English is especially challenging for English second language (ESL) learners because of its significant cultural and societal implications. For example, idioms--multiworded expressions with multiple meanings--are problematic for ESL learners because of ambiguity in literal translation and reliance on the societal context. This quantitative…

Everyday language consists of many idiomatic and figurative expressions. For non-native English speakers to achieve native fluency, control of idiomatics--native speech that includes the use of both idiomatic and figurative language--is paramount. In this study, I aimed to explore the use of comics and comic strips in the learning and…

Corpus linguistics has established that language is highly patterned. The use of patterned language has been linked to processing advantages with respect to listening and reading, which has implications for perceptions of fluency. The last twenty years has seen an increase in the integration of corpus-based language learning, or data-driven…