Idiom Variation in Business English Textbooks: A Corpus-Based Study

Abstract

This paper deals with the variation of idioms from sport which are used to talk about competition in business, e.g. a level playing field. In business English textbooks they are listed in one form, whereas corpus data show that they occur in two or more lexical and/or syntactic forms. Furthermore, it has been shown that alterations result in a change in the overall meaning of the idiom and that different variation types serve specific functions. In order to explore the variability of idioms included in business English textbooks, we conducted two corpus studies of ten competition idioms. The aim is to show that competition idioms vary lexically and syntactically, and that there may be considerable differences between the textbook form and those in which the idioms occur in the corpora. In addition, we will give a cognitive linguistic account of how different variation types affect the idiomatic meaning and what functions they fulfil. The findings may have implications for teaching figurative language in ESP given that (1) idiom variation presents a challenge to non-native users of English, (2) idioms are frequently creatively exploited in discourse, and (3) idioms are used not only to convey information but also evaluation.Key words idioms, variation, business English, textbook, corpus. * Corresponding address: Jelena Parizoska, Studij dizajna, Frankopanska 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. IDIOM VARIATION IN BUSINESS ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS:A CORPUS-BASED STUDY Vol. 5(1)(2017): SažetakTema ovoga rada je varijantnost engleskih idioma koji tržišnu konkurenciju opisuju na osnovu sporta, npr. a level playing field 'ista pravila za sve'. U udžbenicima poslovnog engleskog jezika ti se idiomi navode u samo jednom obliku premda podaci iz korpusa pokazuju da se javljaju u dva ili više leksičkih i(li) sintaktičkih oblika. Prethodna istraživanja pokazuju da upotreba idioma u različitim oblicima ujedno znači i promenu njihovog značenja, kao i da se različite vrste varijanata upotrebljavaju u različite svrhe. U ovom radu prikazujemo dva korpusna istraživanja varijantnosti deset idioma koji se odnose na tržišnu konkurenciju, a koriste se u udžbenicima poslovnog engleskog jezika. Cilj nam je da pokažemo kako ti idiomi imaju promenljiv leksički sastav i strukturu, te da postoje značajne razlike između oblika idioma navedenih u udžbenicima i oblika koji se javljaju u korpusu. Uticaj različitih vrsta varijanata idioma na njegovo značenje i funkciju tumači se u teorijskom okviru kognitivne lingvistike. Rezultati imaju važne posledice za poučavanje figurativnih izraza u engleskom jeziku struke, uzevši u obzir sledeće: (1) varijantnost idioma predstavlja velik izazov za neizvorne govornike engleskog; (2) u diskursu je česta kreativna upotreba idioma; (3) idiomi nisu samo način prenosa informacija, nego imaju i evaluativnu funkciju.Ključne reči idiomi, varijantnost, poslovni engleski jezik, udžbenik, korpus.

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