The Cultural Lexicon and Linguistic Identity: Analyzing the Acquisition of British and American Idiomatic Expressions by L2 Learners in Contemporary Media and Fiction

Abstract

Idiomatic expressions continue to pose a challenge to students aiming for advanced English proficiency because they represent a complex intersection of linguistic structure, cultural knowledge, and social identity. Despite having a similar linguistic heritage, British and American idioms have developed along different cultural, historical, and socio-pragmatic paths that affect how second language learners interact with them. Idiom acquisition is influenced by learners' exposure to modern media, their engagement with fiction, and their developing sense of linguistic identity in addition to figurative processing abilities and lexical familiarity, according to research in applied linguistics, cognitive linguistics, cultural linguistics, and media studies. American idioms are widely used due to American media's global dominance, while British idioms continue to be used in literature, historical media genres, and educational settings. Though its educational potential is still unexplored, fiction from classic British literature to modern American novels, graphic narratives, and digital storytelling continues to offer idiomatic forms embedded in narrative meaning and cultural symbolism. While sociocultural perspectives stress the significance of shared experiences, cultural schemas, and symbolic alignment, cognitive studies draw attention to issues with semantic opacity, metaphorical incongruence, and linguistic distance. Learners' idiomatic repertoire frequently reflects larger identity negotiations between localized and globalized English as they negotiate these influences. In order to better understand how L2 learners internalize, interpret, and use idiomatic expressions in an increasingly complex linguistic and cultural landscape, interdisciplinary synthesis is necessary. This is highlighted by the convergence of media exposure, literary engagement, and identity positioning.