Teaching Idioms: Approaches, Strategies, and Materials, Lecture notes of English

Download Teaching Idioms: Approaches, Strategies, and Materials and more Lecture notes English in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Using Ready-Made Materials for Teaching Idioms Thu H. Tran Middlesex County College Edison, New Jersey Paper presented at the 41 st Annual New York State TESOL Conference held in Melville, New York, October 28-29, 2011 2 Abstract Because idioms are omnipresent in the authentic language students are exposed to, to successfully comprehend and produce natural language, learners of a second or foreign language need to possess a good knowledge of idioms and competence in idiom use. This paper examines the approaches to teaching and learning idioms. A discussion of the importance of idioms in language proficiency will first be carried out. Several different definitions of idioms will be presented, and typical characteristics of idioms will be provided. How idioms differ from idiomaticity and proverbs will too be pointed out. In addition, various types of idioms will be identified. Approaches to idiom instruction and strategies for idiom acquisition will be surveyed, respectively. Finally, materials for idioms learning and teaching will be reviewed in order to assist classroom teachers to effectively design idiom lessons as well as to teach idioms in a fun and interesting manner. This paper is of special relevance to foreign and second language classroom practitioners who are interested in developing learners’ idiomatic language comprehension and production. 5 social interactions; idioms contain information, and they also provide a method of handling special situations (Strässler, 1982). Fernando (1996) deemed idioms as “indivisible units whose components cannot be varied and varied only within definable units” (p. 30). As Wood (1986) saw it, an idiom is “a complex expression which is wholly non-compositional in meaning and wholly non-productive in form” (p. 2). Nattinger and Decarrico (1992, p. 33) defined idioms as “complex bits of frozen syntax whose meaning cannot be derived from the meaning of their constituents, that is, whose meanings are more than simply the sum of their individual parts”. According to Moon (1998), “Idiom is an ambiguous term, used in conflicting ways” (p. 3). An idiom is also “any defined unit whose definition does not predict all of its properties” (Williams, 1994, p.8). In addition, Seidl and McMordie (1988) stated that an idiom is “a number of words which, when taken together, have a different meaning from the individual meanings of each word” (p. 13). Schmitt and Carter (2004) observed that meaning of idioms cannot be derived from the sum of the meanings of the component words, and that idioms do not always follow grammatical rules. Chafe (1968, as cited in Lennon, 1998) presented the characteristics of idioms as follows. 1. The meaning of an idiom is comparable to the meaning of a single lexical item. 2. Most, if not all, idioms exhibit certain transformational deficiencies. 3. A minority of idioms may be grammatically deviant. 4. The idiom may admit of a literal meaning, but the idiomatic meaning will be primary and occur more frequently. Lennon (1998) suggested that there is a distinction of degree between idiomatic language and idioms. As Lennon further noted, at the top end of the scale of idiomaticity there are conventionalized combinations of lexical items in a language whose meaning cannot necessarily 6 be adduced from the sum of their parts. In addition to idiomatic language and idioms, formulaic language or sequence is another commonly used term used in discussion of idiomaticity. Wray (2000) asserted that in recent years there has been a growing interest in targeting formulaic language in second language instruction. Wray (2002) defined the formulaic sequence as follows: a sequence, continuous or discontinuous, of words or other elements, which is, or appears to be prefabricated: that is, stored and retrieved whole from memory at the time of use, rather than being subject to generation or analysis by the language grammar. (p. 9) Wray (2002) identified a plethora of terms (nearly 60 terms) utilized to describe aspects of formulaicity. Some examples are formulaic speech, collocation, fixed expressions, idioms, multiword units, and chunks. Schmitt and Carter (2004) noted that “formulaic sequences lie on a continuum of transparency/opaqueness with idioms at the obscure end, but with many sequences being quite transparent at the other end (e.g.: my point is that ______)” (p.6). Idioms are one kind of formulaic language which has probably attracted the greatest amount of research (Schmitt, 2010). A distinction may also be made between idioms and proverbs. For instance, Schmitt and Carter (2004) suggested that whereas idioms are often employed to express a concept (e.g.: put someone out to pasture, meaning retiring someone because he or she is getting old), proverbs typically convey some commonly believed truth or advice (e.g.: the longest journey begins with the first step, meaning that one should not procrastinate but should begin a long process by taking the initial necessary steps). 7 In terms of typology, Seidl and McMordie (1988) pointed out that there are three kinds of idioms, and that most idioms belong to the second group: 1. Form irregular, meaning clear (e.g., give someone to understand, do someone proud, do the dirty on someone) 2. Form regular, meaning unclear (e.g., have a bee in one’s bonnet, cut no ice, bring the house down) 3. Form irregular, meaning unclear (e.g., be at large, go great guns, be at daggers drawn) Given that idioms are of crucial importance for language learners to fully comprehend and naturally produce the target language, it is necessary to review strategies that have been employed to learn as well as teach idioms. Liu (2008) presented four main strategies learners utilize to understand idioms in another language: (a) use of contextual knowledge, (b) use of the first language, (c) use of pragmatic knowledge or knowledge of the world, and (d) use of cultural knowledge in the first language. The learner’s mother tongue may to some extent have a role in learning idioms. In effect, Irujo (1993) postulated that idioms in the second language that have identical equivalents in the native language will be easier to learn. Due to the opaque nature of most idioms, learners often have to make use of the contextual information, first language, knowledge of the world or cultural knowledge in their native language to make sense of the idioms encountered. Unfortunately, nonetheless, such strategies may not appear to be useful all the time. It is usually impossible to guess the meanings of some idioms because idioms may be understood literally or figuratively. Hence, teaching idioms directly to language learners may be of necessity. 10 called a definition marker. Nevertheless, he added that a definition is sometimes given without a definition marker. One example he used is: “It needs someone to, as we say, grease the wheels…. Grease the wheels. Make it operate much smoother [definition]” (Liu, 2008, p. 163). In using the elaboration strategy, as Liu (2008) mentioned, the teacher explains the meaning of the idiom by providing information or examples that enable students to better understand it. He illustrated his point by using the following example. His biography says that he jaywalked through life… jaywalked through life, you know what the word “jaywalk” means? It means you wandered around, across the street, not at the corner. You jaywalked through life, wandered around, didn’t know what you were doing. (Liu, 2008, p. 163) Finally, the teacher who employs the paraphrasing strategy utilizes a different expression that conveys a similar meaning. An example of this strategy is “you gotta kick them around, you gotta tell them what to do” (Liu, 2008, p. 163). In addition to strategies for idiom acquisition and instruction, activities designed for teaching and learning idioms are also of importance. Lennon (1998) suggested some kinds of exercises that may be utilized to teach and learn idioms. First, some idioms may be presented to students and students are asked to work in groups to discuss whether there are similar idioms in the students’ first language. Second, students may be provided with the idioms coupled with their definitions in which a key word is missing. The key words are also offered so that students can choose the right one to fill in the blank. This kind of exercise, as Lennon noted, is best performed individually. Third, students can be instructed to read a text in which idioms are underlined. Students have to supplant the idioms with language expressing more or less the same meaning. 11 An example could be “It was raining cats and dogs when I arrived at the airport.” Students are supposed to replace the phrase “raining cats and dogs” with “raining heavily.” Furthermore, students can be given a list of idioms in order to arrange them into pair (near) opposite meaning such as “the more, the merrier” and “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Lennon (1998) recommended that students can be asked to read a text in which many idioms are found and then they are required to utilize the idioms found in the text to fill in another text in which the idioms are used in another context. This type of exercise should be employed with advanced learners, as Lennon suggested. Materials specifically developed for idioms learning are multifarious. In fact, Liu (2003) observed that “most teaching and reference materials on English idioms are primarily intuition based. As such, they often include seldom-used idioms and incorrect descriptions of the meaning and use of some idioms, hence limiting their usefulness to ESOL students” (Liu, 2003, p. 671). Liu (2003) conducted a corpus study of idioms and he was able to develop four lists of the most frequently used idioms in spoken American English. He argued that idioms to be taught should be selected in a more rigorous and systematic manner and they should be based upon authentic language use rather than upon intuition so as to increase their content representativeness. Further, Liu suggested that when idioms are taught, their use frequency as well as information on idiom variations should be pointed out to the learners so that students’ learning of idioms can be more complete. What Liu indicated is indeed the direction that materials writers and publishers may need to seriously consider when creating textbooks for language learners. Publications devoted to the teaching of idioms are many. For example, Wu (2008) suggested some practical activities for teaching English idioms. Several books have been created to help learners better acquire idioms. Some typical books currently available for teachers and 12 learners of idioms are Seidl and McMordie (1988), Broukal (1994), Spears (1994), Francis (2004), Huizenga (2000), and Leaney (2005). Huizenga (2000) focuses on systematically developing learners’ knowledge of idioms in English by leading learners through various steps to learning idioms such as reading a text that uses typographical visual enhancement (in bold) to help learners pay attention to the idioms. Learners are also provided with different activities to meet the idioms again by listening to the text, filling the blanks, and talking and writing using the idioms in the text. Broukal (1994), however, organizes idioms according to topics such as colors, food, and numbers. Broukal’s book is made up of 20 units and a review section. Each unit is composed of five parts: reading (the idioms are in bold), meanings (the idioms are explained), practice (students answer yes or no to questions containing the idioms and students are given sentences to fill in the blanks or to correct errors with the idioms), conversation (students are supplied with some situations in which the idioms are used and students practice each conversation with another student), and discussion (students are asked to discuss the idioms in the lesson). Leaney (2005) is probably one of the most recent textbooks for idiom learners and teachers, and the audio CD that accompanies the book seems to be especially beneficial to learners’ acquisition of second language idioms. A useful online resource for both teachers and learners of idioms is http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/words-stories/. This website may be considered a gold mine for idiom learning and teaching. The idioms are organized and explained by both contextualization and paraphrasing. More importantly, as claimed in the website, all the words used in VOA Special English are within a core vocabulary of 1500 words; short and simple sentences are used, and texts are read at a slower pace, about two-thirds the speed of Standard English. For a native speaker of English, the pace of reading in Special English may be deemed 15 frequently used idioms is indeed of great significance. Learning idioms can be viewed as learning the culture of the people speaking the target language. Just as culture is an interesting subject for language learners to explore, learning idioms can also be as interesting as learning culture. It may be a cliché to say that learning an additional language besides one’s first language is a long and arduous process, but in fact it is. Learning a new language does not simply involve dealing with grammatical patterns and individual vocabulary words. It also requires the ability to understand and use groups of words that may be used together in an ungrammatical and semantically irregular manner. Idiom acquisition and instruction merit more attention in the language classroom as well as in teacher training sessions. It should not be taken for granted that teachers can teach idioms without special training. In order for the learning and teaching of idioms to be successful, teachers do need to be assisted in instructional approaches and strategies for idiom instruction, and they also have to be cognizant of the ways learners employ to acquire idioms. Such skills and knowledge demand serious training and practice. It is hoped that when sufficient training in idiom acquisition and instruction is offered, teachers and learners may find learning and teaching idioms both easy and fun. 16 References Boers, F., Demecheleer, M., & Eyckmans, J. (2004). Etymological elaboration as a strategy for learning idioms. In P. Bogaards & B. Laufer (Eds.), Vocabulary in a second language: Selection, acquisition, and testing (pp. 53-78). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Bromley, K. D. (1984). Teaching idioms. The Reading Teacher, 38(3), 272-276. Broukal, M. (1994). Idioms for everyday use. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company. Carter, R. (1987). Vocabulary: Applied linguistic perspectives. London, UK: Allen & Unwin. Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book: An ESL/EFL teacher’s course. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Chafe, W. (1968). Idiomaticity as an anomaly in the Chomskyan paradigm. Foundations of Language, 4, 109-127. Cornell, A. (1999). Idioms: An approach to identifying major pitfalls for learners. IRAL, 37(1), 1-22. Feare, R. E. (1980). Practice with idioms. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Fernando, C. (1996). Idioms and idiomaticity. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Francis, E. J. (2004). 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