A piece of cake: learning and teaching idioms Suzanne lrujo

Learning idioms has always been very difficult for second-language learners. This article discusses some of the reasons why idioms are difficult to learn, including the fact that most materials for teaching idioms are inadequate. To help teachers prepare materials and activities for teaching them, criteria are suggested for deciding which idioms to teach, and ten activities are described which will help students understand and produce idiomatic English.1

Introduction

The introduction to the Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English states: Familiarity with a wide range of idiomatic expressions and the ability to use them appropriately in context are among the distinguishing marks of a native-like command of English (Cowie and Mackin 1975:vi). While many second-language learners may be satisfied with something less than nativelike command, idiomatic usage is so common in English that it can be difficult to speak or write without using idioms (Seidl and McMordie 1978). The learning of idioms must therefore be considered an integral part of vocabulary learning. The purpose of this article is to help teachers of English as a second or foreign language to prepare materials and activities for teaching idioms. The first section explores some of the reasons why it is difficult to learn idioms in a second language. The second presents five criteria for deciding which idioms to teach, since it is impossible to teach all of them. The final section offers a variety of activities for comparing the literal and figurative meanings of idioms, and for teaching students to comprehend and produce them. There are several learn in a second explanations for the fact that idioms are very difficult language. Some of these will be explored below. to

Difficulties involved in learning idioms Non-literalness

Idioms are not literal; they do not mean what they say. An idiom is defined as an expression whose meaning cannot be derived from its constituent parts (Stein and Su 1980:444). For example, the idiomatic meaning of he spilled the beans has nothing to do with beans or with spilling in its literal sense. Most idioms also have literal counterparts, which makes them even harder to learn. A native speaker will quickly realize which meaning is intended, while the second-language learner is left trying to figure out where the beans came from and how they were spilled. Idioms are frequently omitted in the speech learners. Native speakers tend to use simple,
ELT Journal Volume 40/3 July 1986

Exposure to idioms

addressed concrete,

to second-language everyday vocabulary

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when they address second-language learners; the use of idioms is avoided (Henzl 1973, Kellerman 1977). On the other hand, idioms are commonly used in movies and on television.2 However, television and movies do not provide the kind of interaction which is necessary for learning language; input without interaction is not sufficient for language acquisition (Long 1982). Thus learners exposure to idioms appears to occur mainly in noninteractive situations, where there is no opportunity for negotiation of meaning, rather than in interactive situations which allow learners to clarify meaning and receive feedback on use. Correct use Even when learners do master the meanings of some English idioms, it is still very difficult to learn to use them correctly. Idioms vary in formality from slang (you got it) and colloquialisms (he kicked the bucket) to those which can be used in formal situations (run the risk).3 In addition to situational appropriateness, many idioms have grammatical constraints. You can tell your friends that you didnt sleep a wink last night, but you cant tell them that you slept a wink. You can be fed up with something, but you cant feed him up with the same thing. Most idioms are invariant and must be learned as wholes, but the verbs must still be put into the correct form, and pronouns must agree with their antecedents. If learners try to rely on their first language to help them use idioms in their second, they will be successful in only a very few instances. In most cases, this strategy will produce an incorrect and often comical form. A Spanish man will not make a very good impression on his companion if he tells her she has chicken skin, although his literal translation from Spanish is not very different from the English idiom goose flesh. Another reason why second-language learners do not learn idioms is that we do not teach them very well. Many second-language teaching materials either ignore idioms entirely or relegate them to the other expressions section of vocabulary lists, without providing exercises or other aids to learning. Typically, an idiom will appear in the introductory reading or dialogue, a definition, translation or example will be provided in the margin or notes, and the idiom will then appear again in the vocabulary list. These are obviously not sufficient aids to learning, unless the teacher provides additional exercises and practice. Materials designed specifically to teach idioms do, of course, provide exercises to help learners master them. However, a survey of five ESL idiom books (Reeves 1975, Feare 1980, Goldman 1981, Dixson 1983, Adams and Kuder 1984) revealed that many of the exercises are inadequate. In some cases, it was possible to do the exercises without any knowledge of the meaning of the idiom. For example, Reeves provides dashes to indicate the number of letters in each word of the idiom which is to be inserted into a sentence. Dixson has students answer questions containing idioms, but many of the questions can be answered simply by manipulating their structure, without any need to understand them. Exercises which do involve understanding usually require comprehension only and do not ask students to produce the idioms. These include matching the idiom with its definition or substituting one for the other (Feare, Reeves, Dixson), multiple-choice exercises where the correct definition or paraphrase is chosen (Feare, Adams and Kuder), and completion exercises where the correct idiom is chosen from a list and inserted into a sentence (Goldman, Reeves, Adams and Kuder). In some cases, exercises requiring production of idioms are included only in review lessons which Learning and teaching idioms 237

Teaching materials

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occur no more than two or three times in the book (Dixson, Feare). Reeves includes in each lesson an assignment to write a paragraph on a certain topic, using all five of the idioms from the lesson. This is a difficult task, because the idioms are not related in any way. Only Adams and Kuder provide consistently good, creative and varied exercises requiring production of idioms.4 While this survey is not meant to be comprehensive, it is probable that the books mentioned here are typical of ESL/EFL textbooks and idiom practice books. Thus, one of the difficulties in learning English idioms is the lack of suitable materials for teaching them. Deciding which idioms to teach There is a definite need, then, for teaching strategies to help learners deal with both comprehension and production of idioms, and also to help them go on acquiring more idioms outside formal classroom instruction. First, however, it is necessary to decide which idioms to teach. This is particularly true ifstudents are to learn to use them. The following are criteria that can be used when making decisions about which idioms to teach. The idioms we teach should obviously be those which are used most frequently in ordinary reading and conversation. Unfortunately, no frequency lists of English idioms exist, so judgements must be subjective. It is not too difficult, however, to determine that as a matter of fact, point of view, and in charge are used much more frequently than idioms such as bend an elbow, turn a blind eye, or go to bed with the chickens. Sometimes the meaning of an idiom can be figured out because the idiom is transparent. Some idioms are really dead or frozen metaphors, and their meaning is metaphorically transparent. For example, compare the transparency of hit the nail on the head or the coast is clear with hes pulling your leg or he has a green thumb; the two latter idioms would be very difficult to figure out if their meanings were not known, whereas transparent idioms are relatively easy to understand. It is probably not worth while trying to teach idioms which are restricted to colloquial use (you bet your boots) or slang (dont sweat it). The former are not likely to be used at all by second-language speakers, and the latter may be picked up by those learners who find them useful. Idioms such as a needle in a haystack are difficult because they contain very low-frequency vocabulary. Those which occur only in the passive (e.g. taken in by), or only in the negative (cant make head or tail of), and those which are unusual in form (come hell or high water) are more difficult than those which follow simple grammatical patterns (pass the buck). If an idiom is identical to one in the learners first language, it will be easy to learn. This is useful if the members of the class share the same first language and the teacher knows it (i.e., foreign-language or bilingual education settings). In other settings, the teacher could try having students make the comparisons themselves. In related languages many idioms are identical (break the ice/romper el hielo, an old flame/eine alte Flamme). These comparisons can show students that they can transfer their knowledge from their first language. Comparisons can also point out those idioms which are very Suzanne Irujo

Frequency of use

Transparency

Appropriateness

Simplicity of form and vocabulary

Similarity to firstlanguage idioms

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similar but not exactly the same, and are therefore likely to cause problems (in Spanish, one kills two birds with one shot rather than with one stone). Student-generated idiom lists One way to avoid having to apply all of these conflicting criteria is to teach those idioms that want to learn. Students can keep idiom notebooks idioms encountered in reading, conversations and become the basis for teaching activities. different and sometimes students encounter and in which they write down on television; these then

Teaching idioms

The rest of this article describes specific activities which learn to understand and produce idioms in English.

will help students

Teaching comprehension

Training students to infer meaning from context and to deal with figurative speech enables them to generalize beyond those idioms which they have learned and to understand idioms which they have never encountered before (Adkins 1968). I have found the following activity useful for this.

1 Write a paragraph containing an idiom in a logical context, but omit the idiom. Ask students to complete the paragraph with a word or short phrase which fits the context. When this has been done correctly (i.e. the word or phrase is a paraphrase of the idiom you omitted), tell them what the idiom is, and show them how they have already inferred its meaning from the context.
Comparing literaland figurative meanings Activities (2) to (6) aid both comprehension and production. They help students to realize the absurdity of literal meanings, and at the same time they provide a link from literal to non-literal meanings. The idiomatic meanings should be discussed before doing these exercises. 2 Draw (or get the students to draw) sets of pictures showing both the literal and the idiomatic meanings of an idiom. Then have students match the pictures that go together and match them with the idiom (this could be done by playing Concentration or Fish). 3 Make up and get the students to make up stories using the literal meanings of idioms. For example: I went to a party last night and there was a guy there who was telling such funny stories that I just cracked up. I was in stitches all evening. It was so bad that before I could go home I had to go to the hospital to have the crack fixed and the stitches taken out. Discuss why the story is strange. 4 Make up and misinterpretation ask students to make up dialogues involving of one or several idioms. For example: a literal

Girl: Why dont you give me a ring some time? Foreign boy: Oh, no! I dont know you well enough to marry you! Girl: You must be pulling my leg! Foreign boy: How can I pull your leg? Im not even near you!
(adapted Discuss from Phap 1980) occurred. why the misinterpretation

5 Give students an envelope containing a card with an idiom written on it, and the props needed to act out its literal meaning (Lorenz 1977). Have other students guess the literal meaning; then discuss the idiomatic meaning.
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6 Play idiom charades. Divide the class into teams. Each member of each team gets a slip of paper with an idiom written on it. (These can be prepared by the teacher or by the students; in the latter case, each team thinks up the idioms to be acted out by the members of the other team.) Each member of the team acts out first the idiomatic meaning and then the literal meaning of the idiom, while the rest of the team tries to guess it. The teacher times how long it takes to guess the idiom (time limits may be imposed); the team with the shortest total time wins. (Hand signals should be taught in order to designate whether it is the literal or idiomatic meaning, the number of words, which word is being acted out, the number of syllables, etc.) Teaching production by the Activities (7) to (10) may be done using lists of idioms collected students or provided by the teacher. The meanings of the idioms should be discussed before the activities begin. Most of the activities will be easier if the idioms listed are thematically related; getting students to decide which idioms are related will help them learn their meanings.

7 Tell an add-on story. Begin the story by giving a sentence containing one of the idioms on the list. Students add to the study by contributing a sentence containing another idiom from the list.
8 Students write short plays, puppet show, stories, or dialogues, from lists of idioms which the teacher supplies or which they collect themselves. These can be impromptu, in-class activities, done either individually or in groups, or they can be formal assignments. 9 The teacher tells a story containing several idioms (or students tell them to each other, using stories they wrote in the previous activity). (For example: Jack was down in the dumps. His car had a flat tyre, his stereo was broken, and his girl friend was going out with somebody else. He really felt blue, and he looked as though he had lost his best friend. So he bought a lottery ticket. How did he feel when he found out that he had won $l00,000? He was in seventh heaven! Now he could buy a new car and a new stereo and get a new girl friend! He was on cloud nine! Jack was walking on air for months after that.) Students then re-tell the story to the teacher or to one another, trying to include as many of the idioms as possible. 10 Students role-play a situation suggested by the teacher, using idioms which they have learned previously. This activity allows them to try out actually using idioms in a non-threatening situation, and to receive feedback on the appropriateness of their use in that situation.5 Integrating idioms into the programme Learning idioms is, or should be, an integral part of vocabulary learning in a second language. Therefore it should not be put off until students reach advanced levels. Even at beginning levels, idioms can be added to the vocabulary being learned by including them in dialogues and stories which are created to supplement regular materials, and by providing idiomatic synonyms for vocabulary words which the students are learning. At intermediate levels, students will begin to encounter more idioms in their reading and conversations, and can begin to keep their own idiom notebooks. Teachers and students can bring in idiomatic expressions found in comics and advertisements. Another way to add idioms to the programme is to teach those which contain the same vocabulary words
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students are learning (when learning horse, for example, teach straight from the horses mouth or dont look a gift horse in the mouth, etc.). Advanced learners enjoy and can benefit from special lessons designed specifically to teach idiomatic language. When these are not possible, teachers can devote either one class period per week or a few minutes each day to teaching idioms. Advanced learners will recognize many on their own, and with practice they will be able to guess the meanings of others from context. They should have access to a good idiom dictionary when needed. Alexander (1984) evaluates both general and idiom dictionaries for their usefulness as sources of information about fixed expressions in English. Conclusion Most students are very interested in learning idiomatic language. They recognize it as an area in which they have difficulties, and appreciate systematic instruction. The activities described here can be adapted for any level, and have been used successfully in high-school ESL and foreign language classes. Learners enjoy them, and ESL students report that the practice provided in class gives them confidence to try to use idioms outside the classroom. Students should be given ample opportunity to practise using idioms in non-threatening naturalistic situations in order to give them confidence that they can use them correctly. Comparing and contrasting literal and figurative meanings of idioms will enable students to recognize idiomatic usage and to interpret idioms accordingly. It also establishes a link between the form and the meaning. Comparing idioms in the first and second languages will enable students to discover which idioms are identical, which are similar, and which are different. In that way, positive transfer can be utilized and interference avoided. Creative use of these strategies in classrooms can help second-language learners overcome their idiomphobia and continue to acquire idioms outside formal classroom instruction. Received May 1985 Adkins, P. G. 1968. Teaching idioms and figures of speech. Modern Language Journal 52: 148-52. Alexander, R. J. 1984. Fixed expressions in English: reference books and the teacher. ELT Journal
38/2: 127-34.

1 This article is based on the applications chapter of the authors doctoral dissertation on transfer in the acquisition of idioms in a second language (Irujo 1984), and on a workshop presented at the MATSOL Conference in Boston in April 1984. 2 A recent count made in the United States during three hours of situation comedies and action-adventure shows yielded over seventy different idioms, without counting two-word verb constructions. 3 Spill the beans, put his foot in his mouth, his hands are tied, and red herring were all heard recently on news broadcasts in the United States. 4 Fragiadakis 1985, published after this article was written, includes many creative activities for practice in producing idioms. 5 Paulston and Bruder (1976) give procedures for preparing a role-play activity. References Adams, T., and S. Kuder. 1984. Attitudes Through Idioms. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Learning and teaching idioms

Notes

Cowie, A. P., and R. Mackin. 1975. Oxford Dictionary

of Current Idiomatic English, Vol. I: Verbs with Prepositions and Particles. London: Oxford University Press. Dixson, R. J. 1983. Essential Idioms in English. New

York: Regents. Feare, R. E. 1980. Practice with Idioms. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fragiadakis, H. K. 1985. All Clear! Idioms in Context. Boston: Heinle and Heinle. Goldman, L. 1981. Getting Along with Idioms. New York: Minerva. Henzl, V. 1973. Linguistic register of foreign language instruction. Language Learning 23:207-22. Irujo, S. 1984. The Effect of Transfer on the Acquisition of Idioms in a Second Language. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University. 241

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Kellerman, E. 1977. Towards a characterization of the strategy of transfer in second language learning.
Interlanguage Studies Bulletin 2/1:58-145.

Long, M. H. 1982. Questions in foreigner talk discourse. Language Learning 31: 135-57. Lorenz, E. K. 1977. Excuse me: your idiom is showing. Reading Teacher 31:24-7. Paulston, C. B., and M. N. Bruder. 1976. Teaching
English as a Second Language: Techniques and Procedures.

Seidl, J., and W. McMordie. 1978. English Idioms and How to Use Them. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stein, J,, and P. Y. Su (eds.) 1980. The Random House Dictionary. New York: Ballantine.

The author

Cambridge, MA: Winthrop. Phap, D. T. 1980. A Contrastive Approach for Teaching English as a Second Language to Indochinese Students. San Antonio, TX: Intercultural Development Research Association. Reeves, G. 1975. Idioms in Action. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Suzanne Irujo is Supervisor of Student Training in the Bilingual Education Program at Boston University, and Director of Project BELT (Bilingual Education Leadership Training) at Brown University. She has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in bilingual education and ESL methodology. Her research interests include transfer in second-language acquisition, and strategies of lexical acquisition.

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