Linguistic Acquisition and Competence: A Case Study of Native Speakers’ Idiomatic Competence

Abstract

Since idiomatic language improves speakers’ communicative ability and thinking skills, this qualitative case study investigates the idiomatic competence of young Urdu NSs. For the data collection, eighty Urdu speakers filled in a Discourse-Completion Task followed by a detailed interview of ten key informants, chosen based on their performance in the task. The findings reveal that Pakistani youth are inclined to learn English, and the elderly people have stopped using Urdu idioms in their discourse; therefore, the youth cannot comprehend and use idioms appropriately. Hence, they are not growing cognitively and have become semilinguals. The results suggest that at the acquisition stage, children should be provided with complete knowledge of the native language to build their figurative competence. Further, the older generation must transmit these expressions to the younger generation not only to improve their communicative competence but also to maintain the language and its culture.