Avoidance of idioms in a second language: The effect of L1-L2 degree of similarity

The study investigates whether avoidance of L2 (English) idioms is determined by the degree of similarity to their L1 (Hebrew) counterparts. Four degrees of similarity were established through a three-dimensional framework for L1-L2 comparison. 56 university English majors were tested on 20 idioms (5 per each type), elicited by a fill-in translation test. The totals of idiomatic and non-idiomatic responses were compared for each student, for each idiom type. Results showed that idioms as a category were not avoided, that L2 proficiency was a factor in idiom avoidance and that avoidance of specific idiom types was related to L1-L2 degrees of similarity.