The Role of Context in Understanding Colloquial Arabic Idiomatic Expressions by Jordanian Children

Abstract

The present study examines the role of context in understanding colloquial Arabic idiomatic expressions by Jordanian good and poor comprehenders in two age groups: 10- and 12-year-olds. Children read short stories comprising Arabic expressions that could be interpreted as idiomatic or not; depending on the context in which they are presented. Familiar and unfamiliar idiomatic expressions were used in this study. The effect of four variables: age, reading comprehension level, meaning condition as well as familiarity with the idiomatic expressions on children’s understanding of idiomatic expressions was examined. Three variables were found to have a main effect on the number of correct answers given by children, these are: meaning condition, reading comprehension level, and familiarity of the idiom. Children gave more correct answers in the transparent meaning condition. More correct answers were given for familiar idiomatic expressions. Also, good comprehenders gave more correct answers than their poor counterparts. On the basis of age, the differences between the groups were not significant.

Keywords

• idiomatic expressions
• context
• good and poor comprehenders
• meaning condition
• familiarity