Babak Khoshnevisan, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA

Frame the Issue

English is interspersed with more than 10,000 idioms, some relatively new, others dating back to 2,000 years ago. Burke (1998) claims that there is “absolutely no way a nonnative speaker of English could fully understand an American movie, TV show, news broadcast, or even a typical conversation without help because our language is loaded with nonstandard English, i.e., slang and idioms” (p. 1). Hence, learning idioms is of great importance for English language learners.

The term idiomaticity is extensively researched by both linguists and psycholinguists. The pertinent literature is brimming with idiom processing hypotheses and models for both the first language (L1) and second language (L2) (Cieślicka, 2015; Khoshnevisan, 2019; Liontas, 1999). However, teaching idioms—based on my personal experience in both EFL and ESL contexts—is an oft-neglected topic in the literature. My own research confirms that L2 learners’ knowledge of idiomatic expressions lags behind their L2 vocabulary proficiency (Khoshnevisan, 2019). It is partly associated with the lack of instruction and partly due to the inefficiency of instruction. More often than not, language educators do not teach idioms as a different section in classrooms. To worsen the issue, language educators offer learners long lists of idioms to memorize. The thorny issue with lists of idioms is that context is not provided for learners, though the literature reiterates numerous advantages of providing context in learning idioms (Khoshnevisan, 2019; Liontas, 1999). My experiences indicate that research has not yet informed idiom-related pedagogical instruction in classrooms. In what follows, I present points to ponder in regard to teaching and assessing idioms.

Make the Case

In one of my chapters in Advances in Global Education and Research, Volume 2 (Khoshnevisan, 2018a), I explain how technology can facilitate idiom learning, detailing the impact of technology (incorporating animated pedagogical agents) on L2 idiom acquisition and retention. However, emerging technologies like augmented reality and animated pedagogical agents have yet to be exploited. Accordingly, I propose a model to utilize animated pedagogical agents in teaching idioms. Alongside that, I explicate how other researchers have employed Disney movies, translation, etymology, and funny pictures and animations to facilitate learning idioms.

To include idiomaticity in a syllabus, I advise that educators take research findings into account. For instance, among the determining factors that govern how L2 learners can best learn and use idioms are compositionality and transparency (Khoshnevisan, 2018b). Compositionality is the degree to which the literal meaning of the constituent parts of an idiomatic phrase determines the figurative meaning. Native speakers may not be likely to come up with the meaning of idioms (e.g., kick the bucket) through compositionality (the literal meaning of the components of an idiom). However, native speakers can often simply arrive at the figurative meaning of an idiom due to their exposure to the figurative meaning of idiomatic phrases that members of the community practice on a regular basis. On the contrary, nonnative speakers of English do not have access to this arsenal. Transparency is the degree to which the original motivation of idiomatic phrases is readily identified and accessed. To further illustrate the meaning of transparency, consider the idioms jump the gun and sawing logs. Jump the gun (start ahead of time) is comprehensible and linked to jumping the gun at a running field, and so it is a transparent idiom. Jump the gun is a compositional idiom, too, because the constituent parts of the idiom contribute to the overall meaning. It is both compositional and transparent because the motivation for the idiom as well as the contribution of the literal meaning of the constituents of the phrase are easily comprehended. On the contrary, sawing logs (to sleep) is transparent (as the motivation of the phrase is comprehensible), but it is not compositional because it is vague how components map onto the figurative meaning.

Research findings (Cieślicka, 2015) indicate that L2 learners utilize a parasitic mechanism. Language learners, in absence of the idiomatic knowledge, rely on their L1 idiomatic competence and make a concerted effort to guess the meaning of the phrase based on their L1 knowledge. In this regard, cross-language similarity is among the factors that come into play in L2 idiom learning. As such, the figurative meaning of similar idioms is readily accessible and comprehended. However, in the case of different idioms, more time is needed. By the same token, pictorial idioms—the ones that evoke a mental image associated with the idiomatic phrase—can simply fall under the category of the parasitic mechanism. If the picture triggered by an idiomatic phrase is close to that of the L1, it takes little effort for the L2 learner to guess and learn the idiomatic phrase. Learning the idiomatic phrase would be otherwise less likely. To learn the idioms with a different L1 equivalent, learners need to trust their L1 idiomatic competence and primarily check the compositionality of the phrase. If the idiom is similar or the picture it triggers is more or less of the same nature, learners can simply guess, learn, and, later on, use the idioms. As for different idioms, learners are unlikely to identify or guess the figurative meaning of idioms. Educators, thus, need to supply learners with context so learners can rely on the context and arrive at the figurative meaning of idioms.

Pedagogical Implications

Teaching Idioms

Teaching idioms is a daunting task that takes both knowledge and perseverance from both educators and learners. Learners’ L1 idiomatic competence is a determining factor in learning L2 idioms. Another factor is the difficulty level of an idiom—either the figurative meaning or the picture triggered by the idiom—which is measured based on the learners’ L1. Accordingly, I advise that educators become familiar with the L1 of their students. This can be implemented through the help of learners. Educators may group the learners based on their L1 so learners can find how idioms in a list are different from their L1 equivalents. Later on, educators can provide learners with context and/or translations of difficult idioms. Utilizing animations, including animated movies, can be equally useful in terms of difficult idioms. Animations can supply learners with context to arrive at the figurative meaning of an idiomatic phrase. Animations are also interesting and motivational to language learners. Finally, pictures can be another helpful resource to teach idioms. Pictures in many cases can provide the context as a picture is worth a thousand words.

Idiom Assessment

Teaching idioms is one issue and assessing them is still another issue for language educators. In a chapter titled “Idiom Assessment: To Go Off the Beaten Path” in Advances in Global Education and Research, Volume 2 (Khoshnevisan, 2018b), I extensively explain the affordances and constraints of different methods of assessing idioms, such as idiom detection, task-based approach, portfolio, and discrete-point approach. In this sense, I note that educators’ pedagogy and assessment type need to be consistent with the hypotheses and models of idiom processing for L2 learners because learning idioms in the L1 and L2 are distinctly different. I state that educators can assess idiom achievement through different methods. One method is providing the idioms for learners and having them match the idiom with the picture it triggers. The following idiom assessment activity showcases a sample for picture matching.

Figure 1 is Sam.

Match Sam’s pictures (Figures 2, 3, and 4) with the best idiom.

1. Cat got your tongue

2. To have a finger in every pie

3. To dig in

Another effective method, in terms of difficult idioms, is matching idioms with their L1 equivalents (translation). Finally, educators need to make sure that learners know the pragmatic aspects of idioms (e.g., level of formality). To assure that learners achieve this last skill, educators can provide learners with a context and have learners fill the blanks with an appropriate idiom. A list of idioms with the same meaning can be provided so learners can be tested on knowing the appropriate contexts for each.

Conclusion

The literature indicates that idiom learning is an important module that deserves more attention (Liontas, 1999). To teach idioms in classrooms, I advise that language educators take into account the amount of exposure, the type of L1, and the frequency of idioms used. I recommend educators review idioms on a regular basis and exploit situational learning to review idioms in context. Similarly, knowing the equivalent idioms in learners’ L1 can help educators teach idioms. As such, this article framed the issue of idiomaticity in the field of second language acquisition. Beginning with making the case for the inclusion of idiomaticity in a curriculum, I detailed how to teach and assess idioms.

References

Burke, D. (1998). Without slang and idioms, students are in the dark. ESL Magazine, 1(5), 20–23.

Cieślicka, A. B. (2015). Idiom acquisition and processing by second/foreign language learners. In R. R. Heredia & A. B. Cieślicka (Eds.), Bilingual figurative language processing (pp. 208–244). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Khoshnevisan, B. (2018a). The effect of incorporating animated pedagogical agents in apps on L2 idiom acquisition and retention. In W. B. James & C. Cobanoglu (Eds.), Advances in global education and research (Vol. 2, pp. 72–80). Sarasota, FL: ANAHEI. Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=anaheipublishing

Khoshnevisan, B. (2018b). Idiom assessment: To go off the beaten path. In W. B. James & C. Cobanoglu (Eds.), Advances in global education and research (Vol. 2, pp. 2–9). Sarasota, FL: ANAHEI. Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=anaheipublishing

Khoshnevisan, B. (2019). Spilling the beans on understanding English idioms using multimodality: An idiom acquisition technique for Iranian language learners. International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication, 8, 128–143. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/ijltic.20281

Liontas, J. I. (1999). Developing a pragmatic methodology of idiomaticity: The comprehensionand interpretation of SL vivid phrasal idioms during reading (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Arizona, Tucson. AZ.