Evaluating Kurdish EFL University Students’ Comprehension of Commercial Advertisements with Reference to Leech’s Types of Meaning

Abstract

The current study highlights different types of meaning, conceptual and associative meaning in particular, and their role(s) in some selected English and Kurdish commercial advertisements. It aims at detecting and evaluating the capability of Kurdish EFL university students in comprehending (or decoding) these advertisements. The material to be investigated is the texts that accompany the pictorial element(s) of some English and Kurdish ads. The ads are carefully selected to represent different fields: lottery, food, technological devices, telecommunication system, healthcare, etc. The study assumes that advertising is determined by two essential features, namely universal and national; both have serious impact on the persuasive character of the ads. Moreover, it is hypothesized that the language used to support the pictorial elements of an ad, unless well-selected to affect and promote people's desire, might have negative consequences on marketing it. The study also hypothesizes that the students comprehend Kurdish ads easily comparing with the English ones. To investigate the hypotheses five samples of ads in each language are selected and analyzed according to well-defined criteria based on Leech's types of meaning; and a test is designed to evaluate the students' comprehension in which the students are asked to write their own understanding on the texts found in the ads. The study concludes that in each text different types of meaning are available and the type that supports conveying the hidden message is the associative meaning rather than conceptual one. Moreover, the study concludes that because of their lack of most aspects of English culture, the level of students' comprehension of Kurdish ads is higher than the English ones.