engleski

Imaginability of idioms in EFL learners: Cognitive motivation for idiomatic meaning in male and female learners

This thesis deals with the way learners of English as a foreign language cognitively motivate meanings of English idioms. The general aim of this thesis is to provide an insight into the workings of EFL learners’ minds when dealing with idioms. By analyzing learners’ mental images regarding idioms, an attempt is made at discovering what creates the basis for learners’ cognitive motivation when making sense of idiomatic meanings. This study is particularly focused on the difference between male and female participants in their cognitive motivation and mental imagery descriptions. It also examines the effect of idiom familiarity on the learners’ ability to form mental images and create links between an expression and its meaning. The results of the study show that learners mostly rely on information from their background knowledge on a particular topic, or elements from their personal experience when trying to make sense of idioms. Comparison of the mental imagery analyses between two groups of participants shows that boys tend to rely more on their background knowledge, providing short and concise responses lacking details, whereas girls make more associations with their personal experience, giving verbally more elaborate responses, and describing mental images in more details.

cognitive motivation, idioms, mental imagery, gender differences, personal experience, background knowledge

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