Using formulaic sequences in improving EFL students’ written fluency

Abstract

Research in corpus linguistics shows that language is formulaic in nature, and more often than not native English speakers use formulaic sequences to communicate. Given this, research in second language acquisition (SLA) has taken into consideration this observation and extensively studied the role of formulaic sequences in augmenting English language learners’ (ELLs) writing proficiency. However, limited empirical studies have tested the role of explicit instruction of formulaic sequences on intermediate ELLs writing proficiency. This experimental study tested a multi-process pedagogical approach to explicit instruction of formulaic sequences on second level university students in Yemen. It compared an approach to the teaching of writing in which formulaic language is given prominence, to a more typical approach to teaching L2 writing in which the teaching of formulaic language is downplayed and/or totally disregarded. Results of the study revealed that students who undertook the treatment demonstrated more use of these formulaic sequences, which was also associated with less grammatical errors and higher level of English proficiency. Additionally, the results revealed that the experimental group did outperform the comparison group in both four-week sessions.