| Formulaic sequences, which are of growing interest to researchers, are holistically processed lexical strings of considerable importance in language performance. They are, however, a source of difficulty to adult second language learners, who appear to have problems acquiring them incidentally through reading. It was hypothesized that this is because they are not noticed. Schmidt's noticing hypothesis applied to vocabulary and instantiated through Levelt's model of lexical processing is the theoretical basis of this study. Web-based software was used to compare pre-existing knowledge of specified words (target words) and equivalent formulaic sequences (target formulaic sequences) by 79 heterogeneous second language learners in the ESL program at the University of Wisconsin Madison. The noticing of unknown words and formulaic sequences by these second language readers of a text was measured prior to their carrying out a comprehension task. Additionally, the study sought to determine whether any increased noticing attributable to typographic salience was associated with improved comprehension.; It was found that when equivalent target words and target formulaic sequences were compared (for example eliminate vs. do away with), participants knew significantly fewer formulaic sequences than words. Additionally, while there was a significant relationship between how many of the students knew a word and its frequency, no corresponding relationship was found for formulaic sequences. It was also found that participants, while reading, tended to notice unknown formulaic sequences less frequently than unknown words. However, making formulaic sequences typographically salient, while significantly increasing noticing, was associated with reduced comprehension of text items although problems of test reliability existed.; The results are consistent with the findings on formulaic sequence acquisition reported in the literature. They also support Schmidt's noticing hypothesis applied to formulaic sequences, and Levelt's model of lexical processing. However, incidental learning of formulaic sequences through reading appears to be a much more complex process than simply one of drawing attention to these hard to notice lexical items by making them perceptually salient. |
