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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 22, No. 0, pp.1351-1367
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2022
Received 25 Oct 2022 Revised 03 Dec 2022 Accepted 30 Dec 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.22..202212.1351

Automaticity in Writing: Investigating Positive Effects of Applying Formulaic Language in the L2 Writing Process

Hyeyoung Cho ; Hyunsook Yoon
(1st author) Researcher, Foreign Language Education Center, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Tel: 02) 2173-3978 junjungh7@naver.com
(corresponding author) Professor, Department of English Education, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Tel: 02) 2173-3978 hsyoon3@hufs.ac.kr


© 2022 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Cognitive studies of language processing posit that formulaic language facilitates automaticity in the speaking process. This study extended the argument to writing to find evidence that the instructional effects of formulaic language can also improve L2 writers’ automaticity and writing quality. The study operationalized automaticity to include both behavioral and cognitive domains, which was tested between two L2 writing groups in a Korean university: formulaic language and writing training group (FWG), which studied formulaic language as well as writing skills, and writing trainingonly group (WG), which was trained in writing skills without instruction about formulaic language. Results of automaticity and writing quality showed meaningful outperformance of the FWG against the WG, indicating instructional benefits of formulaic language. Also, it was found that the behavioral attributes of automaticity in the writing process can be strategically compromised to maintain writing quality. It is hoped that this study will prompt further investigation to improve our understanding of the automaticity in the writing process and to provide pedagogical implications for L2 writing instruction.

Keywords:

formulaic language, automaticity, writing process, writing quality, corpus-based instruction

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund.

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