Term
Fall 9-22-2015
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MAESL
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Michal Moskow
Secondary Advisor/Reader One
Ann Mabbott
Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two
Mary Shamrock
Abstract
The primary research question addressed in this study is, how do native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese process American English idioms? The author adapted a previous study by Thomas C. Cooper (1999), employing the think-aloud method: informants were asked to verbalize their thoughts as they resolved the meanings of the idioms, as presented in the Idiom Recognition Test (IRT). In contrast to Cooper’s 1999 study, the author questioned informants of a single L1 group; native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The results showed that the native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese experienced less difficulty than the 1999 group understanding the same idioms. They also employed the same strategies but in different proportions.
Keywords
ESL/ ELLs, Teachers/ Teaching, Second Language Idiom Processing
Recommended Citation
Obern, Brendan John, "Processing of American Idioms by Native Speakers of Brazilian Portuguese: A Study Based on the Heuristic Model of T.J. Cooper" (2015). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 235.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/235