Chinese learners’ use of formulaic sequences in spoken interaction
Chinese learners’ use of formulaic sequences in spoken interaction

Author(s): Jiajia Xu, Mark Morgan, John McKenny
Subject(s): Foreign languages learning, Syntax, Language acquisition, Psycholinguistics
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: formulaic sequences; Chinese learners’ speech; idiosyncratic uses; L1 transfer;
Summary/Abstract: As a basis for course and materials design for Chinese tertiary learners’ spoken English, it is necessary to describe these learners’ spoken discourse. This study analyzes the multiword units excessively used by Chinese learners in their spoken English. The College Learners’ Spoken English Corpus ( COLSEC) is analyzed and other first-language ( L1) corpora are used as reference corpora. The idiosyncratic uses of four formulaic sequences, namely in my opinion, as far as I am concerned, I should say, and as we all know, are discussed. Three causes of the learners’ idiosyncratic uses of the formulaic or quasi-formulaic sequences are identified: L1 transfer, communication strategies, and the decontextualized teaching and learning of formulaic sequences.

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