Transferability and translatability of idioms by Thai -speaking learners of English

A central question in the study of second language acquisition (L2A) concerns the basis for vocabulary learning: how do speakers use the concepts lexically encoded in their first language (L1) to learn words in the L2, where the mapping between concepts and lexical structures will differ from those in the L1? One theoretical approach, Prototypicality Theory (PT) (Kellerman 1978, 1986, Zhou 2001), makes predictions that speakers are most likely to transfer the senses of Ll words that are prototypical, and are less likely to transfer senses that are metaphorical or otherwise secondary. This study tested whether PT held true for L2A of elements beyond the lexical level, by examining the acquisition of clause-level idioms. In order to maximize the semantico-pragmatic prototypicality effects and lessen the possibility of cognate expressions, I examined two typologically distant languages, Thai and English.;This study contained five experiments exploring the effects on idiom transferability of several factors: native speakers' intuitions about the transparency of the L1 idioms, the pragmatic and structural congruency of idioms across the two languages, and L2 proficiency. (An L1 idiom was considered structurally congruent with an L2 idiom if the major content words could be literally translated. Pragmatic congruency meant that the L1 and L2 idioms shared the same central concept, and could be used in the same contexts.).;A pilot study of advanced Thai-speaking learners of English showed that they had little ability to produce L2 counterparts of L1 idioms. The second experiment explored Thai native speakers' intuitions about semantic transparency of Thai idioms. The third and fourth experiments investigated learners' judgments about the acceptability of structurally congruent vs. pragmatically congruent translations. Results showed that judgments for structurally congruent translations were associated with semantic transparency; this effect was stronger for learners at lower proficiency levels. Additionally, the learners, regardless of proficiency level, accepted pragmatically congruent translations more frequently than structurally congruent translations. The fifth experiment on actual translation of the idioms also showed interacting effects of semantic transparency and L2 proficiency. Accordingly, the study concluded that PT accounted well for L2A of elements beyond the lexical level.