Abstract
The present study investigated the effect of idiom instruction on EFL teenage learners’ retention of idiom knowledge. The focused techniques used in the intervention were contextual clues, L1-L2 idiom comparison and pictures. Thirty common English idioms were introduced to 37 pre-intermediate Vietnamese students in a private language center in the Mekong delta. During the experiment, idiom tests, IKT and VKSIT, were employed to gauge the effect of instruction on the learners’ knowledge. The intervention was controlled carefully for each single technique so that the effects of each technique could be seen clearly. Along with classroom observations for tracking objectives and procedures of instruction, face-to-face interviews were employed for gaining the insights into the learners’ attitudes towards learning idioms. The findings showed that all of the participants’ posttest results in both IKT and VKSIT were much higher than their pretest results. These results suggested the positive effect of idiom instruction on learners’ retention. Moreover, the interviews showed that the use of pictures was the most preferred learning technique of the three. These findings added pedagogical values of these techniques in teaching idioms. Suggestions were made to enhance learner attitudes towards idiom learning.
 
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Highlights
In Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), especially in such books on training English proficiency (e.g., TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, among others), it is easy for English learners to encounter a number of common English idioms
This study was conducted at a private language center in the Mekong Delta, aiming to examine the effect of idiom instruction by focusing on three different techniques on English as foreign language (EFL) teenage learners’ retention of idiom knowledge
Using pictures is most favored by learners in shorter term while comparing idioms in L1 and L2, the least favored, was the most valuable in the longer term retention
Summary
Vo Thi Diem My, Nguyen Van Loi THE EFFECT OF IDIOM INSTRUCTION ON EFL TEENAGE LEARNERS’ RETENTION OF IDIOMS colloquialisms” is described as one of the proficiency features (Council of Europe, 2012, p. 66). Athough idiomatic expressions appear in all of discourse forms, it seems that second language learners find it challenging to function effectively without the knowledge of idioms. Numerous teachers may ignore teaching idioms (Tran, 2012), probably because of its inherent complexity as well as their lack of interest in this area. This may lead to English learners encountering problems in responding to idioms. This study was conducted at a private language center in the Mekong Delta, aiming to examine the effect of idiom instruction by focusing on three different techniques on EFL teenage learners’ retention of idiom knowledge. The study aimed to gauge the learners’ attitudes towards idiom instruction
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