Wrapping your Head around Idioms: It’s not Rocket Science!
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2020-06-08
Language
en
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Abstract
Idiomatic language is often one aspect of English that is taken into consideration when
evaluating a speaker’s English competence. In order to acquire a native-like proficiency in
English, non-native speakers should be able to comprehend and use idioms. Although there has
been research conducted on the role of idiomatic expressions in non-natives perceived English
language proficiency by native speakers, there is still research needed in order to investigate
how non-native speakers perceive other non-native speakers’ competence and
comprehensibility of discourse when idioms are used. Therefore, the present study investigates
if there is a possible effect of idiomaticity on non-natives speaker’s perception. An online
questionnaire consisting of a total of 16 different emails were read by 85 Dutch speakers and
evaluated regarding comprehensibility of the text and perceived competence of the speaker with
respect to idiomaticity and nativeness, Although the obtained results were not significant, it can
be suggested that advanced non-native speakers of English are familiar with idiomatic
language. Further research is necessary in order to find a significant effect.
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Faculteit der Letteren