An Event-Related Potentials (ERP) Study On Idiom Comprehension By Chinese English Learners

Idioms, a typical type of figurative language which may be a cue to uncover the universal language processing mechanism, have attracted great attention over the last several decades. Nevertheless, controversies still remain in regard of the most plausible cognition mechanism and hemispheric functions for idiom comprehension, especially concerning non-Indo-European languages and second language uses. Accordingly, the scientometrical tool CiteSpace II was employed to better detect the development trends within the domain of idiom comprehension studies. In light of the former findings, two ERP experiments on proficient English learners whose native language were Mandarin Chinese were conducted to test the influences of the saliency and the hemisphere involvement in both Chinese and English (as foreign language) idiom comprehension. Both the behavioral data (the accuracy rates and the reaction time in particular) and the ERP data (the N250and the N400amplitudes in particular) were recorded and analyzed employing the method of multi-factor repeated measure one-way ANOVA with the help of Statistical Product and Service Solutions16.0.The data analysis indicated that fewer errors were made and shorter reaction time was taken for the participants to correctly understand the salient interpretations of the idioms in both Chinese and English, with longer reaction time for the English idiom comprehension. Meanwhile, the average reaction time for the literal interpretations of the English idioms was shorter regardless of the different levels of idioms’familiarity. Further, smaller N250and N400for the familiar idioms were observed in Chinese idiom comprehension, and the same for the literal interpretations of both familiar and unfamiliar idioms in English. Additionally, the left and the central hemispheres were more active for N250while the right hemisphere for N400, with the right hemisphere more active in the whole process in the English condition.The following conclusions were made based on the current experiment results and former findings concerning idiom comprehension. First, saliency may greatly affect the Chinese idiom comprehension, the same as that in Indo-European languages. Second, the combined effects of idioms’literal and salient interpretations may be essential in idiom comprehension by non-native speakers, as is suggested by the participants’high tendency of literal interpretations. Third, the cerebral activation and function for idiom comprehension was not confined to one hemisphere, with the left and the central hemispheres more active to activate and retrieve the salient meanings at the early stage of idiom comprehension whereas the right hemisphere responsible for the non-salient interpretations processing in a later time window. Finally, the similar cognition processes and mechanisms may be involved in idiom comprehension by both native and non-native speakers across languages, while the saliency degrees and comprehension process can be affected by different factors like the second language proficiency and idioms’constituent words in second language contexts.