Lexical phrases have been shown to have a positive effect on learners’ language proficiency, learners’ expertise in writing inthe target language, as well as on learners’ capacity to communicate by means of the target language. The use of lexical phrases isalso related to oral fluency, particularly at the beginning of second language acquisition. Lexical phrases may be treated aswholes, either as complete or partially preassemble units. As such, they are stored in the lexicon as unanalyzed chunks just likewords. Being ready-made, they are easily retrieved. Consequently, they offer learners the possibility of expressing themselves inthe absence of rich linguistic resources. Beginners—children, elementary students, and particularly adults, who have alreadydeveloped their cognitive and semantic structures but lack the linguistic tools necessary to use the target language—becomeconversationally competent without the need to know the underlying structure of these phrases. Lexical phrases prove highlymotivating by developing fluency at very early stages and thus promote a sense of achievement.One aspect that may indirectly help the development of oral competence is that the use of lexical phrases raises learners’pragmatic awareness and also increases their confidence in the target language: lexical phrases serve as lexical routines thatfacilitate fluency. Another important aspect is that they facilitate language development. Lexical phrases allow for the expansionof previously acquired knowledge as learners become more proficient. The reason for this is that they have associated functionaluses. Lexical phrases may be used to maintain a conversation, change the topic, make a request, greet people, and so one. Thisfunctional feature of lexical phrases offers learners the possibility of expressing the same function in increasingly more difficultways by expanding an initial formula. Therefore, it constitutes a springboard for language development.
66. What is the main idea of this passage?
(A) Lexical phrases are analyzable by the rules of grammar.
(B) There are different kinds of lexical phrases.
(C) The use of lexical phrases is dual in nature.
(D) Learners’ use of lexical phrases is related to their language development.