Formulatic Language of Vietnamese Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Corpus Linguistic Analysis

Formulaic language of Vietnamese children with autism spectrum disorders: A corpus linguistic analysis Phạm Hiển Nguyễn Thị Giang Institute of Linguistics Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Linguistics Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences phamhieniol@gmail.com blueriver063@gmail.com Abstract This study examines formulaic language (based on multiword expressions) in the interactive speech of eleven children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Play sessions were recorded to collect speech samples. Speech-language pathologists (SLP) acted as informants during the recording sessions. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out: a qualitative analysis of situational factors that potentially impacted the prevalence of formulaic language, a quantitative analysis of the prevalence of formulaic language in speech samples using a classification system developed for the study. Various situational factors increased or decreased formulaic language use, though all eleven participants used formulas. Formulas corresponded to several categories and varied in conventionality, whether in form or function. Nonetheless, the qualitative analysis indicated that formulas had several functional uses in the interactions of participants. These findings have implications for future research and language assessment and intervention in ASD. 1 Introduction The purpose of this study is to survey the predominance and the essence of the use of formulaic language in the interactions of eleven Vietnamese children with ASD (Nguyễn, 2015). It is situated within the view that language is a complex adaptive system in which language emerges from interactions over time and is formed and entrenched by situational factors encompassing each occurrence of usage. Formulaic sequences are ubiquitous in language use and they make up a large proportion of any discourse. Erman and Warren (2000) calculated that formulaic sequences of various types constituted 58.6% of the spoken English discourse they analyzed and 52.3% of the written discourse. Sinclair’s (1991) view that language as a whole is organised according to two main structuring principles: an open choice principle and an idiom principle, with the latter involving the widespread use of formulaic stretches of words. Furthermore, this store of formulaic sequences is dynamic and is constantly changing to meet the needs of the speaker (Wray, 2002: 101). We have decided to use the term formulaic sequence based on a definition by Wray (2002: 9): “a sequence, continuous or discontinuous, of words or other elements, which is, or appears to be, prefabricated: that is, stored and retrieved whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar.” This term covers a wide range of formulaic language, and touches on two key criteria of the emphasis in this book: a) we are concerned with sequences of lexis and b) the mind handles, or appears to handle, these sequences at some level of representation as wholes. However, using this definition, Wray argues that even single words and morphemes can be seen as formulaic sequences. 2 Functions of Formulaic Language As previously described, formulaic language, as opposed to propositional language, is especially well suited to serving certain functions for speakers. Ellis (1996) contended that language acquisition is essentially …

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