126) is confirmed.

scholarly journals The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

2014 ◽  
Vol 165 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan H. Hulstijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
The Common

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR, Council of Europe, 2001) currently functions as an instrument for educational policy and practice. The view of language proficiency on which it is based and the six proficiency levels it defines lack empirical support from language-use data. Several issues need to be investigated collaboratively by researchers working in the fields of first and second language acquisition, corpus linguistics and language assessment. These issues are concerned with (i) the CEFR’s failure to consistently distinguish between levels of language proficiency (static aspect) and language development (dynamic aspect), (ii) with the CEFR’s confounding of levels of language proficiency and intellectual abilities, and (iii) the potential problem of mismatches between second-language learners’ communicative and linguistic competences. Furthermore, from a more theoretical perspective, this paper proposes (iv) to investigate which CEFR proficiency levels are attainable by native speakers and (v) to empirically delineate the lexical, morpho-syntactic and pragmatic knowledge shared by all native speakers (called Basic Language Cognition).

Discourse Markers in the Academic Writing of Arab Students of English: A Corpus-based Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Abeer Q. Taweel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Shed Light

This study aims to shed light on the discourse markers used in the academic writing of Arab students of English as a second language within the framework of corpus linguistics. By so doing, an attempt will be made to examine the use of the discourse marker expressing attitude, sequence, cause and result, addition, and comparing and contrasting. For comparison purposes, similar-sized authentic corpus will be used to examine the learners’ use, overuse, and underuse of the target markers. Moreover, the study will provide a detailed account of the possible reasons contributing to the disparity between the two corpora in terms of the use of the target markers. Results show that learners use more discourse markers than native speakers. While this is a general tendency, it still remains feasible to attribute the disparity between the two corpora to learners L1 influence where some of the overused markers spring out naturally and smoothly as they have rhetorical functions in learners’ native tongue.

scholarly journals Ladders and Snakes in Second Language Fluency

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Skehan ◽  
Pauline Foster ◽  
Sabrina Shum
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Language Fluency ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Structural Organisation ◽  
Speaking Task

AbstractThis article reports a study comparing first and second language fluency during narrative retelling tasks of varying degrees of tightness in structural organisation, exploring in particular a distinction between discourse-based and clause-based fluency. We argue that positive and negative influences on fluency are linked to the Conceptualiser and Formulator stages of Levelt’s model of speaking. Task structure and degree of subordination, which were related to greater fluency for both native and non-native speakers, are Conceptualiser and discourse oriented. Formulaic language, which was also related to fluency, is more Formulator and clause oriented. Contrastingly, higher lexical sophistication and longer clauses are associated with clause-linked fluency problems, but only for native speakers.

Teaming up and mixing methods: collaborative and cross-disciplinary work in corpus research on phraseology

Corpora ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Römer
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Research Outcomes ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Positive Experiences

Inspired by my positive experiences gained as a member of cross-disciplinary research teams, this paper explores the value of collaborative work in corpus linguistics. I discuss selected results from three studies that showcase research on phraseology: a study that attempts to measure formulaic language in first- and second-language writing, a study on attended/unattended this and its patterns in student writing, and a study on speaker knowledge and use of verb–argument constructions. My collaborators on these studies include a psycholinguist, a computational linguist, a cognitive linguist and a genre analysis expert. This paper highlights the ways in which combining research methods from different fields can be beneficial to research outcomes in phraseology, and calls for more collaboration between corpus linguists and scholars from neighbouring disciplines.

scholarly journals Formulaic sequences in native and non-native argumentative writing in German

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Jaworska ◽  
Cedric Krummes ◽  
Astrid Ensslin
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Argumentative Writing ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Formulaic Sequences ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Argumentative Essays

The aim of this paper is to contribute to learner corpus research into formulaic language in native and non-native German. To this effect, a corpus of argumentative essays written by advanced British students of German (WHiG) was compared with a corpus of argumentative essays written by German native speakers (Falko-L1). A corpus-driven analysis reveals a larger number of 3-grams in WHiG than in Falko-L1, which suggests that British advanced learners of German are more likely to use formulaic language in argumentative writing than their native-speaker counterparts. Secondly, by classifying the formulaic sequences according to their functions, this study finds that native speakers of German prefer discourse-structuring devices to stance expressions, whilst British advanced learners display the opposite preferences. Thirdly, the results show that learners of German make greater use of macro-discourse-structuring devices and cautious language, whereas native speakers favour micro-discourse structuring devices and tend to use more direct language.

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