Idioms have grammarteaching idioms according to their grammatical form and vocabulary domains

Abstract

One of the most effective ways for students to incorporate new words and expressions into their language is through the study of idiomatic expressions. Indeed, the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms (1993: x) states in its introduction that “the accurate and appropriate use of English expressions which are in the broadest sense idiomatic in one distinguishing mark of a native command of the language and a reliable measure of the proficiency of foreign learners”. We therefore advocate explicit classroom attention to idioms, on the grounds that it is an integral part of language. Idiomatic language should be at the heart of every learning material aimed at communicative proficiency. How should we teach them? How do we point out the various kinds of idioms to our students? Are idioms best taught by examining their grammatical form or through vocabulary domains and related meaning? Teaching idioms requires a multifaceted approach. Sometimes, a teacher needs to explain their grammar, such as their grammatical category: adjective phrases, noun phrases, verb phrases, etc. On other occasions, a list of idioms belonging to the same general category of meaning or metaphor is called for, given that that the meanings of many idioms are not arbitrary but partially compositional motivated by three mechanisms: metaphor, metonymy, and conventional knowledge (Kövecses, 2002: 201). Students generally like to learn groups of them in this way, and we have found that they are always amused to learn such as those dealing with, for example, parts of the body (by heart, cold shoulder, neck of the woods, and so on) all together in such a group. Foreign language learners encounter difficulties using idiomatic expressions in everyday language. In this study, efforts have been made to provide an effective way for teaching them applying both approaches and following the tenets of Cognitive Linguistics. We argue that teaching idioms in this way can accelerate their learning and their long-term retention.