The Interpretation of Unfamiliar Formulaic Expressions: A Study on Native-like Speakers of English

Abstract

This study investigates how native-like Saudi speakers of English as a foreign language (EFL) interpret unfamiliar formulaic English expressions and the strategies they use to interpret these expressions. It specifically examines which strategies the Saudi subjects share with native English speakers and explores the potential differences in strategies employed by male and female  individuals. Participants included 50 Saudi EFL native like speakers and 20 native English speakers, who were given an English idiom test. This research embraces the cognitive linguistic theory behind processing and interpreting unfamiliar formulaic expressions. Findings were analyzed by examining the frequency and percentages of the strategies used by the participants to understand the meaning of the expression. They indicated that Saudi EFL speakers used the context of the phrase, analogies, and their knowledge of English lexis and phonology to parse unfamiliar formulaic English expressions, and that they looked to the context of the phrase most often. The study also found that native English speakers used the same strategies, but with different number of occurrences, and that women used more strategies than men. Findings will help better understand the interpretation of unfamiliar expressions.

Keywords: Formulaic expressions, Interpretation strategies, EFL, Linguistics, Language proficiency.