An investigation into the comprehension of formulaic sequences by Saudi EFL learners
This study set out to explore the comprehension of formulaic sequences, -particularly body-part idioms, by Saudi EFL learners. The study is essentially empirical and is situated within a cognitive linguistics-inspired framework. This approach goes hand in hand with construction grammar (cf. Fillmore et al. 1988). This approach proved to be plausible as it treats idioms as a central part of the language, in contrast to traditional approaches, e.g. generative grammar (e.g. Chomsky, 1980) or structural linguistics (e.g. Hockett, 1958) which marginalise idioms as language oddities or part of the 'periphery' but not the 'core'. A total of 91 Arabic-speaking female participants, majoring in Languages and Translation at King Saud University (KSU), Saudi Arabia were recruited for this study. The performance of the participants on idioms - moderated by language proficiency - was assessed in relation to four variables: similarity of idioms to L1, their level of compositionality, their level of transparency, and their frequency in the BNC. The language proficiency was assesed using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). A test of idioms in a Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) format was devised, piloted and validated. The test
Al-Mohizea, Monira Ibrahim
An investigation into the comprehension of formulaic sequences by Saudi EFL learners. This study set out to explore the comprehension of formulaic sequences, -particularly body-part idioms, by Saudi EFL learners. The study is essentially empirical and is situated within a cognitive linguistics-inspired framework. This approach goes hand in hand with construction grammar (cf. Fillmore et al. 1988). This approach proved to be plausible as it treats idioms as a central part of the language, in contrast to traditional approaches, e.g. generative grammar (e.g. Chomsky, 1980) or structural linguistics (e.g. Hockett, 1958) which marginalise idioms as language oddities or part of the 'periphery' but not the 'core'. A total of 91 Arabic-speaking female participants, majoring in Languages and Translation at King Saud University (KSU), Saudi Arabia were recruited for this study. The performance of the participants on idioms - moderated by language proficiency - was assessed in relation to four variables: similarity of idioms to L1, their level of compositionality, their level of transparency, and their frequency in the BNC. The language proficiency was assesed using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). A test of idioms in a Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) format was devised, piloted and validated. The test
investigation comprehension formulaic sequence saudi_efl learner study set_explore comprehension formulaic sequence particularly body_part idiom saudi_efl learner study essentially empirical situate_within cognitive_linguistics inspired framework hand_hand construction grammar prove plausible treat idioms central_part language contrast traditional_approach generative_grammar chomsky structural linguistics marginalise idioms language part periphery core total arabic_speaking female participant major languages translation king university saudi_arabia recruit study performance participant idioms moderate language_proficiency assess relation variable similarity idiom level compositionality level transparency frequency bnc language_proficiency use oxford placement test opt test idiom multiple choice question format devise pilot validate test