Students very often describe situations for which an idiom is the best way of expressing what they want to say. Giving them the idiom therefore expands their ability to communicate their meaning. Learners are often keen to give me a translation of an idiom in their language and very often I can supply the equivalent expression in English. This is as true of written language as spoken. Newspaper headlines are a good example here. However, idiomatic expressions have begun to draw much more attention as they are commonly encountered in daily speeches, writing, and literature.
Idiom acquisition and instruction merit more attention in both the language classroom as well as in teacher training sessions. It should not be taken for granted that teachers can teach idioms without special training. In order for the learning and teaching of idioms to be successful, teachers need assistance in instructional approaches and strategies, and to also be cognizant of the ways learners employ, use and acquire idioms. Since mastering idioms is required for successful language learning and native-like command of the language, it becomes imperative that we learn to teach them and begin incorporating them into our regular lessons with young learners.
As the need to be a competent communicator increase, better resources will become available and more emphasis will be given to training teachers in the future, making teaching and learning idioms both easy and more enjoyable. Send us an email or call us toll-free at to speak with an ITTT advisor today. Do you want to be contacted to receive more information? Fill out the form, a member of our staff will contact you by phone. Definition of Idioms Idioms are frequently used in both formal and informal, spoken and written discourse.
Also Read: The Lowdown on Teaching English Abroad With a Family An idiom can be defined as a phrase which has a different meaning from the meaning of its separate components. There are three major points that make idioms such an obstacle to English learners: 1. The difficulty of comprehension and usage I am currently teaching English to English majors in their Freshman year of college.
Methods of teaching idioms One issue with teaching idioms is with the method of teaching them. Do you want to teach English abroad? It is commonly believed that the more words a learner knows in English, the better his vocabulary in this language is.
The fact may be far from the truth. An additional factor has to be considered while teaching, learning or acquiring vocabulary knowledge- the extent of the various combinatory possibilities of a word in the given language that the individual knows. It is this knowledge that determines the vocabulary base of the individual.
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