Idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in english and vietnamese a contrastive analysis and teaching implications

Syntactic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in contrastive analysis with Vietnamese counterparts...20 3.1.1.. Semantic features of English idioms denotin

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH

IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND

TEACHING IMPLICATIONS

PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰTHÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics

HANOI – 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH

IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND

TEACHING IMPLICATIONS

PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰTHÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics Code : 60 22 02 01

Supervisor : Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D.

HANOI – 2014

I, Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh, hereby certify that the thesis entitled Idioms denoting

“Intelligence and understanding” in English and Vietnamese: A contrastive analysis and teaching implication is my own study in the fulfillment of the

requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at VNU University of Languages andInternational Studies

Hanoi, July, 2014

Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh

Apart from the efforts of myself, the success of any study depends largely onthe encouragement and guidelines of many others I take this opportunity to express

my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion

of this MA thesis I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Dr Nguyễn Huy

Kỷ for his valuable instructions, critical but constructive criticisms, his share ofpersonal experience and expertise I also would like to send my sincere thanks to allthe teachers in M.A course at VNU University of Languages and InternationalStudies for their training and their assistance that has helped me to complete thisthesis Last but not least, my profound thanks and deep gratitude go to my familyand my friends for their valuable support and encouragement

Although great attention has been paid to idioms by researchers and linguists

in Vietnam as well as in the world, there has been no study conducted on idioms

denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese This is the

reason for the author‟s choice of the study This thesis has two major purposes: (1)

to find out not only the syntactic but also semantic similarities as well as differences

in the idioms of this type in English and Vietnamese, and (2) to give some teachingimplications for teachers English

In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, contrastive analysis method wasused Moreover, 50 English and 50 Vietnamese idioms were collected varioussources, mainly from dictionaries They were then carefully analyzed with the mainfocus on their syntactic and semantic features

The results of the analysis mentioned above shows that although the idiomsunder investigation share some similarities, they have notable and interestingdifferences in terms of their syntactic features especially with regard to their clauseand phrase patterns as well as their semantic ones The study suggests that theabove-mentioned idioms in English are more difficult to learn than their Vietnamesecounterparts Therefore, more attention should be paid to the teaching of theseidioms, especially to such factors as the number of idioms, student level andfrequency of practice

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Significance of the study 2

5 Scope of the study 3

6 Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Previous studies related to the research 4

1.2 The author's framework 5

1.3 Idioms 6

1.3.1 Definitions of idioms 6

1.3.2 Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 6

1.3.3 Distinctive features of English idioms 7

1.3.3.1 Syntactic features of English idioms 7

1.3.3.2 Semantic features of English idioms 11

1.3.3.3 Cultural features of English idioms 13

1.4 Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions 14

1.4.1 Idioms and Metaphors 14

1.4.2 Idioms and Proverbs 15

1.4.3 Idioms and Fixed Expressions 15

1.5 Summary 16

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 Research methods 17

2.2 Data collections instruments 17

2.3 Data analysis techniques 18

2.4 Data analysis procedure 18

2.5 Summary 19

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 20

3.1 Syntactic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in contrastive analysis with Vietnamese counterparts 20

3.1.1 Structural features of English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding 20

3.1.1.1 English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding have clause patterns 20

3.1.1.2 English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding have phrase patterns 25

3.1.2 An English – Vietnamese contrasting of syntactic features of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 27

3.1.2.1 Similarities 27

3.1.2.2 Differences 30

3.2 Semantic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in contrasting with Vietnamese counterparts 32

3.2.1 Semantic features in idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 32

3.2.2.An English – Vietnamese contrasting of semantic features of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 34

3.2.2.1 Similarities 34

3.2.2.2 Differences 36

3.3 Summary 38

CHAPTER 4: TEACHING IMPLICATIONS 39

4.1 Number of idioms 39

4.2 Theme

4.3 Level

4.4 Comprehension

4.5 Practice

4.6 Summary

PART C: CONCLUSION

1 Recapitulation

2 Concluding remarks

3 Limitations of the study

4 Suggestions for further study

REFERENCES

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX II

PART A INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

English is a language particularly rich in idioms - those modes of expressionpeculiar to a language (or dialect) which frequently defy logical and grammaticalrules Without idioms English would lose much of its variety and humor both inspeech and writing However, the background and etymological origins of mostidioms are at best obscure

There are many students who have the chance to travel abroad and whenthese students were in the United States, they experienced many difficulties becausethey did not understand the meaning of many idioms that native speakers used intheir daily conversations They even felt embarrassed and frustrated because theycould not understand the idioms they heard A strong knowledge of idioms,therefore, will help students be better speakers and facilitate communication

The fact that a large number of idioms are frequently used in discourse makesthem an important aspect of vocabulary Nonetheless, their characteristic features causemany difficulties to learners of English First of all, idioms not only have brief andextraordinary forms, contain key words but also hold profound meanings Theymanifest much what the speakers want to say and do not want to say in words Thismeans that the idioms can express speakers‟ viewpoints, feelings, attitudes and evenpersonalities and culture is their ways of idioms usage Secondly, idioms are based notonly on several aspects of language such as semantics, syntax, phonetics andphonology, pragmatics but also on their flexibilities in language usage Moreover, theyare the combination of culture, language usage and creative competence They areeverlasting and passed from generation to generation because of their own distinctivefeatures Therefore, learning idioms helps learners understand more about cultures,people, languages which they are studying

Idioms have attracted a number of researchers and linguists who have

researched on idioms and the application in teaching and learning Such as" The

Study of Idioms and its Application to ESL and Intercultural Communication"(Ito,Yoko, 1993) In the thesis the author made an attempt to investigate into English idioms from different aspects.

However, there has been no study on idioms denoting intelligence and

understanding in English and Vietnamese This study is therefore conducted in order

to fill the gap We hope that it will make contribution to improving learners‟understanding and knowledge of this particular type of idioms and give somesuggestions to their teaching and learning

2 Objectives of the study

The study is carried out for the following objectives:

First of all, the study tries to analyze and contrast idioms to detect somesimilarities, basic differences between idioms denoting intelligence andunderstanding in English and Vietnamese in terms of their syntactic and semanticfeatures

Secondly, it presents some implications in teaching and learning Englishidioms denoting intelligence and understanding

3 Research questions

The study attempts to answer the following questions:

idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in terms of syntactic and semanticfeatures?

intelligence and understanding in teaching English?

4 Significance of the study

Idioms are considered an interesting and popular phenomenon of everylanguage Thus, they play an important role in all languages in general, in bothEnglish and Vietnamese in particular They also add color to the language and makethe communication more lively and interesting Therefore, effective communicationcannot be achieved successfully without idioms

This kind of study has significance not only for contrasting language in use,but also for teaching and learning of this type of idioms It also contributes to thetranslation of the idioms from English into Vietnamese and vice-versa.

5 Scope of the study

Due to the limited time, space and the author‟s ability, the present paper justanalyzes and contrasts the idioms denoting intelligence and understanding inVietnamese, English in terms of their syntactic and semantic features

6 Organization of the study

The study consists of three parts with four chapters as follows:

Part A (Introduction) is spared for the presentation of the rationale, objectives, significance, scope, and the structure of the study Part B (Development)

Chapter1 (Literature review) provides the necessary information about thetheoretical background related to idioms

Chapter 2 (Methodology) provides information about the principles that govern theresearch and the methods to be employed

Chapter 3 (Data analysis and discussion) presents the findings obtained and sounddiscussions on those findings

Chapter 4 (Some implications for teaching) will be presented This subsectionbrings about the practical value to the thesis from which readers can, to differentdegrees, benefit

Part C (Conclusions) provides a recapitulation of the main issues and problemspresented in the study and suggestions for further research have been supplied.References

Appendices

PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Previous studies related to the research

Idioms as an abstract field have drawn much attention from many linguistsand scholars, and so far many studies of idioms from different angles have been

done First of all, the research by Ifill (2002), he has an attempt to analyze and seek

the nature of idioms in studying in idiomatic structure The researcher pointed outthe importance of idioms in the natural language and its existence in the languagesystem In particular, he analyzes and clarifies the structure of idioms such as casefor the lexicon, the variability of idioms discussed shows is that all idioms haveinternal structure of some kind This distinction dictates how the idioms are allowed

to behave

Another notable researcher is Moreno (2003), who claimed that the meaningthe speaker intends to convey by the use of an idiom is pragmatically(re)constructed on-line by relevance-driven inferential mechanisms which take asinput a set of highly accessible encyclopedic assumptions from the conceptsencoded by the idiom string and its constituent words The amount of processingeffort invested, and the depth of processing of the encoded concepts, is highlyconstrained at every stage by the search for an optimally relevant interpretation Headded that in understanding idioms, conceptual adjustment takes place at word andphrase level that this model can account for why idioms often swing between literaland figurative meanings, and for why they often exhibit different degrees offlexibility and productivity in the flow of conversation

Another research on this theme was conducted by Doãn Ngọc Diệp

(Unpublished M.A thesis, 2007) "A Study on Structural and Semantic Features of

English Idioms of Anger in Comparison with Vietnamese Equivalents" One more

paper is "An Investigation into The English Words and Idioms Denoting Happiness"

conducted by Nguyễn Thị Vân Lam, Nguyễn Lực, Lương Văn Đang (1978) who

made the first significant contribution to the field Since then, a great number ofcollections of Vietnamese idioms alone and those of Vietnamese idioms incomparison with English idioms have been carried out by Lã Thành (1988), BùiPhụng (1996), Nguyễn Lân (1997), Vũ Dung, Vũ Thúy Anh, Vũ Quang Hào (2000),Trân Quang Mân (2002)…

These researchers in general try to find out the similarities and differences inthe use of conceptual idioms for anger, happiness… and time in English andVietnamese The studies have made contribution to not only the theory and theappropriate use of conceptual idioms but the translation work as well

The studies also point out that cultural awareness is at the heart of interculturalcommunication A lot of this has to do with language and behavior; with pragmatics,beliefs and values But intercultural communication should also highlight the areas

of commonality as well as divergence in terms of cultural and linguistic behavior.All too often culturally stereotypical behavior is objectified and described withinsufficient reference to underlying factors that help explain and elucidate Aconceptual approach to language can draw into focus areas of divergence andcommonality at another level of awareness and provides an extra dimension to theunderstanding of linguistic and cultural norms

1.2 The author’s framework

The study has been carried out according to the following framework:

Firstly, the author has pointed out the background knowledge of the idioms,

defining of the idioms in general and idioms denoting intelligence and

understanding in particular, the distinctive features of English idioms, syntactic,

semantic, cultural features of English idioms The researcher also shows thedistinction between idioms and metaphors, proverbs, fixed expressions

Secondly, basing on the theoretical background of Cowie, Mackin andMcCaig (1975) in syntactic and Hallyday (1985) in semantic, the author hasanalyzed and contrasted idioms in order to find out the similarities and differences

of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese.

Lastly, the researcher is dealing with some teaching implications to help teachers in

teaching English idioms involving intelligence and understanding.

1.3 Idioms

1.3.1 Definitions of idioms

Idioms are an abstract concept and it is therefore difficult to define them.Each linguist who specializes in different branches tends to have a different way tounderstand and describe idioms as illustrated below:

Cruse defines idiom as "an expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the

meanings of its parts.” (1986:37) Two other authors Seidle and Mordie (1978:8)

believes that “an idiom is a number of words which, taken together, mean

something different from the individual words of the idiom when they stand alone”.

Collins (1995) has a different way to define idioms but shares the idea He considers

an idiom as a special kind of phrase It is a group of words which has a differentmeaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of eachword was taken individually […]

Vietnamese linguistic researchers have also tried to define idioms HoàngVăn Hành (1994) states that an idiom is a fixed group of words which is firm interms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used

in daily speaking (thành ngữ là những cụm từ cố định, có hình thái cấu trúc bền

vững, có tính bong bẩy về ý nghĩa và được sử dụng rộng rãi trong giao tiếp )

(1994:21)

1.3.2 Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding

There are no definitions of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding

but it is not difficult to understand them Idioms denoting intelligence and

understanding are idioms which point out the ability to learn about, learn from,

understand, and interact with one‟s environment They also consist of a number ofspecific abilities, which include the following specific abilities:

environment

● Capacity for reason and abstract thought

Additional specific abilities might be added to the list, but they would all beabilities allowing a person to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact withthe environment Environment in this definition does not mean the environment ofthe earth, such as the desert, the mountains, etc., although it can mean that kind ofenvironment It has a wider range of meanings that include a person‟s immediatesurroundings, including the people around him or her Environment in this case canalso be something as small as a family, the workplace, or a classroom

1.3.3 Distinctive features of English idioms

Every language has its own vivid and colorful idioms which were created bypeople when using for a long time Idioms have long and deep national history aswell as local color Therefore, they have many interesting features

1.3.3.1 Syntactic features of English idioms

According to Bell (1974:3), there are certain essential features which help inthe recognition of idioms Some of these features are:

1.2.3.1 1 Alteration of grammatical rules

The idiomatic expression is not always grammatical, but it is established,accepted and used by native speakers of the language with a fixed structure andmeaning

E.g It‟s ages since we met (singular with a plural noun)

1.3.3.1.2 Conventional phrases

Idioms are special expressions which are almost known and agreed by allthe members of a particular community

E.g How are you doing? (Expression used to ask someone about his health).

Once in a blue moon (rarely, infrequently)

1.3.3.1 3 Alteration of Word Order

English Idiomatic expressions, usually, do not respect the English word

E.g It may be well ahead of time (normal word order).

It may well be ahead of time (probably): idiomatic expression

1.3.3.1 4 Figurativeness

The basic characteristic of idiomatic expressions is that the words are usedmetaphorically Therefore, the surface structure has a little role to play in

understanding the meaning of the whole expression For example, in "to bury the

hatchet", which means "to become friendly again after a disagreement", the

meanings of the words „to bury‟ and „the hatchet‟ are different from the meaning

of the whole expression

1.3.3.1 5 Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are the most common type of idioms in English Many of themcarry idiomatic meanings that cannot be inferred from the form, unless the phrase isalready known

E.g After the war began, the two countries broke off diplomatic relations

(discontinue)

Most automobile companies bring out new modals each year (to show or introduce)

According to Baker (1992:63), there can be some grammatical and syntacticrestrictions of idioms, i.e a speaker or a writer cannot normally do any of thefollowing with an idiom because the meaning would be changed:

remove its idiomatic sense For instance, adding the adverb very to the adjective red

in red herring (Very red herring) affects the figurativeness of its meaning

completely

a sweet tooth and spill the beans would change totally their meanings Hence, (have

a tooth) and (spill beans) have no idiomatic sense.

synonyms

For example, "the long and short of it" means the basic facts of a situation The adjective long cannot be substituted by another adjective, like tall; despite they have

nearly the same meaning

destruction of the idiom meaning For instance, the expression (stock and barrellock) is no more idiomatic because of the altered order of the items in the

expression lock, stock and barrel completely.

expression "be in hot water" changes the conventional sense of the idiom which hasthe meaning of "be in trouble"

from its active one

These restrictions affect the degree of idiomaticality of lexical items, andthey may remove their main feature of figurativeness These characteristics explainwhy idioms are considered as rigid structures, almost impossible to be decoded.However, through a cautious approach, explanations and continuous interest, idiomsmay become vital elements in the acquisition of proficiency in a foreign language

According to Strässler (1982:42), Makkai‟s book Idiom structure in English

(1972) is the most extensive work ever written on idioms Makkai (1972:117) identifies two major types of idioms: those of encoding and those of decoding He further classifies the later into lexemic and sememic idioms + Idioms of Encoding (Identifiable)

Idioms of encoding are those idiosyncratic lexical combinations that havetransparent meanings This type of idioms could be best recognized through making

a comparison between different languages by the use of proper prepositions.Therefore, „at‟ is used instead of "with" in the English expression „drive at 70 mph‟(not drive with as in French)

+ Idioms of Decoding (Non-Identifiable)

Idioms of decoding refer to those non-identifiable and misleading lexicalexpressions whose interpretation could not be figured out by using onlyindependently learned linguistic conventions They include expressions like "beataround the bush" and "fly off the handle" This type of idioms could be classifiedinto lexemic and sememic

to a particular culture They include:

bush

McCarthy and O‟Dell (2003:6) give another classification to the English idioms types focusing on their possible combinations:

(i)Verb + object/complement (and /or adverbial)

Kill two birds with one stone (=Produce two useful results by just doing one

action.)

(ii) Prepositional phrase

In the blink of an eye (= In an extremely short time.)

(iii) Compound

A bone of contention (= Something which people argue and disagree over.)

(iv) Simile (as + adjective + as or like + a noun)

As dry as a bone (= Very dry indeed)

(vi) Binominal (word + and + word )

Rough and ready (= Crude and lacking sophistication)

(vii) Trinomial (word + word + and+ word)

Cool, calm and collected (= Relaxed, in control, not nervous)

(viii) Whole clause or sentence

To cut a long story short (= To tell the main points, but not all the fine details)

Different from McCarthy and O‟Dell (2003:6), Cowie, Mackin and McCaig(1975) point out that English idiom can be classified clause patterns as follow:

English idioms could be in the following clause patterns:

along

paint the town red

someone a line

English idioms could be divided in the following phrase patterns:

1.3.3.2 Semantic features of English idioms

According to Fernando (1996: 35-36), idioms can be grouped into three classes: pure idioms, semi-idioms and literal idioms

expression whose meaning cannot be understood by adding up the meanings of thewords that makes up the phrase For example, the expression "spill the beans" is apure idiom, because its real meaning has nothing to do with beans

+Semi-idioms: A semi-pure, on the other hand, has at least one literal element andone with a non-literal meaning For example, "foot the bill" (i.e pay) is one

example of a semi-idiom, in which foot is the non-literal element, whereas the word

bill is used literally.

+ Literal idioms: Literal idioms, such as "on foot" or "on the contrary" aresemantically less complex than the other two, and therefore easier to understandeven if one is not familiar with these expressions These expressions may beconsidered idioms because they are either completely invariant or allow onlyrestricted variation Fernando (1996:37) admits the difficulty of drawing a clearboundary between these three idiom types

Taking into consideration the function of the phrase, Halliday (1985, as

quoted by Fernando (1996:72) groups idioms into ideational, interpersonal and relational idioms.

phenomena including the sensory, the affective, and the evaluative, or theycharacterize the nature of the message (Fernando 1996:72) These expressions maydescribe:

interactional function or they characterize the nature of the message" They can, forinstance, initiate or keep up an interaction between people and maintain politeness(Fernando 1996:73) These expressions include:

- directives (let‟s face it),

which ensure that the discourse is cohesive and coherent Examples of relationalidioms are “on the contrary”, “in addition to” and “on the other hand.”

1.3.3.3 Cultural features of English idioms

It is common knowledge that language is closely related to culture, and can

be regarded as a part of culture From this view, language and culture interact witheach other and shape each other Language is considered as the carrier of culturewhich in turn is the content of language We can dig out cultural features fromlanguage and explain language phenomena with culture Idioms as a special form oflanguage exist in both of these fields and are affected by the factors such as history,geography, religion, custom, etc They are the heritage of history and product ofcultural evolvement Consequently, we can learn a lot about culture throughstudying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning thecultural background behind them

+ The Geographical Factor

Geographical environment plays an important role in shaping one country‟sculture and human beings have no choices and opacities to change the geography

As a result, idioms based on geographical features appear different from onecountry to another For example, Britain is an island country with long and hasgood, deep harbors The great ports of London, Liverpool and Glasgow are allconnected to the sea by rivers All these conditions make the ocean shipping ofBritain so flourishing As a result, there are a lot of English idioms related tonavigation For example, the phrase “go by the board” means that somebody orsomething fall from sheep and disappear in the sea It implies that someone isneglected

Surrounded by the ocean, British people also have a special passion forwater For instance, to say how extravagant someone is in English, the idiom “spendmoney like water” is often used British people also regard themselves as fish such

as in “cold fish”, “shy fish” The former means “a person who is very strange” andthe latter means “a person who is very shy” When someone feels "not easy", theysay “feel like a fish out of water”, etc

+The historical Factors

As we know, any language in a long and splendid history has its magic powerand great influence on the people who speak or learn it and the development of thesocial history influences the language tremendously with the change of the dynasty,the new languages instead of the old languages continuously In the change oflanguages, more and more idioms are caused in such trace of the historical culture

1.4 Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions

1.4.1 Idioms and Metaphors

Metaphors constitute a large part of the everyday language They have beenrecognized as rhetorical devices that compare two seemingly different objects King(2000:216) defines metaphors as „describing something by using an analogy withsomething quite different‟ For example, „the words are clear as crystal‟ is an idiomthat expresses the similarity between the words and the crystal in terms of thedegree of clarity Some other examples of metaphors include "new ideas blossomed

in her mind”, “his temper boiled over” and “inner peace is a stairway to heaven”.King (2000:216) considers that metaphors are beautiful due to their ability toexplain a complex vague expression making it more understandable and clear

According to Maalej (2005), both idioms and metaphors have in common thefact that they cannot be understood if taken literally He identifies idioms andmetaphors as culture-specific aspects of a particular language, i.e., the non-existence

of a direct one to one correspondence between a target language and a sourcelanguage is the result of culture-specific metaphors He adds that culture-

specific metaphors are best represented in phraseology Native language idioms andset phrases can blend together ethno-specific concepts pertaining to the world view

of it speakers, to their national character, as well as their traditional social relations,thus becoming an embodiment of national dispositions and spiritual values Theyare presented metaphorically indirectly and figuratively, which is why culture-specific metaphors produce idioms that have no corresponding counterparts inanother language (Maalej 2005:215)

1.4.2 Idioms and Proverbs

Just like idioms, proverbs „are special, fixed, unchanged phrases which havespecial, fixed, unchanged meanings‟ (Ghazala 1995:142) They differ from idioms

in that they display shared cultural wisdom Therefore, proverbs are easilyunderstandable and, sometimes, the first part of the proverb might be enough toexpress the whole meaning For instance, „do not count your chickens‟ is usedinstead of „do not count your chickens before they have hatched‟

1.4.3 Idioms and Fixed Expressions

There are fixed expressions like "having said that", "as a matter of fact", "not

at all" etc which allow a little or no variation in form, just as idioms do Fixedexpressions, however, are distinguished from idioms since they have almosttransparent meanings Thus, the meaning of "as a matter of fact", for example, caneasily be inferred from the meaning of its constituents In contrast to idioms is like

"pull a fast one" or "fill the bill" where the meaning of the whole expression isdifferent from the meaning of its parts In spite of its clarity, the meaning of a fixedexpression, as that of an idiom, is not just the sum of meanings of its components.Fixed expressions may bring up in the mind of the reader all the aspects ofexperience associated with the different contexts in which the expression is used.This characteristic seems to be the cause of the widespread use of fixed and semi-fixed expressions in any language (Baker 1992: 63)

Although they have many features in common with other forms of non-literallanguage, idioms have their own characteristics Generally speaking, an idiom is a

kind of lexical unit in which the whole meaning of the expression is not apparent from the meanings of its components.

1.5 Summary

In the chapter 1, the author has expounded in detail (i) the previous studies related to the research which is foundation for the author to further to develop her own research.(ii) the background knowledge of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding , definition of idioms in general and idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in particular with the distinctive features of idioms from

syntactic, semantic to cultural feature as well as difference between idioms and metaphors, proverbs, fixed expressions

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In any research, method plays an important role, is an effective tool to gainthe aim of the study In this chapter, the author uses “contrastive analysis” as amethod to contrast, to compare for finding out the similarities and differencebetween English and Vietnamese idioms denoting intelligence and understandingwith the teaching implications

2.1 Methods employed for the research

The major method which is used for this research is contrastive analysis.According to Gast (2011), contrastive analysis narrowly defined investigates thedifferences between pairs (or small sets) of languages against the background ofsimilarities and with the purpose of providing input to applied disciplines such asforeign language teaching and translation studies With its largely descriptive focus,contrastive linguistics provides an interface between theory and application Itmakes use of theoretical findings and models of language description but is driven

by the objective of applicability Contrastive studies mostly deal with thecomparison of languages that are „socio-culturally linked‟, i.e languages whosespeech communities overlap in some way, typically through (natural or instructed)bilingualism First of all, official documents include journals and textbooksinvolving the background knowledge of the idioms or the dictionaries of idioms arecollected And then the researcher analyses and contrasts the idioms denotingintelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese basing on the data whichare collected

2.2 Data collections instruments

Because of the particular characteristics of the study, it seems that readingand reviewing documents are the most important and effective way to collectmaterials for the research Since it‟s very hard to find the idioms involving theresearch, the researcher try to look for and collect the idioms from the dictionariesand websites in the Internet As for first source, books which are concerned withidioms are collected and studied to gather necessary knowledge Main materials are

Oxford Idioms (2010), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ Anh-Anh-Việt (2004), Thành NgữTiếng Việt (2009), Từ Điển Thành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ Việt Nam (2008), Từ ĐiểnThành Ngữ và Tục Ngữ Việt Nam (2006) As for the second, they are websites, theefficient tools that are a huge source of idioms Three basic websites areEn.wikipedia.org, News.google.com and Books.google.com In addition, otherprevious theses related to our study are also collected to grab relevant data.

After the process of researching and collecting data, the informationcontinues to be classified into different categories depending on the requirements ofthe research in order to make it easy for the researcher to find and to analyze thedata Besides collecting and reading the materials from the Internet, the mostrelevant references from the library at University of languages and internationalstudies- Hanoi National University have been selectively read in order to supportthe researcher with necessary and useful information

2.3 Data analysis techniques

After the process of reading and collecting data from, the researcher starts toanalyze, contrast the idioms denoting intelligence and understanding basing onsyntactic and semantic features between two languages From numerous samplestaken from dictionaries, in the internet the researcher tries to choose the mostinteresting and concrete ones to illustrate important points under the investigation.From that the researcher concludes the implications for teaching and studying

idioms denoting intelligence and understanding.

2.4 Data analysis procedure

The study begins with a presentation of the theoretical background of idiomswith the syntactic and semantic features, and for the purpose of the study, theresearcher collects data While reading these references, an action of selectingrelevant information is taken simultaneously After the data is collected, theresearcher starts analyzing and classifying the data into the suitable categories of thethesis purpose After that, the researcher contrasts all the idioms to come theconclusion on the first research question: some similarities and differences between

English and Vietnamese idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in terms ofsyntactic and semantic feature.

2.5 Summary

To conclude, in this chapter the main methodological points have beenpresented (i) The major methodology the research (ii) The main methods employedfor the research which includes data collections instrument, data analysis techniquesand data analysis procedure

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the author tries to analyze the idioms collected to detect thesimilarities and differences in their syntactic and semantic features The formerfocuses on clause and phrase patterns while the latter concentrates on the threegroups of ideational, interpersonal and relational idioms

3.1 Syntactic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in contrastive analysis with Vietnamese counterparts

3.1.1 Structural features of English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding

3.1.1.1 English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding have clause patterns

With 50 English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding collected by

the author, there are 32 idioms in clause patterns (64%) and 18 idioms in phrasepatterns (36%)

According to Cowie, Mackin and McCaig (1975), English idioms can beclassified seven distinguishable clause patterns They are (1) Verb _ Adverbial (V-A); (2) Verb _ Complement (V-C); (3) Verb _ Direct Object (V-O); (4) Verb _ DirectObject _ Adverbial (V-O-A); (5) Verb _ Direct Object _ Object Complement (V-O-C); (6) Verb _ Indirect Object _ Direct Object (V-O-O); (7) Verb (S-V) Similarly,Quirk proposed seven clause types (S-V, S-V-C, S-V-O, S-V-A, S-V-O-O, S-V-O-A,S-V-O-C) However, in the clause patterns proposed by Cowie, Mackin and Mccaig,there are optional and obligatory elements while Quirk‟s clauses only haveobligatory parts Therefore, the author is going to apply the clauses of Cowie,Mackin and McCaig as the main foundation for her own study with reference toQuirk‟s classification

A great number of idioms that denoting intelligence and understanding follow thebasic clause patterns:

Order Clause pattern

Complement

Object

Table 1: Original Clause Pattern and Examples of Idioms of intelligences and understanding

It can be seen from the table that English idioms that indicates intelligence and

understanding exist in all of the clause patterns They are summed up from the main

sources: Oxford Idioms Dictionary (2006), English – English – Vietnamese

cross-cultural and cross-linguistics perspective (2005) and statistically analyzed basing on

100 idioms of English and Vietnamese denoting intelligence and understanding.

● Verb - Direct Object pattern (V-Od)

With 12 idioms, this pattern makes up 26% of 50 English idioms denoting

intelligence and understanding and is the most popular type among the clause

patterns The pattern is illustrated by the following examples

“Put on your thinking cap”: If you tell someone to put their thinking cap on, you

ask them to find an idea or solve a problem by thinking about it

Now here's this week's quiz; it's time to put your thinking caps on!

(Anh-ngu-cho-nguoi-viet.blogspot.com; Retrieved on 3 rd June 2014)

“Get the picture”: A person who gets the picture understands what is being

21

The alarm went off and people started running everywhere - you get the picture I'm

sure!

“Collect one's thoughts”: If you collect your thoughts, you try to think calmly and

clearly in order to prepare yourself mentally for something

Anne stopped to collect her thoughts before calling back the customer.

“Get the message”: If you get the message, you understand what someone is trying

to tell you, even if it is expressed in actions or gestures rather than words When

Tony pointed to his watch, I got the message - it was time to leave for the airport.

● Verb – Adverbial pattern (V-A)

With 9 idioms accounting for 18% for this kind of pattern ranking second, isillustrated by the following examples:

“Be on the ball”: If you are on the ball, you are aware of what is happening and are

able to deal with things quickly and intelligently

We need someone who is really on the ball to head the fund-raising campaign

(Learn-English-today com, 2010; Retrieved on 3 rd June 2014)

“Out of your depth”: If you are out of your depth, you are unable to understand a

subject or deal with a situation because it is too difficult for you The level of the

class was too high for me, so very quickly I felt out of my depth.

The adverb phrases on the ball, on the thinking cap, in a new life, keep function as

adverbial in the pattern

“I wasn't born yesterday”: This expression is used to indicate that you are not as

foolish or as easily deceived as some people seem to think

Stop inventing silly excuses I wasn't born yesterday you know!

● Verb - Direct Object – Adverbial pattern (V-Od-A)

4 out of 50 idioms are in this pattern which accounted for 8% of all the idioms Some of the phrases are demonstrated in the following examples

“Hit the nail on the head”: When you hit the nail on the head, you are absolutely

right about something or have guessed the exact nature of a problem or situation