The Main Types of Paradigmatic Idiomatic Relations in English in Non-Native Speakers’ Mental Lexicon: An Experimental Research

The main aim of the article is to establish which types of paradigmatic idiomatic relations are more accessible to Russian learners of English. The research is experimental and was conceived out of the following practical, methodological, and pedagogical problem: most undergraduate students of English seem to experience difficulty in paraphrasing idiomatic expressions using synonyms or antonyms; nor are they aware that some of the most common idioms are polysemous. With the above aim and problem in mind, the following methodology was applied. At the initial research stage, the statistical method of systematic sampling was made use of, as a result of which 4,000 idioms were selected for the total sample from current dictionaries of idioms. Other methods used in the research are informal interviews, definitional analysis, contextual analysis, phraseological analysis, experimental research, and non-involved observation. The ANOVA analysis was applied to compare the within-group variance with the between-group variance. To obtain experimental data, 50 advanced Russian undergraduate students of MGIMO were asked to complete three tasks whose aim was to establish the degree of non-native learners’ awareness of idiomatic synonymy, antonymy, and polysemy. For this purpose, a subsample of 120 idioms was selected through the statistical method of stratified sampling. The participants were given 140 minutes to complete all the three tasks. Each idiomatic expression was thus given slightly more than a minute (about 64 seconds), which is enough time to come up with the target item if the learner is aware of its existence. Apart from an explanation of the task, an example of its possible completion was provided. This detailed presentation of the task is in accordance with the standards required by CAE and CPE international examinations. The hypothesis of the research was formulated as follows: Russian learners of English are more aware of synonymous and polysemous paradigmatic relations among English idioms rather than idiomatic antonymy due to the current practice of teaching English idioms. According to this practice, learners are more frequently exposed to idiomatic synonymy, and, since meanings of most polysemous idioms are closely connected with each other, the second meaning can be guessed provided that the first one is given. The results of the ANOVA analysis revealed that the degree of awareness of the major types of idiomatic paradigmatic relations significantly differs between the three groups of phraseological units, with learners being more aware of synonymy and polysemy. Antonymy was found to be least accessible to learners. These findings proved our initial hypothesis and suggest that current FLT materials and phraseological dictionaries need to be updated and revisited with a view to exposing foreign learners to an extended network of paradigmatic relations within English idioms.

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