ABSTRACT
Lexical phrases are unanalysed chunks that play a significant role in
language acquisition. However, it is believed that the use of lexical phrases by
learners of English as a foreign language like Vietnamese students is limited and
ineffective, and there is a lack of studies on lexical phrases in Vietnam. Therefore,
this paper is expected to shed light on typical categories of lexical phrases used by
the third -year mainstream students in speaking classes at Faculty of English
Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies,
Vietnam National University, Hanoi and their attitudes towards using them.
Additionally, the paper also offers several pedagogical suggestions for more
effective and diverse use of lexical phrases in speaking classes. In order to
accomplish these purposes, 114 third-year mainstream students were chosen as
study samples. By employing class observation, questionnaire, interview as tools
for data collection, this study revealed fifteen typical categories of lexical phrases
used by the students in their speaking classes in which signals for their
presentations are the most frequently used. It was also indicated that the more
important the phrases were, the more frequently the students used them. However,
the range of lexical phrases used by the surveyed students was restricted, and the
students did not grasp the functions of these phrases. Therefore, based on the
findings, teachers and students will be more aware of students’ limited use of
lexical phrases. Lastly, with pedagogical suggestions of teaching lexical phrases in
this research, teachers can take their own initiatives to effectively exploit lexical
phrases speaking lessons.
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
Acknowledgements i
Abstract ii
Table of contents iii
List of table and figures v
List of abbreviations vii

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
5.1. Major findings of the study 39
5.2. Pedagogical suggestions for more effective use of lexical
phrases
40
5.3. Limitations and suggestions for further studies 41
REFERENCES 42
APPENDICES 44
ii
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES PAGE
Table 1. The frequency of using typical categories of lexical phrases in
speaking classes from the class observation
50
Table 2. The frequency of using lexical phrases in speaking classes
from the questionnaire
52
Table 3. Categories of lexical phrases frequently used by native
speakers but rarely used by the third- year mainstream students in
speaking classes
29
Table 4. The students’ attitudes towards the importance of using lexical 54
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phrases in speaking classes
Table 5. The frequency of using lexical phrases by 18 students
majoring in business in their speaking classes
56
Table 6. The attitudes of 18 students majoring in business towards the
importance of using lexical phrases in their speaking classes
58

Figure 15. The frequency of using " good bye; see you ( later)" 28
Figure 16. The students’ attitudes towards the importance of “I think
X; I think that X", “Another thing is X; ; the final thing is X", " Not
only X, but also Y; ; in fact", " Today, I would like to talk about X; ;
first of all", " , something like that; for instance"
33
Figure 17. The students’ attitudes towards the importance of “Do you
X?; is/are there/it/they X?”,“ Yes/yeah (there/it they is/are) X; no,
(there/it they is/are not) ( X)”, “you know,…, as you can see”, “In
short;…; that’s all of X”, “ OK, now”, “ OK, so”
34
iv
Figure 18. The students’ attitude towards the importance of
“Thanks/Thank you (very much/ a lot) (for X)”, “I’m (really) sorry for
X; …; sorry for X”, Hi/ hello, everyone/everybody. My name is…)?
How/ What about you?” , “ goodbye; see you ( later)”
35
LIST OF ABRRIVIATIONS
ESL: English as a Second Language
FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teacher Education
ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies
VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi
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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1. 1. Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study
Over the past few decades, the pedagogical values of lexical phrases have
been asserted in lexical theory, corpus statistics, and psycholinguistic research.
Lexical phrases are ideal units for language learning and teaching because they
characterize language acquisition and language performance (Nattinger and
DeCarrico, 1992). Most researchers now agree that learners use a large number of

1. What are typical categories of lexical phrases used by the third year mainstream
students in speaking classes at FELTE, ULIS, VNUH?
2. What are the third year mainstream students’ attitudes towards using lexical
phrases in speaking classes at FELTE, ULIS, VNUH?
1.3. Scope of the study
Speaking classes at FELTE, ULIS, VNUH include academic lectures,
teacher and student conferences, presentations which are non-social discourses.
According to Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992), these non-social discourses are
typical of basically transactional spoken discourses, with interactional discourses
interspersed. Therefore, this paper will focus on both discourse devices organizers
and social interactional markers. In addition, it is noteworthy that the samples of the
study are limited to 114 third - year mainstream students at FELT, ULIS, VNUH
who are carefully chosen to represent total population.
1.4. Methodology of the study
The triangulation method of class observation, interviews and questionnaires
were employed during the process of data collection. Class observation was first
used as the primary tool to collect information, and then a questionnaire was
distributed to sampling students to compare and contrast with the findings from
class observation. Thirdly, interviews were conducted on a group of 12 students to
gain more in-depth information. Finally, the data from class observation,
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questionnaire, and interviews would be analyzed to draw discussions and
implications.
1.5. Significance of the study
Before this research, there are some research on vocabulary learning,
collocations, idioms and slang in the practical case of FELTE students. However,
this study sheds the first light on the use of lexical phrases at FELTE, ULIS, VNUH
and provides essential storage of information for third year mainstream students,
teachers, and researchers working on the related studies.
As for the third-year mainstream students, this study reveals insights into

2. 1.1. The nature and description of lexical phrases
The term “lexical phrase” has been recently invented by linguists and
researchers, so the term “lexical” rather than the term “lexical phrase” appears in
the dictionaries. In Cambridge Advanced Learners dictionary 3
rd
edition, “lexical”
is defined as “relating to words”. Oxford Advanced Learners dictionary 7
th
edition
describes “lexical” as “relating to the words or vocabulary of a language and
relating to the nature of a lexicon or dictionary”
Although Becker (1975) has first mentioned this term in his study, but a
complete definition of lexical phrase has not been developed until 1992 by
Nattinger and DeCarrico. In their view, lexical phrases are preliminary described as
‘chunks’ of language of varying length, conventionalized structures that occur more
frequently and have more idiomatically determined meaning than language that is
put together each time. These phrases include both short, relatively fixed phrases
such as a____ago, and longer phrases or clauses such as if I X, then I Y, the ____er
X, the____er Y, each with a fixed, basic frame, with slots for various fillers. Each
phrase is associated with a particular discourse function, such as expressing time, a
month ago, or relationships among ideas, the higher X, the higher Y.
In another study, lexical phrases are multi-word lexical items or ‘chunks’;
that is, vocabulary consisting of a sequence of two or more words which
semantically (e.g. kick the bucket, take a picture, vicious rumor) or syntactically
(e.g. of course, due to, apart from) form a meaningful or inseparable unit (Moon
1997).
Li and Schmitt (2009) consider lexical phrases as sequences of words that
collocate, are often idiomatic, have a high-frequency of occurrence, and perform
specific rhetorical functions that can be applied across multiple disciplines and
discourse types. Some examples of common lexical phrases (italic):

- Invariable phrases: by and large, as well, let alone, so be it
- Somewhat variable phrases: Don’t rock the boat! , She’s rocking the boat.
Some lexical phrases are highly idiomatic or unpredictable from component
words like by and large (generally) while others are not idiomatic phrases whose
meaning can easily be guessed by a learner who knows a common meaning of each
word in the phrase such as pick up a bad habit.
2.1.3. Lexical phrases, collocations, and syntactic strings
Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992) clearly distinguish among lexical phrases,
collocations and ordinary syntactic strings that do not count as lexical phrases.
2.1.3.1. Syntactic strings are strings of category symbols, such as “Noun Phrase+
Auxiliary+ Verb Phrase”, which are generated by syntactic competence and which
underline all grammatical (canonical) structures of the language.
2.1.3.2. Collocations are strings of specific lexical items, such as “rancid butter”
and “curry favor” that co-occur with a mutual expectancy greater than chance.
These strings have not been assigned particular pragmatic functions by pragmatic
competence.
2.1.3.3. Lexical phrases are collocations, such as “how do you do?”, and “for
example”, have been assigned pragmatic functions, and consist of two main types:
a. strings of specific ( non-productive) lexical items
b. generalized ( productive) frames
Prefabricated phrases are collocations if they are chunked sets of lexical
items with no particular pragmatic functions; they are lexical phrases if they have
such pragmatics functions.
2.1.4. Categories of lexical phrases
There are different criteria to categorize lexical phrases. Biber (1999), for
example, divides lexical phrases into three functional categories, including stance
expressions, discourse organizers, and referential expressions. However, in this
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study, lexical phrases are classified by Nattinger and DeCarrio’s hypothesis to give
a comprehensive and detailed classification as follows:

Conversationa
l
maintenance
Summoning excuse/pardon me, hey/hi/hello, how are you
doing?, look it, I didn’t catch your name
Responding to
summons
hi/hello, how are you?, what’s going
on/happening, hello, I’m+ NAME, ( I’m) fine,
thanks, ( and you)
Nominating a
topic
what’s X, (by the way) do you remember X?,
have you heard about X?
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Clarifying
audience and
speaker
excuse/ pardon me?, what did you mean by X/
when you said X , what I mean/ I’m trying to
say is X, how shall I put it?, let me repeat all
right?
Checking
comprehension
all right?, (do you) understand ( me)?
Shifting a topic ( say,) by the way, this is ( a bit) off the
subject/track, but X, where were/was I, oh that
reminds me of X
Shifting turns (well,) so OK, excuse/ pardon me, could I say
something here?

thanks ( very much/ a lot) ( for X), I ( really)
appreciate your thoughtfulness/kindness/doing
X
Expressing
sympathy
I’m ( very) sorry about/to hear ( about) X,
( wow), that’s/ how terrible/ awful, what a
shame/pity thing
9
2.1.3.2.2. Necessary topics
Necessary
topics
Examples
Autobiography my name is___, I’m from___, I’m ( a)___(years old )
Language do you speak___?, how do you say/ spell__?, I don’t speak__very
well
Quantity how much/big is___?, ( not) a great deal, lots of__
Time when is X?, what time X?, for a long time/__ years, a __ago
Location where is __?, what part of the__?, across from__, next to__
Weather is it going to X?, it’s ( very)__( today)
Likes I like/enjoy__( a lot), I don’t like/enjoy__( at all), I’d like to X
Food I’d like (to have)___/ to make a reservation( for__), a table for___
Shopping how much is__?, I want to buy/see, it ( doesn’t) fit(s)
2.1.3.2.3. Discourse devices
Discourse devices Examples
Logical connectors as a result (of X), nevertheless, because (of), in spite of
Temporal
connectors
the day/ month/year before/after________, and then, after X
then/ the next is Y

Evaluators I think; I think that; in my opinion; as X would have us believe; X is
fine/ OK with me; no problem with that; but it……, let me tell you
Qualifiers The catch here is X; it turns out that X; in the sense that/of … ,
there’s more here than meets the eye
Aside
markers
( I ) guess I got off the track here; where was I; ( well), forget about
X; X doesn’t ( really) concern is here ( at the moment)
2.2. The importance of lexical phrases in language learning
2.2.1. The importance of lexical phrases in language learning
Lexical phrases play an important role in language learning. First of all,
lexical phrases help learners promote motivation and fluency. Nattinger and
DeCarrico (1992) have done their research on lexical phrases and have pointed out
that fluency is based precisely on lexical phrases. It is lexical phrases that offer
ready access to social interactions and provide an easily retrievable frame for actual
communication. More specifically, they provide “an efficient means of interacting
with other speakers” about self-selected topics, which engenders social motivation
for learning the language. Moreover, Ying (2006) has emphasized that teaching
lexical phrases is “a method worth trying”. It is because this method can assist
students in “assimilating real language” and provide “the momentum to reach
English fluency”. It is also concluded in recent research on native speakers’ fluency
by computer –driven analysis that “fluency is the acquisition of the large store of
fixed or semi-fixed prefabricated items” (Lewis, 1997). He suggests a lexical
approach and argues that “fluency is achieved largely by combining chunks,
reducing processing difficulty”. Reasonably assuming, fluent English can be
assisted by “better use of lexical phrases or chunks”.
Lexical phrases secondly provide raw materials itself for language
acquisition. Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992) suggest that anyone who learns a
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language in a relatively natural environment, adults as well as children, seems to

One learns how to do conversation, one learns how to interact verbally, and out of
this interaction syntactic structures are developed (Hatch, 1978). Like first language
learners, second language learners apparently learn the rules of conversational
interaction before they learn the rule of sentence structure. They also learn the
lexical phrases that codify the function associated with these rules, such as
appropriate greetings and partings, expressing politeness, complimenting for
acquiring this pragmatic competence is a basic part of language learning. From the
above discussion, it is clear that lexical phrases are helpful to learners in speaking.
2.3. The use of lexical phrases in speaking
Wilkins (1976) has given an approach namely notional-functional syllabus in
learning and teaching conversation with lexical phrases. On the other hand,
functional syllabus is emphasized rather than notional one in another study by
Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992) because lexical phrases are integral parts of social
interactions.
Social conversation is mainly interactional, so it requires mainly social
interactional lexical phrases. Meanwhile other sorts of non-social discourse such as
academic lectures, teacher/student conferences, and committee meetings are mainly
transactional. Therefore, these mainly require discourse devices because the
particular function of discourse devices is to indicate the overall direction and
organization of the informational content of the discourse.
Lexical phrases are termed as “macro-organizers” rather than “macro-
markers” because they grab learners’ attention by helping them organize
spoken information mentally as the lecture goes along. Similarly, macro-
organizers help in channeling the angle of listening perception of lecture
organization (Nattinger and Decarrico, 1992).
In presentations in classroom, presenters mainly read from detailed notes or
speak as if such notes were committed to memory, and there is little interaction with
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the audiences. Therefore, a predominance of formal, more literal discourse
organizers has been found.

for two research questions. To be specific, the first part was to explore typical
15
categories of lexical phrases and the frequency of using them. In the meantime, the
second part was to examine the surveyed students’ attitudes towards the importance
of using these lexical phrases. This findings collected from the questionnaire were
compared with those revealed from the class observation in order to seek the link
between the students’ attitudes and their use of lexical phrases in reality.
After the teachers’ permission, the questionnaire was shown to surveyed
classes at the sixth week. Before the participants filled in the questionnaire, a brief
introduction about the topic and the questionnaire’s structure had been directly
shown. During that time, every question was immediately dealt with to gain a better
result from participants.
3.2.3. Interview
Interviews for the students were also utilized. Open-ended questions were
mostly included to clarify the findings collected from the questionnaire, and all
interviews would be semi-constructed. Specifically, interviews were conducted with
a group of 12 students among 114 students doing questionnaire to gain more
information about their perceptions of lexical phrases. In particular, the interviews
initially pointed out the surveyed students’ perceptions of the functions of typical
lexical phrases which had not been incorporated in the class observation and
questionnaire.
A notice had been made in advance to each interviewed student via
telephone and emails to concisely explain the purpose, the nature of the research
topic and to invite them. After that, the appointments were made and began with a
brief explanation of the format, the length of the interview and any relevant
questions from interviewees. During the interviews at the sixth week, questions
were asked one at a time and neutrally. Both extra questions and reorientation were
made to gain information in depth as well as to help the respondents focus on the
main questions. Meanwhile, note-taking would be used carefully over the course of
the interviews, and the interviews would be recorded for better analysis later on.

want to say. Therefore, functional criteria were used to classify lexical phrases in
this research rather than structural criteria.
Speaking classes in FELTE, ULIS include academic lectures, teacher/student
conferences, presentations which are non-social discourses. According to Nattinger
and DeCarrico (1992), these non-social discourses are typical of basically
transactional spoken discourses, with interactional discourse interspersed.
Therefore, this paper focused on both discourse devices organizers and social
interactional markers.
As cited in Lexical phrases and Language Teaching, there are special cases
for some lexical phrases like “however, nevertheless”, together with “moreover,
notwithstanding”, and all linking devices (or ‘relators’) in discourse. They are
members of special class of poly words, which were formerly poly words phrases,
but over time have become written as single lexemes, and are now so perceived by
English speakers. The common formula for parting, “goodbye”, shares a similar
phrasal history. However, Nattinger & DeCarrio (1992) have not pointed out all the
linking devices which have the same story with “however, moreover,
notwithstanding, nevertheless, and goodbye”. Therefore, the researcher only
18
considered these five words as lexical phrases in this paper due to the time
limitation and the limited resources concerning this issue.
4.1.1. Typical categories of lexical phrases used by the third- year mainstream
students in speaking class
Although a more exhaustive and systematic study would be needed for a
detailed answer, several initial but significant findings could be obtained from the
researcher’s classroom observation, survey questionnaire and interviews as
described in Table 1 and Table 2 in the appendices
From five-week observation, it was believed that all the lexical phrases in
Table 1 were familiar with the third- year mainstream students. This assumption
was more affirmed by 12 interviewed students when all of them thought all of these
listed phrases in Table 1 were familiar to them and even used as a habit.

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