Thesis (M.A.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Arts - Department of English

While idioms are a fundamental and very common aspect of any language, they also constitute an element of difficulty for foreign language learners due to their cultural dimension and their often nontransparent nature. Idioms have recently received much attention from language researchers, but unfortunately most of the literature on idiom comprehension focuses on native speakers. Relatively fewer studies can be found on nonnative speakers, and even fewer ones on Arab learners. The current study aims at partially bridging this gap in the literature. This study was set out to identify the strategies intermediate Egyptian EFL learners employ in order to understand American core idioms, and how frequent and successful these strategies were. It also aimed at comparing the results of the current study with those of the previous relevant ones. Exploring how the teaching approaches and course books influence the learners' choice of strategies. The subjects were 176 Egyptian EFLLs, studying English at four different language learning institutions. The idiom comprehension strategies (ICSs) were elicited through a two-part test, consisting of a background questionnaire and an MCT for idioms, followed immediately by a brief interview with some of the participants

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