Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of idioms teaching and learning in speaking skill for freshmen at FOE, HNUE

This study focused on idioms teaching in Vietnam, where English is taught as a foreign language, therefore, could fill in the gap in the literature on idioms teaching and learning resear

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

-*** -

TRAN THI MY LINH

STUDENTS’ AND LECTURERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IDIOMS TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SPEAKING SKILL FOR FRESHMEN AT FOE, HNUE

Nhận thức của sinh viên và giảng viên về việc giảng dạy thành ngữ trong kĩ năng nói cho sinh viên năm nhất khoa Tiếng Anh, trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi, April 2018

TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS… ii

ABSTRACT…… iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES… v

PART I: INTRODUCTION… 1

1.1 Rationale… 1

1.2 Aims of the study… 4

1.3 Methods of the study… 4

1.4 Scope of the study… 4

1.5 Organization…… 5

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW… 6

1.1 Idioms: Definitions and Types……… 6

1.2 The Roles of Idiomatic Competence in Language Acquisition… 9

1.3 The Relationship between Idioms and Speaking Skill… 10

1.4 Issues in Teaching Idioms 11

1.5 Idiom-Related Research in Language Teaching and Learning 13

1.6 Summary… …… 22

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY… 24

2.1 Research design… 24

2.2 Participants…… 25

2.2.1 The students 25

2.2.2 The lecturers 25

2.3 Data collection instruments 26

2.3.1 Survey Questionnaire… 26

2.3.1.1 Reasons for choosing survey questionnaires… 26

2.3.1.2 Description of survey questionnaires…… 27

2.3.2 Interview…… 28

2.3.2.1 Reasons for choosing interview…… 28

2.3.2.2 Description of interview………… 29

2.4 Data collection procedure 30

2.5 Summary……… 31

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

3.1 Data analysis……… 33

3.1.1 Data collected from survey questionnaire……… 33

3.1.1.1 The situation of teaching and learning idioms…… 33

3.1.1.2 Lecturers’ and student’s self-evaluations on the effectiveness of their idioms teaching and learning……… 45

3.1.2 Data collected from interview……… 49

3.1.2.1 The teaching and learning of idioms……… 49

3.1.2.2 The importance of idioms learning and teaching……… 50

3.1.2.3 Ways of learning and teaching idioms 51

3.1.2.4 Challenges in teaching and learning idioms … 53

3.1.2.5 Evaluations on the effectiveness of idioms teaching and learning 55

3.1.2.6 Shortage in teaching and learning idioms… 55

3.2 Summary of the findings…… 57

PART III: CONCLUSION 59

1.1 Recapitulation…… 59

1.2 Recommendations……… 60

1.2.1 Recommendations for lecturers and students 60

1.2.2 Some suggested activities for idioms teaching to promote speaking Skill 61

1.3 Limitations of the study…… 63

1.4 Recommendation for further study……… 64

REFERENCES……… 65 APPENDIXES……… I APPENDIX 1: Survey questionnaire 1 (for students)… I APPENDIX 1A: English version………… I APPENDIX 1B: Vietnamese version… VI APPENDIX 2: Survey questionnaire 2 (for lecturers)… XI APPENDIX 3: Interview questions… XVI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I am indebted to my supervisor Prof Dr Hoang Van Van, for his wholehearted assistance Without his guidance, invaluable suggestions, comments, advice, and corrections, this thesis would have been possible

My special thanks also go to many lecturers and students at Faculty of English, Hanoi University of Education for their enthusiastic cooperation during the collection of data for this thesis

I am grateful to all authors of books listed in the biography, whose ideas are good references for me to conduct and develop this research

Last but not least, I owe my deepest gratitude to my colleagues in Faculty of English, and my family for encouragement, and support during the process of completing this graduation paper

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

FOE : Faculty of English HNUE : Hanoi National University of Education C1 : Advanced level (proficient user)

CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: The Importance of Idioms in Speaking Skill (Students' opinions) 33

Figure 2: The Importance of Idioms in Speaking Skill (Lecturers' opinions) 34

Figure 3: Teaching Idioms at University for Freshmen (Students' opinions) 34

Figure 4: Teaching Idioms at University for Freshmen (Lecturers' opinions) 35

Figure 5: Time Using for Teaching Idioms (Students' opinions) 35

Figure 6: Sources and teaching/learning material for idioms 44

Figure 7: Lecturers’ and students’ general evaluation of idiom teaching and learning 45

Table 1: Criteria for Selecting Idioms for Teaching 36

Table 2: Teaching approaches…… 37

Table 3: Lecturers’ opinion on teaching methods 40

Table 4: Students’ opinion on teaching methods 41

Table 5 Idiom- related activities…… 43

Table 6 Lecturers’ and students’ evaluation of idioms teaching and learning in detail……… 46

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Wishing that the apprehension of a nation’s language thoroughly and master English well when studying it is the desire of many people To reach these aims, they are not allowed to ignore their learning language’s idioms that are defined

by Palmer as expressions whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meaning

of its parts In terms of language, an idiom is a combination of words that are taken from the general vocabulary of each language Idioms are considered an interesting and popular phenomenon of every language According to D’Angelo Bromley (1984), idioms exist in all languages and “enjoy widespread use among speakers of every language the world over” (p 272) English is one of the most idiomatic languages in the world, containing thousands of idiomatic expressions that are rife in everyday speech While it is like the grease that makes language flow, it also presents an extra obstacle to both students and English teachers Nowadays, English has been widely used in Vietnam and it is also a compulsory subject in all schools, colleges and universities Teaching and learning English in Vietnam as a foreign language has encountered controversial social reactions when students are said to be unable to competently communicate in English after their six or seven years of studying it (Tran, 2012) Some of them are good at grammar and vocabulary, yet they are still unable to communicate in English They still fail to communicate when they discover that what English language speakers actually talk to them is different from what they have been taught

On the one hand, English idiomatic expressions are of great popularity in English

in use Copper (1998) indicates that an English native speaker uses about 20 million idioms in his or her lifetime of 60 years These impressive statistics illustrate the undeniable significant role of idiomatic phrases in daily language use Cornell (1999), in effect, postulated that whether in linguistics or language acquisition, idioms have always been a necessary part of the study of language Bromley (1984) stated that idioms enjoy widespread utilization among speakers

of every language all over the world Familiarity with the idioms commonly used

in everyday language can be a great asset to learners in acquiring a new language (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999) Yorio (1989) noted that it appears that whereas fluency is possible without grammatical accuracy, idiomaticity is not Fernando (1996) indicated that the sheer number of idioms and their high frequency in discourse make them an important aspect of vocabulary acquisition and language learning in general These impressive statistics illustrate the undeniable significant role of idiomatic phrases in daily language use Idioms, either in oral or written discourse, are often inevitable, which makes it a must in language programs to help students develop their communicative skills

(http://www.nadasisland.com) When a person learns idioms in English, she/he

takes English out of its superficial printed form into the natural form, which helps the speaker use culture-oriented expressions more appropriately Hence, both teaching and learning English as a second/foreign language should lend itself to such kind of colorful instructions (De Caro, 2009)

Additionally, teaching methodology, especially in teaching English in Vietnam is still restrictive In the past, English teachers just focused on grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing while speaking and listening received inadequate attention; therefore, students did not have opportunity to speak and to express their ideas in English Later, in the 2000s English started to be taught in light of the skill-based teaching approach Consequently, students have to learn four skills separately, that is, speaking, listening, reading and writing In spite of the advantages of this approach, the biggest drawback is the undervaluation of word power such as fixed phrases, formulaic expressions because of the heavy emphasis on skills (Tran, 2012)

On the other hand, Fernando (1996), Wray (2000), Schmitt (2000), and Simpson and Mendis (2003) maintained that a mastery of idioms is usually equated with native speaker fluency In fact, idiomatic competence is one of the criteria for IELTS speaking assessment In the IELTS speaking band descriptors, uses of idiomatic vocabulary and collocation are mentioned as indicators for the use of lexical resource in bands 7, 8 and 9 All of the students including the first year

students (freshmen) in Faculty of English are expected to achieve advanced level

(C1) in the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) or the

equivalent after their graduation and speaking is one of the criteria they need to improve if they desire to gain the qualification They represent the young generation of future teachers hoped to have the capacity of teaching English effectively; therefore, a strong knowledge of idioms will assist them to be better speakers in communication, particularly in English teaching However, idiom teaching, might have not received adequate attention in foreign language teaching contexts yet (Vasiljevic, 2011), especially in speaking Teachers and students in Vietnam tend to avoid idiomatic expressions in English and few of them are aware of the roles of idioms in communicative competence (Tran, 2012) They may have confronted difficulties in choosing a suitable teaching method, selecting idioms, and explaining the use of an idiom in its appropriate contexts Moreover, in Vietnam, language educators and researchers have done few studies of teaching idioms because this controversial issue has just received initial attention As categorized by Kachru (1985), few studies focusing on foreign language users have been conducted by foreign language researchers and teachers, who are in the expanding circle of English users Obviously, the majority of language users nowadays are from this expanding circle This is a gap in the literature especially when English is regarded “the world’s international language” (Richard, 2008, p.1) This study focused on idioms teaching in Vietnam, where English is taught as a foreign language, therefore, could fill in the gap in the literature on idioms teaching and learning research Additionally, for the students of English as a second or foreign language, learning to use idiomatic expressions correctly is an important aspect in the mastery of international English For all the reasons stated above, the author has decided to conduct a study into the current practice of teaching and learning idioms at Faculty of English (FOE), Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE)

1.2 Aims of the study

This study is conducted to:

a Investigate the situation of teaching and learning idioms in developing speaking skill for freshmen at Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education

b Explore the difficulties (if any) encountered by the lecturers and students while teaching and learning idioms and the strategies employed while processing the idioms

c Provide some suggested solutions to the teaching of idioms to increase students’ motivation and involvement in learning English idioms, and particularly in developing their speaking skill

1.3 Methods of the study

1.3.1 Research questions

This study explores the case of teaching idioms in light of an integrated approach for freshmen in FOE, HNUE It addresses the answers to the following research questions

1 What is the current situation of idioms teaching and learning at FOE, HNUE?

2 What are the lecturers’ and students’ perceptions of their teaching and learning of idioms?

1.3.2 Data collection

Data will be collected through a survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews with the speaking lecturers and freshmen in FOE, HNUE The questionnaires include both opened and closed ended-questions These data collection tools are treated as triangulations to assure data reliability

1.4 Scope of the study

Within the limited time and restricted scope of a master thesis, this study has been conducted with a relative small sample of participants (10 lecturers and 50 freshmen) to investigate the students’ and lecturers’ perception of idioms

teaching and learning in speaking skill only Furthermore, it is remarkable that the time for the data collection procedure is rather short, whereas the effect of teaching idioms needs to be studied for a long time and the researcher does not have much time to investigate it in a long-term process Therefore, the collected data only reflects the temporary and initial effects of teaching and learning idioms on the student’s participant speaking activities

1.5 Organization of the study

The study consists of three parts that are organized as follows:

Part I – Introduction – provides background to the study, states the aim, the scope, the methods of study and outlines the organization of the study

Part II – Development – consists of three chapters

Chapter 1: Literature review – provides the related literature of teaching and learning idioms in speaking skill including definition and types of idioms, the roles of idiomatic competence in language acquisition, problems in teaching idioms, the relationship between idioms and speaking skill, and some idiom-

related research in language teaching

Chapter 2 – Methodology – describes the methods applied in the data collection procedure The participants, the instrumentation, the procedures and the limitations of methods are all presented in this chapter

Chapter 3 – Findings and discussions – analyses the data collected to investigate students’ and lecturers’ perception of idioms teaching and learning in speaking skill

Part III – Conclusion – provides recommendations and conclusion including the summary of the findings and some suggested solutions regarding the teaching of idioms to increase students’ motivation and involvement in learning English idioms, and particularly in developing their speaking skill The limitations of the study and some recommendations for further study are also discussed in this part

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the related literature of teaching and learning idioms in speaking skill including definition and types of idioms, the roles of idiomatic competence in language acquisition, problems in teaching idioms, the relationship between idioms and speaking skill as well as some idiom-related research in language teaching

1.1 Idioms: Definitions and Types

It is noteworthy to look into some definitions of idioms prior to further discussion of methods teaching idioms Many attempts have been made to define and classify idioms (e.g., Cooper, 1999; Grant & Bauer, 2004; Lennon, 1998; Simpson & Mendis, 2003), but due to different theoretical classification criteria adopted in the definition, researchers have not been able to settle for a single explanation Because of multifarious objects, the study of idioms requires different viewpoints and methodological approaches (Tabossi & Zardon, 1993)

As Lennon (1998) claimed, language is more or less idiomatic in the scale of idiomaticity Some scholars such as Cooper (1999), however, addressed that idioms are a type of multi-word units that have non-literal meaning Langlotz (2006) stated that an idiom is an institutionalized construction that is composed

of two or more lexical items and has the composite structure of a phrase or clause Moreover, it is considerably fixed and collocationally restricted Irujo (1986) addressed that an idiom is a conventionalized expression whose meaning cannot be determined from the meaning of its parts Idioms differ from other figurative expressions, such as similes and metaphors, in that they have conventionalized meanings Simpson and Mendis (Ibid.) posited that mentioning the word idioms conjures up language that is perceived to be entertaining, engaging, casual, charming, colorful, and memorable As Simpson and Mendis put it, an idiom is a group of words occurring in a more or less fixed phrase and whose overall meaning cannot be predicted by analyzing the meaning of its

semi-constituent parts Bromley (1984) defined idioms as figurative expressions that represent one concept in terms of another that may be thought of as analogous Carter (1987) saw idioms as restricted collocations that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words that make them up In a similar way, Huizenga (2000) considered an idiom as a group of words having a meaning different from the meaning of its individual parts In the same fashion, Feare (1980) stated that an idiom, in general, is an expression that has a special meaning, and this meaning cannot be understood completely by looking at the individual words in the idiom Idioms are not only lexemes that capture everyday situations semantically, but they are linguistic units that deduce the complexity of

5 social interactions; idioms contain information, and they provide a method of handling special situations (Strässler, 1982) Fernando (1996) deemed idioms as

“indivisible units whose components cannot be varied and varied only within definable units” (p 30) As Wood (1986) saw it, an idiom is “a complex expression which is wholly non-compositional in meaning and wholly non-productive in form” (p 2) Nattinger and Decarrico (1992, p 33) defined idioms

as “complex bits of frozen syntax whose meaning cannot be derived from the meaning of their constituents, that is, whose meanings are more than simply the sum of their individual parts” According to Moon (1998), idiom is an ambiguous term, used in conflicting ways (p 3) An idiom is also “any defined unit whose definition does not predict all of its properties” (Williams, 1994, p.8) In addition, Seidl and McMordie (1988) stated that an idiom is “a number of words which, when taken together, have a different meaning from the individual meanings of each word” (p 13) Schmitt and Carter (2004) observed that meaning of idioms cannot be derived from the sum of the meanings of the component words, and that idioms do not always follow grammatical rules

Gibbs (1987) classifies idioms syntactically frozen idioms, syntactically flexible idioms, transparent idioms, and opaque idioms Syntactically frozen idioms cannot be syntactically transformed into the passive and still retain their figurative meaning They are learned more quickly because they are heard more frequently in only one syntactic form Syntactically flexible idioms retain their

figurative meaning even if transformed into the passive, Transparent Idioms close relationship between literal and figurative meanings, and opaque idioms obscure relationship between literal and figurative meanings Chafe (1968, as cited in Lennon, 1998) presented the characteristics of idioms as follows:

1 The meaning of an idiom is comparable to the meaning of a single lexical item

2 Most, if not all, idioms exhibit certain transformational deficiencies

3 A minority of idioms may be grammatically deviant

4 The idiom may admit of a literal meaning, but the idiomatic meaning will

be primary and occur more frequently

Significant attempts have been made to categorize idioms Fernando (1996, p32)

puts idioms into three categories: Pure idioms (kick the bucket = die, bread and butter = main income, earning activity), semi literal idioms (use something as a

step stone) and literal idioms Irujo (1986) creates three lists of idioms are identical idioms, similar idioms, and different Idioms while Makkai’s work in

1972 classifies idioms into lexemic idioms and sememic idioms Grant (2007) also categorizes idioms as core idioms, figurative idioms or ONCEs-one non-compositional element

According to Simpson and Mendis (2003) and Zyzik (2011), an idiom is defined

as a group of words that co-occur in more or less fixed phrase whose figurative meaning cannot be predicted by analyzing the meaning of its components, as this study will define In other words, it can be called figurative idioms or figurative idiomatic expressions, for example the phrase “my cup of tea” does not refer to a drink but to something or someone that one finds pleasing As it is stressed in this definition, a figurative idiom can be identified that it is impossible to understand the meaning of this multi-word unit by adding up the meaning of each word in the unit Moreover, it makes the distinction between idioms and

collocations that the meaning of collocations is predictable from the meaning of the individual words in the unit in contrast with idioms

1.2 The Roles of Idiomatic Competence in Language Acquisition

Before determining what are the effective ways to teach idioms to second language students, especially to freshmen in FOE, it is important to address the reason why idiomatic competence is needed Initially, it is necessary to contain a grasp in idioms, especially in spoken language Lundblom and Woods (2012) find that idioms “appear in conversation, print (magazines and newspapers), and media (movies, radio, and television)” (p 203) Cooper (1998) claims that when idioms occur on TV-shows, for example, the viewer often needs to be able to comprehend the idiom in question in order to understand the plot Moreover, “of the four kinds of nonliteral expressions, idioms are the most frequently encountered in discourse” (Ibid., p 255) Accordingly, students should learn them or in other words to try to have the idiomatic competence in order to be fluent in the target language Buckingham (2006) and Burke (1988) state that idiomatic competence is the ability to appropriately communicate with idioms in the roles of both an addressor and an addressee In fact, idiomatic or figurative competence has recently been discussed in accordance with communicative competence, which was inspired by Chomsky (1965) and Hymes (1972), Canale and Swain (1980), and Celce-Murcia (1995, 2008) Figurative competence, getting along with other language competence, refers to as the ability to appropriately use and comprehend idioms in communication It enables non-native speakers to achieve full comprehension in daily life conversation (Burke,

1998, Buckingham, 2006) Boers et al (2006) emphasize the benefit of idiomatic expressions to language learners that it helps communicators fully encode and decode the meaning of a conversation Wray (2000) analyses the role of multi-word units such as figurative idioms in speakers’ production and hearer’s comprehension which tend not only to help speakers create a shorter processing route and organize discourse but also to assist hearers in profoundly

understanding the speaker’s world and indicating the speaker’s individual identity

The knowledge of figurative idioms both facilitates processing loads in language production and provides speculating information of the incoming utterances (Lennon, 1988) However, it seems to be loath to both teachers and students in Vietnam to teach and learn idioms As a result, they have considerable difficulty

in interpreting speakers’ in the inner circle because of the number of idiomatic expressions they use in their speech Knowles (2004) described the learning process in five steps ranging from familiarization, recognition, and comprehension to mastery and automaticity When students reach automaticity, they are able to communicate confidently in the language they are learning This implies that English teachers should explore the efficient ways to teach idioms for students to make them expose to idiomatic expressions and have intensive practice to be able to utilize idioms for communication

1.3 The Relationship between Idioms and Speaking Skill

According to D’Angelo Bromley (1984), idioms exist in all languages and “enjoy widespread use among speakers of every language the world over” (p 272) English is one of the most idiomatic languages in the world, containing thousands of idiomatic expressions that are rife in everyday speech It is clear that people who want to master English should grasp its idiomatic expressions among other things Bromley (1984) stated that idioms enjoy widespread utilization among speakers of every language all over the world Yorio (1989) noted that it appears that whereas fluency is possible without grammatical accuracy, idiomaticity is not A strong knowledge of idioms will help students to

be better speakers and negotiators and they will be in a much better position to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way (http://www.nadasisland.com/idioms) These impressive statistics illustrate the undeniable significant role of idiomatic phrases in daily language use, especially

in speaking skill to communicate with others Idioms, in oral discourse, are often inevitable, which makes it a must in language programs to help students develop

their communicative skills When a person learns idioms in English, she/he takes English out of its superficial printed form into the natural form that helps the speaker use culture-oriented expressions more appropriately In the same vein, citing Fernando (1996), Schmitt (2000), and Wray (2000), Simpson and Mendis (2003) claimed that a mastery of idioms is usually equated with native speaker fluency Researchers in language acquisition such as Wray (2000), Joyce & Burns (1998) emphasize that mastery of idiomatic language; particularly in speaking skill is one significant indicator of successful language acquisition In fact, idiomatic competence is one of the criteria for IELTS speaking assessment that in the IELTS speaking band descriptors and usingidiomatic vocabulary and collocation are mentioned as indicators for the use of lexical resource in bands 7,

8 and 9 In fact, the first year students (freshmen) at FOE are expected to achieve C1 (proficient users) in the CEFR or the equivalent after their graduation and speaking is one of the criteria they need to improve if they desire to gain the qualification They represent the young generation of future teachers who hoped

to have the capacity to teach English under the oriented communication at high schools; therefore, a strong knowledge of idioms will help them to be better speakers in communication, particularly in English teaching

1.4 Issues in Teaching Idioms

Teaching idioms is one of the hardest areas in English, as claimed by many teachers in Vietnam In fact, idioms are “notoriously difficult” (Celce-Murcia & Larsen Freeman, 1999, p 39), which has been quoted by later scholars (Liu,

2003, Zyzik, 2011) Mola (1993) discovered that idioms are not treated in L2 classrooms as regularly as might be, because of time pressures Indeed, teaching idioms so far has been considered as a part of teaching vocabulary that was taught individually out of context However, more and more strategies and tactics

have been employed (for example www.ccsenet.org/elt English Language Teaching Vol 5, No 12; 2012 78) to teach idioms to help students fully

comprehend and naturally produce English Liu (2008) mentioned four main strategies learners utilize to comprehend idioms in another language: (a) use of

contextual knowledge, (b) use of the first language, (c) use of pragmatic knowledge or knowledge of the world, and (d) use of cultural knowledge in the first language for learners of all ages Copper (1999) also identified seven strategies for idiom comprehension in which guessing from context and using literal meaning are the most popular Therefore, it should be emphasized that idioms must be taught in the context, yet Liu (2003) debates that it has been a challenge to teachers in a foreign language context to help students acquire idioms

Furthermore, idioms selection in teaching is a controversial issue The question

is, in the numerous of English idioms, what are idioms appropriate for teaching?

In addition, teaching methods issue is also a major concern that only answering the following question can deal with this Should teachers teach idioms in separated lesson or in an integrated approach? Which efficient ways and activities can be used to teach idioms?

Additionally, it seems that idioms are difficult to learn and comprehend The complexity of this area within language learning is another reason why teachers need to explain and teach idioms to students D’Angelo Bromley (1984) opined that idioms “add confusion and difficulty to the learning of language” (p 272) Lundblom and Woods (2012) further explained that idioms “occur frequently in classroom language Students with literacy or language weaknesses are often challenged by idioms; therefore, the failure to comprehend idioms can impact academic performance” (p 202) Not only students but also teachers in Vietnam tend to avoid idioms In the past, they did not study much about idioms They now had to self-improve their language skills and knowledge to meet the idiomatic demand for the courses

On this ground, this study aims to explore teachers’ and students' perceptions about English idioms learning It is hoped to inform them of the importance of idioms, then students’ attitudes toward the appearance of idioms in natural language will be likely to change Moreover, students’ speaking skill will probably be developed through the efforts of teachers to identify idioms effective

teaching methods to help students interpret and utilize idioms in improving speaking skill

1.5 Idiom-related Research in Language Teaching and Learning

Idioms are a concern of many researchers demonstrated by a great deal of studies related to this issue Studies of idioms in language learning and use can be divided into three main categories Firstly, early research concerned the constitution of idioms (e.g., Fernando, 1996; Grant & Bauer, 2004; Makkai, 1972)

Secondly, a great deal of research focused on methods of teaching idioms (e.g., Buckingham, 2006; Copper, 1999; Lennon, 1998; Tran, 2012; Vasiljevic, 2011; Wray, 2000; Zyzik, 2009) These studies attempted to find effective ways of teaching idioms for language learners in ESL / EFL contexts Initially, Gibbs (1986) mentioned three competing hypotheses regarding how idioms are processed and these are developed into a systematic plan for teaching idioms in the classroom First, the literal first hypothesis consists of two modes: active mode processes the literal meaning and inactive mode processes the figurative meaning of an idiom The former is normally the active one while the latter comes into play when the literal meaning does not fit into the speech context Second, the simultaneous processing hypothesis claims that the literal and figurative meanings are processed at the same time Next, the direct access model and it only makes use of the figurative meaning of an idiom directly from the mental lexicon

Given that idioms are of crucial importance for language learners to fully comprehend and naturally produce the target language, it is necessary to review strategies that have been employed to learn as well as teach idioms Liu (2008) presented four main strategies learners utilize to understand idioms in another language: (a) use of contextual knowledge, (b) use of the first language, (c) use

of pragmatic knowledge or knowledge of the world, and (d) use of cultural knowledge in the first language The learner’s mother tongue may to some extent

have a role in learning idioms In effect, Irujo (1993) postulated that idioms in the second language that have identical equivalents in the native language will be easier to learn Due to the opaque nature of most idioms, learners often have to make use of the contextual information, first language, knowledge of the world

or cultural knowledge in their native language to make sense of the idioms encountered Cooper (1999) supported some strategies to teach idioms that lead

to the successful interpretation such as guessing from the context, discussing and analyzing the idioms, using the literal meaning, requesting information, repeating

or paraphrasing the idioms, using background knowledge, and reference to L1 idioms Unfortunately, nonetheless, such strategies may not appear to be useful all the time It is usually impossible to guess the meanings of some idioms because idioms may be understood literally or figuratively Hence, teaching idioms directly to language learners may be of necessity

Irujo (1993) reasoned that teaching students strategies to cope with figurative language will enable them to take advantage of the semantic transparency of some idioms According to Irujo, it makes sense to teach the idioms that students want to learn, and teachers may encourage students to learn idioms by asking them to keep notebooks containing idioms encountered outside of class, or the teacher may use idioms students want to learn in teaching activities In addition, Irujo suggested that an idiom bulletin board could be used for the teacher and students to post examples of idioms they came across in newspapers or any other possible sources Richards (1996, as cited in Liu, 2008) set forth two approaches

to idiom instruction: a proactive approach and a retroactive approach Whereas in the former approach the teacher actively looks for idioms to teach to students and make students use them as much as possible, the teacher in the latter approach does not actively teach any idioms but only gives students instruction regarding the idioms they have met and need assistance in comprehension and production

As Liu (2008) indicated, Richards (1996) advocated that in teaching idioms a retroactive approach is preferable to a proactive one, as proactive instruction of idioms often leads students to develop an overzealous drive to use as many idioms as possible, which may lead to idiomatosis or excessive and inappropriate

use of idioms The use of idioms for speakers of any native language is in truth a very personal matter of preference and habit It is commonplace that some people like to spice up their language very frequently probably because they know a large number of idioms and may want to show them off, while others may rarely use idioms in their speech The reasons for employing idioms in natural communication may vary, but it seems to be a fact of life Simpson and Mendis (2003) found that the use of idioms appears to be a feature more of individual speakers’ idiolects than of any linguistic or content-related categories, because whereas some speakers in their corpus employed idioms quite frequently others rarely did In contrast to the position held by Richards (1996), Liu (2008) argued that a proactive approach to idiom instruction is justifiable on the following grounds Firstly, although the overuse and inappropriate use of idioms could be a price students need to pay in learning idioms, making errors and overusing some language structures and expressions has been part of the language learning process Thus, as Liu continued, the excessive and inappropriate use of idioms is not a good excuse for stopping active idiom instruction Secondly, Liu further stated that if proactive teaching of idioms is conducted cautiously and appropriately, it should not make students overuse idioms inappropriately Additionally, Liu suggested that during instruction if the teacher ensures that students can clearly understand register and function of the idioms taught, the overuse and inappropriate use of idioms could be significantly reduced Moreover, he admonished teachers to constantly remind students not to use idioms simply for the sake of using them In order to raise learner’s awareness of idiomatosis, as Liu recommended, the teacher can provide students with speech

or writing containing the excessive and inappropriate use of idioms so as to help them avoid such a problem In an attempt to identify strategies used to explain idioms, Liu (2000, 2008) found that teachers make use of three strategies to assist students in noticing and understanding idioms: definition, elaboration, and paraphrasing As Liu further explicated, the teacher using the definition strategy simply provides the meaning of the idiom In using the elaboration strategy, as Liu (2008) mentioned, the teacher explains the meaning of the idiom by

providing information or examples that enable students to better understand it Finally, the teacher who employs the paraphrasing strategy utilizes a different expression that conveys a similar meaning

In addition to strategies for idiom acquisition and instruction, activities designed for teaching and learning idioms are also of importance Lennon (1998) suggested some kinds of exercises that may be utilized to teach and learn idioms First, some idioms may be presented to students and students are asked to work

in groups to discuss whether there are similar idioms in the students’ first language Second, students may be provided with the idioms coupled with their definitions in which a key word is missing The key words are also offered so that students can choose the right one to fill in the blank This kind of exercise, as Lennon noted, is best performed individually Third, students can be instructed to read a text in which idioms are underlined Students have to supplant the idioms with language expressing more or less the same meaning An example could be

“It was raining cats and dogs when I arrived at the airport.” Students are supposed to replace the phrase “raining cats and dogs” with “raining heavily.” Furthermore, students can be given a list of idioms in order to arrange them into pair (near) opposite meaning such as “the more, the merrier” and “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Lennon (1998) recommended that students can be asked

to read a text in which many idioms are found and then they are required to utilize the idioms found in the text to fill in another text in which the idioms are used in another context This type of exercise should be employed with advanced learners, as Lennon suggested

Materials specifically developed for idioms learning are multifarious In fact, Liu (2003, p.671) observed that “most teaching and reference materials on English idioms are primarily intuition based As such, they often include seldom-used idioms and incorrect descriptions of the meaning and use of some idioms, hence limiting their usefulness to ESOL students” Liu (2003) conducted a corpus study

of idioms and he was able to develop four lists of the most frequently used idioms in spoken American English He argued that idioms to be taught should

be selected in a more rigorous and systematic manner and they should be based upon authentic language use rather than upon intuition so as to increase their content representativeness Further, Liu suggested that when idioms are taught, their use frequency as well as information on idiom variations should be pointed out to the learners so that students’ learning of idioms can be more complete What Liu indicated is indeed the direction that materials writers and publishers may need to seriously consider when creating textbooks for language learners Publications devoted to the teaching of idioms are many For example, Wu (2008) suggested some practical activities for teaching English idioms Several books have been created to help learners better acquire idioms Some typical books currently available for teachers and learners of idioms are Seidl and McMordie (1988), Broukal (1994), Spears (1994), Francis (2004), Huizenga (2000), and Leaney (2005) Huizenga (2000) focused on systematically developing learners’ knowledge of idioms in English by leading learners through various steps to learning idioms such as reading a text that uses typographical visual enhancement (in bold) to help learners pay attention to the idioms Learners are also provided with different activities to meet the idioms again by listening to the text, filling the blanks, and talking and writing using the idioms in the text Broukal (1994), however, organized idioms according to topics such as colors, food, and numbers Broukal’s book is made up of 20 units and a review section Each unit is composed of five parts: reading (the idioms are in bold),

meanings (the idioms are explained), practice (students answer yes or no to

questions containing the idioms and students are given sentences to fill in the blanks or to correct errors with the idioms), conversation (students are supplied with some situations in which the idioms are used and students practice each conversation with another student), and discussion (students are asked to discuss the idioms in the lesson) Leaney (2005) is probably one of the most recent textbooks for idiom learners and teachers, and the audio CD that accompanies the book seems to be especially beneficial to learners’ acquisition of second language idioms A useful online resource for both teachers and learners of idioms is http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/words-stories/ This

website may be considered a gold mine for idiom learning and teaching The idioms are organized and explained by both contextualization and paraphrasing More importantly, as claimed in the website, all the words used in VOA Special English are within a core vocabulary of 1500 words; short and simple sentences are used, and texts are read at a slower pace, about two-thirds the speed of Standard English For a native speaker of English, the pace of reading in Special English may be deemed as “ridiculously slow,” but for those who learn English

as an additional language, especially adult learners, the slow pace of reading is not only helpful in the initial period of language acquisition, but it is helpful for advanced learners who wish to improve their pronunciation This website may be seen as beneficial for language learners in several language areas such as highly frequent vocabulary development (through frequently encountering the core vocabulary), basic grammar mastery (through reading and listening to the texts), and pronunciation improvement and practice (through listening to and repeating after the newsreaders) Particularly, for the teacher, the ready-made texts can be used for classroom activities or they can be adapted to serve other purposes depending on learners’ needs and preferences The teacher can read the text if the

slow pace of reading is not desired Finally, the texts in the section labeled Words and Their Stories are fun and relatively easy for learners to understand, thus

enhancing learners’ motivation to improve their knowledge of idioms, increase their interest in the American culture, and quicken their automaticity in

comprehension and production The approach used to explain idioms in Words and Their Stories is similar to what Boers, Demecheleer, and Eyckmans (2004)

termed etymological elaboration According to Boers et al., etymological elaboration is the technique of helping learners to comprehend and remember figurative idioms by raising their awareness of the literal origins or source domains of the expressions These researchers found that etymological elaboration as a strategy for learning idioms has positive effects on learners’ retention of idioms In fact, telling stories related to the idioms can greatly arouse learners’ curiosity and interest in learning more about idioms For example, Mikkai (1993) gave a possible historical explanation for the idiom “white

elephant” (an unwanted and unmanageable property) as follow The king of Siam

is said to have disliked a courtier once, and so, in order to punish him, gave him a white elephant as a gift One must realize, of course, that in ancient Thailand the white elephant was considered a holy animal somewhat as cows still considered

in India today To kill or neglect a white elephant was considered a capital crime Yet to care for a white elephant properly meant financial ruin Because the white elephant was a gift from the king, it could not be refused (Mikkai, 1993, p 301) Learning idioms through stories and historical explanation is decidedly a compelling way to commit idioms to memory Nevertheless, it must be admitted that it is not easy to trace the origins of idioms Though this approach is interesting and can be very effective for the teaching and learning of idioms, it may not always be used due to the difficulty in finding historical explanation for idioms Whenever possible, however, historical origins of idioms may be of great interest and fun to teachers as well as learners Irujo (1993) remarked that second language teachers would probably agree that even the most advanced students seem to avoid employing idioms and this avoidance might be due to fear of not using the idioms correctly Therefore, Irujo suggested that students should be exposed to idioms as much as possible so that they do not have to keep clear of idioms Arguably, avoiding using idioms in daily conversations due to lack of confidence or knowledge of the appropriate idioms does not appear in any way inhibit effective communication As previously discussed, the use of idioms in communication is a matter of personal preferences and habits As such, judging a person’s language competency based solely on the frequency and amount of idiom use may not be a fair and highly reliable measure of evaluating language proficiency However, if the aim of the learner is to use the target language as naturally and comfortably as possible, developing solid knowledge of and competence in comprehending and utilizing highly frequently used idioms is indeed of great significance Learning idioms can be viewed as learning the culture of the people speaking the target language Just as culture is an interesting subject for language learners to explore, learning idioms can also be as interesting as learning culture It may be a cliché to say that learning an

additional language besides one’s first language is a long and arduous process, but in fact it is Learning a new language does not simply involve dealing with grammatical patterns and individual vocabulary words It also requires the ability

to understand and use groups of words that may be used together in an ungrammatical and semantically irregular manner Idiom acquisition and instruction merit more attention in 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 do need to be assisted in instructional approaches and strategies for idiom instruction, and they also have to be cognizant of the ways learners employ to acquire idioms Such skills and knowledge demand serious training and practice It is hoped that when sufficient training in idiom acquisition and instruction is offered, teachers and learners may find learning and teaching idioms both easy and fun

Lennon (1998) suggests that exercises of problem-solving nature can help learners to discover the metaphors in idiomatic expressions Furthermore, Lennon believes that students will become highly motivated to translate their language’s metaphors into the target language so as to share with the class their own culture method of metaphor encoding In light to what is mentioned above,

it is important for EFL teachers to design various activities for students to use with English idioms and subsequently acquire them efficiently Moreover, students learn better when they are provided with collaborative activities that they can interact with peers and share fun in learning Ultimately, when teachers integrate listening, speaking, reading and writing activities together in teaching English idioms, students, consequently, can be involved in the application of English idioms in the four skills Thus, it is effective to teach EFL learners English idiom when they are provided with various activities to practice and utilize English idioms in different contexts Mantyla (2004) states that idioms should not be taught directly at all that she considers the best policy of teaching

to be a method where the students’ attention is focused on the common characteristics of idioms

Furthermore, Wu (2008) suggested some practical activities for teaching English idioms such as teaching English idioms in context, with rich illustration, group discussion, Readers Theater, retelling and rewriting, and dialogue writing and role-play Those are fun and relatively easy for learners to understand, thus enhancing learners’ motivation to improve their knowledge of idioms, increase their interest in the American culture, and quicken their automaticity in comprehension and production Moreover, Zyzik (2009) discussed some activities for teaching idiom comprehension as well as literal and figurative meanings On the web http://www.nadasisland.com/idiom, Nada Salem Abisamra (1998) supported the theory of multiple intelligences as a useful framework for teaching idioms in which the linguistic intelligence is the one teachers and learners work with most It is very important to have a plan of instruction that incorporates the various intelligences in order to give a chance to all students to succeed in learning idioms Tran (2012) suggested four-skill-integrated tasks for teaching idioms In their article “Working in the Classroom: Improving Idiom Comprehension through Class wide Peer Tutoring” (2012), Lundblom and Woods examined if class wide peer tutoring (CWPT) could be useful when teaching idioms to students Chen and Lai (2013) suggested teaching idioms in an alternative cognitive-oriented manner, “by incorporating the idea of metaphoric mappings” (p 13) Before the study and results were presented, the limitations of existing methods and procedures were explained To teach idioms through awareness-raising activities, though, by “seeking logical arrangements of idioms and putting them in a more meaningful learning context for L2 learners” (ibid., p 14) and comparing the learners’ L1 and L2, can help them to observe the differences between the languages They can be able to discuss the L2 idioms’ possible origins and remember them through imagery Unfortunately, this does not work with all idioms and “may be particularly difficult for L2 learners who do not share a similar cultural and historical background with native speakers of English” (ibid., p 15) Vasiljevic (2011) argued that using conceptual metaphors and code switching to the mother tongue in discussing idiom meaning may be effective teaching methods This has been useful for improving “meaning

comprehension” and “extends retention of the expressions learned” (ibid., p 15) Nevertheless, it is not always easy to find the patterns and connections between the idiomatic expressions If learners fail to do this, they will misunderstand the idiom in question Moreover, it is more difficult for EFL learners to comprehend

“metaphor-based expressions whose conceptual metaphors were distinct from their native language” (ibid., p 16) Boers (2001) and Bogaards (2001) emphasized that idioms can be taught through repetition, memorization, drills, metaphoric mappings, contextualization, conceptual metaphors, hypothesizing about origin, form & meaning D’Angelo Bromley (1984), Boers & Lindstromberg (2005) demonstrated that multiple intelligences are the framework in teaching idioms in which using illustrations, discussions, categorizing, dramatizing, narratives, charades, board games, creative writing, sound, pattern-activities, and music

Thirdly, selection of idioms to be learned is also of research interest Liu’s (2003) and Simpson and Mendis’ (2003) have focused on idioms which are the most frequently used in different contexts by using a corpus-based research approach However, there is little research that investigates the student’s and lecturer’s perception of English idioms teaching and learning related to speaking skill development in foreign language learning contexts Therefore, this empirical study is an attempt to partly fill this gap in idiom-related research that provide some suggested solutions to the teaching of idioms to increase students’ motivation and involvement in learning English idioms, and particularly in developing their speaking skill in Vietnam

1.6 Summary

In this chapter, the definition of idioms is clearly stated The literature remarks a persistent confirmation that idioms plays an important part in assessing spoken language competence (Boers et al 2006) However, both teachers and learners seem to be reluctant to teach and learn idioms Students in Vietnam, as a result, have considerable difficulty in understanding speakers in the inner circle because

of a number of idiomatic expressions

Learning idioms is one of the most difficult areas in a foreign language, as claimed by many teachers and students in Vietnam Teaching idioms so far has been considered a part of teaching vocabulary Earlier, idioms were treated individually out of context However, more and more strategies and tactics have been employed in teaching idioms Therefore, it should be emphasized that idioms must be taught in the context in which they are embedded However, it has been a challenge to teachers in a foreign language context to help students acquire idioms Another controversial issue in teaching idioms is idioms selection Among numerous idioms in the dictionary, which idioms should be taught? The issue of teaching methodology is also a growing concern Should we teach idioms in separated lesson or in an integrated approach? or which activities can be used to teach idioms? The learning target is just expressing ideas and thoughts in plain English Not only students but also teachers tend to avoid idioms However, the researcher would like to challenge this stereotype of idiom learning Through a teacher’s conscious effort, students in a foreign language context such as Vietnam can receive effective outcome in comprehending and producing idioms in their connected speech Moreover, the students’ attitudes toward the appearance of idioms in natural language will likely to change

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides information about the subjects of the study The main data collection instruments employed as well as the data collection procedures are also stated

2.1 Research design

The study adopted a mixed-method case study approach: questionnaire (quantitative method) and interview (qualitative method) To explore the in-depth situation of teaching and learning idioms for the first year students at FOE, an interpretive case study was conducted The researcher purposefully collected as much information about the problem as the possible for the phenomenal analysis, interpretation (Cresswell, 2008; Merriam, 1998) Purposive sampling techniques helped the researcher to select the informants who appeared to be rich of information The main goal of purposive sampling is to focus on particular characteristics of participants that are of interest, which will best enable the researcher to answer the following research questions:

1 What is the current situation of idioms teaching and learning at FOE, HNUE?

2 What are the lecturers’ and students’ perceptions on their teaching and learning of idioms?

The answer for the first question is expected to state about the moderation in teaching and learning idioms and clarify about whether it was received adequate attention or not Besides, the valuable information that are provided in the second one will be the illustration of the evaluation and perspective about the existed issues Data were collected through questionnaires for lecturers and freshmen, and in-depth interviews The questionnaires were designed with both opened and closed ended questions which, as Mackey and Gass (2005) argued, can provide not only reliable but also insightful date for the study Close-ended questions are

in form of a 5-point Likert scale These data collection techniques acted as triangulation to assure the validity of the study Qualitative methods, such as

interviews, are believed to provide a 'deeper' understanding of social phenomena than would be obtained from purely quantitative methods, such as questionnaires These may overcome the weaknesses and biases that may rise from each method

of data collection Transcriptions of the interviews were sent back to the informants Based on the data obtained from the questionnaires and interviews, themes were identified according to the aims of the research

Being a current lecturer at FOE, HNUE, the researcher has a favorable opportunity to get to know about the freshmen because they were expected to achieve C1 and speaking was one of the criteria they need to improve if they desired to gain the qualification They represented the young generation of future teachers who were required to have the capacity to teach English under the oriented communication at high schools; therefore, a strong knowledge of idioms would help them to become the better speakers in communication, particularly in English teaching

2.2.2 The lecturers

The supportive participations of ten lecturers who were in charge of teaching speaking skill at FOE, HNUE were indispensable in this study They had experiences to teach English language skills from about five to ten years They all had Master degrees in English language teaching and obtained C1 certificates

These lecturers were selected because the author desired to compare the lecturers’ and trainee students’ perceptions of idioms teaching and learning

2.3 Data collection instruments

In order to obtain the data for the research, survey questionnaire and structured interviews with students and lecturers are deployed

semi-2.3.1 Survey Questionnaire

2.3.1.1 Reasons for choosing survey questionnaires

Survey questionnaires are always considered as one of the most frequently used and effective method for research It is mainly to collect information from the subjects of this study, i.e both students and teachers As Richards and Lockhart (p10, 1994) opined “surveys and questionnaires are useful ways of gathering information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation, and preferences and enable a teacher to collect a large amount of information relatively quickly.” Mackey and Gass (2005) also argued that it can provide not only reliable but also insightful data for the study

Moreover, it was argued and was proved by Nunan et al (1993) that using survey questionnaires could bring researchers 4 following benefits:

1 Short time required

2 Easy and simple to summarize and report the collected data

3 Subjects of survey are given chance to express their opinions without embarrassment for their names are not revealed

4 It is inexpensive

Therefore, it would be beneficial for the study to apply that research instrument

to collect the data However, it was undoubtedly that every researcher hopes for conscientious responses, but there is no way to know if the respondent has really thought the question through before answering At times, answers will be chosen before fully reading the question or the potential answers Sometimes,

respondents will skip through questions, or split-second choices may be made, affecting the validity of data As a consequence, another supplementary instrument – interview was also used to confirm the results and to lessen the drawbacks of that

2.3.1.2 Description of survey questionnaires

a Survey questionnaire for students

The questionnaires for students were written in English and were translated into Vietnamese to ensure that they could understand reseacher’s requirements and study purposes thoroughly (see Appendix 1A and 1B) It includes 13 questions to explore the situation of teaching and learning idioms and student’s self-evaluation on the effectiveness of their idioms teaching and learning Concretely, the initial question is designed to understand how important it is for students to learning idioms; especially to develop their speaking skill The second question aims to explore if idioms have been taught at FOE, HNUE The next question asks students about time in a lesson that their lecturers spend on teaching idioms

(if they choose yes to the previous question) Regarding the situation of teaching

and learning idioms, the next four questions focus on the criteria that the students bear in mind for idiom selections, teaching methods and idiom – related activities that are employed In the fourth question, students can choose one or more criteria that they think it can be used to select idioms for teaching at the classroom Similarly, in terms of an idioms-related teaching approach, questions number five give the corresponding answers for the question “How did your teacher teach idioms?” Students are asked how idioms were taught and introduced in listening activities or reading activities and integrated-skill activities that also involved in listening and reading skills or not

The next question is a close-ended question in the form of a 5-point Likert scale

to explore students’ opinions on teaching methods (they strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statements) In addition, question number seven is to ask about idiom-related activities that their teachers used to teach idioms with the times range from more than 10 to not use Besides, the two

following questions surveys about students’ sources and learning materials for leaning idioms and the main difficulties of learning idioms Questions number ten and eleven provide the evaluations on the effectiveness of their teaching and learning in the students’ viewpoint in general and detail Ultimately, the last two questions – Questions number thirteen and fourteen – explore the desires and the

recommendations of the students to minimize the difficulties and to make

teaching and learning idioms more effective

b Survey questionnaire for lecturers

Due to the aim of the research, it is necessary to collect lecturers’ opinions and this task is completed by the questionnaire (see Appendix 2) Similar to the survey questionnaire for students, the survey questionnaire for lecturers also consists of 13 questions with the same content to help the researcher compare lecturers’ and students’ opinions about idioms teaching and learning Particularly, the first question is to ask for lecturers’ ideas about the importance

of teaching and learning idioms, especially in developing speaking skill The second question aims to explore if they have been teaching idioms in class or not The next question asks teachers about the amount of time they often spend on

teaching idioms (if they choose yes in the previous question) Regarding the

situation of teaching and learning idioms, the following four questions focus on the criteria for idioms selections, idioms teaching techniques and idiom – related activities In the fourth question, there are more than one criteria that lecturers can choose to indicate how they select idioms for teaching In terms of an idioms-related teaching approach, questions number five asks about how they taught idioms

In the form of a 5-point Likert scale, the next question explores the lecturers’ opinions on teaching methods In addition, a question is created to ask about idiom-related activities Besides, the next two questions survey about their sources and teaching materials for idioms and the main difficulties of teaching and learning idioms Similar to students’ questionnaire, two questions are designed to ask the teachers to provide their evaluations on the effectiveness of teaching and learning in the lecturers’ viewpoint in general and detail

Ultimately, the last two questions explore the desires and the recommendations

of the lecturers on the effectiveness of idioms teaching and learning

2.3.2 Interview

2.3.2.1 Reasons for choosing interview

In the book “Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research” McNamara (1999), stated that interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant’s experiences The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic He also indicated that interviews might be useful as follow-up

to certain respondents to questionnaires, e.g., to further investigate their responses The purpose of the research interview is to explore the views, experiences, beliefs or motivations of individuals on specific matters Interviews are believed to provide a 'deeper' understanding of participant opinions than would be obtained from purely questionnaires Interviews are, therefore, most appropriate where little is already known about the study phenomenon or where detailed insights are required from individual participants The individuals are also particularly appropriate for exploring sensitive topics, where participants may not want to talk about such issues in a group environment On the other hand, it is obviously that interview has some drawbacks such as time-consuming, needing to prepare, flexibility, difficult analysis, and costly (Berg & Bruce L., 1998) However, interview is still a qualitative method to support the researcher with useful information

2.3.2.2 Descriptions of interview

The interview, which is conducted in this research, is a semi-structure interview While using this type, it is expected to cover every question in the protocol, the researcher has some wiggle room to explore participant responses by asking for clarification or additional information Moreover, interviewers also have the freedom to be more friendly and sociable

Particularly, semi-structured produced in order to allow the researcher to develop

a keen understanding of idiom’s teaching and learning of interest necessary for developing relevant and meaningful semi-structured questions

After collecting and analyzing data from questionnaire, five lecturers and six students who provided rich information and showed interests were invited for an in-depth interview Then the researcher notified the participants about time and place that the interview was conducted It took place on Thursday, January 25,

2017 at D3 building of FOE, HNUE and it lasted about 30 minutes The research has made sure that the interviewees felt comfortable at this interview venue and time

Similar to the questionnaires, the interview questions for students were translated into Vietnamese so that they were able to express their ideas freely The interview including six questions related to idioms teaching and learning was designed The first question is designed for students to investigate the current situation of teaching and learning idioms of students if they have been taught in the classroom or self-study idioms at home in detail The second question explores deeply the reasons why students and lecturers think that idioms in English teaching and learning especially in speaking skill are very important/important/quite important/ unimportant In addition, the third question

of students’ interview aims to examine the strategies that students utilize to learn idioms and it is hoped to bring the helpful data for the proposed method of effective teaching and learning idioms The fourth question surveys the students’ desire of method teaching idioms while explores the methods lecturer used to teach idioms and find out which method they feel most effective Besides, the purpose of the fifth question explores the other difficulties of teaching and learning idioms from which suggest the appropriate handling alternatives Finally, lecturers and students are asked for their recommendations for teaching and learning idioms in the future to improve the current situation Based on the data obtained from the questionnaires and interviews, themes are identified

according to the aims of the research: explores the situation and evaluation of idioms teaching and learning

2.4 Data collection procedure

The data collection procedure was conducted in three stages as follows

Stage1: The participants including lecturers and freshmen in FOE, HNUE who were invited and were introduced with researcher’s study contents and purposes Stage 2: The questionnaire with 13 questions provides careful instructions and explanations to shed light on two research questions It focuses on criteria for selecting idioms for teaching, teaching approaches, lecturers and student’s opinions on teaching methods, idiom-related activities in lesson, sources and teaching material for idioms, etc Next, the questionnaire was administered to the

10 selected lecturers, 50 first year students then were collected for analysis process The collected data were analyzed through content based that the results

of content analysis were numbers and percentages In particular, each question was analyzed with specific number and percentage of participants’ responses of the various aspects related t o the teaching and learning idioms, especially in speaking skill in order to clarify lecturers’ and students’ evaluations of the situation If the data show that it is not properly concerned, the author can draw the conclusion about the situation that the limitation and difficulty exist

Stage 3: Three lecturers and six students who provided rich information and showed interests were invited for an in-depth interview after collecting and analyzing data from questionnaire A semi-structured interview consisting of six questions about the topic studied were conducted in 30 minutes All the data collected were taken into the analysis process Additional comments from interviews to clarify the data obtained from the questionnaire were discussed and were compared in details to find the similarities and differences Perceptions of teachers and students towards teaching and learning idioms were made clearer Therefore, the two research questions were answered and solutions to tackling

the difficulty encountered while teaching and learning English and to improve the student motivations and involvement in learning idioms were then suggested

2.5 Summary

This research was conducted using case study approach An interpretive study was adopted to explore the in-depth situation of teaching and learning idioms for freshmen at FOE, HNUE Moreover, the informants were selected based on information that is received from the questionnaire

Data were collected through questionnaires for lecturers and the first-year students, and in-depth interviews Opened and closed ended questions were employed in the questionnaires To assure the validity of the study, these data collection techniques acted as triangulation; therefore, the weaknesses that may rise from each method of data collection may overcome Transcriptions of the interviews were sent back to the informants to help them review what they talked

in the interview and what the information they want to add more Themes were identified according to the aims of the research based on the data obtained from the questionnaires and interviews