Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

The processing of formulaic language

Conklin, Kathy; Schmitt, Norbert

Authors

KATHY CONKLIN K.CONKLIN@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Professor of Psycholinguistics

Norbert Schmitt



Abstract

It is generally accepted that we store representations of individual words in our mental lexicon. There is growing agreement that the lexicon also contains formulaic language (How are you? kick the bucket). In fact, there are compelling reasons to think that the brain represents formulaic sequences in long-term memory, bypassing the need to compose them online through word selection and grammatical sequencing in capacity-limited working memory. The research surveyed in this chapter strongly supports the position that there is an advantage in the way that native speakers process formulaic language compared to nonformulaic language. This advantage extends to the access and use of different types of formulaic language, including idioms, binomials, collocations, and lexical bundles. However, the evidence is mixed for nonnative speakers. While very pro?cient nonnatives sometimes exhibit processing advantages similar to natives, less pro?cient learners often have been shown to process formulaic language in a word-by-word manner similar to nonformulaic language. Furthermore, if the formulaic language is idiomatic (where the meaning cannot be understood from the component words), the ?gurative meanings can be much more dif?cult to process for nonnatives than nonidiomatic, nonformulaic language.

Citation

Conklin, K., & Schmitt, N. (2012). The processing of formulaic language. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190512000074

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Mar 1, 2012
Deposit Date Jul 3, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Annual Review of Applied Linguistics
Print ISSN 0267-1905
Electronic ISSN 0267-1905
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 32
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190512000074
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1007730
Publisher URL http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&pdftype=1&fid=8771482&jid=APL&volumeId=32&issueId=-1&aid=8771480
Additional Information Copyright Cambridge University Press

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations