Effects of Verbal Definitions and Etymological Notes on Comprehension and Recall of L2 Idioms

Research in cognitive semantics has shown that the dual coding of input (i.e. presentation of both verbal and visual information) can enhance the formation of memory traces and, consequently, promote the retention of information. Some earlier studies (Boers, Demecheleer, & Eyckmans, 2004; Boers, Eyckmans, & Stengers, 2007) suggest that work on idiom etymology can help learners generate mental images that can be associated with verbal information, providing an additional pathway for its recall. However, the results of other studies (Szczepaniak & Lew, 2011) argue in favor of pictorial support and warn against the potentially distracting effect of etymology. The present study compared the effects of instruction through verbal definitions and etymological notes on the retention of the meaning and form of L2 figurative idioms. While etymology was found to have only a limited effect on the students’ immediate learning performance, the results suggest that clarification of phrase etymology can enhance long-term comprehension and production of L2 idioms.