Effects of Familiarity on Idiom Comprehension in African American and European American Fifth Graders

In order to test the language experience hypothesis, the comprehension of high-, moderate-, and low-familiarity idioms was examined in African American (N=24) and European American (N= 24) fifth-grade students in the Mid-South. This study was designed to augment the existing literature on cross-cultural idiom comprehension, of which there is a paucity of research, and provide a look from a culturally diverse perspective at idiom comprehension in youth. Results indicate a significant effect of group on idioms rated as low-familiarity, whereas idioms rated as high- and moderate-familiarity did not distinguish the groups. Additionally, the current results indicate a pattern of comprehension that is different from that found in previous studies, based on levels of familiarity (Nippold & Rudzinski, 1993) that were established in a different U.S. geographic location. The influences of social and regional culture on idiom comprehension and familiarity is discussed, and a preliminary hypothesis is proposed to explain these influences.