Rather, in order to understand the idiom, one must often simply learn the definition, and this holistic meaning may be associated with the idiomatic phrase or unit in a word-like manner (e.g., Wray, 2002). To shoot the breeze, for example, means to have an informal conversation, and neither the meaning of “shoot” nor “breeze” contributes straightforwardly to this meaning as is the case in compositional literal language. Idioms challenge language learners as they represent a figurative meaning that is not achieved through classic language composition. We conclude that there is no inherent recognition memory advantage for idioms based on figurativeness alone, and word- and phrasal meaning interact differently in learner groups. In Experiment 2, L1 speakers also showed no recall differences between phrase types, but they displayed a trending increase in recognition in the presence of unfamiliar words. However, unfamiliar words decreased overall recognition and were also remembered significantly better in literal compared to idiomatic phrases. In Experiment 1, L2 learners showed equal recall for the form and meaning of literal and idiomatic phrases in which either all words were highly familiar, or one word was unfamiliar. While single word meaning need not interfere with idiomatic meaning, it is a building block for the meaning of literal phrases. When encountering new idioms, L2 learners often must cope with both figurative meaning and unfamiliar vocabulary. Additionally, we asked whether the presence of unfamiliar vocabulary interferes with phrasal learning by looking at recall of such unfamiliar words. It employed a learning paradigm to test whether there is a recognition memory advantage for idioms compared to literal phrases in adult L1 and L2 learners considering both form and meaning recognition. This study investigated whether these advantages generalize to recognition memory in adults. Native (L1) and to some extent non-native (L2) speakers have shown processing advantages for idioms compared to novel literal phrases, and there is limited evidence that this advantage also extends to memory in L1 children. 2Psycholinguistics and Applied Language Studies and SFB 833, English Department, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.1SFB 833, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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