Characteristics of Idiom Comprehension in School Age Children from Low-Income Families

Abstract

This article is based on a part of the first author's master's thesis from Yongin University. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify differences in idiom comprehension ability between school age children from low-income families and average-income families. Methods: A total of 62 students in 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade participated in this study: 31 from low-income families and 31 from average-income families. Differences in idiom comprehensions between the two groups were measured according to context, familiarity, and transparency. Results: First, children from low-income families showed significantly lower performance in idiom comprehension ability in response to the presence of context. Students from both groups scored higher in context identification than independent identification. The difference between the two groups' performance level was greater in independent identification assignments than context identification assignments. There were significant differences between grades. In independent identification students showed a gradual increase in performance as their grades went up. In context identification, students in fourth grade performed better than those in second grade, but performance levels were similar between fourth grade and sixth grade. Second, children from low-income families showed significantly lower idiom comprehension ability according to level of familiarity. The difference in performance scores by level of familiarity between the two groups decreased as the grades went up. Third, children from low-income families showed significantly lower idiom comprehension ability according to level of transparency. The difference in performance scores by level of transparency between the two groups decreased as the grades went up. Conclusion: These results may serve as evidence that children from low-income families have had less exposure and academic opportunities to learn idioms; it suggests that an effective intervention introducing various figures of speech is necessary for such children at an early age.