An empirical investigation into the acquisition and processing of L2 formulaic sequences in meaningful input

To achieve high levels of proficiency and fluency in a second language (L2), learners need to acquire a large number of formulaic sequences, or frequently recurring words, phrases and word combinations assumed to be familiar and conventional to native speakers (Siyanova-Chanturia and Pellicer-Sánchez, 2019). In second language acquisition (SLA) research, the term formulaic sequence is commonly used to cover a wide range of multiword expressions such as lexical bundles (e.g., you know what), collocations (e.g., abject poverty), binomials (e.g., fish and chips), and idiomatic phrases (e.g., kick the bucket). Many of these can be acquired incidentally, that is, as a by-product of meaning-focused activities such as reading or TV viewing (e.g., Hulstijn, 2003). However, incidental learning is a slow, incremental process that requires vast amounts of L2 input (Webb, 2020), because of the limited depth of processing or attention typically associated with such activities (e.g., Laufer and Hulstijn, 2001). The role of attention is highly relevant for the incidental acquisition of multiword expressions, which are often discontinuous, semantically transparent, and therefore potentially less salient to learners than unknown single words (e.g., Boers et al., 2016). A few studies have examined how attention affects learning of multiword expressions from exposure to meaningful input (e.g., Choi, 2017), or have sought ways of promoting learners' attention to multiword units through input enhancement (e.g., Szudarski & Carter, 2016; Majuddin et al., 2021; Toomer & Elgort, 2019). The current project contributes to this line of research by empirically investigating incidental learning of multiword expressions through TV viewing and reading. The main aims of the research are to investigate whether and to what extent learners can pick up multiword expressions from these types of input, and to closely examine the role of attention in the learning process. The following research questions guided the four studies: 1. Can learners acquire knowledge single words and multiword expressions by watching a single episode of L2 television? 2. For which types of multiword expressions can learners acquire knowledge by watching L2 television? 3. What is the effect of typographic enhancement on learners' attention to, and learning of, multiword expressions when they watch captioned television? 4. Does typographic enhancement have a durable effect on learners' attention to, and learning of mu