Article published In:
EUROSLA Yearbook: Volume 2 (2002)Edited by Susan H. Foster-Cohen, Tanja Ruthenberg and Marie Louise Poschen
[EUROSLA Yearbook 2] 2002
► pp. 155–185
Edited by Susan H. Foster-Cohen, Tanja Ruthenberg and Marie Louise Poschen
[EUROSLA Yearbook 2] 2002
► pp. 155–185
Context and idiom understanding in second languages
This article describes the results of a study conducted with fifty-three adult third-year learners of Spanish, French, and German in order to investigate (a) the degree to which idiom type affects the speed and ease of idiom comprehension and interpretation, (b) the effect that context exerts on idiom understanding, (c) the strategies second language learners employ in computing the idiomatic meaning of multiword phrasal units during contextualized and acontextualized reading of texts containing such idioms, and (d) the cognitive processes that are likely to constrain the construction of the right idiomatic mappings between target and domain idioms. Findings indicate that (a) there were significant main effects for lexical and post-lexical level idioms in both the context and the non-context treatment; (b) translation, guessing, and the use of context are highly important in the construction of idiomatic meaning; and (c) the degree of opacity between target and domain idiom, knowledge of vocabulary, graphophonics and syntactic arrangement, and literal meaning of an idiom influence and affect transfer of idiomatic knowledge in significant ways.
Cited by (38)
Cited by 38 other publications
Gridneva, E. M., N. S. Zdorova, A. A. Ivanenko & M. A. Grabovskaya
2024. The processing of Russian Idioms in Heritage Russian Speakers and L2 Russian Learners. NSU Vestnik. Series: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication 21:4 ► pp. 115 ff. 
Hu, Huiyun, F. Neveu, S. Prévost, A. Montébran, A. Steuckardt, G. Bergounioux, G. Merminod & G. Philippe
2024. L’acquisition des expressions idiomatiques au-delà de la distance interlinguistique. SHS Web of Conferences 191 ► pp. 05005 ff.
Hwaszcz, Krzysztof & Hanna Kędzierska
2024. Cerebral asymmetries in the processing of opaque compounds in L1 Polish and L2 English. Linguistics Vanguard 9:1 ► pp. 125 ff.
Kyriacou, Marianna & Franziska Köder
2024. Not Batting an Eye: Figurative Meanings of L2 Idioms Do Not Interfere with Literal Uses. Languages 9:1 ► pp. 32 ff.
Pavlina, Svetlana Yu.
2024. A cross-cultural perspective on the comprehension of novel and conventional idiomatic expressions. Intercultural Pragmatics 21:1 ► pp. 33 ff.
Rodríguez-Muñoz, Francisco J.
2024. The pedagogical potential of speech-language therapy materials for the teaching of idiomatic expressions in a foreign language. Applied Linguistics Review 15:1 ► pp. 241 ff.
Senaldi, Marco S. G. & Debra Titone
2024. Idiom meaning selection following a prior context: eye movement evidence of L1 direct retrieval and L2 compositional assembly. Discourse Processes 61:1-2 ► pp. 21 ff.
Suñer, Ferran & Barbara De Cock
2024. The role of reticence in the comprehension of metaphorical taboo expressions in the foreign language. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 34:2 ► pp. 746 ff.
Cucchiarini, Catia, Ferdy Hubers & Helmer Strik
2022. Learning L2 idioms in a CALL environment: the role of practice intensity, modality, and idiom properties. Computer Assisted Language Learning 35:4 ► pp. 863 ff.
Senaldi, Marco S. G., Junyan Wei, Jason W. Gullifer & Debra Titone
2022. Scratching your tête over language-switched idioms: Evidence from eye-movement measures of reading. Memory & Cognition 50:6 ► pp. 1230 ff.
Almogheerah, Ameera
2021. Exploring the Effect of Using WhatsApp on Saudi Female EFL Students' Idiom-Learning. SSRN Electronic Journal
Cieślicka, Anna B., Roberto R. Heredia & Ariana C. García
2021. The (re)activation of idiomatic expressions (La (re)activación de expresiones idiomáticas). Studies in Psychology 42:2 ► pp. 334 ff.
Smith, Sara A.
2021. Exploring knowledge of transparent and non-transparent multi-word phrases among L2 English learners living in an Anglophone setting. System 101 ► pp. 102590 ff.
Carrol, Gareth & Jeannette Littlemore
2020. Resolving Figurative Expressions During Reading: The Role of Familiarity, Transparency, and Context. Discourse Processes 57:7 ► pp. 609 ff.
Hubers, Ferdy, Catia Cucchiarini & Helmer Strik
2020. Second language learner intuitions of idiom properties: What do they tell us about L2 idiom knowledge and acquisition?. Lingua 246 ► pp. 102940 ff.
Aydın, Burcu
2019. Cognitive processing of second language idiom comprehension: A comparative study. Dil ve Dilbilimi Çalışmaları Dergisi
Park, Jinkyoung & Yuah V. Chon
2019. EFL Learners’ Knowledge of High-frequency Words in the Comprehension of Idioms: A Boost or a Burden?. RELC Journal 50:2 ► pp. 219 ff.
Kecskes, Istvan, Olga Obdalova, Ludmila Minakova & Aleksandra Soboleva
2018. A study of the perception of situation-bound utterances as culture-specific pragmatic units by Russian learners of English. System 76 ► pp. 219 ff.
Liontas, John I.
2018. Exploring Figurative Language Across the Curriculum. In The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, ► pp. 1 ff.
Liontas, John I.
2018. Understanding Idiomaticity in CALL. In Applications of CALL Theory in ESL and EFL Environments [Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design, ], ► pp. 36 ff.
Liontas, John I.
2020. Understanding Idiomaticity in CALL. In Language Learning and Literacy, ► pp. 24 ff.
Liontas, John I.
2021. Attaining Knowledge of Idiomatics in the Age of Corona and Beyond. In CALL Theory Applications for Online TESOL Education [Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design, ], ► pp. 1 ff.
Suñer, Ferran
2018. The Interplay of Cross-Linguistic Differences and Context in L2 Idiom Comprehension. Research in Language 16:4 ► pp. 495 ff.
Kim, Jeong-eun & Hosung Nam
2017. The pedagogical relevance of processing instruction in second language idiom acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 55:2
Beck, Sara D. & Andrea Weber
2016. Bilingual and Monolingual Idiom Processing Is Cut from the Same Cloth: The Role of the L1 in Literal and Figurative Meaning Activation. Frontiers in Psychology 7
Pritchett, Lena K., Jyotsna Vaid, Sumeyra Tosun & Peter Walla
2016. Of black sheep and white crows: Extending the bilingual dual coding theory to memory for idioms. Cogent Psychology 3:1 ► pp. 1135512 ff.
Türker, Ebru
2016. The role of L1 conceptual and linguistic knowledge and frequency in the acquisition of L2 metaphorical expressions. Second Language Research 32:1 ► pp. 25 ff.
Türker, Ebru
2017. The Interaction of Affective Factors in L2 Acquisition of Korean Formulaic Language: A Critical Overview. The Korean Language in America 21:1 ► pp. 120 ff.
Türker, Ebru
2019. Idiom acquisition by second language learners: the influence of cross-linguistic similarity and context. The Language Learning Journal 47:2 ► pp. 133 ff.
Smith, Sara A. & Victoria A. Murphy
2015. Measuring productive elements of multi-word phrase vocabulary knowledge among children with English as an additional or only language. Reading and Writing 28:3 ► pp. 347 ff.
Cieślicka, Anna B., Roberto R. Heredia & Marc Olivares
2014. It’s All in the Eyes: How Language Dominance, Salience, and Context Affect Eye Movements During Idiomatic Language Processing. In Essential Topics in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 21 ff.
Nordmann, Emily, Alexandra A. Cleland & Rebecca Bull
2014. Familiarity breeds dissent: Reliability analyses for British-English idioms on measures of familiarity, meaning, literality, and decomposability. Acta Psychologica 149 ► pp. 87 ff.
Cieślicka, Anna B.
2013. Second Language Learners’ Processing of Idiomatic Expressions: Does Compositionality Matter?. In Psycholinguistic and Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Second Language Learning and Teaching [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 115 ff.
Graliński, Filip
2012. Mining the Web for Idiomatic Expressions Using Metalinguistic Markers. In Text, Speech and Dialogue [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 7499], ► pp. 112 ff.
MARTINEZ, RON & VICTORIA A. MURPHY
2011. Effect of Frequency and Idiomaticity on Second Language Reading Comprehension. TESOL Quarterly 45:2 ► pp. 267 ff.
Saberian, Noorolhoda & Zahra Fotovatnia
2011. Idiom Taxonomies and Idiom Comprehension: Implications for English Teachers. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 1:9
Steinel, Margarita P., Jan H. Hulstijn & Wolfgang Steinel
2007. SECOND LANGUAGE IDIOM LEARNING IN A PAIRED-ASSOCIATE PARADIGM: Effects of Direction of Learning, Direction of Testing, Idiom Imageability, and Idiom Transparency. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 29:03
Cieślicka, Anna
2006. Literal salience in on-line processing of idiomatic expressions by second language learners. Second Language Research 22:2 ► pp. 115 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.