Lexical Architecture in Action: The Role of Word Combinations in Developing Communicative Competence of EFL Non-Major Students

Communicative competence remains a central objective in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education, yet non-major university students continue to exhibit significant lexical gaps that impede meaningful communication. This study investigates the role of word combinations — including collocations, lexical chunks, and formulaic sequences — in developing the communicative competence of EFL non-major students at a Central Asian university. Employing a mixed-methods design, the study involved 84 undergraduate participants assigned to experimental and control groups over a twelve-week instructional intervention. Data were collected through pre- and post-tests, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and a validated questionnaire. Quantitative findings revealed statistically significant gains in speaking fluency, lexical appropriacy, and overall communicative performance among the experimental group (p < .001), while qualitative data highlighted improvements in discourse coherence, idiomatic expression, and reduced hesitancy. The results align with the Lexical Approach (Lewis, 1993) and contemporary research on formulaic language, confirming that explicit instruction in word combinations produces measurable advances in communicative ability. The study contributes practical pedagogical insights for EFL teachers working with non-specialist learners and calls for greater integration of corpus-informed lexical syllabi in university-level language programs.