Lexical phrases, defined here as multi-word units (MWEs) used to organize text, provide the glue that holds learner essays together. These discourse marking phrases and other formulaic language have been shown to be particularly challenging to learners even at the highest levels (ciation). This presentation will discuss the results of an analysis of learners’ use of lexical phrases in essays and the relationship between MWE use and proficiency level.

Lower-level learner writing has rarely been examined in the context of learner corpus research nor has an attempt been made to determine a profile of lexical phrase use for learners at different proficiency levels. As such, the research discussed here sought to determine the relationship between learners’ use of lexical phrases in their writing and their proficiency level as determined by the 1) their performance on the TOEFL and 2) their essay grades.

The results indicated that lower-level learners used more lexical phrases to scaffold their writing. In early submissions, lower-level learners used a greater range of phrases as well, however this trend reversed with later submissions. Higher-level learners generally used phrases more appropriately.