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 determin ed by the degree of similarity to their L1 (Hebrew) counterparts. Four degr ees of similarity were established through a three-dimensional framework fo r 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 idi omatic and non-idiomatic responses were compared fro each student, for each idiom type. Results showed that idioms as a category were not avoided, tha t L2 proficiency was a factor in idiom avoidance and that avoidance of spec ific idiom types was related to L1-L2 degrees of similarity.