Yaholil Mustapa / English Education Journal (2017) 54 EEJ 7 (1) (2017) English Education Journal http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/eej FORMULAIC EXPRESSIONS USED IN CONVERSATIONAL TEXTS OF THE TENTH GRADE’S ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS Yaholil Mustapa, Helena I. R. Agustien English Education, Graduate Program, Semarang State University, Indonesia. Article Info ________________ Article History: Recived 09 January 2017 Accepted 17 April 2017 Published 17 June 2017 ____________________ Keywords: Formulaic Expressions, Conversational texts, English textbooks. Abstract _______________________________________________________________________ Formulaic expressions make students become fluent and native-like in English speaking so that formulaic expressions must be introduced a lot to the students in conversational texts of English textbooks. The current study aims at investigating the forms, frequency of occurrence, accuracy, and appropriateness of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grader’s English textbooks. This study is a discourse analysis, particularly a text analysis. The objects of the study are fourteen conversational texts taken from the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The results of the study show that there are four forms of formulaic expressions identified in the conversational texts. Moreover, the most frequent form of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts is inserts. It is followed by lexical bundles, idiomatic phrases, and free combinations of verb + particle. Besides, idiomatic phrases and free combinations of verb + particle occur accurately, while lexical bundles and inserts occur both accurately and inaccurately in the conversational texts. In addition, the formulaic expressions appear appropriately and inappropriately in the conversational texts. Based on these findings, there are many conversational texts that do not sound natural; consequently, there must be some revisions. © 2017 Universitas Negeri Semarang Correspondence Address: Kampus Pascasarjana Unnes, Jalan Kelud Utara III Semarang 50237 E-mail: y.mustapa@yahoo.com p-ISSN 2087-0108 e-ISSN 2502-4566 http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/eej Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 55 INTRODUCTION The purpose of language learning and teaching is a communicative competence. It is the ability in producing texts either in spoken or written forms which are cohesive and coherent. Similarly, Celce-Murcia (2007) defines communicative competence as “the selection, sequencing, and arrangement of words, structures, and utterances to achieve a unified spoken or written message”. In other words, communicative competence means the ability in creating unified texts. Halliday and Hasan (1989) also add that there must be two components included in order to create unified texts. They are cohesion and coherence. To put it in another way, communicative competence means the ability in creating a text cohesively and coherently in order to achieve a communicative goal of certain texts. In order to make a text cohesively, the information across the text must be connected to each other by using certain words or phrases. According to the Centre of Canadian Language Benchmarks (2012), cohesion can be called as the use of specific words or phrases to hold a text together and give it meaning. It means that there are some words which can be used to make a cohesive text. Thornbury (2005) mention some words used to make a cohesive text like references (e.g. we, it, this, etc.), conjunctions (e.g. and, as well, and, etc.), and nominalizations (e.g. pronoun, noun, etc.). All these words can be used to make the text become cohesive. In addition, to make a text coherently, the text must make sense. Based on Thornbury (2005), coherence can be defined as the capacity of a text to make a sense. In other words, a coherence text means the idea or the purpose conveyed in the texts must be logic so that it can be accepted by the audience or participants. In other words, ability in creating a text which hangs together as well as makes sense is the main goal of language learning and teaching. As the main goal of language learning and teaching, communicative competence can be developed through some competencies (Celce- Murcia, 2007). One of them is formulaic competence. Formulaic competence can be defined as fixed and prefabricated chunks used frequently in actual conversation among English native speakers (Celce-Murcia, 2007). In other words, formulaic competence is the ability in using many expressions which are occurred commonly in English native speakers’ interactions. By introducing many formulaic expressions to the students, their communicative competence will also be improved. It can improve students’ communicative competence since formulaic expressions make students become fluent and native-like speakers. In a similar vein, Shin and Nation (2007) assert that formulaic expressions make non-native students be able to speak English fluently and native- likely. Thus, formulaic expressions are important to be mastered by the students because formulaic expressions make them be able to speak English both fluently and native- likely. In addition to that, formulaic expressions help students in creating cohesive and coherent texts. Lewis (2008) asserts that language consists of not only grammar and vocabulary but formulaic expressions that can produce a coherent text when they are combined. It can be said that the formulaic expressions enable students to create a coherent text easily when they have many prefabricated chunks. Conrad and Biber (2004) quote Hymes’ (1968) research finding that “a vast portion of verbal behavior … consists of recurrent patterns, of linguistic routines”. There is little doubt that the finding is a precious claim since many researchers have also found that there are many word strings occurred in daily interaction. For instance, Erman and Warren (2000) calculate that formulaic expressions constitute 58.6% of spoken text and 52.3% of the written text. Clearly, more than a half of everyday language consists of formulaic expressions. As a result, the formulaic expressions should be consciously introduced to the students in English textbooks for their teaching and learning process. Since formulaic expressions play an important role in achieving communicative Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 56 competence, formulaic expressions must be introduced a lot to the students in English textbooks, especially in conversational texts. Besides, the formulaic expressions should be introduced both accurately and appropriately in conversational texts provided in English textbooks because the conversational texts of the English textbooks are used as the conversational models for the students. By introducing accurate and appropriate formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the English textbooks, the students are expected to be able to use and create accurate and appropriate utterances in their communication. However, the tenth grade’s English textbooks which are created by non-native speakers of English provide unnatural English use in conversational texts of the English textbooks. For example, the conversational texts provide expressions which are not used by native speakers of English as in “May I know your name, please?”. This expression is rarely used in the native’s conversation for asking information about the name. English native speakers tend to use another expression like “What’s your name?” or “May I ask your name?”. Moreover, the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks provide inappropriate formulaic expressions such as the expression “Yes, and I want to know more about that”. There is a lexical bundle occurred in this utterance that is and I want to. It is inappropriate expression since the utterance contains additional information. In order to be an appropriate expression, it is supposed to use “Yes, but I want to know” because the expression actually contains adversative information. Based on the explanation above, this study examines the forms, frequency of occurrence and accuracy of formulaic expressions occurred in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Furthermore, this study also investigates the appropriateness of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts. METHODS This study is a discourse analysis, particularly a conversational text analysis. The objects of the study are fourteen conversational texts taken from three English textbooks for the tenth grade. All formulaic expressions in the conversational texts are identified and classified based on the Biber et al.’s (1999) theory of formulaic expressions which mentions that formulaic expressions can be classified into five forms: idiomatic phrases, free combinations of verb + particle, coordinated binomial phrases, lexical bundles, and inserts. After that, the frequency of occurrence, accuracy, and appropriateness of formulaic expressions are also analyzed in order to see their frequency of occurrence, accuracy, and appropriateness. Finally, the findings of data analysis are qualitatively explained. RESULT AND DISCUSSION This study has four objectives. They are to classify the formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks, to analyze the frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the English textbooks, to explain the accuracy of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts, and to discuss the appropriateness of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts. A. Forms of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts Based on the findings of data analysis, there are four forms of formulaic expressions found in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The four forms can be described as follows: 1. Idiomatic phrases Based on the findings of data analysis, idiomatic phrases identified in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks can be divided into three types. They are phrasal verbs (e.g. going on, pick you up), prepositional verb (e.g. believe in, do it for), and other multi- Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 57 word verb combinations (e.g. take advantage of, have any idea). In brief, there are three types of idiomatic phrases found in the conversational texts. When the findings of idiomatic phrases in the conversational texts are compared to the findings of Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus study, English native speakers have one more type of idiomatic phrase beside phrasal verb, prepositional verb, and other multi-word verb combination. The other type is a phrasal- prepositional verb (e.g. go out for). It means that native speakers’ conversations use four types of idiomatic phrases; consequently, all these types must be introduced to the students in English materials. By introducing all the types of idiomatic phrases in the materials, the students will be familiar with all the types of idiomatic phrases. However, the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks are not able to introduce the phrasal-prepositional verb to the students. It probably happens because the phrasal-prepositional verb is difficult for the non- native textbook writers. Therefore, this type is absent in conversational texts of the English textbooks. 2. Free combinations of verb + particle It is the second form of formulaic expressions occurred in the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. In the conversational texts, the free combinations of verb + particle consist of come to, come with, going to, went to and work in. Based on these free combinations of verb + particle, there are three types of particle used in the free combinations of verb + particle: in, with, and to. On contrary, Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus study shows that English native speakers use not only the particle in, with, and to but also the particle back, down, up, back, on, off, etc. It means that native speakers’ conversations have various particles than conversational texts introduced in the tenth grade’s English textbooks; however, conversational texts do not introduce the entire particle used in native’s free combinations of verb + particle. As a result, the students are expected to master the small number of free combinations of verb + particle in the conversational texts. 3. Lexical bundles The third form is lexical bundles. Based on the data analysis, the lexical bundles identified in the conversational texts can be classified into five general types. They are personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase (e.g. and I want to), lexical bundles with active verb phrase (e.g. thank you very much), yes-no question fragments (e.g. would you like to), wh- question fragments (e.g. what do you think) and adverbial clause fragment (e.g. as long as you). It likely occurs because of the focus of the present study. This study only investigates the lexical bundles which consist of more than three words. Consequently, lexical bundles which compose of three words are not identified. For example, the expression nothing to do, it perhaps can be classified as noun phrase expressions but it is not considered in this study since it is composed of three words. Compared to the findings of Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus linguistic study, native speakers’ conversations have many types of lexical bundles which are not introduced in the conversational texts. Among them are pronoun/noun phrase + be (e.g. it’s going to be), lexical bundles with wh-clause fragments (e.g. don’t know what it), lexical bundles with to- clauses (e.g. want to go to), verb + that-clause fragments (e.g. said I don’t know), noun phrase expressions (e.g. o’clock in the morning), prepositional phrase expressions (e.g. at the back of), quantifier expressions (e.g. all the rest of it), other expressions (e.g. no no no no) and meaningless sound bundles (e.g. da da da da). In brief, there are nine types of lexical bundles that students are not allowed to know by the conversational texts. It can be seen that there is a difference between the conversational texts and native’s conversation in terms of their lexical bundles. The conversational texts have less varied types of lexical bundles introduced to the students, while native’s conversation has various types of lexical bundles used in interactions among native speakers. Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 58 4. Inserts Inserts are the last form of formulaic expressions found in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Based on the findings of data analysis, there are several types of inserts occurred in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The inserts consists of interjections (e.g. oh, well), greetings (e.g. hello, hi), farewells (e.g. see you later), discourse markers (e.g. you know, look), attention signals (e.g. hey), response forms (e.g. yes, no) and polite formulae (e.g. thank you, please). In short, there are seven types of inserts used in the conversational texts. These types can be used by the students in their actual conversation in order to sound natural. In contrast, Biber et al. (1999) mention that native speakers have two more types of inserts used in their actual conversation. They are response elicitors (e.g. uh?, right? okay?) and expletives (e.g. my God, heaven, goodness). However, the inserts like them are not introduced by the textbook writers. It may occur since the textbook writers tend to use question tags rather than use response elicitors. In addition, the textbook writers do not introduce expletive since expletives are taboo expressions. As a result, taboo expressions are culturally not allowed to be introduced to the students in the classroom because it is a taboo expression. Even so, the textbook writers should introduce them in the conversational texts of the English textbooks since they are also used heavily in interactions among the native speakers of English. B. Frequency of Occurrence of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts The second point that must be explained in this study is the frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The findings of data analysis show that the frequency of occurrence among the forms of formulaic expressions is different from one to another. The findings of data analysis about the frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts can be presented in Diagram 1. Diagram 1. Frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts As can be seen in Diagram 1, the most frequent form of formulaic expressions used in the conversational texts is inserts (63%). It is followed by lexical bundles (18%), idiomatic phrases (14%) and free combinations of verb + particle (5%). Based on these data, it indicates that textbook writers introduce easily the simple expressions to the students in the conversational texts. It means that the conversational texts try to make students able to communicate to each other by using many simple words in expressing their ideas rather than constructing utterances word by word. C. Accuracy of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts The accuracy of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts is also examined in this study since both syntactical and grammatical errors should be avoided in the conversational texts. The findings of data analysis show that all the idiomatic phrases and free combinations of verb + particle occurred accurately in the conversational texts. It means that the writer of English textbooks carefully in introducing these two types of the formulaic expressions. Example 1 demonstrates the use of accurate idiomatic phrases taken from one of the conversational texts. Example 1: Rahmi : Thanks a lot. You’ve inspired me to do this Sinta : Your publisher should send it to all bookstores here. Rahmi : Yes, you’re right. The publisher will do it for me. (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:19-20) Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 59 There are a couple of idiomatic phrases existed in Example 1. They are send it to and do it for. Both of these idiomatic phrases appear correctly in simple sentences. As can be seen in the text above, all the sentences containing idiomatic phrases have a similar structural pattern that is NP + Verb + NP + Preposition + NP. Compared with Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus findings, however, native speakers more frequently use like those two idiomatic phrases in written texts rather than in the spoken texts. Since there are no grammatical and syntactical errors in the utterances which contain idiomatic phrases, it means that non-native writers of English textbooks very concern to the correct grammar of the utterances. Furthermore, the use of an accurate free combination of verb + particle found in the conversational texts can be illustrated in Example 2. Example 2: Slamet : Sure, I am Slamet. I am from Jepara. What about you? Edo : I am from Raja Ampat. I work in a tourism resort. (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:13) As can be seen in Example 2, a free combination of verb + particle work in is used correctly in Edo’s utterance. Edo’s utterance is a simple sentence and it is present tense. Because of a simple sentence, it can be divided into two main components: subject (I) and finite (work in). Also, as shown in Example 2, the sentence is in the present tense and the main verb agrees on the subject of the sentence. Consequently, the sentence is grammatically correct. It can be said that the non-native writers are able to form a sentence containing a free combination of verb + particle in a good manner. However, the findings of data analysis also show that lexical bundles and inserts occurred both accurately and inaccurately in the conversational texts. It indicates that the English textbooks are not able to introduce an accurate conversational text to the students since there are some inaccurate expressions occurred in the conversational texts. The use of an accurate lexical bundle in the conversational texts can be presented in Example 3 below: Example 3: Santi : Oh, how I envy you. My mother is going to accompany my little brother to attend a drawing competition. I don’t think I can ask her to teach me baking cookies. Bayu : Haha, I guess you should enjoy staying at home alone. (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:33-34) As a case in Example 3 above, there is only one lexical bundle occurred in Example 3 that is I don’t think I. This lexical bundle is syntactically and grammatically correct and it is used as an utterance launcher in the conversational text above. So, it later can be used to convey a message by adding some words at the end of the expressions. However, this is likely helpless for the non-native speakers to create an accurate sentence although they use an accurate utterance launcher. Based on the findings of data analysis, a native speaker tends to say “I don’t think I can ask her to teach me how to bake cookies” rather than “I don’t think I can ask her to teach me baking cookies”. It means that the verb teach should not be followed by an object and a gerund but it should be followed by an object and an infinitive verb. Likewise, the expression and I want to is an accurate lexical bundle since there are no any errors in this lexical bundle. Even so, it becomes an inaccurate lexical bundle in the conversational texts because of inappropriate use of lexical bundle to the contexts of conversational text. Example 4 illustrates the use of lexical bundle “and I want to” provided in the conversational texts. Example 4: Slamet : I work for a furniture company. Have you heard about Ukir Jepara? Edo : Yes, and I want to know more about that. Slamet : It’s a specific carving pattern created in Jepara. (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:13) As shown in Example 4, the lexical bundle and I want to is an inaccurate expression due to inappropriate use of a conjunction. It needs to be noted that in the conversational text Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 60 above, the utterance is containing adversative information but the writer uses conjunction and which refers to additive information. Thus, the lexical bundle becomes inaccurate in this utterance. In order to be an accurate lexical bundle, it is supposed to use conjunction but in this utterance. It probably happens because the textbook writers do not know how this lexical bundle used appropriately in the conversation texts. Meanwhile, conversational text that contains an accurate insert taken from one of the conversational texts can be seen in Example 5 below. Example 5: Lina : Um.. you told me that you bought a new novel a week ago, didn’t you? Tono : Yes, I did. It was a very interesting science- fiction novel. (Source: Pathway to English, 2014:6-7) As presented in Example 5, there is one insert appeared in Lina’s utterance that is um. It belongs to hesitator. This hesitator follows American transcription so that it is syntactically an accurate hesitator. Conversely, hesitator occurs inaccurately in the conversational text like uhm. This hesitator does not follow either British or American English transcriptions; consequently, it is not an accurate hesitator. Although it is inaccurate hesitator, it occurs three times in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 6 is a conversational text that introduces an inaccurate hesitator. Example 6: Riri : It will be a long weekend soon. Do you have any plans? Santi : Uhm, I’m not sure. I don’t have any idea yet. I think I might stay at home. Riri : Stay at home? Well, you could do something more interesting! (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:33-34) As can be seen in Example 6, there is an inaccurate hesitator that is uhm. It is an inaccurate hesitator since it does not follow either British or American transcriptions. Compare with English native speakers’ conversation, Biber et al. (1999) mention that hesitators occurred in native speakers’ conversation can be transcribed such as um, erm, or er. Consequently, the hesitator occurred in Example 6 does not match with all English transcriptions mentioned previously. D. Appropriateness of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts The last issue discussed in the current study is the appropriateness of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The findings of the study show that all the formulaic expressions occurred appropriately in the conversational texts. Even so, there are some formulaic expressions occurred inappropriately in the conversational texts. The appropriate formulaic expressions include idiomatic phrases (e.g. sounds like), free combinations of verb + particle (e.g. come to), lexical bundles (e.g. I think I might), and inserts (e.g. ah). Meanwhile, the inappropriate formulaic expressions include idiomatic phrases (e.g. work for), free combinations of verb + particle (e.g. work in), lexical bundles (e.g. I think I would), and inserts (e.g. oh well). First, Example 7 is the use of an appropriate prepositional verb taken from one of the conversational texts. Example 7: Riri : I’ve made a plan with my mother about what to do in this long weekend. We are going to practice baking cookies. Santi : That sounds like a very good plan! Bayu : Are you going to bake choco chips cookies like the last time? (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:33-34) The Example 7 above presents us that a prepositional verb occurs appropriately in a conversational text. The expression “That sounds like a very good plan!” is an expression that contains a prepositional phrase used by Santi to give an opinion about Riri’s plan. At the same time, the findings of data analysis also show that there is only one prepositional verb used inappropriately in the conversational texts. Example 8 is a conversational text that contains an inappropriate prepositional verb. Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 61 Example 8: Santi : I am from Raja Ampat. I work in a tourism resort. Riri : I work for a furniture company. Have you heard about Ukir Jepara? (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:13) The prepositional phrase in Example 8 above is inappropriately used in the conversational text because the prepositional phrase is not used like native-like manner. It needs to take into account that the expression that contains the prepositional verb work for may appear in native’s communication. However, it appears if a speaker is asked by his/her interlocutor. As a result, it is not supposed to occur in this turn in order to be a natural conversational text. As English learning and teaching materials, textbooks should introduce conversational texts like the native-like selection. In other words, the writers should introduce conversational texts which contain not only commons expressions but also the way how to use the expressions in conversational texts. Example 9 illustrates how to use the prepositional verb work for which is created by English native speakers. Example 9: Jason : Where do you work, Andrea? Andrea : I work for Thomas Cook Travel. Jason : Oh, really? What do you do there? (Source: New Interchange, 2002:9) Example 9 above shows that Jason informs where he works after Andrea asks him to tell it. Moreover, Andrea does not directly tell where he works after know where Jason works. It means that English a native speaker does not inform where he/she works before he/she is asked by his/her interlocutor and he/she does not inform directly where he/she works after he/she knows where his/her interlocutors work. Likewise, Biber et al. (1999:1045) mention that “…these utterance-response sequences, known as adjacency pairs, may be either symmetric, as in the case of one greeting echoing another, or asymmetric, such as a sequence of a question followed by the answer". It can be said that conversation is constructed by two or more speakers through symmetrical questions and answers. In relation to the conversation created by non-native, the speakers will tell the same things uttered by the first speaker without any questions and answers. So, the conversational text in example 9 is an unnatural conversational text. Second, Example 10 is the use of an appropriate free combination of verb + particle used in one of the conversational texts. Example 10: Sinta : Have you finished writing the book we discussed two months ago? Rahmi : Yes. Come to my room. Look at this. What do you think? Sinta : Terrific. I like the cover. Let me see the contents. This book is excellent. You really did a great job. (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:19-20) Example 10 illustrates that Rahmi is Sinta’s friend. Before the conversation happens, they discussed of writing a book two months ago. When they meet each other, Rahmi invites Sinta to go to her room to see the book which is written by Rahmi by saying “come to my room”. This utterance contains a free combination of verb + particle that is come to. It is used appropriately in the conversation. On the other hand, there is one inappropriate use of free combinations of verb + particle in the conversational texts. Example 11 below is a conversational text which consists of an inappropriate free combination of verb + particle. Example 11: Slamet : Sure, I am from Jepara. What about you? Santi : I am from Raja Ampat. I work in tourism resort. Slamet : I work for a furniture company. Have you heard about UKir Jepara? (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:13) As shown in Example 11, the free combination of verb + particle work in is inappropriately used in the conversational text since this expression does not occur like a native speakers’ way. Actually, in order to be a natural conversational text, the expression which contains a free combination of verb + particle in this turn appears after Santi is asked to inform it. Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 62 However, Example 12 illustrates the use of an appropriate free combination of verb + particle in conversational text taken from English textbooks which are created by English native speakers. Example 12: Rachel : Where does your brother work? Angela : In a hotel. Rachel : Oh really? My brother works in a hotel, too. He’s a desk clerk. Angela : How does he like it? (Source: Interchange, 2013:51) Example 12 informs us that the use of work in should be uttered after the speakers are asked to tell it. Based on the conversational text in Example 12, it can be seen that there is a distinction between the conversational texts which are created by non-native speakers of English and conversational texts which are created by English native speakers in term of the way how they exchange information about their occupations. Third, Example 13 presents the use of appropriate personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase provided in one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 13: Riri : It will be a long weekend soon. Do you have any plans? Santi : Uhm, I’m not sure. I don’t have any idea yet. I think I might stay at home. Riri : Stay at home? Well, you could do something more interesting! (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:33-34) Example 13 above illustrates that the personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase I think I might occur appropriately in the conversational text of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. In this case, Santi has not decided her plans for spending her weekend. Since she does not have plans, the expressions “I think I might stay at home” is likely a suitable expression for this turn of conversation above. By using this expression, it indicates the probability action for the future that is whether or not Santi will stay at home. Conversely, Example 14 below is an excerpt of conversation taken from one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks which introduce an inappropriate personal pronoun + lexical verb phrases. Example 14: Riri : Oh, would you like to join me to learn baking cookies? You can come to my house. Bayu : It’s a good idea! Or will you go fishing with me and my dad? Santi : Uhm, not fishing I guess. But I think I would like to bake cookies with Riri. Thanks for asking me to join you Riri. (Source: Bahasa Inggris, 2014:13) As shown in Example 14 above, the personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase I think I would occurs inappropriately in the conversational text because it is inappropriate to the contexts of conversation. In the conversation, Santi is invited by her friends to join their plans either going fishing or baking cookies. Here, Santi should choose one out of two plans. Consequently, the lexical bundle above does not occur appropriately to the contexts of conversation since the lexical bundle does not signal preference. Actually, it is supposed to be more appropriate if Santi uses an expression “I would rather like to bake cookies with Riri”. In this case, the expression “I would rather like to bake cookies with Riri” signals the preference. At last, Example 15 introduces an appropriate interjection taken from one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 15: Yoga : Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Titi : What is it? (Source: Pathway to English, 2014:10) There is one interjection appeared in Example 15 above that is ah. It appears appropriately in Example 15. In this case, Yoga is looking for Titi everywhere. Because of this, he feels happy when he meets someone who he is looking for. To express his happiness, he uses an expression “ah”. Therefore, this interjection appropriately occurs in the first turn of the conversation. According to Biber et al. (1999:1084), interjection “ah” can express pleasant feelings. It can be said that someone can use the expression “ah” to express his or her feeling of happiness. Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 63 In contrast, the data analysis reveals that interjections are also used inappropriately in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 16 is an excerpt of conversation which introduces the use of inappropriate interjections taken from one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 16: Tono : Why don’t we go home together and you could come by my house and get it? Lina : I’m afraid I can’t. I have an extracurricular activity after school. Tono : Oh well, if you’re too tired later and want to go straight home, why not let me bring it tomorrow? (Source: Pathway to English, 2014:6-7) As can be seen in Example 16, there is an interjection occurred in the conversational text that is oh well. Based on the data analysis, however, this expression is not used properly to the contexts of conversational text above. In this case, Tono offers Lina to come to his house together for taking a book. However, Lina refuses his offer. In this matter, the interjection oh well is used to respond to an objection of an offer; consequently, it does not match with the expressions. Tono should use another expression to respond to Lina’s objection. Based on the native speaker’s judgments, the appropriate expression to replace an expression oh well in the conversation above is okay. Hence, Tono is supposed to use expression okay rather use oh well in responding to Rina’s objection in order to make a natural conversation. Given the findings of the data analysis mentioned above, it can be drawn into some conclusion. First, formulaic expressions in the conversational texts can be classified into four forms. They are idiomatic phrases, free combinations of verb + particle, lexical bundles and inserts. Second, the frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts is different from one to another. The conversational texts introduce the greatest number on one form of formulaic expressions that is inserts (88 times). With respect to other forms, lexical bundles (25 times) are the second frequent form of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the English textbooks. Then, it is followed by idiomatic phrases (19 times) and free combinations of verb + particle (7 times) within the fourteen conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Third, all the formulaic expressions appear accurately in conversational texts of the textbooks in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Even so, lexical bundles and inserts also occur inaccurately in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Finally, the appropriateness of formulaic expressions discovered in the conversational texts is similar from one to another. They are used both appropriately and inappropriately in the conversational texts. CONCLUSION There are some suggestions generated by the current study. First, due to a small number of forms of formulaic expressions introduced in the conversational texts, textbook writers, and English teachers should give an access to disciplinary knowledge and skills used by the teaching community. For example, the English textbooks provide a link or URL that students can access it in order to improve their knowledge in English like https://www.facebook.com/LearnEnglishGram marVocabularyIdioms/. This URL can be used by the students to broaden their knowledge and improve their English skill related to the formulaic expressions since this link also provides some idiomatic phrases, binomial expressions, collocations and so on. Second, since there are four out of five forms of formulaic expressions identified in the conversational texts, the tenth grade’s English textbooks writers should introduce all the forms of formulaic expressions to the students in conversational texts. By introducing all the forms of formulaic expressions, the students will be more familiar with various forms of formulaic expressions. If they familiar with many forms of formulaic expressions, they will be able to communicate fluently and can converse with each other like English native speakers’ way. Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 64 Third, based on the findings, there are some expressions that are not used by native speakers of English in their daily communication and there are some expressions used inaccurately and inappropriately in the conversational texts. Consequently, the textbook writers and English teachers would be better if they refer to some corpus studies in choosing the formulaic expressions and how to use them in conversational texts which are used as conversation models for the students. By referring to the findings of corpus study, it will minimize the use of infrequent expressions and it can also minimize the use of inaccurate as well as inappropriate formulaic expressions in conversational the texts. Thus, the conversational texts will sound natural. Fourth, on account of this study only analyzes formulaic expressions in conversational texts provided in three the English textbooks for the tenth grade, this study is not able to capture the use of formulaic expressions in all the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Hence, the future research also should extend the number of the tenth grade’s English textbooks used as the data in order to obtain richer data. By having richer data, the future research can capture the use of formulaic expressions in all conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks which are published by not only the Ministry of National Education and Erlangga but also another publisher like Yrama Widya. Fifth, because of the fact that the present study only examines formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks, the future research can analyze formulaic expressions in conversational texts of all grades’ English textbooks. In the other words, the researchers can investigate not only the use of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks but also the use of the formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the eleventh and twelfth grades’ English textbooks. From the extended data, it can explain the development of formulaic expressions introduced in English textbooks from each grade of senior high school. In addition, the similarities and differences of formulaic expressions in English textbooks for each grade can be clearly described. To put it simply, the researchers are able to see whether the English textbooks provide similar or different formulaic expressions from each other. Finally, owing to the current study only aims at investigating formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks, the future research also can analyze the use of formulaic expressions in readings texts of the English textbooks provided for senior high school. Doing a research on the use of formulaic expressions in readings texts of the English textbooks would be beneficial for textbook writers and English teachers because they will see whether the formulaic expressions are used accurately and appropriately in reading texts of the English textbooks. In other words, the textbooks writers and English teachers can see whether the reading texts also provide formulaic expressions as English textbooks created by English native speakers do. REFERENCES Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman. Celce-Murcia, M. (2007). Rethinking the Role of Communicative Competence in Language Teaching. In E. A. Soler & M. P. S. Jorda (Eds.), Intercultural Language Use and Language Learning (pp. 41–57). Dordrecht: Springer. Conrad, S., & Biber, D. (2004). The Frequency and Use of Lexical Bundles in Conversation and Academic Prose. Lexicographica, 20, 56–71. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783484604674.56. Erman, B., & Warren, B. (2000). The Idiom Principle and the Open Choice Principle. Text, 20(1), 29–62. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.2000.20.1.29. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, Text, and Context: Aspects of Language in a Social- Semiotic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lewis, M. (2008). Implementing the Lexical Approach: Putting Theory into Practice. Hampshire: Heinle. Shin, D., & Nation, P. (2007). Beyond Single Words: The Most Frequent Collocations in Spoken English. ELT Journal, 62(4), 339–348. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm091. Yaholil Mustapa & Helena I. R. Agustien / English Education Journal 7 (1) (2017) 65 Sudarwati, Th. M., and Grace, E. (2014). Pathway to English. Jakarta: Erlangga. The Centre of Canadian Language Benchmarks. (2012). English as a Second Language for Adults. Ottawa: Canadian Language Benchmarks. Thornbury, S. (2005). Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Macmillan. Widiati, U., Rohmah, Z., & Furaidah. (2014). Bahasa Inggris SMA/MA/SMK/MAK Kelas X Semester 1. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Formulaic expressions make students become fluent and native-like in English speaking so that formulaic expressions must be introduced a lot to the students in conversational texts of English textbooks. The current study aims at investigating the forms, frequency of occurrence, accuracy, and appropriateness of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grader’s English textbooks. This study is a discourse analysis, particularly a text analysis. The objects of the study are fourteen conversational texts taken from the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The results of the study show that there are four forms of formulaic expressions identified in the conversational texts. Moreover, the most frequent form of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts is inserts. It is followed by lexical bundles, idiomatic phrases, and free combinations of verb + particle. Besides, idiomatic phrases and free combinations of verb + particle occur accurately, while lexical bundles and inserts occur both accurately and inaccurately in the conversational texts. In addition, the formulaic expressions appear appropriately and inappropriately in the conversational texts. Based on these findings, there are many conversational texts that do not sound natural; consequently, there must be some revisions. INTRODUCTION The purpose of language learning and teaching is a communicative competence. It is the ability in producing texts either in spoken or written forms which are cohesive and coherent. Similarly, Celce-Murcia (2007) defines communicative competence as “th... In order to make a text cohesively, the information across the text must be connected to each other by using certain words or phrases. According to the Centre of Canadian Language Benchmarks (2012), cohesion can be called as the use of specific words ... As the main goal of language learning and teaching, communicative competence can be developed through some competencies (Celce-Murcia, 2007). One of them is formulaic competence. Formulaic competence can be defined as fixed and prefabricated chunks us... In addition to that, formulaic expressions help students in creating cohesive and coherent texts. Lewis (2008) asserts that language consists of not only grammar and vocabulary but formulaic expressions that can produce a coherent text when they are c... Since formulaic expressions play an important role in achieving communicative competence, formulaic expressions must be introduced a lot to the students in English textbooks, especially in conversational texts. Besides, the formulaic expressions shoul... However, the tenth grade’s English textbooks which are created by non-native speakers of English provide unnatural English use in conversational texts of the English textbooks. For example, the conversational texts provide expressions which are not us... Based on the explanation above, this study examines the forms, frequency of occurrence and accuracy of formulaic expressions occurred in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Furthermore, this study also investigates the appropr... METHODS This study is a discourse analysis, particularly a conversational text analysis. The objects of the study are fourteen conversational texts taken from three English textbooks for the tenth grade. All formulaic expressions in the conversational texts a... RESULT AND DISCUSSION This study has four objectives. They are to classify the formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks, to analyze the frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the English textb... A. Forms of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts Based on the findings of data analysis, there are four forms of formulaic expressions found in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The four forms can be described as follows: 1. Idiomatic phrases Based on the findings of data analysis, idiomatic phrases identified in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks can be divided into three types. They are phrasal verbs (e.g. going on, pick you up), prepositional verb (e.g. believe ... When the findings of idiomatic phrases in the conversational texts are compared to the findings of Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus study, English native speakers have one more type of idiomatic phrase beside phrasal verb, prepositional verb, and other mu... 2. Free combinations of verb + particle It is the second form of formulaic expressions occurred in the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. In the conversational texts, the free combinations of verb + particle consist of come to, come with, going to, went to and work... On contrary, Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus study shows that English native speakers use not only the particle in, with, and to but also the particle back, down, up, back, on, off, etc. It means that native speakers’ conversations have various particles... 3. Lexical bundles The third form is lexical bundles. Based on the data analysis, the lexical bundles identified in the conversational texts can be classified into five general types. They are personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase (e.g. and I want to), lexical bundles ... Compared to the findings of Biber et al.’s (1999) corpus linguistic study, native speakers’ conversations have many types of lexical bundles which are not introduced in the conversational texts. Among them are pronoun/noun phrase + be (e.g. it’s going... It can be seen that there is a difference between the conversational texts and native’s conversation in terms of their lexical bundles. The conversational texts have less varied types of lexical bundles introduced to the students, while native’s conve... 4. Inserts Inserts are the last form of formulaic expressions found in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Based on the findings of data analysis, there are several types of inserts occurred in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s E... In contrast, Biber et al. (1999) mention that native speakers have two more types of inserts used in their actual conversation. They are response elicitors (e.g. uh?, right? okay?) and expletives (e.g. my God, heaven, goodness). However, the inserts l... B. Frequency of Occurrence of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts The second point that must be explained in this study is the frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The findings of data analysis show that the frequency of occurrence among the... Diagram 1. Frequency of occurrence of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts As can be seen in Diagram 1, the most frequent form of formulaic expressions used in the conversational texts is inserts (63%). It is followed by lexical bundles (18%), idiomatic phrases (14%) and free combinations of verb + particle (5%). Based on th... C. Accuracy of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts The accuracy of formulaic expressions in the conversational texts is also examined in this study since both syntactical and grammatical errors should be avoided in the conversational texts. The findings of data analysis show that all the idiomatic phr... There are a couple of idiomatic phrases existed in Example 1. They are send it to and do it for. Both of these idiomatic phrases appear correctly in simple sentences. As can be seen in the text above, all the sentences containing idiomatic phrases hav... Furthermore, the use of an accurate free combination of verb + particle found in the conversational texts can be illustrated in Example 2. As can be seen in Example 2, a free combination of verb + particle work in is used correctly in Edo’s utterance. Edo’s utterance is a simple sentence and it is present tense. Because of a simple sentence, it can be divided into two main components: su... However, the findings of data analysis also show that lexical bundles and inserts occurred both accurately and inaccurately in the conversational texts. It indicates that the English textbooks are not able to introduce an accurate conversational text ... The use of an accurate lexical bundle in the conversational texts can be presented in Example 3 below: As a case in Example 3 above, there is only one lexical bundle occurred in Example 3 that is I don’t think I. This lexical bundle is syntactically and grammatically correct and it is used as an utterance launcher in the conversational text above. So, ... Likewise, the expression and I want to is an accurate lexical bundle since there are no any errors in this lexical bundle. Even so, it becomes an inaccurate lexical bundle in the conversational texts because of inappropriate use of lexical bundle to ... As shown in Example 4, the lexical bundle and I want to is an inaccurate expression due to inappropriate use of a conjunction. It needs to be noted that in the conversational text above, the utterance is containing adversative information but the writ... Meanwhile, conversational text that contains an accurate insert taken from one of the conversational texts can be seen in Example 5 below. As presented in Example 5, there is one insert appeared in Lina’s utterance that is um. It belongs to hesitator. This hesitator follows American transcription so that it is syntactically an accurate hesitator. Conversely, hesitator occurs inaccurately in the conversational text like uhm. This hesitator does not follow either British or American English transcriptions; consequently, it is not an accurate hesitator. Although it is inaccurate hesitator, it occ... As can be seen in Example 6, there is an inaccurate hesitator that is uhm. It is an inaccurate hesitator since it does not follow either British or American transcriptions. Compare with English native speakers’ conversation, Biber et al. (1999) mentio... D. Appropriateness of Formulaic Expressions in the Conversational Texts The last issue discussed in the current study is the appropriateness of formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. The findings of the study show that all the formulaic expressions occurred appropriately in t... First, Example 7 is the use of an appropriate prepositional verb taken from one of the conversational texts. The Example 7 above presents us that a prepositional verb occurs appropriately in a conversational text. The expression “That sounds like a very good plan!” is an expression that contains a prepositional phrase used by Santi to give an opinion about R... At the same time, the findings of data analysis also show that there is only one prepositional verb used inappropriately in the conversational texts. Example 8 is a conversational text that contains an inappropriate prepositional verb. The prepositional phrase in Example 8 above is inappropriately used in the conversational text because the prepositional phrase is not used like native-like manner. It needs to take into account that the expression that contains the prepositional verb... Example 9 above shows that Jason informs where he works after Andrea asks him to tell it. Moreover, Andrea does not directly tell where he works after know where Jason works. It means that English a native speaker does not inform where he/she works be... Second, Example 10 is the use of an appropriate free combination of verb + particle used in one of the conversational texts. Example 10 illustrates that Rahmi is Sinta’s friend. Before the conversation happens, they discussed of writing a book two months ago. When they meet each other, Rahmi invites Sinta to go to her room to see the book which is written by Rahmi by saying... On the other hand, there is one inappropriate use of free combinations of verb + particle in the conversational texts. Example 11 below is a conversational text which consists of an inappropriate free combination of verb + particle. As shown in Example 11, the free combination of verb + particle work in is inappropriately used in the conversational text since this expression does not occur like a native speakers’ way. Actually, in order to be a natural conversational text, the ex... Example 12 informs us that the use of work in should be uttered after the speakers are asked to tell it. Based on the conversational text in Example 12, it can be seen that there is a distinction between the conversational texts which are created by n... Third, Example 13 presents the use of appropriate personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase provided in one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 13 above illustrates that the personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase I think I might occur appropriately in the conversational text of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. In this case, Santi has not decided her plans for spending her weekend.... Conversely, Example 14 below is an excerpt of conversation taken from one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks which introduce an inappropriate personal pronoun + lexical verb phrases. As shown in Example 14 above, the personal pronoun + lexical verb phrase I think I would occurs inappropriately in the conversational text because it is inappropriate to the contexts of conversation. In the conversation, Santi is invited by her friend... At last, Example 15 introduces an appropriate interjection taken from one of the conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. There is one interjection appeared in Example 15 above that is ah. It appears appropriately in Example 15. In this case, Yoga is looking for Titi everywhere. Because of this, he feels happy when he meets someone who he is looking for. To express his h... In contrast, the data analysis reveals that interjections are also used inappropriately in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Example 16 is an excerpt of conversation which introduces the use of inappropriate interjections ta... As can be seen in Example 16, there is an interjection occurred in the conversational text that is oh well. Based on the data analysis, however, this expression is not used properly to the contexts of conversational text above. In this case, Tono offe... Given the findings of the data analysis mentioned above, it can be drawn into some conclusion. First, formulaic expressions in the conversational texts can be classified into four forms. They are idiomatic phrases, free combinations of verb + particle... Third, all the formulaic expressions appear accurately in conversational texts of the textbooks in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks. Even so, lexical bundles and inserts also occur inaccurately in conversational texts of the... CONCLUSION There are some suggestions generated by the current study. First, due to a small number of forms of formulaic expressions introduced in the conversational texts, textbook writers, and English teachers should give an access to disciplinary knowledge an... Second, since there are four out of five forms of formulaic expressions identified in the conversational texts, the tenth grade’s English textbooks writers should introduce all the forms of formulaic expressions to the students in conversational texts... Third, based on the findings, there are some expressions that are not used by native speakers of English in their daily communication and there are some expressions used inaccurately and inappropriately in the conversational texts. Consequently, the t... Fourth, on account of this study only analyzes formulaic expressions in conversational texts provided in three the English textbooks for the tenth grade, this study is not able to capture the use of formulaic expressions in all the tenth grade’s Engli... Fifth, because of the fact that the present study only examines formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks, the future research can analyze formulaic expressions in conversational texts of all grades’ English ... Finally, owing to the current study only aims at investigating formulaic expressions in conversational texts of the tenth grade’s English textbooks, the future research also can analyze the use of formulaic expressions in readings texts of the English... REFERENCES Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman. Celce-Murcia, M. (2007). Rethinking the Role of Communicative Competence in Language Teaching. In E. A. Soler & M. P. S. Jorda (Eds.), Intercultural Language Use and Language Learning (pp. 41–57). Dordrecht: Springer. Conrad, S., & Biber, D. (2004). The Frequency and Use of Lexical Bundles in Conversation and Academic Prose. Lexicographica, 20, 56–71. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783484604674.56. Erman, B., & Warren, B. (2000). The Idiom Principle and the Open Choice Principle. Text, 20(1), 29–62. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.2000.20.1.29. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1989). Language, Text, and Context: Aspects of Language in a Social-Semiotic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lewis, M. (2008). Implementing the Lexical Approach: Putting Theory into Practice. Hampshire: Heinle. Shin, D., & Nation, P. (2007). Beyond Single Words: The Most Frequent Collocations in Spoken English. ELT Journal, 62(4), 339–348. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm091. Sudarwati, Th. M., and Grace, E. (2014). Pathway to English. Jakarta: Erlangga. The Centre of Canadian Language Benchmarks. (2012). English as a Second Language for Adults. Ottawa: Canadian Language Benchmarks. Thornbury, S. (2005). Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Macmillan. Widiati, U., Rohmah, Z., & Furaidah. (2014). Bahasa Inggris SMA/MA/SMK/MAK Kelas X Semester 1. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.