Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity
Studies on the domestication of idioms in English as second language contexts have investigated the strategies of domestication and the cultural imperatives of the innovative or else deviant usages as well as the implications for pedagogy, standardization and international intelligibility of the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2024
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/1/Gema%20Online_24_4_14.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848816247171448832 |
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| author | Chidimma U.E.Inyima, Mary Ngozi Nwodo, Henry Obumneme Okoro, Chinedu Nwadike, Simeon Nwabueze Osogu, |
| author_facet | Chidimma U.E.Inyima, Mary Ngozi Nwodo, Henry Obumneme Okoro, Chinedu Nwadike, Simeon Nwabueze Osogu, |
| author_sort | Chidimma U.E.Inyima, |
| building | UKM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Studies on the domestication of idioms in English as second language contexts have investigated
the strategies of domestication and the cultural imperatives of the innovative or else deviant usages
as well as the implications for pedagogy, standardization and international intelligibility of the
usages. Differing from earlier studies, this paper investigates idiomatic adaptation in Chimamanda
Adichie’s novels with the objective of establishing their causes, discourse-pragmatic functions and
stylistic import. The data consist of sixty-one (61) instances of idiomatic adaptation identified
through a close reading of Adichie’s three novels: Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun
(2006) and Americanah (2013). The data were analyzed using a synthesis of insights from a
discourse-pragmatic and functionalist approach with a focus on contexts of culture and situation.
The findings reveal that idiomatic adaptations in ESL contexts are borne out of pragmatic
constraints, the need for contextual and cultural appropriacy, communicative effectiveness and a
bias for social function over grammaticality. The adaptations include both translated indigenous
idioms and domesticated Standard British idioms. The translated indigenous idioms function
especially as palliation, omen, and emphasis pragmatic markers, and the domesticated Standard
British English idioms especially as emphasis pragmatic markers. Contextual appropriacy was
realized by means of translated indigenous idioms and cultural appropriacy via indigenized
Standard British English idioms through the evocation of commonplace culture-bound images,
symbols and shared knowledge. Communicative effectiveness was achieved by the pairing of linguistic form and appropriate context. The idiomatic adaptations as such have a functional
significance especially as Adichie’s novels present a higher incidence of translated indigenous
idioms than domesticated Standard British English idioms. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T01:02:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:generic.eprints.org:25023 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T01:02:50Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | oai:generic.eprints.org:250232025-04-07T03:45:59Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/ Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity Chidimma U.E.Inyima, Mary Ngozi Nwodo, Henry Obumneme Okoro, Chinedu Nwadike, Simeon Nwabueze Osogu, Studies on the domestication of idioms in English as second language contexts have investigated the strategies of domestication and the cultural imperatives of the innovative or else deviant usages as well as the implications for pedagogy, standardization and international intelligibility of the usages. Differing from earlier studies, this paper investigates idiomatic adaptation in Chimamanda Adichie’s novels with the objective of establishing their causes, discourse-pragmatic functions and stylistic import. The data consist of sixty-one (61) instances of idiomatic adaptation identified through a close reading of Adichie’s three novels: Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Americanah (2013). The data were analyzed using a synthesis of insights from a discourse-pragmatic and functionalist approach with a focus on contexts of culture and situation. The findings reveal that idiomatic adaptations in ESL contexts are borne out of pragmatic constraints, the need for contextual and cultural appropriacy, communicative effectiveness and a bias for social function over grammaticality. The adaptations include both translated indigenous idioms and domesticated Standard British idioms. The translated indigenous idioms function especially as palliation, omen, and emphasis pragmatic markers, and the domesticated Standard British English idioms especially as emphasis pragmatic markers. Contextual appropriacy was realized by means of translated indigenous idioms and cultural appropriacy via indigenized Standard British English idioms through the evocation of commonplace culture-bound images, symbols and shared knowledge. Communicative effectiveness was achieved by the pairing of linguistic form and appropriate context. The idiomatic adaptations as such have a functional significance especially as Adichie’s novels present a higher incidence of translated indigenous idioms than domesticated Standard British English idioms. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2024 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/1/Gema%20Online_24_4_14.pdf Chidimma U.E.Inyima, and Mary Ngozi Nwodo, and Henry Obumneme Okoro, and Chinedu Nwadike, and Simeon Nwabueze Osogu, (2024) Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 24 (4). pp. 266-283. ISSN 1675-8021 https://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/1775 |
| spellingShingle | Chidimma U.E.Inyima, Mary Ngozi Nwodo, Henry Obumneme Okoro, Chinedu Nwadike, Simeon Nwabueze Osogu, Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| title | Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| title_full | Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| title_fullStr | Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| title_short | Idiomaticity in ESL contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| title_sort | idiomaticity in esl contexts: appropriacy versus conformity |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25023/1/Gema%20Online_24_4_14.pdf |