A Proverb Learned is a Proverb Earned: Proverb Instruction in EFL Classrooms (original) (raw)
Related papers
Emerging from the experiences of a specific society, proverbs commonly mirror certain cultural signs of the traditions, beliefs, and values of that society. This appears as one of the ways of teaching the target culture through building intercultural connections in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. Correspondingly, this study reserves two aims: First, to investigate the perceptions of Turkish EFL teachers on teaching English proverbs for intercultural relations and the frequency of using English proverbs in EFL classes and second, to examine the ideas of English native-speaker language teachers residing in Turkey about the intercultural role of learning and using proverbs in learning Turkish. To that end, 65 English teachers participated in a likert-scale pattern of two questionnaires and 4 native English lecturers were e-mail interviewed. The data collected from the participants is analysed and described related to the qualitative and quantitative research procedure of the instruments. The study revealed that for culture teaching in EFL classes, teachers favoured teaching proverbs and they believed that teaching proverbs was effective in improving learners' language skills, grammar and vocabulary learning in learning an L2. As a second finding, native English lecturers were also positive towards learning Turkish proverbs as cultural connectors. Hence, the study accentuates the realization that proverbs can be effectively employed in teaching culture and evoking cultural relations between native language and the target language, plus in improving L2 skills and studies.
RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2021
Emerging from the experiences of a specific society, proverbs commonly mirror certain cultural signs of the traditions, beliefs, and values of that society. This appears as one of the ways of teaching the target culture through building intercultural connections in English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. Correspondingly, this study reserves two aims: First, to investigate the perceptions of Turkish EFL teachers on teaching English proverbs for intercultural relations and the frequency of using English proverbs in EFL classes and second, to examine the ideas of English native-speaker language teachers residing in Turkey about the intercultural role of learning and using proverbs in learning Turkish. To that end, 65 English teachers participated in a likert-scale pattern of two questionnaires and 4 native English lecturers were e-mail interviewed. The data collected from the participants is analysed and described related to the qualitative and quantitative research procedure of the instruments. The study revealed that for culture teaching in EFL classes, teachers favoured teaching proverbs and they believed that teaching proverbs was effective in improving learners' language skills, grammar and vocabulary learning in learning an L2. As a second finding, native English lecturers were also positive towards learning Turkish proverbs as cultural connectors. Hence, the study accentuates the realization that proverbs can be effectively employed in teaching culture and evoking cultural relations between native language and the target language, plus in improving L2 skills and studies.
A proverb in need is a proverb indeed: Proverbs, textbooks and communicative language ability
South African Journal of Education, 2020
In the study reported here we focus on proverbs in English Language Teaching (ELT) coursebooks and how the pithy structure and the "wisdom"-loaded content of proverbs can contribute to the development of foreign language learners' communicative competence as defined by Bachman (1990). We discuss how the most frequently used coursebooks in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) were identified through a questionnaire administered to 127 first and fourthyear EFL pre-service teachers. We also show how these popular coursebooks were scrutinised for the inclusion and presentation of proverbs by using content analysis and an analysis form to uncover (1) the number of the proverbs incorporated, (2) whether or not the presentation of the proverbs in the coursebooks would foster the development of the competencies identified by Bachman (1990), and (3) whether they were among the most known and frequently used proverbs in present-day English (i.e., currency). The findings reveal a number of problems related to the frequency and currency of the included proverbs, and to the adequacy of the presentation of the proverbs in the examined coursebooks to help students i develop their communicative competence.
A spice of classroom: Incorporating proverbial expressions in EFL classes
English is rich in multi-word lexemes, such as idioms, proverbs, and other fixed expressions that might be stumbling blocks for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Providing a theoretical background and a pedagogical rationale for inclusion of proverbial expressions, this paper presents some activities with proverbs for language teachers, particularly EFL teachers, to make their classes more lively and exciting. The paper suggests, at the end, that adding variety to the classroom activities might contribute to the learners' consciousness-raising that will in turn increase their language proficiency in general and proverbial knowledge in particular.
Every nation’s oral literature has a rich collection of proverbs and both scientists and common people have accepted them as the valuable abstract of their lives. Having benefited from thousands of years of experiences, English language is replete with plenty of proverbs by which the Iranian ESL students can learn a lot about the beliefs and principle ideas of the English people. The current paper focuses on using English proverbs in teaching social and cultural beliefs of the English people to the ESL students in Iranian High schools. The library research has been used as the method in order to gathering necessary information about the English proverbs’ uses. The results show that using English proverbs in order to teach social and cultural beliefs to the Iranian high school students results in students’ learning a lot of valuable knowledge about the society and culture of the target language because of the nature of the proverbs such as being short, rhythmic and easy to learn.
This paper is a pure conceptual paper that examined the use of proverbs in teaching English as a second language in secondary schools and its implications for school principals in Nigeria. Proverbs play an important role in language teaching as a part of gaining cultural knowledge, metaphorical understanding and communicative competence. The paper carefully looked at the meaning and nature of proverbs. Forms of proverbs, grammatical structures and usefulness of proverbs were also explained. Interpretation of proverbs as well as the relationship between aspects of proverbs and English language learners’ classroom were carefully examined. Conclusively, it was concluded that proverbs is an important segment in English Language, and it is the art of every language as well as every culture. Proverbs have been used to spread knowledge, wisdom and truths about life from ancient times up to the present time. The study stressed the need for school principals to ensure that qualified teachers are recruited to teach English Language. Existing teachers should undergo periodic capacity building programs in order to avail themselves with the new ideas in English Language.
Educational significance of proverbs and issues of teaching it
2020
worked long and hard on this project without any compensation. Their only compensation will come from the publication of this study which we hope will answer some of the questions which they asked us. We want to particularly thank Leo Hill, attorney in Greenville, 'who made many worMwhile suggestions concerning this project and read the manuscript.
REFLECTIONS OF ELT STUDENTS ON LEARNING PROVERBS
Learning English proverbs is important for ELT students to understand the language and culture better because they form an essential part of daily speech. The goal of this study was to explore the reflections of ELT students on learning proverbs from various perspectives. The participants were 24 senior teacher trainees attending The Department of English Language Teaching in Pamukkale University Faculty of Education. The data were mainly comprised of the written reflections of the participants based on a practice work to teach English proverbs and they were analyzed through content analysis. Brainstorming technique was also used in the post-practice session in order to identify the opinions on why ELT students would use and teach proverbs in their classes. In addition, a native instructor was also interviewed and asked to give her views on the use of proverbs. The opinions received from the teacher trainees were classified under nine themes. The findings of the study reveal that teacher trainees in our program did not have much experience in learning proverbs previously, but as a result of the practice work they were involved, they find learning and teaching proverbs important. The participant ELT students report that they can express an opinion directly in an easy and effective way by using a proverb rather than using its translation, and in this way, they can be more fluent in language use. It is also reported that conscious use of proverbs develops their confidence in language use and this raises their motivation to learn more of them. It seems that the participants are also interested in the cultural aspect of proverbs and it is reflected that they can use them to teach values of the target culture, specific vocabulary and various components of English in their future teaching experiences. Consequently, ELT students can be helped to focus on proverbs and develop an awareness of them in language use, and as a natural outcome of this, they can benefit from their knowledge of proverbs in their native language and reflect their knowledge of English proverbs into their own teaching. Özet Bu çalışmanın amacı, İngilizce öğretmenliği öğrencilerinin atasözleri öğrenimi üzerine görüşlerini değişik perspektiflerden araştırmaktır. Katılımcılar, Pamukkale Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi İngiliz Dili Eğitimi Anabilim Dalında öğrenim gören 24 son sınıf öğretmen adayından oluşmaktadır. Veriler, temel olarak İngilizce atasözlerini öğretmek amacıyla yapılan bir sınıf çalışmasına dayalı olarak katılımcıların yazılı görüşlerinden oluşup, içerik analizi yoluyla değerlendirilmiştir. İngilizce öğretmenliği öğrencilerinin hangi nedenlerle İngilizce atasözlerini kendi derslerinde kullanıp öğreteceklerine ilişkin görüşlerini belirlemek amacıyla, sınıf çalışması sonrası beyin fırtınası tekniği de kullanılmıştır. Buna ilaveten, bir yabancı öğretim elemanı ile görüşme yapılmış ve atasözleri kullanımına ilişkin görüşlerini aktarması istenmiştir. Öğrencilerden elde edilen görüşler dokuz tema altında sınıflandırılmıştır. Çalışmanın bulguları, İngilizce öğretmen adaylarının atasözleri öğreniminde çok fazla deneyimi olmadıklarını, ancak katıldıkları çalışmanın sonucu olarak atasözü öğrenimi ve öğretimini önemli bulduklarını göstermektedir. Çalışmaya katılan İngilizce öğretmenliği öğrencileri, bir düşünceyi tercümesini kullanmaktansa atasözü kullanarak direk olarak kolay ve etkin bir biçimde ifade edebileceklerini ve bu yolla dil kullanımında daha akıcı 2 olabileceklerini bildiriyorlar. Bilinçli atasözü kullanımının dil kullanımında öğretmen adaylarının kendine olan güvenlerini geliştirdiği ve bunun da daha fazla atasözü öğrenmeye yönelik motivasyonlarını artırdığı bildirilmektedir. Katılımcıların atasözlerinin kültürel yönüyle de ilgilendikleri görünüyor ve hedef dilin değerlerini, spesifik sözcükleri ve dilin değişik unsurlarını öğretmek amacıyla atasözlerini gelecekteki kendi öğretim deneyimlerinde kullanabilecekleri yansıtılmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, İngilizce öğretmenliği öğrencilerinin atasözlerine odaklanmalarına ve dil kullanımında farkındalıklarının geliştirilmesine yardımcı olunabilir, ve bunun doğal bir sonucu olarak, öğretmen adayları ana dillerindeki atasözleri bilgilerinden faydalanıp, İngilizce atasözü bilgilerini kendi dil öğretimlerine yansıtabilirler. Anahtar Sözcükler: Atasözleri, öğretmen adayları, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi (ELT).
Muallim Journal of Social Science and Humanities
The purpose of this research is to investigate the reason(s) for the failure of the usage of English proverbs among students in the English class, both at primary and secondary level. The results of the research is expected to revive the use of English proverbs in schools as they can be used as a pivotal tool in the teaching and learning of English language. This is a mixed method research utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research analysis techniques. Sample for the research were 100 students from primary and secondary schools (two urban and two rural schools) in Malaysia. Apart from students, 50 English teachers too were used to get their feedback on the teaching and learning of English proverbs. The research has positively answered the three Research Questions. The data collected clearly indicated that English proverbs were not popular among students and teachers. And the interview transcripts clearly showed that the reasons on why English proverbs were underused. The t...