Some Reflexions on the Study of Idioms and Consequences for L2 Teaching

Authors

  • Marisa Díez Arroyo Universidad de Oviedo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.200011000

Keywords:

idiom comprehension, idiom processing, idiom transparency, Cognitive Semantics, L2 teaching

Abstract

This paper focuses on the importance of a particular manifestation of figurative language: the idiomatic phrase. Its purpose is to analyse fixed expressions, the difficulties they pose and the main preoccupations shown by theoreticians. At the same time, the study offers a comparison of idioms in L1 with the circumstances which surround L2 learning, together with an exploration of how the emerging differences affect L2 idiom teaching. The investigation has been conducted along the lines of an interdisciplinary methodology; thus, a conscious effort has been made to combine the linguistic and the psycholinguistic viewpoints, implemented with the analysis of Proficiency level coursebooks, in the hope that this helps us to gain a better understanding of the mature, processing and teachability/learnability of these phrases.

Display downloads

References

BOBROW, S. and S. BELL. 1973. “On Catching on to Idiomatic Expressions”. Memory and Cognition 1: 343-346. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198118

BRODERICK, V. 1991. “Young Children's Comprehension of Similarities Underlying Metaphor”. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 20: 65-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067876

BURBULES, N., G. SCHRAW and W. TRATHEN. 1989. “Metaphor, Idiom and Figuration”. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 4: 93-110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms0402_2

BYWATER, F. (1982) 1985. A Proficiency Course in English. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

CACCIARI, C. and S. GLUCKSBERG. 1994. “Understanding Figurative Language”. In Gernsbacher, M. (ed.): 447-477.

CRUSE, D. 1986. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P.

CHOMSKY, N. 1981. Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris.

CHOMSKY, N. 1995. The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT.

DIK, S. 1988. “Idioms in a Functional Grammar”. Manuscript. Amsterdam, Institute for General Linguistics: University of Amsterdam: 1-25.

FORRESTER, M. 1995. “Tropic Implicature and Context in the Comprehension of Idiomatic Phrases”. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 24 (1): 1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02146097

GAIRNS, R. and S. REDMAN. 1986. Working with Words. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P.

GERNSBACHER, M. (ed.). 1994. Handbook of Psycholinguistics. San Diego: Academic Press.

GIBBS, R. 1994. “Figurative Thought and Figurative Language”. In Gernsbacher, M. (ed.): 411-446.

GILDEA, P. and S. GLUCKSBERG. 1983. “On Understanding Metaphor: the Role of Context”. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour 22: 577-590. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(83)90355-9

GLUCKSBERG, S., P. GILDEA and M. BOOKIN. 1982. “On Understanding Non-Literal Speech: Can People Ignore Metaphors?” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour 21: 85-98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(82)90467-4

GUDE, K. and M. DUCKWORTH. (1994) 1997. Proficiency Masterclass. Student's Book. Oxford: Oxford U. P.

HICKEY, T. 1993. “Identifying Formulas in First Language Acquisition”. Journal of Child Language 20: 27-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900009107

IRUJO, S. 1993. “Steering Clear: Avoidance in the Production of Idioms”. IRAL 31 (3): 205-219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.1993.31.3.205

JACKENDOFF, R. 1997. The Architecture of the Language Faculty. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004373167_003

JONES, L. (1986) 1993. Progress to Proficiency. Student's Book. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P.

KEYSAR, B. and B. BLY. 1995. “Intuitions of the Transparency of Idioms: Can One Keep a Secret by Spilling the Beans?” Journal of Memory and Language 34: 89-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1995.1005

KEYSAR, B. and B. BLY. 1999. “Do Idioms Reflect Conceptual Structure?” Journal of Pragmatics 31 (12): 1559-1578. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00004-1

KÖVECSES, Z. and P. SZABO. 1996. “Idioms: a View from Cognitive Semantics”. Applied Linguistics 17 (3): 326-355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/17.3.326

LAKOFF, G. and M. JOENSON. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

LAKOFF, G. 1993. “The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor”. In Ortony, A. (ed.). Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge U. P: 202-251. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139173865.013

LAWSON, M. and D. HOGBEN. 1996. “The Vocabulary-Learning Strategies of Foreign-Language Students”. Language Learning 46 (1): 101-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1996.tb00642.x

MCCARTHY, M. 1992. “English Idioms in Use”. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses 25: 55-65.

MIURA, I. 1996. “Comprehension of Idiomatic Expressions in Japanese. Auditory and Visual Presentations”. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 25 (6): 659-676. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01712415

MOUTAOUAKIL, A. 1997. “Discourse Ambiguity in Functional Grammar: Idioms and De-Idiomatized Idioms”. In Butler, C., J. Connolly, R. Gatward and R. Vismans. (eds.). A Fund of Ideas. Amsterdam: Institute for Functional Research into Language and Language Use: 78-94.

NUNBERG, G, I. SAG and T. WASOW. 1994. “Idioms”. Language 70 (3): 491-538. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.1994.0007

PEARSON, B. 1990. “The Comprehension of Metaphor by Preschool Children”. Journal of Child Language 17: 185-203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900013179

PRINCE, P. 1996. “Second Language Vocabulary Learning: the Role of Context versus Translations as a Function of Proficiency”. The Modern Language Journal 80 (4): 478-493. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1996.tb05468.x

QUINN, N. 1991. “The Cultural Basis of Metaphor”. In Fernández, J. (ed.). Beyond Metaphor. The Theory of Tropes in Anthropology. Stanford: Stanford U. P.: 56-93.

SCHRAW, G. 1995. “Components of Metaphoric Processing”. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 24 (1): 23-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02146098

SCHRAW, G., T. WOODROW, R. REYNOLDs and R. LAPAN. 1988. “Preferences for Idioms: Restrictions Due to Lexicalization and Familiarity”. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 17 (5): 413-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067227

SCHWEIGERT, W. and D. MOATES. 1988. “Familiar Idiom Comprehension”. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 17 (4): 281-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067198

SWINNEY, D. and A. CUTLER. 1979. “The Access and Processing of Idiomatic Expressions”. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 18: 523-534. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(79)90284-6

TITONE, D. and C. CONNINE. 1999. “On the Compositional and Noncompositional Nature of Idiomatic Expressions”. Journal of Pragmatics 31 (12): 1655-1674. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00008-9

WEINERT, R. 1994. “Some Effects of a Foreign Language Classroom on the Development of German Negation”. Applied Linguistics 15 (1): 76-101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/15.1.76

Downloads

Published

2000-12-31

Issue

Section

ARTICLES: Language and linguistics

How to Cite

Marisa Díez Arroyo. (2000). Some Reflexions on the Study of Idioms and Consequences for L2 Teaching. Miscelánea: A Journal of English and American Studies, 21, 27-48. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.200011000