Corpus-based analysis of idioms describing emotions in British and American English

This bachelor’s thesis aims to analyse idioms describing three basic emotions – happiness, sadness, and anger – in the British and American varieties of English using Corpus of Contemporary American English and British National Corpus for frequency counts. Idioms make language colourful and vivid. Idioms are frequently used to express emotions. However, learning and understanding idioms can be difficult. Furthermore, materials, such as textbooks and idiom dictionaries can often contain idioms that are not frequently used, making the studying of said idioms impractical. The findings of the thesis at hand show which emotion idioms are used frequently and which are not.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375260*es

Home Cultures and Idiom Processing: A Short Cut to Encyclopaedic Assumptions of Idioms

This paper forms a part of my PhD research on idiom comprehension and processing through home cultures. The article argues that using home cultural assumptions in teaching idioms could result in easy and quick processing of such figurative aspects of speech. Shedding light on the nature of teaching, however, reveals that teaching English in Algeria is a fairly target culture-based process. This can slow the comprehension process and on some occasions, confuse the learner. This paper reveals the results of a set of semistructured interviews and comprehension tests that were conducted with teachers and learners. Learners were divided into two groups and taught throughout a four-week period using teaching materials that assumed home and target culture lessons of idioms, respectively. Students sat for a pre- and a post-test and were also interviewed after finishing the lessons. The results revealed that students recorded positive reactions toward home culture based teaching of idioms. Comprehension tests also reported a significant difference between the two groups’ performance on idiom comprehension

THE USAGE OF IDIOMS IN SPEAKING

Idioms are an essential component of language that add depth, colour, and cultural context to our conversations. This article explores the various usages of idioms in spoken language, shedding light on their significance in communication, cultural implications, and the challenges they pose to non-native speakers. Through examples and analysis, we delve into the ways idioms enrich our speech, providing a nuanced understanding of their importance in effective communication. Moreover, idioms are important part in speaking. Cultural Understanding: Idioms often have cultural significance and can provide insight into the history, values, and beliefs of a particular culture. Understanding and using idioms can help bridge cultural gaps and foster better communication. Idioms allow speakers to express complex ideas or emotions in a concise and vivid manner. They can add depth and colour to your speech, making it more engaging and memorable. Native speakers frequently use idioms in everyday conversation. Incorporating idiomatic expressions into your speech can make you sound more like a native speaker and help you communicate naturally. Idioms often rely on context for their meaning. Learning to recognize and use idioms helps improve your ability to understand spoken language in real-world situations

Sports idioms in movies: a corpus-based study

Idioms, including sports idioms, are commonly used in spoken language and the aim of this thesis is to explore how they have been used over time. In addition to studying the change in popularity the thesis also studies their use in different English varieties and their classification based on Makkai’s (1972) idiom classifications system. The introduction gives an overview of the thesis and is followed by the literature review which introduces Liu’s (2008) study on different scholars’ views on defining idioms and using them, Glucksberg and McGlone’s (2001) work on understanding idioms and their flexibility and two studies on the use of idioms. The empirical part of the thesis consists of a corpus-based study on sports idioms and their use in movies. By using The Movie Corpus (Davies 2019) the change in their frequency in movies from the 1930 to the 2010s was studied. In addition, it was analysed which English varieties they were more characteristic of and which classification categories they belong according to Makkai’s (1972) system. It is also shown how the idioms support the metaphorical concept of ‘life is sport’ and they are all categorized as negative of positive based on their meanings.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5375314*es

LEARNING IDIOMS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS: VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF DIFFICULTIES AND LEARNING STRATEGIES

Learning idioms play an influential role in language generally and in English notably. Comprehending idioms assists language learners in integrating culture, enhancing skills, and ameliorating English levels. Numerous studies have analyzed the function of idioms in second language acquisition (Cieślicka, 2015). This study investigates the difficulties and strategies used in learning idioms by English-majored students at a regional public university (PU) in the south of Vietnam. This paper furnishes data showing learners’ perceptions of facing complications and learning methods. The samples consisted of 150 undergraduate EFL students from English-medium instruction programs. The data was analyzed by utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reveal that students struggle to understand idiomatic terms without specific, understandable contexts. Furthermore, the results indicate that the most frequently employed strategies are guessing the meaning of idioms, learning idioms through keywords, and learning from a range of sources, particularly via media. The findings also mentioned that low-proficiency and high-proficiency students encounter identical challenges, with no significant differences. The study's results revealed that the majority of students have difficulty acquiring, recognizing, and interpreting idioms. The findings indicated that guessing the implication of idioms is the most used strategy.  Article visualizations

Cultural basis of social ‘deficits’ in autism spectrum disorders

There is very little research that specifically looks at how autism spectrum disorders are perceived in various communities. This qualitative research was conducted with parents who had children on the autistic spectrum belonging to four different ethnic communities (White British, Somali, West African and South Asian- 63 in total) and living in the UK. The study found that the importance that the parents give to various social skills varied on the basis of their cultural background and the gender of the parent. This is an important aspect to consider while providing support and services to individuals on the autism spectrum and their family members if the services have to be appropriate for their needs. This consideration would also enable the individuals on the autism spectrum to develop appropriate social skills required within their cultural groups. This is a preliminary study and further research on the topic is required

AN ANALYSIS OF IDIOMATIC MEANING EXPRESSION FOUND ON VLOG VIDEO BY CINTA LAURA

The aims of this study are (1) to find out the types of idiomatic expressions used in Cinta Laura's vlog. (2) To describe the meaning of the idioms used in the vlog by Cinta Laura. In analyzing the data, this study uses content analysis techniques by comparing the data, and verbally describing, then interpreting the findings to make conclusions. Moreover, the research found 24 idiomatic expressions from5 content youtube vlog vidio Cinta Laura. Where each vlog vidio content has a different duration. Then from the 24 idiomatic expressions, 11 idioms were found that belong to the idiomatic type use by Cinta Laura based on the theory of FacitilyO’dell and McCarthy. There are 6 types of idiomatic expressions based on theory Facility O’dell and McCarthy, of wich only 4 conveyed by Cinta Laura in someof her vidio vlog. and of the 4 types found by the researcher, the one that is often used in idiomatic expressions in the vlog vidio is the type of idiomin the formof a fixed statements found in the idiomatic expressions and the second is in the formof proverb of idiomatic expressions which are include in the proverb types, thereare 2 types, while the third, namely the idiomatic types in the formof cliches asmany as 2 idiomatic expressions, and the last type of idiomatic in the formof binomials, namely only there is one idiomatic expression that belongs to this type. Keywords: Linguistics, Idiomatic, Vlog Video

Teaching English Idioms to L2 Learners: ESL Teachers’ Perspective

This study aims to investigate the perspective of ESL teachers on idioms in language teaching and learning. It looks into three major points that make idioms such an obstacle to English learners: a) the difficulty of idioms including comprehension and usage, b) language connection with culture, and c) methods of teaching idioms. In this study, I surveyed ten native and nonnative English teachers (3 males and 7 females) whose ages ranged from 21 to 45 and older. All the participants were from the Intensive English Center IEC at St. Cloud State University SCSU. The survey consisted of eight open ended questions. It asked participants to write about their perspectives of teaching English idioms, the role idioms play in teaching ESL students, and the participants’ methods of teaching idioms. Participants were asked to elaborate on their answers with the help of examples and situations from their experiences in the survey. The results of the study show that all teachers without exceptions agreed that idioms play an important role in ELT which is a significant finding; the frequency of idioms magnifies their importance. Also, 70% of the participants agreed that idioms are difficult for ESL learners; however, 30% native teachers had contrasting opinions. That is, the difficulty of idioms lies in using them correctly. Participants agreed unanimously that there is a strong connection between idioms and culture. Participants understand the influence of culture on the profession. With regard to idiom teaching methodology, more than half the participants preferred to combine the explicit and the implicit approached to teach idioms in their classes. Two of the four remaining participants preferred the explicit approach and two preferred the implicit approach. Moreover, 60% of the teachers in the study found that teaching literary terms to ESL learners is beneficial because understanding one aspect of language helped them understand other aspects