A New Perspective into Formulaic Competence in a Second Language: Formulas in a Stockroom and in a Flowing Stream

Formulaic language is as important as vocabulary and grammar. Formulaic expressions abound alongside free expressions, and second language teachers are increasingly aware that more pedagogical attention should be paid to the area of formulas. In other words, formulaic competence is another competence that should be added to lexical and grammatical competences to fully describe the L2 learner's language resources. This paper provides the notion of formulaic competence with two new points. One point is related to the stockroom view, and the other point, to the flow view. We argue that when the second language learner develops formulas in his or her stockroom, the stock should not be a random list of expressions but should be organized into a network. Networking goes beyond classifying. This is the first point. A vast stock of expressions does not, however, fully explain the language user's formulaic competence. We claim that the flow view of formulaic expressions should be considered. With the flow view, which sees the use of formulas in a flowing stream of communication, we can identify four primary functions of formulaic language: expressive optimality, constructive easiness, discourse navigation, and formulaic chaining. This is the second point. In this paper, we define formulaic competence as the ability to effectively develop, organize, and deploy formulaic expressions in second language use. It encompasses two critical dimensions: (1) the organization of formulaic expressions into interconnected networks rather than random lists in the learner's mental stockroom, going beyond mere classification; and (2) the dynamic utilization of these expressions within the flowing stream of communication, serving four primary functions: expressive optimality, constructive easiness, discourse navigation, and formulaic chaining. This comprehensive view of formulaic competence provides a foundation for teaching formulas in a principled manner to second language learners.