More than Cool Reason: Why Should We Study Idioms in Intercultural Communication?

Abstract

Studying abroad equips learners with the necessary skills that help them get more prestigious and well-paid jobs and serves as a supplier of competent personnel for nations. However, learners abroad encounter many obstacles ranging from general living adaptation, emotional, cultural, social, academic challenges to intercultural communication issues. Amongst the causes of intercultural communication difficulties is the ubiquitous use of figurative entities in natives’ ordinary conversations. Despite the possibility that Algerian students might have a good command of English, they still face such challenges in the use of metaphorical language, especially idioms; a situation which might result in misunderstanding in conversations between native speakers and the Algerian learners. This paper sought to contribute to a deeper understanding and identification of the miscommunication and the cultural misunderstanding associated with the pervasiveness of idiomatic expressions in natives’ everyday language. The research took up a qualitative research method that involved an online questionnaire created through Google Form and shared on social media platforms and emails with 39 Algerian students learning in different English and Scottish universities. The paper evinces that incompetence in the use of idioms lead to breakdowns in communication with native speakers. Drawing on the established findings, it is advisable to adopt constructive attitudes and practices towards the teaching/learning of idioms in language classes.