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Idiomaticity and the non-native speaker

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2003

Luke Prodromou
Luke Prodromou
Affiliation:
He worked for the British Council from 1977–2001. He is now a freelance trainer and textbook writer based in Greece.
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In this article, I describe the puzzle of idiomaticity in native and non-native uses of English: why are idioms so resistant to acquisition, even by advanced leaners and users of English? I identify the main cause of this problem in the “idiomatic paradox”, whereby the very reasons which make idiomaticity so natural and necessary in native-speaker discourse are precisely the reasons non-native speakers find them so elusive. I look at some of the implications of of the idiomatic paradox for language teaching and the use of English as a Lingua Franca.

Information

Type
Original Article
Information
English Today , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 2003, pp. 42 - 48
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press