Idiomatic Mastery in a First and Second Language

Monica Karlsson author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Multilingual Matters

Published:14th May '21

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Idiomatic Mastery in a First and Second Language cover

First book to investigate the comprehension, retention and use of idiomatic expressions in a foreign language

The comprehension, retention and production of idiomatic expressions is one of the most difficult areas of the lexicon for second language learners to master. This book investigates this under-researched and interesting aspect of language acquisition, shedding light on conventional uses of idiomatic expressions as well as creative variant forms.

The comprehension, retention and production of idiomatic expressions is one of the most difficult areas of the lexicon for second language (L2) learners, even very advanced students, to master. This book investigates this under-researched and interesting aspect of language acquisition, shedding light on both conventional uses of idiomatic expressions as well as creative variant forms. The chapters in the book delve into different aspects of idiomatic mastery: students’ comprehension of canonically used idioms in both their first and second language; the effects of multimedia and visualization techniques on learners’ comprehension and retention of L2 idioms; students’ misinterpretations of L2 idioms; L2 learners’ comprehension of creative idiom variants and their use of idioms in free composition writing.

The book offers new and valuable insights into L2 learners' understanding, retrieval and use of idiomatic expressions. This is especially true as the studies included focus on previously largely neglected areas of investigation. It should therefore be a welcome addition to instructors and researchers alike working within this particular field.

* E. Birgitta Svensson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden *

Providing a comprehensive, exhaustive and authoritative overview of scholarly research on L2 learners’ acquisition, comprehension, retrieval and use of idiomatic expressions, this book also covers previously neglected areas of investigation. It is a must-have for applied linguists, psycholinguists, neurolinguists, practicing teachers, machine-translation researchers, cognitive psychologists, postgraduate and undergraduate students, and more.

* Mohammad Ali Salmani Nodoushan, IECF, Iran *

Idiomatic expressions form one of the most difficult areas for language learners and cause problems even for advanced students. Monica Karlsson’s book is an important and longed-for contribution to the study of learners’ understanding, retention and production of idioms based on a number of experiments and learners’ free essay writing.

* Karin Aijmer, University of Gothenburg, Sweden *

Idiomatic Mastery in a First and Second Language is a highly specialized work that will be of interest to seasoned teachers of an L2 at an advanced level, as well as to linguists, educationalists and researchers [...] This is a work to which I will be referring to in planning my own teaching and I am certain other teachers will find her book invaluable.

-- Stuart Foster, Halmstad University, Sweden * International Journal of Language Studies Volume 13, Number

ISBN: 9781800413320

Dimensions: 234mm x 156mm x 17mm

Weight: 492g

320 pages