Idiom Understanding in Preadolescents: Synergy in Action

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine how preadolescents gain an understanding of idioms. In particular, it examined the role of idiom familiarity in conjunction with students’ language-based academic abilities. The participants were 50 children (mean age 12 years 4 months) who attended a primary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. All students spoke standard New Zealand English and were considered by the school to be progressing normally. The results indicated that idiom understanding was closely associated with students’ familiarity with idioms and with their skills in reading and listening comprehension. Moreover, students who were good comprehenders of idioms outperformed their classmates who were poor comprehenders on all associated measures: idiom familiarity, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension. Guidelines for instruction in idiom understanding are offered for speech-language pathologists who work collaboratively with teachers in the regular classroom during language arts activities. The guidelines reflect the position that multiple factors, working in synergy, promote the understanding of idioms in youth.