Journal Article

Formulaic Language and Language Teaching

Meunier, Fanny

2012

Overview

This article reviews the concrete effects that the theoretical findings on the formulaic nature of language have had in instructed second language acquisition (SLA). The introductory section includes some terminological comments and a general discussion on the validity of adopting a formulaic approach in second or foreign language teaching. The second section discusses various points in time when instructional intervention is possible and presents the rationale adopted in the article to trace elements of formulaicity in instructed SLA. The next three sections each center on one aspect of foreign language teaching, namely, input, classroom activities, and feedback. The discussion broaches pedagogical choices, teaching materials, types of activities, and tools currently available to teachers and learners. The results show that the increasingly refined understanding of the formulaic nature of language has clearly impacted second language teaching but that a number of questions still remain unanswered. These questions pertain to the types of formulas that deserve teaching time and to the assessment of the actual learning outcomes of using a formulaic approach.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press,Cambridge University Press (CUP)
• Subject: Classroom Communication / Classrooms / Cognitive science / Educational Activities / Educational materials / Feedback / Foreign language instruction / Foreign languages / Formulaic language / Formulaic Speech / Language / Language acquisition / Language Teaching Methods / Learning outcomes / Linguistics / Materials / Questions / Second Language Instruction / Second Language Learning / Second language teachers / SECTION B: FORMULAIC LANGUAGE AND PEDAGOGICAL ISSUES / Teachers / Teaching / Teaching Materials