A Study of Undergraduate Students' Comprehension Ability and Learning Attitudes toward English Idioms

大學生對英語慣用語理解能力及學習態度之研究

10.30115/JCJCU.201212.0002

莊媖纓(Ying-Ying Chuang)

英語慣用語 ； 學習態度 ； 學習英語為外國語 ； Idioms ； Learning Attitude ； English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

長榮大學學報

16卷2期（2012 / 12 / 01）

17 - 33

英文

本研究主旨於探究科技大學生對英語慣用語的學習，研究問題共有兩個方向：（1）學生對於不熟悉的英語慣用語，其理解能力為何？（2）學生對於學習英語慣用語的普遍態度及困難度為何？共有一百零七位科技大學應用外語系學生參與本研究，而研究設計是採量化與質化混合型之研究方法。研究結果發現，學生對慣用語在理解上，可由三點來證明其困難度：（1）學生在其標示為不熟悉慣用語題數中，其釋義的答錯率達52.2%；（2）學生在其不熟悉慣用語中，正確釋義的平均分數僅達到29.97（總分100）；（3）在所有題數中，學生在其標為熟悉慣用語中，仍有5%的題數是答錯的。多數學生對於學習英語慣用語皆表達正面態度及重視其必要性，高達 91.6%認為增加慣用語知識能提升其英語能力。在贊成應將慣用語教學融入學校英語課程的支持者中，65.4%主張在初級課程就要教，然而20.6%認為延至高階課程再教。在匯集自學生「邊想邊說」（think-aloud）的研究資料中，對於學生在理解慣用語的困難上，提供更深入的了解。就教師在英語課堂中提升慣用語教學應用，在結論中也提出建議。

This study aims to examine undergraduate EFL learners' idiom interpretation ability in two aspects: how efficiently they can interpret the meaning of unfamiliar idiom, and their comprehending difficulties and learning attitudes toward idioms. 107 sophomores participated in the study, and the mix-method approach was used for the research design. The findings reveal that learners' comprehension efficiency and difficulties were evidenced by (a) their 52.2% wrong interpretation in the task items containing unfamiliar idioms, (b) they only achieved a mean score of 29.97 (out of 100) in their attempts at guessing reported as unfamiliar, and (c) their failure of recognizing the familiar idioms in 5.0% of the total number of the task items. Regarding learners' attitudes, the majority presented a positive attitude toward idiom learning and valued its necessity: 91.6% thought their idiom knowledge should be enhanced in order to improve their proficiency. Among the advocates who stood for integrating idiom teaching into school EFL courses, 65.4% claimed idioms should be taught at the beginning level, while 20.6% argued to wait until advanced level. Data of the think-aloud task (TA) provides an insight into the learners' difficulties of idiom comprehension. Some pedagogical implications for classroom teachers to improve idiom teaching in EFL situations are included.

1. Boers, F.,Demecheleer, M.(2001).Measuring the impact of cross-cultural differences on learners' comprehension of imaginable idioms.ELT Journal,55,255-262.
2. Bortfeld, H.(2004).Comprehending idioms cross-linguistically.Experimental Psychology,50,217-230.
3. Bulut, T.(2004).Idiom processing in L2: Through rose-colored glasses.The Reading Matrix,4(2),105-116.
4. Chen, B.(2004).China,Foreign Studies, Guang Dong University.
5. Cohen, S. K.(ed.)(1992).Building reading fluency: Words in focus.Singapore:Thomas Learning.
6. Cooper, T. C.(1999).Processing of idioms by L2 learners of English.TESOL Quarterly,33(1),233-262.
7. Feng, Y. Y.(2007).Taiwan, R.O.C.,Tamkang University.
8. Hamblin, J. L.,Gibbs, R.W.(1999).Why you can't kick the bucket as you slowly die: Verbs in idiom comprehension.Journal of Psycholinguistic Research,28,25-39.
9. Heredia, R. R.(ed.),Altarriba, J.(ed.)(2002).Bilingual sentence processing.Elsevier.
10. Huang, H. Y.(2007).Taiwan, R.O.C.,Tamkang University.
11. Katja, M.(2004).Finland,Jyvaskylan Yliopisto.
12. Kecskes, I.(2000).A cognitive-pragmatic approach to situation-bound utterances.Journal of Pragmatics,32(6),605-625.
13. Krashen, S. D.(1982).Principles and practice in second language acquisition.New York:Pergamon Press.
14. Lakoff, G.,Johnson, M.(1980).Metaphors we live by.Chicago, IL:University of Chicago Press.
15. Nelson, E.(1992).Memory for metaphor by nonfluent bilinguals.Journal of Psycholinguistic Research,21,111-125.
16. Nippold, M. A.,Haq, F. S.(1996).Proverb comprehension in youth: The role of concreteness and familiarity.Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research,39,166-176.
17. Sullivan, J. H.(ed.)(2002).Literacy and the second language learner.Greenwich, Connecticut:Information Age.
18. Swain, M.(1985).Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development.Input in second language acquisition,Cambridge, MA:
19. Zuo, H.(2008).Comprehension of unfamiliar English idioms by Chinese EFL learners in reading.CELET Journal,31(3),9-29.