The study examines early multilingual formulaic speech with a focus on the English classroom. We have followed a discourse-pragmatic approach in the analysis of our data, which comprises transcripts from eight 45-minute sessions. Transcripts from these sessions involved 184 participants from two different age ranges. In this analysis, we have considered formulas produced in three languages: Catalan, Spanish, and English. Our goal is to provide further evidence for the inherent dynamism and complexity of early multilingual pragmatic development, and in so doing, to acknowledge the role of the educational level and the language program adopted in the school. Findings are partly in line with (a) previous studies dealing with the identification of pragmatic functions in the EFL classroom (Llinares & Pastrana, 2013), and (b) the peculiarities of early third language learners (Portolés, 2015). Finally, we tackle the importance of adopting multilingual perspectives in the analyses of multilingual students.
Bannard, C., & Lieven, E. (2012). Formulaic language in L1 acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 321, 3–16.
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (2012). Formulas, routines, and conversational expressions in pragmatics research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 321, 206–227.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Bastos, M.T. (2011). Proficiency, length of stay, and intensity of interaction, and the acquisition of conventional expressions in L2 pragmatics. Interculural Pragmatics, 8(3), 347–384.
Barnes, J. (2011). The influence of child-direct speech in early trilingualism. International Journal of Multilingualism, 81, 42–62.
Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2014). Heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy. New York: Springer.
Cenoz, J. (2013). Discussion: Towards an educational perspective in CLIL language policy and pedagogical practice. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 161, 389–394.
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2011). A holistic approach to multilingual education: Introduction. The Modern Language Journal, 951, 339–343.
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2015). Multilingual education: Between language learning and translanguaging. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cekaite, A. (2007). A child’s development of interactional competence in a Swedish L2 classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 91(1), 45–62.
Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching. The Modern Language Journal, 941, 103–115.
Dalton-Puffer, C. (2005). Negotiating interpersonal meanings in naturalistic classroom discourse. Directives in content-and-language integrated classrooms. Journal of Pragmatics, 371, 1275–1293.
Duff, P., & Talmy, S. (2011). Language socialization approaches to second language acquisition. In D. Atkinson (Ed.), Alternative approaches to second language acquisition (pp. 95–115). London: Routledge.
García, O., & Sylvan, C. (2011). Pedagogies and practices in multilingual classrooms: Singularities in pluralities. The Modern Language Journal, 951, 385–400.
García, O., & Flores, N. (2012). Multilingual pedagogies. In M. Martin-Jones, A. Blackledge & A. Creese (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of multilingualism (pp. 232–246). New York: Routledge.
Huang, J., & Hatch, E. (1978). A Chinese child’s acquisition of English. In E.M. Hatch (Ed.), Second language acquisition (pp. 118–131). Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers.
Jessner, U. (2008). Teaching third languages: Facts, trends and challenges. Language Teaching, 41(1), 15–56.
Klein, W. (1986). Second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Llinares, A. (2006). A pragmatic analysis of children’s interlanguage in EFL preschool contexts. Intercultural Pragmatics, 3(2), 171–193.
Llinares, A. (2007). Young learners’ functional use of the L2 in a low-immersion EFL context. ELT Journal, 611, 39–45.
Llinares, A., & Pastrana, A. (2013). CLIL students’ pragmatic development across classroom activities and educational levels. Journal of Pragmatics, 591, 81–92.
Montanari, S. (2009). Pragmatic differentiation in early trilingual development. Journal of Child Language, 361, 597–627.
Nikula, T. (2005). English as an object and tool of study: Interactional effects and pragmatic implications. Linguistics and Education, 16(1), 27–58.
Quay, S. (2011). Trilingual toddlers at daycare centres: The role of caregivers and peers in language development. International Journal of Multilingualism, 8(1), 22–41.
Portolés, L. (2015). Multilingualism and very young learners: An analysis of pragmatic awareness and language attitudes (Series Trends in Applied Linguistics: Vol. 121). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Roever, C. (2012). What learners get for free: Learning of routine formulae in ESL and EFL environments. ELT Journal, 66(1), 10–22.
Safont, M.P. (2011). Early requestive development in a consecutive third language learner. International Journal of Multilingualism, 8(3), 256–276.
Safont, M.P. (2012). A longitudinal analysis of Catalan, Spanish and English request modifiers in early third language learning. In D. Gabrys-Barker (Ed.), Cross-linguistic influences in multilingual language acquisition (pp. 99–114). Dordrecht: Springer.
Safont, M.P. (2013). Early stages of trilingual pragmatic development. A longitudinal study of requests in Catalan, Spanish and English. International Journal of Pragmatics, 591, 68–80. Retrieved from [URL].
Safont, P. & Portolés, L. (2015). Pragmatic awareness in early consecutive third language learners. In P. Safont & L. Portolés (Eds.), Learning and using multiple languages: Current findings from research on multilingualism (pp. 218–237). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Taguchi, N. (2011). The effect of L2 proficiency and stay-abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension. Language Learning, 611, 904–939.
Tomasello, M. (2008). Origins of human communication. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wray, A. (2008). Formulaic language: Pushing the boundaries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wray, A. (2012). Formulaic language. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of second language acquisition (pp. 252–256). New York: Routledge.
Wray, A. (2013). Formulaic language. Language Teaching, 43(3), 316–334.
Wray, A., & Perkins, M.R. (2000). The functions of formulaic language. Language and Communication, 201, 1–28.
Cited by (10)
Cited by ten other publications
Orcasitas-Vicandi, María & Andrea Perales-Fernandez de-Gamboa
2024. Teaching English From a Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Approach. In Transformative Intercultural Global Education [Advances in Educational Marketing, Administration, and Leadership, ], ► pp. 333 ff.
Portolés Falomir, Laura & Gema Gayete Domínguez
2024. Enhancing multilingual young students’ pragmatic awareness through pedagogical translanguaging. International Journal of Multilingualism► pp. 1 ff.
Martinez-Buffa, Ignacio & Pilar Safont
2023. Multilingual pragmatic awareness in collaborative writing. Language Awareness 32:3 ► pp. 421 ff.
Portolés, Laura & Otilia Martí
2020. Teachers’ beliefs about multilingual pedagogies and the role of initial training. International Journal of Multilingualism 17:2 ► pp. 248 ff.
Alcón-Soler, Eva & Pilar Safont
2018. Editors' introduction to mixed method approaches in investigating pragmatic learning. System 75 ► pp. 1 ff.
Portolés, Laura & Pilar Safont
2018. Examining authentic and elicited data from a multilingual perspective. The real picture of child requestive behaviour in the L3 classroom. System 75 ► pp. 81 ff.
Safont, Pilar
2018. Are Classroom Requests Similar in All EFL Settings? Focusing on a Young Multilingual Learning Environment. In Current Research in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education [Multilingual Education, 26], ► pp. 123 ff.
Safont, Pilar
2022. ‘In English!’ teachers’ requests as reactions to learners’ translanguaging discourse. Language, Culture and Curriculum 35:3 ► pp. 317 ff.
Alcón-Soler, Eva
2017. Pragmatic Development During Study Abroad: An Analysis of Spanish Teenagers’ Request Strategies in English Emails. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 37 ► pp. 77 ff.
[no author supplied]
2021. Bibliography. In Pragmatics and its Applications to TESOL and SLA, ► pp. 198 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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