ABSTRACT
Acquiring formulaic language in a non-native language is demanding, but at the same time necessary because of its ubiquity. Alongside having to learn a vast array of formulaic expressions, a key challenge is the large repertoire of phrases from the first language that overlap with the second language in various ways. This chapter looks at how formulaic knowledge from the first language influences processing in the second language, focusing on research on collocations and idioms across languages. In general, the literature shows that when first-language formulaic expressions exist, information about them is activated and influences processing in the second language.
