Persian Formulaic Sequences and their Textual Functions in Writing

The growing attention to formulaic sequences during the last decade indicates that the functional features of such sequences play a great role in wrting. Formulaic sequences are prefabricated linguistic components which are stored and retrieved as a whole. So far، few studies have examined Persian formulaic sequences. The present study aims to examine the functional features of such sequences in Persian writings. To do so، 10 writing samples of Persian native speakers were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. In addition، the corpus includes 100 sample writings which were scored with regard to using formulaic sequences from different functional categories as well as writing skills. In the quantitative phase، frequency analysis، correlation analysis and Chi-square analysis were employed whereas in the qualitative phase، content analysis and retrospective interviews were used to explore the participants'' presumptions، analyses، and judgments. The results showed that high frequency of using formulaic sequences would not necessarily guarantee the quality of writing; moreover، studying the functional features of formulaic sequences is suggested to be conducted while paying full attention to inter-lingual characteristics as well as the Persian speakers'' knowledge of English. The findings of the research could be utilized in linguistic studies and Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages (TPSOL).