Assessing Comprehension of English Idioms: A Case of University Students in Unguja

Abstract

Understanding English idioms is essential to mastering the language. Despite idioms being extensively studied in the African context, showing the importance of idiomatic competence, studies on how Zanzibari students comprehend idioms are still limited. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the extent of comprehension of English idioms among university students in Unguja to establish if this would enhance their proficiency in English. The study adopted a mixed-method approach and a descriptive research design. The researcher used questionnaires and cloze tests to collect data from 180 respondents from three universities in Zanzibar; the State University of Zanzibar, Sumait University, and Zanzibar University. The findings revealed that the respondents’ performance in idiom comprehension was below average. The findings add to linguistic theory and practice, specifically to the studies on idioms.