Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scientific Studies of Reading on 12/01/2016, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10888438.2015.1092973
Accepted author manuscript, 218 KB, PDF document
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding of idiomatic expressions in context in skilled and less-skilled comprehenders
T2 - online processing and interpretation
AU - Oakhill, Jane
AU - Cain, Kate
AU - Nesi, Barbara
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scientific Studies of Reading on 12/01/2016, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10888438.2015.1092973
PY - 2016/3
Y1 - 2016/3
N2 - This paper reports a study in which good and poor comprehenders (between 8 to 10 years) read short passages containing phrases that could be interpreted as idiomatic or not, depending on the context. Familiarity was manipulated by including real (English) idioms and novel (translations of Italian) idioms. Reading times for the target phrases were measured and the children’s understanding of the target expressions was assessed. The older children and better comprehenders were more likely to interpret idiomatic phrases correctly. In particular, there was an interaction between age and meaning condition: the younger children were less able to choose an appropriate interpretation of the figurative expressions. In general, children spent relatively more time reading the idiomatic expressions than the literal ones, with the exception of less-skilled comprehenders when presented with novel (Italian) idioms. They seemed not to appreciate that these expressions needed any particular effort for interpretation.
AB - This paper reports a study in which good and poor comprehenders (between 8 to 10 years) read short passages containing phrases that could be interpreted as idiomatic or not, depending on the context. Familiarity was manipulated by including real (English) idioms and novel (translations of Italian) idioms. Reading times for the target phrases were measured and the children’s understanding of the target expressions was assessed. The older children and better comprehenders were more likely to interpret idiomatic phrases correctly. In particular, there was an interaction between age and meaning condition: the younger children were less able to choose an appropriate interpretation of the figurative expressions. In general, children spent relatively more time reading the idiomatic expressions than the literal ones, with the exception of less-skilled comprehenders when presented with novel (Italian) idioms. They seemed not to appreciate that these expressions needed any particular effort for interpretation.
U2 - 10.1080/10888438.2015.1092973
DO - 10.1080/10888438.2015.1092973
M3 - Journal article
VL - 20
SP - 124
EP - 139
JO - Scientific Studies of Reading
JF - Scientific Studies of Reading
SN - 1088-8438
IS - 2
ER -