Chunking Grammar Learning: The Study of Formulaic Expressions in Chinese as a Second Language

Abstract

Formulaic expressions (FEs), such as conventional collocations (e.g., fresh air) and phrases (e.g., take a break), constitute a significant part of language use in our daily lives (Erman & Warren, 2000). FEs are defined as multiword units that holistically represent a single meaning, and they are likely stored and retrieved as unanalyzed wholes from memory when used (Wray & Perkins, 2000). Previous research highlights the crucial role of FEs in language comprehension and production (Conklin & Schmitt, 2008), and their usage in English is considered essential for achieving fluency, authenticity, and idiomaticity in second language (L2) learning (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2012). However, there remains a lack of empirical evidence on how American learners of Chinese process FEs holistically, and whether incorporating these expressions in Chinese L2 classrooms is pedagogically effective.Therefore, the purpose of this research project is to provide insights into the theoretical and empirical understanding of the role of FEs in learning L2 Chinese. This project aims to achieve the following objectives: (1) employ the model of Construction Grammar (Goldberg, 1995, 2006) to examine the semantic and syntactic behaviors of Chinese FEs (especially phrases) through corpus analysis; (2) investigate the visual processing of FEs by learners of Chinese to test the holistic hypothesis (Schmitt et al., 2004); and (3) explore the application of the lexical approach (Lewis, 1993) to the teaching of FEs in novice-level Chinese language classrooms. The data for this project were collected through online experimental paradigms, including the acceptability judgment task and self-paced reading task, as well as native speaker corpus analysis, online surveys, and semi-structured interviews with instructors of Chinese. The findings contribute to the cognitive understanding of Chinese FEs by connecting formulaicity with Construction Grammar, and provide evidence from L2 Chinese to support the processing advantage of FEs at different proficiency levels. The examination of FE teaching through a qualitative research design also implies classroom experiments with the goal of assessing the practicality and validity of the lexical approach in teaching Chinese FEs.