Avoidance strategy is part of strategic competence in Celce-Murcia et al.’s framework for communicative competence. This strategy involves “tailoring one’s message to one’s resources by either replacing messages, avoiding topics, or …
abandoning one’s message” (Celce-Murcia et al., 1995, p. 27). In ELF contexts, avoidance strategies are also identified, especially in the use of idioms. Both Seidlhofer
(2011) and Pitzl (2009) share the same view that conformity to particular native English idiomatic expressions is unnecessary outside particular English-speaking communities. Kirkpatrick (2010a) also found in his ASEAN ELF data that ELF users tended to avoid using local or idiomatic terms in order to ensure mutual communication. Compared with WE, the relative absence of idiomatic expression in ELF shows “a strong orientation towards communication” (Kirkpatrick & McLellan, 2012, p. 667). In this study, the use of ENL idiomatic expressions and local idiomatic terms was analysed to see how ELF users in China-ASEAN communication settings avoided or flexibly adapted idiomatic
terms.
In Table 5.1, a total of 12 idiomatic expressions are identified, one of which (No. 10) has been slightlymodified by the speaker and has been discussed in detail in Section 4.3.1. Three out of the 12 (Nos. 1, 6 and 8) are used with paraphrase or further elaboration and the other nine idioms are used as they are.
Table 5.1.
ENL Idioms Used in the Subset
No. Idiomatic expressions L1 of the Speaker File No.
1 Put those problems on the back burner Malaysian 6
2 Eyeball to eyeball against each other Malaysian 8
3 See eye to eye with you Chinese 9
4 Olive branch Chinese, Korean 10
5 To test water Chinese 10
6 Has a lot of cards Chinese 10
7 Great minds think alike Chinese 11
8 We are in the same boat Chinese 11
9 Blood is thicker than water Chinese 11
10 One is giving a candy the other one is giving a stick (modified from English idiom: “carrot and stick”)
Korean 11
11 Copy cat Chinese 14
12 Ring of truth Chinese 15
Using idiom with paraphrase.
In Example 1, S2, a Malaysian, is talking about the way to deal with intractable problems. Before he uses the idiom put … on the back burner (which means giving less attention or lower priority to something), he explains in plain English: put those problems
aside. His pre-paraphrase of the idiom helps to avoid any misunderstanding of the
idiomatic expression. S1, the Chinese speaker, seems to understand him and proposes another question based on this expression.
5.2.5-1 (from File 6: China-Malaysian Ties)
S2: <9> i </9> i agree with you i think er (.) if there are some rather: (.) er intractable problem or seemingly intractable problems (.) then er we should put those
problems aside (.) put those problems on the back burner for a while (.) you know
and and work on things that can (.) lead to: results S1: is it in asian culture?
S2: yeah it's part of asian cul- but it's it's a very (.) pragmatic way (.) of looking at things…
Another example of aself-paraphrased idiom was found in Example 2. When S3, a Chinese, says you Chinese in your hand (having) a lot of cards, he is self-paraphrasing this term by providing detailed examples, like cutting off aid, cutting off oil aid and
cutting off everything in order to make his meaning understood.
5.2.5-2 (from File 10: South Korea first female president)
S3: … just like <spel> u s </spel> japan or south korea <pvc> expectors {anticipants} </pvc> say you chinese (in your hand) a lot of cards (.) the cards
means a <un> xxx </un> means you know er (economic pressure) say <loud> cut off aid cut off oil aid </loud> and cut off everything from north korea so that is the
so called responsibility
Using idiom directly.
In most cases, idioms are used directly by the speakers, possibly because they think the idiom is shared by the participants. In Example 3, the idiomatic expression in English
blood is thicker than water has exact equivalence in Chinese “血浓于水 (xue nongyu shui)” and in Korean “피는 물보다 진하다”. Therefore, S2, the Korean, understands
this idiom and responds by showing his attitude towards the idea: making both Koreans
5.2.5-3 (from File 11: DPRK’s brinkmanship tests Obama’s patience)
S1: why such things shouldn't take place between the two koreas and (.) there has been the (.) pan-korean settlement (.) er calling for unification er blood is
thicker than water…
S2: i think you're making er koreans both south koreans north koreans feel very ashamed by that statement
In Example 4, both S1 and S3 (both Chinese) use idioms. The idiom olive branch, though coming from Western culture, is widely accepted in China as a symbol of peace. S3 understands the meaning of this idiom when S1 first mentions it and answers the question by reusing the idiom to show his partial agreement: it is a sort of olive branch. He continues to use another idiom, which is also widely accepted and understood in China: test the waters meaning to “find out what the situation is before doing something or making a decision”.
5.2.5-4 (from File 10: South Korea first female president)
S1: … here i quote (.) south korea wanted to have <slow> a trust building process </slow> with <spel> d p r k </spel> concerning what world policies of the previous administration in south korea what's she this time (.) mister <1> yang </1> (.) extending an olive <2> branch </2> to pyongyang
S3: <1> mhm </1> <2> mhm </2> well er it's a sort of <ref> olive branch and as well it's a gesture designed to test the water…
In summary, only a few English idiomatic expressions were used in the data. Most actually have an equivalent expression in Chinese culture. These idiomatic expressions do not seem to cause misunderstanding among participants. Some idioms are accompanied by a paraphrase or explanation to make their meanings clear. Others are modified or created by Asian ELF users such as one is giving a candy the other one is
giving a stick, black horse, mix our brain (see a detailed discussion in Section 4.2.1).
In this section, the strategic competence of Asian ELF users in China-ASEAN communication settings has been discussed with a focus on the following five strategies: lexical suggestion, paraphrasing, and summarizing, code-switching, dealing with misunderstanding and avoidance. Asian ELF users are able to use these strategies to prevent communication breakdowns. For example, speakers may self-paraphrase their viewpoints to avoid misunderstanding. Idiomatic expressions tend to be avoided in order to facilitatecommunication flow. Code-switching, which was also rare in the data, was commonly used with English translations to ensure understanding. Secondly, Asian ELF users are cooperative when dealing with non-understanding and misunderstanding. Participants negotiate their cultural frames of reference when they cause misunderstanding. They keep asking or explaining to solve problems. Only a few cases of “let it pass” were found. Lexical suggestion or and summary are often used to help achieve effective communication.