122252 AR Linguistics Course

English Idioms

Idiom Acquisition for L2 Learners of English

SS 2014

Dr. Mathilde Eveline Keizer

Christina Etz

a0803241

A 190 043 344

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION.......................................................3

HISTORY OF IDIOM ACQUISITION.......................................3

APPROACHES TO TEACHING IDIOMS......................................5

CONCEPT FOR TEACHING IDIOMS TO L2 LEARNERS OF ENGLISH..............9

CONCLUSION........................................................10

BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................11

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IntroductionUp until not so long ago, idiom acquisition was not being

discussed with the level of importance as it should have been

in the field of teaching L1, but majorly L2 students. Idioms

were merely taught as junks of language with no cultural or

historical background and were therefore unpopular and

disguised by teachers and students. With theories by Boers,

Gibbs and Cooper, a different way of teaching idioms became

available.

This paper will provide a short historical background to idiom

acquisition and discusses newly acquired insights to this topic

but is majorly concerned with the teaching techniques, as well

as their theoretical approaches, based on this approach to

idiom acquisition. Furthermore, the last part of the paper will

include a basic concept of idiom teaching of L2 learners, with

a lesson plan that can be altered in order to use it for

different competence levels.

History of idiom acquisitionAs mentioned before, idiom acquisition was not of concern in

SLA research due to three widely spread beliefs. Before the

newly acquired insights were revealed, language was based on a

grammar-lexis dichotomy. Grammar rules and individual words

were acquired separately with idioms not fitting into any of

those two lists. Furthermore, the purpose of idioms was

restricted to “embellishing” usage in rhetoric or poetic texts.

The biggest issue, however, was the assumption that idioms have

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an unpredictable nature. With their original meanings being

blurred and ambiguous, their acquisition was reduced to

memorizing junks of languages (Boers 2004: 54).

In the past two decades, figurative idioms have received

increased attention in educational linguistics due to new

insights in the cognitive sciences. The following points

mentioned below, have turned down the arguments given before

and shed a new light on idiom acquisition. First of all, the

grammar-lexis dichotomy was falsified and replaced by a concept

that allows differently sized units of language, and therefore

also includes idioms. This finding is important when it comes

to SLA, where emphasis is put on memorizing multi-word lexical

junks, which allows a more fluent language production (Boers

2004: 54). Furthermore, one should not forget that metaphoric

expressions are not only used in poetic texts but also in

everyday language. With the help of those, non-concrete

subjects and phenomena can be expressed. Therefore, the need of

building up a repertoire of figurative expressions should be

considered as mandatory. To refute the last misconception, the

apparent arbitrariness of idioms, it is important to point out

that many idioms are motivated, suggesting that the meaning of

such figurative expressions can be traced back to their origins

(Boers 2004: 55).

With those insights in mind, including idioms to SLA in a more

meaningful way was inevitable. Not only does the use of

idiomatic expressions in a foreign language show higher

language proficiency and improve the students’ receptive and

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productive skills but it also gives new insights into histories

and cultures of the respective nations (Boers 2004: 57).

To sum up the gradual changing perspectives on idiom

acquisition, a short overview of four prominent theories and

their studies’ outcomes will be presented in the following. As

Cooper mentions (1999: 235), the comprehension of idioms was

assumed very differently until the 1980s. Up to this point, the

idiom-list hypothesis was prevalent. It was assumed that language is

always interpreted literally before searching for the

figurative meaning, if necessary, in a separate mental lexicon

(Cooper 1999: 234) is out-dated, however, since it is proven

that each, literal and figurative expressions, are perceived

within the same time frame (Cooper 1999:235). The lexical

representation hypothesis then proved that idioms are stored in the

same mental lexicon as every other word. With the use of the

context, it is then decided whether the figurative or the

literal expression fits best. The third one, the direct access

hypothesis, adds another thought to the theory mentioned before.

It is assumed that native speakers hardly ever think of the

literal meaning of an idiom but they directly retrieve the

figurative meaning from their mental lexicon. Furthermore, a

rather logic assumption to the conventionality of idioms is

mentioned; whenever an idiom is used on a regular basis in

everyday conversations and texts, the more familiar speakers

will be with those expressions and they therefore do not have

to be analysed extensively to understand the meaning (Cooper

1999: 235). The last and most recent theory, the composition

model, comments on the analysis of idiomatic phrases. When

trying to retrieve the meaning of an idiom, people are5

considerably faster in finding the origins of decomposable

figurative expressions than with non-decomposable ones. It

should be pointed out that with this theory, idioms are

considered to be processed in the same way as any other word or

phrase is but the most important fact remains at the wide range

of compositionality of figurative expressions the speaker has

to deal with (Cooper 1999: 236).

Approaches to teaching idiomsIdioms have been regarded as a special learning problem in L2

acquisition. It has been mentioned before but with the

definition of idiom by the Webster Dictionary (1994), the

problem arising for the learner is stated clearly here:

“expression whose meaning cannot be predicted from the usual

meaning of its constituent elements”. Therefore, even if people

are aware of the literal meaning of the each word used, they

will not be able to understand the figurative meaning of the

idiom. With the hypotheses discussed in the last chapter,

Cooper (1998: 256) points out basic prerequisites for teaching

idioms in the L2 classroom. First and foremost, variables

affecting idiom acquisition are discussed: the age of the

learner, the frequency of the use of figurative language by the

teacher, the degree of contextual support, grouping idioms

according to their metaphorical themes and the role of native

language interference in the acquisition of the target language

(Cooper 1998: 256ff). Furthermore, Cooper bases his systematic

plan on teaching idioms on the theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner

1993), which he uses as a framework to create a great range of

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activities (Cooper 1998: 259ff) for different kind of abilities

– or intelligences:

linguistic being word smart logical – mathematical being logical smart spatial being picture smart bodily-kinaesthetic being body smart musical being music smart interpersonal being people smart intrapersonal being self-smart (Cooper 1998:

260)

Cooper also mentions that the degree of decomposability affects

memorizing idiomatic expressions (1998: 255). Boers

concentrated on this factor and focused his study on idioms and

their etymology, the story behind the meaning. With the help of

previous findings and his recent study, he created a new

teaching technique: etymological elaboration.

“Helping learners appreciate the metaphoric nature of such an idiom cansimply be done by reactivating the literal sense of the expression, and bytracing the idiom back to its original use or context.” (Boers et al2004: 58)

Since the etymology of idioms is often unclear to students,

especially for learners of a foreign language, it seems to be

hard for them to memorize them. With the study mentioned

before, Boers wanted to find out whether tracing back imaginable

expressions, idioms with metaphoric nature, to their origins have

effects on the memorizing behaviour of learners. The results of

the study revealed that by referring back to the roots of

figurative expressions, mental images are created, which are

stored next to its verbal form. This way of learning idioms by

identifying the source can be regarded as a deeper mental

processing act than the traditional rote learning (Boers et al

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2004: 75). In order to conduct this study, Boers created the

Idiom Teacher, a program that supports autonomous learning of

figurative expressions. Learners are provided with three

different kinds of activities: hypothesising about the idiom’s

origin or its figurative meaning in form of multiple-choice

tasks, and gap-fill exercises with the aim of including the

learners’ active knowledge (Boers et al 2004: 60).

Cooper follows a different approach when it comes to L2

learning of figurative expressions. He does acknowledge the

theories about idiom acquisition mentioned before, however,

also emphasises that those only refer to native speakers of a

language (Cooper 1999: 234ff). He follows Irujo’s theory (Irujo

1986) that L2 idioms are easier to comprehend if the

translation is similar in their mother tongue. Furthermore, he

mentions that idioms were “produced most easily and correctly […] that were

frequently used in everyday speech, had simple vocabulary and structure, and were

metaphorically transparent in that their literal meanings were closely related to their

figurative meanings (Cooper 1999: 237).

The problem arising with idiom acquisition by L2 learners is

that the likelihood of referring back to the mother tongue

decreases whenever it is assumed that figurative elements are

involved (Cooper 1999: 237). Nevertheless, Cooper’s study shows

that next to various other strategies, the L1 knowledge is

being used as well when trying to make sense of an L2 idiom. It

is pointed out here that L1 learners possess a different

thought process than L2 learners. In order to come to a result,

a heuristic method is applied by the learner, which means that

a series of possible meanings is screened and the solution is

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found through trial and error (Cooper 1999: 254). This approach

should be considered and applied when it comes to teaching. As

it is mentioned, using the method of thinking aloud and trying

various ways to come to the right solution can be adapted to

single student tutoring or whole class teaching. The teacher

then serves as a guide through the whole process of trial and

error and suggests hints and various comprehension strategies

to the students and therefore leads them to the correct meaning

of the figurative expression Cooper 1999:255f).

One has to be aware that teaching in secondary schools means

that many different levels of L2 knowledge will be present,

even within one classroom. Abrahamsen and Smith provide an

overview of idiom teaching methods, which are especially useful

for learners of lower language levels. As has been mentioned by

researchers before (i.e. Gibbs: 1987), children are more likely

to understand the meaning of a figurative expression if enough

and appropriate context is provided. Furthermore, using a forced

choice format, is supposed to be highly successful in lower

secondary classes (Abrahamsen et al 2000). Even tough this

particular study is conducted to find out what kind of methods

are most effective when teaching children with communication

disorders, these can certainly be used for students without

disorders and adapted to any L2 level. Acting out figurative,

as well as literal meanings of an idiom could be one way of

raising awareness of figurative expressions. Moreover, telling

idiom jokes, putting idioms into appropriate context, like

newspaper articles or short stories, and, additionally to this,

answering questions related to the meaning of an idiom can be

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further ways of successful teaching (Abrahamsen et al 2000:

236f).

Particularly for beginners of English as a foreign language,

teachers have to find a carefully selected sample of figurative

expressions that can be exposed to the learners without causing

too much irritation. Teachers should be aware that students of

a lower level of English are lacking in lexical knowledge.

Therefore, not only the frequent occurrence of idioms in the

target language, transparency of the chosen idioms and

identical figurative expressions in L1 and L2, but also a lower

level of vocabulary and grammar, are of preference (Cooper

1998: 261). Using these suggestions as a basis to build up the

student’s language knowledge, a number of teaching methods are

provided by Cooper:

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introduction to the world of figurative expressions andfollow-up discussion

definition of selected idioms with the use of context search of categories for idioms drawing or acting out idioms story-telling exercises (retelling, add-on stories) use of media (comic strips, cartoons, TV shows Idiom of the Day lists, board games ,… (Cooper 1998:

259ff)

Deignan’s (1997) approach to idiom acquisition introduces the

learner to L2 idioms by discussing and comparing such with the

help of L1 counterparts. Cross-linguistic awareness-raising techniques are

used to let students explore the correspondence between the two

languages. Before introducing this to the classroom, however, a

study on the usefulness of such teaching methods has been

conducted. The results showed that the following four different

types of figurative expressions exist:

same conceptual metaphor and equivalent linguisticexpression

same conceptual metaphor but different linguisticexpression

different conceptual metaphors used words and expressions with similar literal meanings but

different metaphorical meanings(Deignan et al 1997:354)

By basing their lessons on those principles, teachers should

make their students aware of frequent metaphors in their native

tongue and, more importantly, that only a small selection of

expressions is the same or similar to the fitting L2 idioms.

Nonetheless, learners should be encouraged to refer to their L1

whenever possible, especially because this will raise their

awareness to the cultural dimension of idioms (Deignan et al

1997: 355). When providing efficient techniques of introducing

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or pursuing idiom acquisition in classrooms, Deignan also draws

back to established methods, as for example providing context

in form of newspaper articles, or sorting figurative

expressions into specific semantic fields. In addition to that,

two aspects are pointed out. Firstly, by working with idioms,

students will encounter collocational restrictions and also

they will notice different levels of connotations. Secondly,

learners will find out that some idioms are already familiar to

them although they did not know that they were dealing with

expressions since they are already too conventional that even

native speakers are not aware of the figurative aspect anymore.

In her article, Gillian Lazar provides ways of how learners are

exposed to figurative language and how teachers can deal with

this issue in the classroom (1996: 44f). She also mentions the

problem of conventionalised idioms and the need of grouping

idioms in lexical sets. The next point highlighted by Lazar

applies to L2 learners of all levels because knowing a great

range of lexical impressions does not necessarily imply that

they are aware of both the literal meaning of a word, as well

as its figurative extension. She also points out that,

especially in poetic and literary language, extended figurative

expressions are very popular. By these, she means original

idioms that are altered. In this case, teachers are supposed to

guide students on their way of re-interpreting how the meaning

of the idiom has changed (Lazar 1996: 46).

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Concept for teaching idioms to L2 learners of EnglishAfter discussing the basics for teaching idioms in the EFL

classroom and highlighting the most important aspects of idiom

acquisition in general, this section will be dedicated to an

establishment of a theoretical outline of how to introduce

figurative expressions to L2 learners of English. By referring

to Andreou and Galantomos’ own concept of idiom teaching, a

similar approach will be presented here.

Before introducing the students to actual examples of

figurative expressions, a preparatory session will be

mandatory. Teachers should not miss to introduce the use of

figurative expressions and raise their students’ awareness to

their origins. Detailed theoretical background information on

etymological elaboration (Boers 2004) is certainly only of use for

students of a higher level of English. However, introducing

learners to this theory’s basics by applying Boer’s exercises

in a similar form as they were provided in the Idiom teacher

should be of great benefit (Andreou et al 2008: 72).

Furthermore, the communicative purpose of language teaching

should not be ignored. Although Andreou (2008: 72) points out

that such actions cannot be attributed to teaching abstract

concepts, the following lesson plan will include different ways

that supports the use of figurative expressions in everyday

communication. One additional point should be considered in the

pre-production phase of lesson planning; it is important to

introduce students to any kind of figurative expression as part

of vocabulary enhancement but this must be treated with caution

since it is easy to fall back to traditional forms of idiom

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teaching, as for example, learning lists of idioms (Boers 1999:

54). Opposed to this form of teaching, a syllabus should

therefore not only include metaphorical teaching but also

morphosyntactic information on the expressions taught, as well

as the right form of register and authentic language (Andreou

2008: 75).

When it comes to the goals or objectives (Bachmann 1990) of a

lesson plan, it should be needless to say that the

communicative purpose is of main importance. In addition to

that, teaching idiomatic expression requires short-term goals

that build up the learners’ conceptual fluency and metaphorical

competence. Andreou (2008: 73) mentions four aspects that make

up the latter one mentioned:

original character of metaphor production mastery of metaphor comprehension ability to figure out the meaning of a metaphor speed Andreou

(2008: 73)

In order to be able to interpret and also produce idiomatic

expressions, and therefore master the goals mentioned before,

it is important to break these down into manageable units

(Andreou 2008: 73).

The information provided here was used to create a series of

lesson on idiomatic expressions. This lesson plan can be found

in the appendix.

ConclusionTheories on idiom acquisition are numerous and studies

conducted on this topic have gone into various directions.

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Therefore, quite a number of suggested activities have been

provided on teaching figurative expressions to learners of

English as a foreign language, which makes creating lesson

plans easy and rich in variety. This paper summarized the most

influential theories and had a look on different approaches

towards teaching idioms. Information provided on this subject

was then used to create a lesson plan, which can be used in

subsequent lessons or just as separate lessons.

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Bibliography

Abrahamsen, Eileen P.; Smith, Rebeccah. 2000. “Facilitating

idiom acquisition in children with communication

disorders: computer vs classroom”. Child Language Teaching and

Therapy 16(3), 227-239.

Andreou, Georgia; Galantomos, Loannis. 2008. “Designing a

conceptual syllabus for teaching metaphors and idioms in a

foreign language context.” Porta Linguarium 9, 69-77.

Arnold, Tedd. 2001. More Parts. New York: Dial Books for Young

Readers.

Bachmann, L. 1990: Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Boers, Frank; Demecheleer, Murielle; Eyckmans, June. 2004.

“Etymological elaboration as a strategy for learning

idioms”. In Boogards, Paul; Laufer-Dvorkin, Batia.

Vocabulary in a Second Language Acquisition: Selection, Acquisitioning and

Testing. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Cooper, Thomas. 1998: “Teaching Idioms”. Foreign Language Annals.

31(2), 255-266.

Cooper, Thomas. 1999: “Processing of Idioms by L2 Learners of

English”. TESOL Quarterly 33(2), 233-261.

Deignan, A.; Grabry, D.; Solska,A. 1997. “Teaching English

metaphors using cross-linguistic awareness-raising

activities”. ELT Journal 51(4), 352-360.16

Dickinson, Leslie. 1987. Selfinstruction in language learning. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Gardner, H. 1993. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New

York: Basic Books.

Gibbs, R.W. 1987. “Linguistic factors in children’s

understanding of idioms”. Journal of child Language 14, 569-586.

Irujo, S. 1986. “A piece of cake: Learning and teaching

idioms.” ELT Journal 40(3), 236-242.

Terban, Marvin. 1983. In a Pickle and Other Funny Idioms. Houghton

Mifflin Harcourt.

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Name: Christina Etz Matr.nr. a0803241 Studienkennzahl: A 190 043 344

Lesson PlanSchool: n.a. Class: lower

2nd level

Level according to CEFR: A1/2

Date & time of lesson: n.a.

Mentor Teacher: n.a. Number of Students: n.a. female: n.a. male: n.a.

Brief rationale:

In the following, a series of lesson plans will be provided to introduce L2 beginners of English to

the world of idioms. They will develop an understanding of the difference between literal and

figurative meanings by reading texts that include such expressions. Using student-centred

activities, like reading out aloud, this lesson also serves the communicative purpose. Furthermore,

online tools and dictionaries will be provided for students for additional information. The

instructions given for each task are kept in simple language to ensure that students understand

them without any difficulties. Keeping in mind that heterogeneity exists within every classroom,

one has to assume that some students will finish particular tasks faster than others. Therefore,

extra tasks are designed to challenge quicker students and give them the opportunity to profit from

this extra work (Dickinson: 1987).

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Precise definition of aims and objectives:

The following aims and objectives should be met by this lesson:

Students will read texts and discover figurative expressions by drawing on their prior experience.Students will discuss the use of idioms within the classroom and also visualise such in drawings. Students will research the original meaning of idiomatic expressions.Students will produce self-written texts in order to show their understanding of idioms.

1 - 3 relevant EPOSTL descriptors (page + number ):D.6, page 26: I can help learners to apply strategies to cope with difficult or unknown vocabulary of a text.D.6., page 31: I can recommend dictionaries and other reference books useful for my learners.B.1., page 40: I can present language content (new and previously encountered items of language, topics etc.) in ways which are appropriate for individuals and specific groups of learners.

LESSON 1T = Teachers S= Students

roughtimeframe procedure

interaction format

skills /languagesystem materials notes

5’ Reading for students “More Parts”

T/SS Listening

15’ Follow-up discussion to thetext

T/SS Speaking Discussion questions:

What makes the

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story funny? Why does the

character of the book mix up phrases?

What does he really mean by using those phrases?

What is an idiom?

15’ Brainstorming

S are supposed to reflect on prior knowledge of idiomatic expressions both in German or English

T shows picture of a commonidiom and asks S to draw a picture of any idiom they can think of

T/SS Speaking Empty sheets of paper, colouring material

White board, picture ofidiom “raining cats anddogs”

Questions:

Have you ever heard of “It is raining cats and dogs?”

Do you know any other idioms? Canyou think of somein your native language?

Whenever you havegotten to know a new idiom, how did you find out

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the meaning of it?

10’ T writes a list of expressions found by S and presents them on the white board

T explains the meaning of idioms to generate a general knowledge of the idioms provided

T explains the origins of some basic idioms.

T/SS Speaking White board, markers

5’ Development of a definitionon idiom

T provides students with selected samples of idiomatic expressions and their meanings. S can chosetheir favourites and draw apicture

This exercise is an additional activity ifthere is still some time left. In any other case, this activity will be finished as part of the S homework.

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LESSON 2T = Teachers S= Students

roughtimeframe procedure

interaction format

skills /languagesystem materials notes

5’ Reading for students “In a pickle and other funny idioms”

T/SS Listening

15’ Presentation S/SS Speaking Pictures S will get the chance to presenttheir drawings from the idioms chosen at the endof last class.

By guessing, S should find out the idiom and itsmeaning presentedon the picture.

15’ Pair work S/SS Speaking, Writing,

Dictionaries, computers S will work in pairs on a sampleof selected

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Reading idioms. They are allowed to use any media (dictionary, internet,..) to be able to find information.

10’ Follow-up discussion T/SS Speaking Each pair is asked to present one idiom, its origins and any kind of additional information to the rest of the class.

The rest of the class will then try to form sentences in order to ensure understanding.

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5’ Discussion T/SS Speaking Discussion question:

How do you personally try to find out themeaning of an idiom?

Is it easier todraw back on its origins? Why? Why not?

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LESSON 3T = Teachers S= Students

roughtimeframe procedure

interaction format

skills /languagesystem materials notes

30’ Online tool: “Eye on Idioms”

S/SS Speaking,

Writing

Computer, internet, printer

S will go online and work with the activityprovided. They will find additional idiomatic expressions in form of a picture. In order to complete this activity, S will work in pairs and try to guess the right meaning out of answersprovided, write an appropriate sentence including this idiom and explain the meaning of it in theirown words.

20’ Follow-up activity Handout, idiom wall S will be provided with a list of idioms

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gathered in the previous lessons.

Furthermore, an idiom wall will be created in the classroom. S will have the chance to post any idiom theycome across onto this wall.

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