In a reading-aloud experiment, we investigated the on-line processing of English idioms from a production perspective. The stimuli were ambiguous idioms used figuratively and literally, and matched novel control phrases. The analysis of the articulatory durations showed a processing advantage for idioms over controls. Further, we found that figurative meanings were articulated somewhat faster than their literal counterparts. The results suggest that the processing advantage for idioms over control phrases, previously reported in comprehension studies, is also present during their production. Unlike the comprehension idiom literature, however, the two idiom meanings might be processed differently during reading aloud. The study concludes with directions for future research, and a case is made for why this line of research is important for the field of applied linguistics.

中文翻译：

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英语中歧义成语的产生：朗读研究

在朗读实验中，我们从生产的角度研究了英语习语的在线处理。刺激是比喻和字面上使用的模棱两可的习语，并与新颖的控制短语相匹配。对发音持续时间的分析表明习语比对照具有加工优势。此外，我们发现比喻意义的表达速度比它们的字面意义要快一些。结果表明，之前在理解性研究中报告的习语相对于控制短语的加工优势也存在于它们的产生过程中。然而，与理解成语文学不同的是，在朗读过程中，这两种成语含义可能会有不同的处理方式。该研究总结了未来研究的方向，