A tough nut to crack (or not)? L2 learners’ phraseological development viewed from different perspectives

Abstract

Within the field of second language acquisition, there is a general agreement on the importance of formulaic sequences (FS). FS are ubiquitous in human discourse, facilitate idiomatic, fluent and accurate speech and are integral to communicative competence (Wray, 2002). At the same time, mastery of FS has shown to be a major challenge for second/foreign language (L2) learners (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2012). Even at an advanced level, L2 learners are known to creatively build their own non-target-like FS (Bardovi-Harlig & Stringer, 2017; Boers, 2020). Despite the importance of FS in L2 learning, longitudinal studies tracking learners’ development over time are rather scarce. Yet, it is exactly this longitudinal perspective and a focus on factors influencing the learning process that are very relevant within a learning context. Additionally, it seems that many studies have adopted a ‘researcher’s perspective’ to examine learners’ phraseological development, in the sense that in these studies, it is the researcher who evaluates learners’ development. Adding different eyes and different voices may help to get a fuller understanding of which factors are at play in the process of learning FS, and how a non-target-like use of FS is perceived in a workplace context. This invited paper, based on my keynote talk given at EuroPHRAS 2025, focuses on (1) factors affecting L2 German learners’ phraseological development viewed from a researcher’s and a student’s perspective, (2) the perception of L2 users’ non-target-like FS viewed from a L1 business perspective, and (3) implications for the classroom and avenues for future research.