Knowledge of Formulaic Sequences as a Predictor of Language Proficiency

Formulaic sequences are assumed to play a vital role in foreign language learners’ speech fluencyand language proficiencyas they constitute a major part of foreign language learners’ linguistic repertoire. In this respect, the current study examined the relationship between knowledge of formulaic sequences and language proficiencyto scrutinize the significanceof knowledge of target language formulaic sequences in determining target language proficienc. The participants of the study were 45 Japanese learners of English as foreign language at three different levels of language proficiency:low-intermediate (18 participants), intermediate (12 participants), and high-intermediate (15 participants) at the Intensive English Program of International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University. The instrument used for data collection consisted of a 30-item oral-production discourse completion task to test language learners’ knowledge of formulaic sequences. The analysis of Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient(rho) revealed a strong positive relationship between language learners’ knowledge of target language formulaic sequences and their level of language proficienc. The pedagogical implications of the study suggested incorporation of target language formulaic sequences in every foreign language classroom instruction.