LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:8 August 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Exploring Proverb Recognition Skill among Adolescents

Thejaswi D., MASLP, Rajashree G. Bhat, Intern and Maithily Rai K., Intern

Abstract

Proverbs are figurative expressions capturing values and wisdom of our society. Literature suggests that proverb development begins during adolescence and continues throughout adulthood. Thus, the main purpose of the study was to check awareness of proverbs among adolescents in comparison to adults. For this study, proverb recognition task consisting of 20 proverbs and 20 non-proverbs were presented visually using DmDx software to participants of Group I (10-14 years) and Group II (18-24 years). A key press reaction time involving two alternate forced choice response format was adopted. Results of this cross sectional study design revealed that Group II had faster reaction time and higher accuracy rate compared to Group I and was statistically significant at 95% confidence level. The results documented are attributed to the meta-semantic hypothesis, which suggests Group I may have been less exposed to the proverbs hence processing it as an unfamiliar expression. This leads to active analysis of each word in the phrase, which is in contrast to how a familiar expression is processed by Group II subjects because of frequent exposure. In addition, the difference in lifestyle followed by the participants is also another contributing factor. Overall, the results give us valuable insight on the age related differences in strategies used for proverb recognition.

Keywords: Proverb recognition, adolescents, adults, meta-semantic hypothesis.

Introduction

Proverbs are figurative expressions referring to statements that capture shared values, beliefs and wisdom of our society (Nippold, Uhden, & Schwarz, 1997). These commonly occurring statements are composed from common sense, experience and wisdom of our elders. Principally, a proverb constitutes ageless wisdom expressed in short phrases with moral concerns by means of poetry, imagery and metaphor (Gibbs & Beitel, 1995; Prahlad, 1996). Previous investigations suggest that comprehending a proverb requires several analytical skills of abstract thinking, linguistic competence and intelligence (Nippold, Uhden, & Schwarz, 1997; Qualls & Harris, 2003). Apparently, in a social situation an individual must determine the proverbs meaning by combining contextual information along with worldly knowledge (Nippold & Haq, 1996). This is because proverbs are usually stored as a single unit and rarely occur in isolation (Owens, 1996). Hence, by combining these strategies proverbs are comprehended much faster and more accurately. Moreover, due to repeated exposure and higher cognitive-linguistic flexibility seen with increase in age the figurative concepts become more concrete in nature (Owens, 1996). Thus we can infer that comprehending a proverb is a complex interpersonal phenomenon.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Thejaswi D.
Lecturer
thejaswi07@gmail.com

Rajashree G Bhat, Intern
rajashree.ganesh.bhat@gmail.com

Maithily Rai K., Intern
maithillyraik@gmail.com

Nitte Institute of Speech and Hearing
Medical Sciences Complex
Nithyanandanagar, Deralakatte
Mangalore 575 018
Karnataka, India

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