Feature Article they are convenient to identify, teach, and work with.

For
example, in languages like English, individual lexical items have
Teaching Formulaic Sequences clear boundaries and are easily identifiable in texts by the spaces
placed before and after them. However, there is a growing
in the ESL Classroom awareness that language users do not always process language
word by word, but also make use of formulaic sequences. In fact,
SARVENAZ HATAMI in recent years there has been an increasing interest in targeting
University of Alberta formulaic sequences in L2 research and instruction, because
formulaic language has been shown to be a very important
In both second language (L2) research and pedagogy, individual component of L2 language acquisition and production (e.g.,
words have been considered the basic lexical unit; this is not Meunier & Granger, 2008; Schmitt & Carter, 2004; Weinert, 1995;
surprising, because individual words are convenient to identify, Wray, 1999, 2002).
teach, and work with (Schmitt, 2010). However, there is a grow-
ing awareness that language users do not always process lan-
guage word by word, but also make use of formulaic
DEFINITION OF FORMULAIC SEQUENCES
sequences. In fact, it has been estimated that formulaic Formulaic sequences can be very diverse, ranging from simple
sequences constitute more than 50% of spoken and written Eng- fillers (e.g., kind of) and functions (e.g., thank you) to collocations
lish discourse (Erman & Warren, 2000) and that these sequences (e.g., take an exam) and phrasal verbs (e.g., fall apart) to idioms
are strongly associated with fluent, communicative, native-like (e.g., kick the bucket) and proverbs (e.g., waste not, want not) and
language production (Pawley & Syder, 1983; Schmitt, 2010). lengthy standardized phrases (e.g., there is a growing body of
This means that in order to appear proficient, English as a sec-
ond language (ESL) learners also need to gain mastery of these
evidence that . . .; Boers, Eyckmans, Kappel, Stengers, &
sequences. However, formulaic sequences are particularly diffi- Demecheleer, 2006). This diversity is also reflected in the
cult for L2 learners to acquire (Scarcella, 1979; Yorio, 1989), literature; Wray and Perkins (2000) identify well over 40 terms
which further emphasizes the need to focus on and teach these for formulaic language, some of which include formulaic
sequences in the ESL classroom. This article, based on previous sequences, chunks, conventionalised forms, fixed expressions, formulas/
research findings on formulaic sequences in the L2 literature, formulae, holophrases, lexical phrases, multiword units, preassembled
provides a series of steps and strategies for the teaching of
speech, prefabricated routines and patterns, ready-made utterances, and
formulaic sequences through all four language skills in the L2
classroom. sentence builders. Because of such range and diversity, it is a
doi: 10.1002/tesj.143 major challenge to categorize formulaic language into discrete
classes because one could be “in danger of misrepresenting the
For the majority of teachers of English as a second language nature of the native speaker’s knowledge” (Pawley & Syder,
1983, p. 212). For this reason, Wray (1999) adopts a single cover
(ESL), vocabulary instruction tends to mean the teaching of term, formulaic sequence, and defines it as follows:
individual words; most ESL learners also tend to think of
vocabulary acquisition as the learning of individual words a sequence, continuous or discontinuous, of words or other
(Schmitt, 2010). Moreover, much of the second language (L2) meaning elements, which is, or appears to be, prefabricated: that
is, stored and retrieved whole from memory at the time of use,
vocabulary literature has treated vocabulary in terms of individual rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the lan-
words. This is not surprising because, as Schmitt (2010) points out, guage grammar. (p. 214)
individual words have been considered the basic lexical unit as

112 TESOL Journal 6.1, March 2015 Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 113
© 2014 TESOL International Association
PERVASIVENESS OF FORMULAIC SEQUENCES ROLE OF FORMULAIC SEQUENCES IN LANGUAGE
According to Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992), formulaic USE
sequences are ubiquitous in language use. Foster (2001) found It is no wonder that formulaic sequences are so widespread in
that 32% of unplanned English native speaker speech consists of discourse, because they play some very important roles in
formulaic language. Erman and Warren (2000) calculated that language use. Formulaic sequences are known to increase fluency
58.6% of the first language (L1) spoken English discourse and or decrease processing effort (Pawley & Syder, 1983) “by
52.3% of the L1 written English discourse that they analyzed providing a short cut to production and comprehension” (Wray,
consisted of formulaic sequences, meaning that on average 1999, p. 213). According to Pawley and Syder (1983), formulaic
slightly more than half of both the spoken and written texts sequences appear to be stored in the long-term memory as single
were formulaic. Some researchers have given formulaic language memorized units (i.e., prefabricated chunks or ready-made
even greater significance. Altenberg (1998) estimates the amount wholes) and can therefore be processed and accessed more quickly
of formulaic sequences in native speakers’ speech to be more and easily than the same sequences of words when generated
than 80%. creatively. In fact, this claim, that formulaic sequences are
Although such findings lack solid empirical basis and vary represented, processed, and accessed holistically, has been directly
widely, mainly due to differences in units and procedures of and indirectly supported by several studies (e.g., Jiang &
counting and the nature of texts, the fact that formulaic language Nekrasova, 2007; Kim & Kim, 2012; Kuiper, 2004; Underwood,
constitutes a large part of any English discourse is well Schmitt, & Galpin, 2004).
documented. This means that native speakers know a large For instance, Jiang and Nekrasova (2007) conducted two online
number of formulaic sequences, which in turn means that ESL grammaticality judgment experiments consisting of formulaic,
learners need to acquire and use these sequences if they are to nonformulaic, and ungrammatical sequences. The formulaic and
appear as proficient and native-like. According to Cowie (1992), “it nonformulaic sequences were matched for word length and
is impossible to perform at a level acceptable to native users, in frequency. In both experiments, native English speakers as well as
writing or in speech, without controlling an appropriate range of high-proficiency nonnative English speakers had to decide
multiword units” (p. 10). However, as Swan (2006) rightly points whether a sequence was grammatical. The results reveal that both
out, “the size of the formulaic lexicon makes it totally the native and nonnative speakers responded to the formulaic
impracticable to take native-speaker phraseological competence, or phrases significantly more quickly and with fewer errors than to
anything approaching it, as a realistic target for second language the nonformulaic phrases. However, the degree to which
learners” (p. 6), and indeed, not all L2 learners aspire to native-like formulaic sequences are stored and retrieved holistically during
ability. In fact, for the majority of L2 learners, “a limited, and processing is shown to be affected by the frequency level of the
therefore flawed and inaccurate lexicon may, as well as being formulaic sequence (Kim & Kim, 2012). Kim and Kim (2012) found
inevitable, also be perfectly adequate” (Lewis, 1997, pp. 187–188). that for both native speakers and nonnative speakers, high-
Therefore, more realistically, to function effectively in English, ESL frequency multiword units result in shorter reading times than
learners need to acquire those high-priority formulaic sequences low-frequency units. Kuiper (2004) also provides indirect support
“which are appropriate in as wide a range of situations as possible for the holistic view of formulaic sequences and their role in
both linguistically and socially” (Lewis, 1997, p. 188) as well as the increasing fluency, by showing that speakers such as auctioneers
specific formulaic sequences of their academic discipline or and sports announcers who have to operate under heavy time
professional group. constraints use a great number of formulaic sequences.

114 TESOL Journal Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 115
 Another role of formulaic sequences in language use is in L2 learners, even at the higher levels of proficiency, know and use
achieving communicative goals (Schmitt, 2010; Wray, 1999). fewer formulaic sequences than native speakers (Foster, 2001;
Most speech acts such as expressions of apologies (e.g., I’m Howarth, 1998). Noticing and acquiring formulaic sequences can
[very] sorry. . .), requests (e.g., could you [please]. . . ?), compliments be particularly challenging for English as a foreign language (EFL)
(e.g., I [really] like your. . .), greetings, thanks, and condolence learners (as opposed to ESL learners) whose primary source of
tend to be achieved using formulaic sequences. Furthermore, second language input comes as text (Wible, 2008). While
formulaic sequences are commonly used in conversation phonological features such as speech rate, pausing, and stress
management (e.g., you know; I mean; you’ll never believe this, patterns are possible indicators of formulaic sequences in spoken
but. . .) and in marking discourse structure (e.g., on the other input (Read & Nation, 2004), “there is no indication in [written
hand, as a result). The technical vocabulary in a particular field input] that a particular string of words constitutes a chunk”
can also be formulaic (e.g., “Your blood pressure is X over Y” is (Wible, 2008, p. 173). For instance, Altenberg and Granger (2001)
a technical formulaic sequence in the medical field; Schmitt, found that their EFL learners, even at an advanced proficiency
2010; Wray, 1999). Formulaic language, therefore, plays a level, had great difficulty with a high-frequency verb like make.
fundamental role in communicative competence. As Widdowson Not only did delexical uses of make (e.g., make a decision) prove to
(1989) stated two decades ago, be particularly problematic, but also causative uses (e.g., make
something possible); as a result, both categories were used
communicative competence is not a matter of knowing rules. . . .
It is much more a matter of knowing a stock of partially pre- significantly less by the learners than by the native speakers. In
assembled patterns, formulaic frameworks, and a kit of rules, so another study, Durrant and Schmitt (2009) found that, whereas
to speak, and being able to apply the rules to make whatever nonnative writers (in both ESL and EFL contexts) rely heavily on
adjustments are necessary according to contextual demands. high-frequency collocations (e.g., hard work), they tend to underuse
(p. 135)
less common, strongly associated collocations (e.g., densely
populated).
WHY DO FORMULAIC SEQUENCES NEED TO BE Moreover, L2 learners do not always use formulaic sequences
TAUGHT? accurately or appropriately (Howarth, 1998; Nesselhauf, 2003).
Considering the significant role of formulaic sequences in Nesselhauf (2003) analyzed the use of verb-noun collocations (e.g.,
facilitating fluent language production and achieving take a break) by advanced German-speaking learners of English in
communicative purposes, it is not surprising that mastery of these free written production. She found that almost a quarter of the
sequences can help learners come across as generally proficient L2 combinations produced by the learners contained one or more
speakers (Schmitt, 2010). In fact, these sequences—at least those mistakes. She also found that the learners’ L1 influenced 45% of
which have been memorized correctly—can help learners achieve the mistakes in L2 collocation production. These mistakes were not
linguistic accuracy, as they provide zones of safety where learners only the result of combining words in an inaccurate, non-native-
are less likely to make errors (Boers et al., 2006). Formulaic like way, but also due to the inappropriate use of native-like
sequences also allow learners to be confident that they will be combinations.
understood by their interlocutor in the way they intended The importance of formulaic sequences in language use and
(Wildner-Bassett, 1994). the above-mentioned difficulties in the L2 acquisition of these
However, mastering formulaic sequences is extremely sequences imply that formulaic sequences need to be emphasized
challenging for L2 learners (Scarcella, 1979; Yorio, 1989). and taught in the language classroom. As Schmitt (2010) states,
“formulaic language is as important as individual words” (p. 8),
116 TESOL Journal Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 117
and therefore it is necessary for ESL teachers and learners to focus individual lexical items. This point is well stated by Conzett
on both single- and multiword vocabulary items. (2000):
The single most important thing for teachers, more than worry-
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ESL CLASSROOM ing whether or not something is a collocation, is to shift their
To date, pedagogic research in the area of formulaic language and their students’ focus away from individual words to chunks
instruction and its impact on learners’ L2 proficiency has been of language. These chunks improve the fluency and accuracy of
scarce. This is primarily due to “the difficulty of defining and the English students produce. (p. 80)
operationalizing this rather elusive language phenomenon at the
level of precision that is required to serve as an effective Raising the Awareness of Learners
theoretical foundation to build on” (Dornyei, 2009, p. 298). It is the teacher’s responsibility to raise learners’ awareness and
Nevertheless, some studies have addressed the learning of make clear to them that formulaic sequences are just as important
formulaic sequences through classroom practice and have found as individual words, and to boost learners’ motivation to learn
positive impacts on learners’ awareness of formulaic sequences these sequences by emphasizing that these sequences have an
(Jones & Haywood, 2004), the number and range of formulaic intrinsic connection with fluent, communicative language
sequences they can produce over time (Taguchi, 2007; Wible, Liu, production. This is very important because some learners may
& Tsao, 2011), and learners’ oral proficiency development (Boers simply think, “Why learn two words together when learning one
et al., 2006). seems hard enough?” (Coxhead, 2008, p. 149). This awareness
In the next section, pedagogical implications from the findings raising, which could be done by conveying research findings and
of L2 research on formulaic language are gathered to help raise corpus statistics on formulaic language to the class and also
learners’ awareness of and interest in formulaic sequences and to through classroom exercises, is considered the most critical task
effectively teach these sequences in the ESL classroom. Most of the for the language teacher.
strategies and techniques presented are adaptable to all levels,
including English for academic purposes (EAP). The strategies Selecting Appropriate Formulaic Sequences to Teach
have been selected with an attempt to incorporate the three In the limited class time, it is not practical to equally treat all the
important psychological conditions for successful vocabulary different types of formulaic sequences, such as fillers, functions,
learning: noticing, retrieving, and generating (described in more collocations, phrasal verbs, idioms, and proverbs. Considering
detail below), as according to Nation (2001), “chunks can be most such diversity, how do teachers know which sequences or types of
effectively memorised by following the same learning guidelines sequences should be taught in the classroom? Indeed, any “useful
as for isolated words” (p. 343). chunks in the samples of English discourse at hand” (Boers et al.,
As one reads through the strategies, a natural question arises: 2006, pp. 250–251) could be considered for teaching (see the
In teaching formulaic sequences in the language classroom, how noticing activity below as an example); however, the degree to
can we determine which sequence of words is formulaic and which a chunk is useful and deserves class time is a judgment that
which is not? As previously mentioned, unfortunately there is no needs to be made based on the goals of the language classroom.
straightforward answer to this question. However, this should not That being said, one very practical criterion in selecting which
shatter one’s confidence in teaching these sequences, because the sequences to include for instruction is frequency of occurrence.
prime concern in the ESL classroom is not to identify what The sequences selected must be frequent in general English as well
precisely constitutes a formulaic sequence, but to help learners as any specific English that is of use to the learners. A very useful
notice and remember unanalyzed strings of words as well as
118 TESOL Journal Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 119
frequency list created by Martinez and Schmitt (2012) for Teaching Formulaic Sequences
pedagogic purposes is the PHRASE List, which focuses on the Noticing. The first major process to encourage the learning of
most frequent formulaic sequences in English. The top 10 most a lexical item is noticing (Nation, 2001), that is, directing learners’
frequent formulaic sequences from the total of 505 formulaic attention toward a formulaic sequence and making them aware of
sequences listed in the PHRASE List are have to, there is/are, such as, its usefulness. One way to do this is, after learners have become
going to (future), of course, a few, at least, such a(an), I mean, and a familiar with a particular text in class through normal reading
lot. activities, the text can be given to the learners again to read, but
The Academic Formulas List (AFL) developed by Simpson- this time with the target formulaic sequences made salient (i.e., by
Vlach and Ellis (2010) can also be very helpful, especially in an using underlining, bold letters, italics, and/or glossing; Jones &
EAP course. The AFL is a pedagogically useful list of formulaic Haywood, 2004; Nation, 2001). This noticing exercise can also be
expressions occurring frequently in academic discourse, compiled done in conjunction with listening. Recorded monologues,
from both spoken and written corpora. The top 10 formulaic conversations, and (if an EAP course) academic lectures could be
sequences common in both spoken and written academic language played in the classroom. The transcripts of the recordings in which
are in terms of, at the same time, from the point of view, in order to, as the formulaic sequences have been made salient can be provided
well as, part of the, the fact that, in other words, the point of view of, to the learners so that they can pay attention to the target
and there is a. formulaic sequences as they listen to the recordings. Learners
Another list of most frequently used formulaic sequences could then be asked to try to guess the meaning of the formulaic
which teachers can consult is one compiled by Liu (2003). This list sequences from context and/or have the sequences explained to
is based on three different corpora of spoken American English them. A point worth mentioning here is that knowing the meaning
(i.e., professional, media, and academic corpora). The top 10 most of all the individual words in a formulaic sequence (e.g., by and
frequently used sequences across the three corpora are kind of large) can lead learners to overestimate their knowledge of the
(meaning somewhat), sort of (meaning somewhat), of course, in meaning of the actual sequence and thus make them think that
terms of, in fact, deal with, at all, as well, make sure, and go through. they have understood the text better than they actually have
Unlike the AFL, in which only strings of three, four, and five (Martinez & Murphy, 2011). This emphasizes the importance of
words have been included in the data set, in Liu’s list, two-word explaining the meaning of such deceptively transparent sequences
strings have also been considered. to learners and drawing their attention to this frequent
It should be noted that although such frequency lists can be characteristic of formulaic sequences. On the other hand, not
useful tools for teaching purposes, one must be cautious about the knowing the meaning of the individual words constituting a
size and representativeness of the corpus or corpora on which formulaic sequence can make it relatively harder to fully
such lists are based. For instance, the PHRASE List (Martinez & understand the chunk and to remember its form; therefore,
Schmitt, 2012) is based on the British National Corpus (BNC). The encouraging learners to look inside the chunks and helping them
BNC is a 100-million-word collection of samples of written and notice aspects of both meaning and form can optimize the learning
spoken English, and although like all other corpora it has some process (Lindstromberg, 2010). According to Lindstromberg (2010),
limitations (e.g., it represents only British English; 90% of the BNC looking inside the chunks has two main advantages:
is written and only 10% is spoken), it is indeed a large and
1. Imagistic, word-based understanding of a chunk fosters memory not only of
balanced corpus. its overall meaning but also of the meanings of its key words, especially its
key content words.

120 TESOL Journal Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 121
2. Noticing patterns of sound repetition can foster recall of the wording of a that is to be acquired, because each time an item is retrieved, the
chunk in detail. Note that this second point can apply even to chunks which memory of its form–meaning link will be strengthened (Baddeley,
are low in image potential (e.g., powers of persuasion; if you say so).
1990). Retrieval could be receptive (when the form of the formulaic
Moreover, the input to which we expose learners should be sequence is encountered in listening or reading and learners have
interesting, because interest and involvement are important to retrieve its meaning) or productive (when learners wish to
enabling conditions for noticing (Nation, 2001). Input should also communicate the meaning of a particular formulaic sequence in
be fluent, natural, and native-like (Wood, 2010). Currently, there speaking or writing and have to retrieve its form). An effective
are native speaker corpora made up of recordings of spoken way to provide learners with opportunities for receptive retrieval
discourse and their corresponding transcriptions which could be is to read the same story or listen to the same passage several
used for this purpose. A good example of such corpora, times. If it is a longer story, it could be presented part by part,
particularly useful for the EAP classroom and available online for because the same vocabulary is very likely to recur in longer texts
free, is the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (Nation, 2001).
(MICASE; Simpson, Briggs, Ovens, & Swales, 2002). The website For productive retrieval, teachers can require learners to reuse
(http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micase/) allows access to a large the formulaic sequences they have been taught or have previously
number of authentic recordings and their corresponding encountered in subsequent speaking or writing activities. For
transcripts from a wide range of academic speech events. The example, the disappearing text (adapted from Nation & Newton,
following authentic passage is from MICASE, from the beginning 2009) is an oral production activity which can be useful for this
of a philosophy seminar. The formulaic sequences have been purpose. In this technique, the teacher selects a passage of
underlined to provide an example of the type of noticing activity approximately 50 to 60 words containing a number of formulaic
described above. sequences, writes it on the board, and asks a learner or two to read
it aloud. Then the teacher deletes some of the formulaic sequences
Okay, well just to um reiterate, last time we agreed that we’d
and asks another learner to read the passage aloud, supplying the
push back the paper due dates from this Wednesday to the
Monday after break, so that’s Monday, um March eighth, due missing formulaic sequences as he or she reads. Then more
in class um, and . . . I want to reiterate that I’m, I’m glad to meet formulaic sequences are deleted, and this continues until there is
with people if you want to come to my office hours today after nothing at all on the board and the learners are repeating the
class or this week. So I’m happy to make appointments. Um passage (and the formulaic sequences) from their memory
and I want to thank you guys for filling out the survey, it was
really very helpful. . . . Um and I, as I said at the beginning of
(Rossiter, Derwing, Manimtim, & Thomson, 2010). A more
class, a couple of people mentioned that it, it might be easier to, communicative strategy is to give learners a context or scenario
to speak up, in the whole class setting if we actually moved clo- and ask them to orally exchange information using the target
ser together. I was just wondering if, um if people, thought that formulaic sequences. This approach, known as role play or exchange
was a good idea. structure, can be particularly helpful in teaching speech acts. For
Retrieving. “Noticing may be a prerequisite for learning, but it example, one learner extends an invitation (e.g., Would you like to
does not necessarily guarantee the acquisition of every single come to my party?), and another learner accepts the invitation (e.g.,
element that gets noticed” (Boers et al., 2006, p. 257). The next Yes, thanks a lot). Another example would be an assertion (e.g., It’s
major process that may help with learning and remembering a fact that. . .), followed by a disagreement (e.g., I don’t [really/quite]
vocabulary is retrieval (Nation, 2001). Learners should be agree with. . .; Nattinger & DeCarrico, 1992).
provided with repeated opportunities to retrieve the lexical item Writing activities such as gap-fill exercises could also be used
to elicit formulaic sequences (Jones & Haywood, 2004). Teachers
122 TESOL Journal Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 123
could also ask learners to make sentences using target formulaic for the generative use of formulaic sequences (Coxhead, 2008).
sequences (Liu, 2008) and to ultimately incorporate these Discussions (Stahl & Vancil, 1986) and negotiation (Nation, 2001)
sequences into their essays. However, for essay writing, teachers may also provide opportunities for target formulaic sequences to
should teach not only the formulaic sequences, but also how they appear in a variety of forms and contexts.
can be connected. For example, if one is teaching sequences for
openings in an academic essay, an example would be: For a long CONCLUSION
time, many researchers have believed X. This paper will demonstrate Formulaic sequences are just as significant as individual
(that) Y, by comparing and contrasting Z, and recommending (that) vocabulary items and should be given equal attention in the
W. In this way, students are able to create a skeleton structure for language classroom. As Martinez and Schmitt (2012) state, “it is
their essay and later fill in the arguments for X, Y, Z, and W mostly to the advantage of all interested parties that formulaic
(Nattinger & DeCarrico, 1992, p. 171). vocabulary be eventually seen as simply being ‘vocabulary’”
Generating. The third and most effective process for (p. 317). However, further investigations into this area would
establishing vocabulary knowledge is generation, which “occurs be of considerable value because, due to insufficient amount of
when previously met words are subsequently met or used in ways empirical data, knowledge in this area is quite constrained, and in
that differ from the previous meeting with the word” (Nation, fact many fundamental questions about the acquisition, use, and
2001, p. 68). For instance, a lexical item is used generatively when in particular teaching of formulaic sequences still remain
its meaning is extended, or when it is met or used in a different unanswered.
grammatical context, or in a variety of inflected or derived forms.
Meeting or using an item in multiple contexts helps “illustrate and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
refine its meaning” (Jones & Haywood, 2004, p. 272). I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their very
For receptive generative use, teachers could ask learners to helpful suggestions on this article.
read or listen to longer stories, because long texts allow the same
vocabulary to reappear in different contexts (Nation, 2001). THE AUTHOR
Teachers could also provide definitions for target formulaic Sarvenaz Hatami is a PhD candidate in the TESL program at the
sequences using example sentences, and if the example sentences University of Alberta, in Canada. Her main research interests are
are different from those encountered in the textual input, this second language vocabulary teaching and learning, pragmatic
would then be generation (Nation, 2001). In addition, development, and individual differences in second language
concordancing is a useful tool for receptive generation, because acquisition.
concordance lines and corpus extracts provide the opportunity for
numerous encounters with a lexical item in various contexts and REFERENCES
help to reveal its typical usage. Learners should be encouraged to Altenberg, B. (1998). On the phraseology of spoken English: The
study concordance lines extracted from native corpora and to pay evidence of recurrent word-combinations. In A. P. Cowie (Ed.),
attention to the grammatical and meaning contexts in which target Phraseology: Theory, analysis, and applications (pp. 101–122).
formulaic sequences typically appear (Jones & Haywood, 2004). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
To encourage productive generative use, learners could be Altenberg, B., & Granger, S. (2001). The grammatical and lexical
asked to isolate target formulaic sequences in sentences and patterning of MAKE in native and non-native student writing.
create new texts around them (Coxhead, 2008). Paraphrasing, Applied Linguistics, 22, 173–194. doi:10.1093/applin/22.2.173
summarizing, and quotation practice can also be useful strategies
124 TESOL Journal Teaching Formulaic Sequences in the ESL Classroom 125