The Use of Transparency, Opaqueness, and Intranslatability as Criteria in Analyzing L1 and L2 Idioms

• Main Authors: Jung Chuan Chen, 陳蓉娟
• Other Authors: Chun Chung Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/k6w93q

博士 === 淡江大學 === 英文學系博士班 === 106 === Abstract: The present study mainly aims to investigate the function of three criteria (transparency, opaqueness, and intranslatability) on idiom analysis. A total of one hundred and sixty-seven college students participated in the study. The students were divided into two groups according to their scores in General English Proficiency Test. The main research instruments employed in the study included an idiom comprehension test and two idiom translation tests. The idioms tested in the present study were classified into two types: transparent idioms and opaque idioms. Then, opaque idioms were further classified into two types: translatable opaque idioms and intranslatable opaque idioms. The results of the study revealed that there was a positive relationship between learners’ English proficiency and their competence of idiom comprehension. Learners overall performed significantly better on the transparent idioms than the opaque idioms on the idiom comprehension test. Moreover, learners performed significantly better on the translatable opaque idioms than the intranslatable opaque idioms. In addition, the fact that learners were frequently misled by mistranslation of intranslatable idioms revealed that intranslatable idioms pose more difficulties for learners. Thus, this type of idiom deserves more attention from teachers and learners. Pedagogical implications were also proposed.