Book Notices

Book Notices 223 que se ríe de los que hacen excesivos alardes de ella. A continuación se enumeran, ubican y explican todos los latinismos de la obra, incluidos los que aparecen en los apócrifos versos de los académicos de Argamasilla. En resumen, un trabajo especialmente útil para la consulta que pasa a formar parte del inmenso jardín de estudios cervantinos que no deja de crecer en torno al singular monumento que Miguel de Cervantes nos legó. Marina Moreno Lorenzo ************** SCHMITT, NORBERT (ed.) Formulaic Sequences. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co., 2004. ISBN 9027217084 Until recently, studies on phraseology have generally focussed on theoretical topics concerning form and classification, and rarely on topics such as native and non native speaker acquisition, use in oral and written texts, and mental processing. Norbert Schmitt’s latest book occupies this niche superbly with a collection of, primarily, experimental studies of an applied and psycholinguistic nature conducted at the Centre of Investigations in Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham. Following Alison Wray, a broad, inclusive definition of formulaic sequences is employed throughout the book, not limited to the territory of simply idioms and proverbs, but shifting the focus to collocations, and functional or pragmatic expressions (e.g. have a nice day). The methodology used in each study is described in detail and samples of materials employed are provided. The results of the studies invariably prove as interesting as the variety of quantitative and qualitative methods employed, some borrowed from the field of psychology, others well known in the area of applied linguistics, but not yet seen applied to the acquisition and processing of phraseological sequences. The underlying methodological issues involved in conducting research in the area of phraseology are addressed by Paul Nation and John Read in an introductory chapter. Studies included cover the use of formulaic sequences in oral and written language by both native and non native speakers. Kuiper gives an overview of issues involved in the acquisition and use of formulaic sequences used in conventionalised routine events such as auctions, sport commentaries, noting the various speaker’s strategies employed in composing the discourse in real time. Other studies investigate the acquisition Language Design 7 224 and use of formulaic sequences by non native speakers, considering the relative long term benefits of memorisation by beginners, and the correlation between acquisition and use, and the subjects’ level of language learning motivation and social integration into the native speaker community. Wray’s study on memorisation suggests, interestingly, that an adult learner is unlikely to bypass the errors typical for the learner’s respective level of interlanguage, concluding that memorisation, though beneficial in some respects, has limited longer term advantages. Moving from applied linguistics to psycholinguistics, other studies attempt to establish the degree to which formulaic sequences are stored as units in the mind (many a definition of formulaic sequences tends to assume this to be the case) of both native and non native speakers. While one study (using oral elicitation techniques) indicates that fewer sequences are stored holistically than could perhaps be assumed, other studies (measuring the incidence and duration of eye fixations of readers, or by using a self-paced reading task) investigate how formulaic sequences appear to benefit reading speed. Notwithstanding, ascertaining the workings of the mind on the basis of observable behaviour is an enterprise fraught with difficulty, and the authors of one study concede that the very methods used to measure reading speed could have negatively influenced the subjects’ performance. Perhaps one of the most interesting studies concerns the manner in which multilingual students process and translate formulaic sequences in either their L1 or in one of their foreign languages, evaluating to what extent the mother tongue was relied upon, and classifying the strategies used to find equivalencies for formulaic sequences in the languages known by the subjects. The array of studies Norbert Schmitt has compiled reflects current research concerns in the area of applied linguistics and psycholinguistics, and the focus on experimental research with native and non native speakers is a welcome addition to the literature on phraseology. It is to be hoped that the divulgation of these findings will stimulate further research and positively influence the creation of didactic materials for formulaic sequences that more adequately respond to the needs of learners and teachers. Louisa Buckingham University of Granada