Teaching Idioms

Cooper, Thomas C.

doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.1998.tb00572.x

Cited by 47 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In fact, several researchers have suggested that L2 learners, unlike L1 learners, appear to have considerable difficulties comprehending and producing idioms accurately (Cooper, 1998;Irujo, 1986Irujo, , 1993. Sadeghilar (1993) focused on the application of translation in the process of learning idioms and found that identical idioms in both English and Persian would show positive transfer since they are the easiest to be comprehended and produced correctly.…”

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Three Techniques for Teaching English Idioms to Iranian TEFL Undergraduates

Fotovatnia¹,

Khaki²

2012

TPLS

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Abstract-The present study investigated the effect of using picture, Persian translation equivalent (L1), and English definition (L2) on the learning of 20 decomposable and nondecomposable idioms by 68 Iranian TEFL undergraduates. The focus was on learning both meaning as well as form of the idioms. The idioms were given to the participants to translate into Persian three weeks before the experiment to ensure the participants' unfamiliarity of the idioms. The idioms that were known even by one student were crossed out. Each group of the participants received the instruction in 3 sessions (about 7 idioms each session), and reviewed them in the fourth. The participants received 2 recognition tests (one on form and the other on meaning of the L2 idioms) in the form of multiple-choice in the fifth session, and the same recognition as well as 2 production tests in the form of fill-in-the-blanks 3 weeks later (first on form and then on meaning). The delayed posttests were given in 2 consecutive sessions: first, the production and then the recognition. The findings showed that the picture group outperformed the other groups in all situations. However, a significant outperformance of L1 group over L2 group was observed for decomposable idioms in the first posttest regarding form. The results suggest the pedagogical value of pictures for the teaching of meaning and form of decomposable idioms.

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Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Three Techniques for Teaching English Idioms to Iranian TEFL Undergraduates

Fotovatnia¹,

Khaki²

2012

TPLS

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“…L2 learners need to learn how to use idiomatic expressions appropriately (De Caro, 2009;Oppenheim, 2000), but these expressions often pose particular problems to L2 learning (Cooper, 1998;Fong, 2006;Steinel, Hulstijn, & Steinel, 2007). For solving these problems, L2 researchers and instructors have presented some strategies to instruct idioms, such as L2 definitions, etymological elaboration, pictorial elucidation, L1 explanation, rote memorization, and so forth (Abbasi & Zarei, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of Two Strategies of Etymological Elaboration and Pictorial Elucidation on Idiom Learning: A Case of Young EFL Iranian Learners

Haghshenas¹,

Hashemian²

2016

ELT

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This study examined the effect of etymological elaboration, pictorial elucidation, and integration of these 2 strategies on idiom learning by L2 learners. A total number of 80 homogeneous intermediate learners studying English at 3 language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, were selected. The intermediate participants were selected as the result of administering an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) to them. Then, the participants were divided into 4 groups of equal size, that is, control, etymological, pictorial, and etymological/pictorial groups. Before the experiment, all the participants took a pretest to ensure their unfamiliarity with the idioms. The idioms that were known even by 1 participant were crossed out, and finally 30 idioms were chosen for instruction. Then, the experimental groups received their relevant treatments during 15 sessions, whereas the control group learners learned idioms through definitions and example sentences. After the implementation of the experiment, the 4 groups, once again, sat for a test (i.e., the immediate posttest) to see whether the treatments had improved idiom learning. Finally, the data were analyzed by an independent samples t test and one-way between-groups ANOVA. Results showed that all the 3 strategies significantly improved the participants' idiom learning. Results also pointed to the fact that the etymological elaboration/pictorial elucidation strategy was the most effective strategy on idiom learning.

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“…This is likely to help make classes more interactive and more efficient, as was evident elsewhere (cf. Cooper, 1998). It also asserts basic facts in Boers" review study (2011) in which he concluded that CMT and subsequent literature: demonstrated that a lot of so-called idiomatic language was actually far less random and less arbitrary than had long been assumed… The idea that the semantics of idioms, phrasal verbs1 and figuratively used words in general might be explainable with reference to general conceptual metaphors held a certain promise for language pedagogy, because it suddenly looked as though great chunks of language which had hitherto seemed un-teachable could be made easier to learn after all.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Language Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moon (1998, p. 3) maintains that "idiom is an ambiguous term, used in conflicting ways". According to Cooper (1998), the difficulty of idiomatic uses lies in the special vocabulary that students have to face as well as the figurative expressions which cannot be interpreted at the literal level that students have to come across. Difficulty of idiom learning and assimilation is also asserted by Liu (2003, p. 671) on the grounds that idioms" structure is rather rigid, and their meaning is unpredictable for language learners.…”

Section: Idiom Definition and Various Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“My Patience is Exhausted” and “Nafida Sabrii”: A Conceptual Metaphoric Account of “Patience” Idioms in English and Arabic

Galal¹

2014

IJEL

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This paper attempts to explain convergence and divergence of Arabic and English idioms in view of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) as set forth by Lakoff and Johnson (2003), one of the landmarks in cognitive linguistics which holds that our conceptual system is based on a group of mental metaphorical images that determine our way of thinking and influence our experience of the world. The paper specifically focuses on idioms related to patience in both languages. It has been found out that patience idioms in both languages emanate from very similar conceptual metaphors: PATIENCE IS HARDNESS, PATIENCE IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER, and PATIENCE IS SPACIOUNESS; multiple differences, however, have been found to originate basically from cultural/linguistic variance. This study also explores how analyzing Arabic and English "patience" idioms within CMT framework can have significant implications for L2 language learning.

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Teaching Idioms

Cited by 47 publications

References 15 publications

The Effect of Three Techniques for Teaching English Idioms to Iranian TEFL Undergraduates

The Effect of Three Techniques for Teaching English Idioms to Iranian TEFL Undergraduates

A Comparative Study of the Effectiveness of Two Strategies of Etymological Elaboration and Pictorial Elucidation on Idiom Learning: A Case of Young EFL Iranian Learners

“My Patience is Exhausted” and “Nafida Sabrii”: A Conceptual Metaphoric Account of “Patience” Idioms in English and Arabic

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