Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T07:48:37.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Idiomaticity Revisited

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2015

By
John I. Liontas
Edited by
Roberto R. Heredia  and
Anna B. Cieślicka
John I. Liontas
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
Roberto R. Heredia
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Anna B. Cieślicka
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Get access

Summary

Abstract

Idiomaticity has long been an area of intense research around the world. To date, many empirical findings have been disclosed and even more definitions and experimental tasks proposed. Yet little research accounts for the effect idiomatic tasks have on participants’ overall performance. The present qualitative study asserts that different experimental tasks and idiom sub-types have different effects on the comprehension/production of second language idioms and, furthermore, that qualitative data, combined with quantitative data, can supplement and complete more fully a researcher’s understanding of a particular issue under investigation than quantitative data alone. Pedagogical implications are discussed and future research directions explored.

Keywords: figurative language, idiomatic competence, metacognitive strategies, second language idioms, vivid phrasal idioms

Using the answers to two questionnaires given to 60 third-year adult learners of Spanish, French, and German, Liontas (2002a) has provided convincing evidence that

(1) learners do want idioms to be an integral part of their language and culture training; (2) they can predict their performances on idiomatic tasks and, finally, (3) they have very specific beliefs about the importance of learning idioms, the nature of idiomatic learning, and the strategies that are most likely to facilitate such learning (p. 289).

From the ensuing analysis of data, Liontas concluded that second language (L2) “instructors should introduce idioms more regularly and systematically to their students, regardless of the specific approaches they take to idiomatic learning” (pp. 306–307).

Type
Chapter
Information
Bilingual Figurative Language Processing , pp. 301 - 340
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boers, F., & Lindstromberg, S. (Eds.) (2008). Cognitive linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary and phraseology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, D. (2008). Idioms: Description, comprehension, acquisition, and pedagogy. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
McMarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). English idioms in use. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Abel, B. (2003). English idioms in the first language and second language lexicon: A dual representation approach. Second Language Research, 30, 329–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnaud, P.J., & Savignon, S.J. (1997). Rare words, complex lexical units and the advanced learner. In Coady, J. & Huckin, T. (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp. 157–173). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bachman, L.F., & Palmer, A.S. (1996). Language testing in practice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Barkema, H. (1996). Idiomaticity and terminology: A multi-dimensional descriptive model. Studia Linguistica, 50, 125–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boers, F. (2000). Metaphor awareness and vocabulary retention. Applied Linguistics, 21, 553–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bortfeld, H. (2002). What native and non-native speakers images for idioms tell us about figurative language. In Heredia, R.R. & Altarriba, J. (Eds.), Bilingual sentence processing (275–295). Amsterdam: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bortfeld, H. (2003). Comprehending idioms cross-linguistically. Experimental Psychology, 50, 217–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cieślicka, A. (2006a). Literal salience in on-line processing of idiomatic expressions by second language learners. Second Language Research, 22, 115–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cieślicka, A. (2006b). On building castles on the sand, or exploring the issue of transfer in interpretation and production of L2 fixed expressions. In Arabski, J. (Ed.), Cross-linguistic influences in the second language lexicon (pp. 226–245). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Google Scholar
Cieślicka, A., & Singleton, D. (2004). Metaphorical competence and the L2 learner. Angles on the English-Speaking World, 4, 69–84.Google Scholar
Cooper, T.C. (1998). Teaching idioms. Foreign Language Annals, 31, 255–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, T.C. (1999). Processing of idioms in L2 learners of English. TESOL Quarterly, 33, 233–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deignan, A., Gabrys, D., & Solska, A. (2001). Teaching English metaphors using cross linguistic awareness-raising activities. ELT Journal, 51, 352–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernando, C. (1996). Idioms and idiomaticity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fetterman, D.M. (1989). Ethnography: Step by step. Newbury Park and London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Giora, R. (1997). Understanding figurative and literal language: The graded salience hypothesis. Cognitive Linguistics, 7, 183–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giora, R. (1999). On the priority of salient meanings: Studies of literal and figurative language. Journal of Pragmatics, 31, 919–929.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giora, R., & Fein, O. (1999). On understanding familiar and less-familiar figurative language. Journal of Pragmatics Special Issue: Literal and Figurative Language, 31, 1601–1618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, L.E. (2007). In a manner of speaking: Assessing frequent spoken figurative idioms to assist ESL/EFL teachers. System, 35, 169–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockett, C.F. (1958). A course in modern linguistics. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hoffman, R.R. (1984). Recent psycholinguistic research on figurative language. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 433, 137–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katsarou, E. (2011). The identification and comprehension of L2 idioms during reading: Implications for vocabulary teaching in the foreign language classroom. Saarbrücken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing.Google Scholar
Kecskes, I. (2006). On my mind: Thoughts about salience, context and figurative language from a second language perspective. Second Language Research, 22, 219–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laufer, B. (2000). Avoidance of idioms in a second language: The effect of L1-L2 degree of similarity. Studia Linguistica, 54, 186–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lennon, P. (1998). Approaches to the teaching of idiomatic language. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 11–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (1997, November). Building castles in the air: The comprehension processes of Modern Greek idioms. Paper presented at the 15th International Symposium on Modern Greece, Kent State University, Kent, OH.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (1999). Developing a pragmatic methodology of idiomaticity: The comprehension and interpretation of SL vivid phrasal idioms during reading. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2001). That’s all Greek to me! The comprehension and interpretation of modern Greek phrasal idioms. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 1, 1–32. Available: Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2002a). Exploring second language learners’ notions of idiomaticity. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, 30, 289–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2002b). Context and idiom understanding in second languages. In Foster-Cohen, S.H., Ruthenberg, T., & Poschen, M-L. (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook: Annual conference of the European second language association. Vol. 2 (pp. 155–185). Proceedings of the 2002 Annual Conference of the European Second Language Association. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamin Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2002c). Vivid phrasal idioms and the lexical-image continuum. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 13, 71–109.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2002d). Transactional idiom analysis: Theory and practice. Journal of Language and Linguistics, 1, 17–53.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2002e). Reading between the lines: Detecting, decoding, and understanding idioms in second languages. In Sullivan, J.H (Ed.), Literacy and the second language learner: Vol. 1. Research in second language learning (pp. 177–216). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing Inc.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2003). Killing two birds with one stone: Understanding Spanish VP idioms in and out of context. Hispania, 86, 289–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2007). The eye never sees what the brain understands: Making sense of idioms in second languages, Lingua et Linguistica, 1, 25–44.Google Scholar
Liontas, J.I. (2009). Artificial intelligence and idiomaticity. The APAMALL Higher Education Journal, Language Learning Technologies, 1, 1–33.Google Scholar
Liu, D. (2003). The most frequently used spoken American English idioms: A corpus analysis and its implications. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 671–700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malt, B.C., & Eiter, B. (2004). Even with a green card, you can be put out to pasture and still have to work: Non-native intuitions of the transparency of common English idioms. Memory & Cognition, 32, 896–904.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moon, R. (1997). Vocabulary connections: Multi-word items in English. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 40–63). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Olejniczak, P. (2006). Phrasal verb idioms and the normative concept of the interlanguage hypothesis. In Arabski, J. (Ed.), Cross-linguistic influences in the second language lexicon (pp. 259–272). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Google Scholar
Palmer, B.C., Shackelford, V.S., Miller, S.C., & Leclere, J.T. (2007). Bridging two worlds: Reading comprehension, figurative language instruction, and the English-language learner. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50, 258–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piasecka, L. (2006). “Don’t lose your head” or how Polish learners of English cope with L2 idiomatic expressions. In Arabski, J. (Ed.), Cross-linguistic influences in the second language lexicon (pp. 126–258). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Google Scholar
Pollio, H., Barlow, J.M., Fine, H.J., & Pollio, M.R. (1977). Psychology and the poetics of growth. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Strässler, J. (1982). Idioms in English: A pragmatic analysis. Tübingen, Germany: Gunter Narr Verlag.Google Scholar
Vanlacker-Sidtis, D. (2003). Auditory recognition of idioms by native and nonnative speakers of English: It takes one to know one. Applied Linguistics, 24, 45–57.Google Scholar
Verspoor, M., & Lowie, W. (2003). Making sense of polysemous words. Language Learning, 53, 547–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmermann, R. (2006). Metaphorical transferability. In Arabski, J. (Ed.), Cross-linguistic influences in the second language lexicon (pp. 193–209). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×