Effects Of Task Frequency On Receptive Knowledge And Productive Knowledge Of Second Language Formulaic Sequences In Two Kinds Of Contexts

In recent decades usage-based theory in cognitive linguistics comes into stage which emphasizes that language is not an innate system in the human mind but is as usual as other cognitive capacities.It holds that grammar is the cognitive organization of one’s experience with language,which focuses on the influence of language usage on human brain.The experience with language has various aspects such as frequency,recency,and contingency etc.and these factors are gradually being paid attention and studied by a number of cognitive linguists.Frequency as a crucial factor in language experience influences almost all aspects of language from morpheme to syntax,thus it also drives the acquisition of formulaic sequences.Previous studies have focused on formulaic sequences and frequency a lot but few of them explore their relationship from the perspective of usage-based theory,so the study manages to employ the usage-based theory to explain the effect of frequency on the acquisition of English formulaic sequences.Three research questions are put forward as follows:1)how task frequency influences the acquisition of English formulaic sequences;2)to which extent task frequency in a single context and in multiple contexts influences receptive knowledge and productive knowledge of formulaic sequences;3)to which extent task frequency influences receptive knowledge and productive knowledge of congruent and incongruent formulaic sequences in two kinds of contexts.In order to answer the three questions,80 participants who are freshmen in non-English major are invited to take part in the experiment.They are divided into two groups,one of which accept task frequency in a single context,and the other experiencing exposures in multiple contexts.Participants learn the formulaic sequences six times in total and they are asked to do an instant test of receptive knowledge and productive knowledge after each twice imput so three instant tests are finally produced.One week later they attend a delayed posttest to examine whether there is a delayed effect of task frequency.When these tests are completed 18 participants are chosen to conduct a semi-structure interview.Thus quantitative results are collected through the score of three instant tests and a delayed posttest,the data processed by SPSS 23.0 and analyzed by means of independent sample t test and analysis of variance.In addition,qualitative results are obtained by transcribing interviewees’ utterances into words and analyzed through making classifications.Three major findings are demonstrated by analyzing quantitative results and qualitative results in the study.First of all task frequency has shown its significant effect on the acquisition of English formulaic sequences from a whole perspective.The score of receptive knoowledge and productive knowledge is increasing with more exposures appearing,which means that participants have been making progress continuously both in comprehension and production of English formulaic sequences.The former is obviously higher than the latter,both of which show significant difference in each test.It indicates that the positive influence of task frequency on the processing of English formulaic sequences,which can be explained by the usage-based theory and connectionism in SLA.Secondly,it is found that task frequency has consistent effect on receptive knowledge and productive knowledge but acts differently in different kinds of contexts.In a single context participants have not gained significant progress after encountering the formulaic sequences six times comparing with four times while task frequency still shows significant effect in multiple contexts when task frequency reaches to six times.By the comparison between two kinds of contexts it can be seen that task frequency shows better effect in multiple contexts when frequency reaches to twice,but conversely the effect is better in a single context when frequency increases to four times.There is no significant difference in the result of two kinds of contexts when task frequency reaches to six times but the mean score in multiple contexts is higher than that in a single context Thus learning English formulaic sequences in multiple contexts six times is the best way to understand and use them.Thirdly,task frequency makes different effects on receptive knowledge and productive knowledge of congruent formulaic sequences and incongruent formulaic sequences.As to receptive knowledge learners can understand congruent formulaic sequences better when they encounter them twice and four times in a single context while there is no significant difference when frequency reaches to six times.However,there exists no significant difference between congruent formulaic sequences and the incongruent in multiple contexts when task frequency appears twice,four times and six times’.As to productive knowledge the score of congruent formulaic sequences and the incongruent has significant difference in each test both in a single context and in multiple contexts and the score of congruent formulaic sequences is higher,which means that task frequency makes better effect on the application of congruent formulaic sequences.Therefore,the effect of task frequency is more beneficial for the comprehension and production of congruent formulaic sequences.All in all the study provides empirical evidence for the research of effects of task frequency on the acquisition of English formulaic sequences in SLA,and meanwhile it considers the influence of interaction between task frequency and context on the acquisition of English formulaic sequences.What’s more it also investigates effect of task frequency on different kinds of formulaic sequences deeply.Therefore,the study would provide some practical implications for the acquisition of English formulaic sequences.