This study investigates the comprehension of spoken-Arabic idioms by Jordanian children aged five to 12 years. It examines the effects of age, semantic transparency, context, and task type on understanding six familiar transparent and opaque idioms in and out of context. The children are requested to verbally explain the meanings of each idiom. They are then asked to select the picture they think shows the idiom’s meaning. Finally, they are directed to choose the appropriate response from three possible options. The results show that older children are better at comprehending the idiomatic meanings of idioms than younger children. Furthermore, transparent idioms are understood earlier and easier than opaque ones. Moreover, context has a more evident effect on younger children. Older children, in contrast, show equal understanding of both idiom types in and out of context. Task type also plays a significant role in comprehension. Children’s performance on the multiple-choice task is much better when compared to their performance on explanation and picture-matching tasks.

本研究调查了 5 至 12 岁的约旦儿童对阿拉伯语口语习语的理解。它检查了年龄、语义透明度、上下文和任务类型对在上下文中和上下文外理解六种熟悉的透明和不透明习语的影响。要求孩子们口头解释每个习语的含义。然后要求他们选择他们认为显示成语含义的图片。最后，指导他们从三个可能的选项中选择适当的响应。结果表明，年龄较大的儿童比年幼的儿童更能理解习语的习语含义。此外，透明的习语比不透明的习语更容易理解。此外，上下文对年幼的孩子有更明显的影响。相比之下，大一点的孩子，在上下文中和上下文外对两种习语类型表现出同等的理解。任务类型在理解中也起着重要作用。与他们在解释和图片匹配任务中的表现相比，儿童在多项选择任务中的表现要好得多。