Learning English Idioms through Reading in an LMS: Etymological Notes versus Pictorial Support (original) (raw)
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This study investigated the effects of textual and pictorial glossing and hyperlink on L2 idiom comprehension in distance learning context. The participants, 60 Intermediate female English as a foreign language (EFL) students, were randomly assigned to 4 groups of 15. All groups received two stories a week through Email. Each group received the stories with a different mode of presentation. Two groups were provided with hyperlinked idioms: pictorial and textual hyperlink. The other two groups received instruction through glosses, pictorial and textual glosses. At the end of the treatment period, a multiple choice test was administered to measure receptive knowledge of idioms. The findings showed that the pictorial groups outperformed the textual groups in both hyperlink and glossing conditions on the comprehension test. The present study may have implications for teachers, learners, material writers, textbook authors, CALL package designers and distance learning planners in that it may encourage them to add pictorials to the verbal input.
With the development of technology and due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, most of the ELT courses in Iran have shifted to online learning since March 2020. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of four online technological tools for teaching idioms. To this aim, 106 pre-intermediate learners of English took part in the study. A language proficiency test was administered to them to ensure the homogeneity of the sample. A total number of 80 students who had been selected as the final participants were randomly assigned to four experimental groups: In group A, concept maps of the same idioms were drawn with the help of an online mind-map maker. Group B was presented with online flashcards which included definitions and examples of idioms. Group C received etymological elaboration from an online dictionary of the origins of idioms, and group D listened to online audio stories of all the idioms. Each group of participants received the treatment for 12 sessions and took part in the pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. Results of a one-way ANOVA indicated that the most gains were achieved by story-telling. The findings imply implications for teachers, syllabus designers, and materials developers in using appropriate instructional methods for teaching idioms.
Journal of English language Teaching and Learning, 2020
Due to the importance of idioms, many researchers and teachers have long sought to find ways of making idiom teaching and learning more effective. This study compared three visual mnemonic devices (pictures, mental imagery, and movie clips) in terms of their effect on EFL learners' recognition and recall of English idioms. Ninety intermediate level EFL learners who were preparing themselves for IELTS participated in this study. They were in three groups of thirty members each. Each group was taught idioms using one of the afore-mentioned visual mnemonic devices. Receptive and productive tests of idioms were administered to all groups after the treatment. The one-way ANOVA procedure was used to analyze the collected data. The results revealed statistically significant differences among these devices, with pictures method being the most effective on both recognition and recall of idioms. The findings of the study can have significant theoretical as well as pedagogical implications for language researchers, textbook designers, curriculum developers, teachers, and language learners.
English Language Teaching, 2016
This study examined the effect of etymological elaboration, pictorial elucidation, and integration of these 2 strategies on idiom learning by L2 learners. A total number of 80 homogeneous intermediate learners studying English at 3 language institutes in Isfahan, Iran, were selected. The intermediate participants were selected as the result of administering an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) to them. Then, the participants were divided into 4 groups of equal size, that is, control, etymological, pictorial, and etymological/pictorial groups. Before the experiment, all the participants took a pretest to ensure their unfamiliarity with the idioms. The idioms that were known even by 1 participant were crossed out, and finally 30 idioms were chosen for instruction. Then, the experimental groups received their relevant treatments during 15 sessions, whereas the control group learners learned idioms through definitions and example sentences. After the implementation of the experiment, the 4 groups, once again, sat for a test (i.e., the immediate posttest) to see whether the treatments had improved idiom learning. Finally, the data were analyzed by an independent samples t test and one-way between-groups ANOVA. Results showed that all the 3 strategies significantly improved the participants' idiom learning. Results also pointed to the fact that the etymological elaboration/pictorial elucidation strategy was the most effective strategy on idiom learning.
The Effect of Learner-generated Illustrations on the Immediate And Delayed Recall of English Idioms
Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 2014
The present study investigated the effect of learner generated illustrations on the immediate and delayed idiom recall of Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) learners. To accomplish this end, 40 female students participated in this study. A placement test (Quick Placement Test, Version 2) was administered to the participants to ascertain that they were all at intermediate level of proficiency. Since the design of the study was quasi experimental, they were randomly assigned to control (N: 20) and experimental (N: 20) groups. A pretest of idioms was given to the participants to ensure that they were homogeneous in terms of their knowledge of idioms. Both groups were provided with the clarification of idioms through definitions and examples. However the experimental group was required to draw their own mental image of the idioms on a paper. At the end of the treatment, students took an immediate posttest of idioms. After an interval of 2 weeks, a similar posttest was given to ...
The present study was conducted to investigate the impact of etymological elaboration instruction on EFL learners' comprehension of idioms in short reading texts. Out of 108 EFL female learners studying at Islamic Azad University of Mashhad (Khorasan Razavi province, Iran), based on the results of an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 60 homogenous learners at upper-intermediate level (with the age range of 18-26 years old) were selected based on convenience sampling method. Afterwards, they were randomly divided into control and experimental groups, each consisting of 30 learners. To make sure that the participants were more or less at the same level according to their comprehension of idioms, a researcher-made test was administered to both control and experimental groups to make a judgment about learners' idiomatic knowledge of idioms in short reading texts, and the learners' progress after offering the treatment. The treatment of the study took five one-hour sessions, during which the participants in both groups received five idioms using different instructional techniques, i.e., 'the etymological elaboration instruction of idioms' technique for the experimental group and traditional technique (rote learning) for the control group. The results of independent samples T-test revealed that the experimental group in the post-test outperformed the control group. The results of the paired samples T-test, moreover, showed a significantly higher improvement for the experimental group compared to the control group. It was concluded that knowledge of idioms' etymology generally raised Iranian EFL learners' comprehension of idiomatic expressions in short reading texts.
On the Effects of Linguistic, Verbal, and Visual Mnemonics on Idioms Learning
Language Related Research, 2021
Despite their substantial role in natural discourse, idioms often intimidate EFL students. Therefore, finding effective ways of mitigating students' frustration has been a fundamental consideration in language teaching. Mnemonics, as associative memory tools, are largely acknowledged to be instrumental in reducing the cognitive load involved in language learning, particularly in learning lexical items. This study was conducted to explore the effects of linguistic, verbal, and visual mnemonics on empowering language learners in the recall and recognition of English idioms. Two-hundred seventy intermediate-level EFL learners preparing themselves for IELTS took part in this study. The participants were in nine groups of members each. They were divided into three main groups, each of which was taught idioms using one of the above-mentioned mnemonics. The MANOVA procedure was used to analyze the collected data. The results revealed statistically significant differences among these instructional strategies in case of recall, with linguistic mnemonics being the most influential. The findings of the study can have theoretical implications for researchers in that they can shed light on some of the dark corners of the field and spark interest for further research. The findings can also have some pedagogical implications for teaching programs, curriculum developers, educational policymakers, teachers, and language learners. Developing a clearer understanding of how these mnemonics influence idiom learning can help the stakeholders make more informed decisions about how to treat idioms.
Linguistic Mnemonics affecting Learning L2 Idioms
Journal of Applied Linguistics and Applied Literature: Dynamics and Advances, 2021
Finding more effective ways of teaching second language idioms has been a long-standing concern of many teaching practitioners and researchers. This study was an endeavor to explore the effects of three linguistic mnemonic devices (etymological elaboration, keyword method, and translation) on EFL learners" recognition and recall of English idioms. To achieve the purpose of the study, ninety male and female EFL learners at intermediate level of language proficiency who were preparing themselves for IELTS were selected. They were in three groups of thirty members each. Each group was randomly assigned to one of the treatment conditions and was taught idioms using one of the above-mentioned linguistic mnemonic devices. The one-way ANOVA procedure was used to analyze the data. The results showed statistically significant differences between these techniques, with the etymological elaboration method being the most effective of all, on both recognition and recall of idioms. The findings of the study can have implications for textbook designers, curriculum developers, teachers, and learners.
The Effect of Context on the Iranian EFL Learners’ Idiom Retention
2012
Idioms, forms of figurative language, are used pervasively in both spoken and written discourse. However, mainly due to their figurative nature, they are often considered difficult to learn. The present study tried to first of all briefly investigate the language learners' attitudes toward learning L2 idioms. It then compared the effect of written vs. video-graphic contexts on the language learners' long-term and short-term retention of idioms. To know about the language learners' attitudes to learning English idioms and their relevant experiences, a questionnaire was administered to a group of Iranian EFL learners. The results of the questionnaire proved their highly positive view toward learning idioms and their need for helpful and facilitating learning strategies. At the second stage of the study, two similar groups of intermediate EFL learners were exposed to unfamiliar idioms through a story in written and video-graphic contexts. The subjects were also given the definitions on a separate sheet to check. The subjects' long-term and short-term retention were then tested and compared. The results of the study showed no significant difference between the
Learning L2 Idioms through Visual Mnemonics
2020
Due to the importance of idioms, many researchers and teachers have long sought to find ways of making idiom teaching and learning more effective. This study compared three visual mnemonic devices (pictures, mental imagery, and movie clips) in terms of their effect on EFL learners’ recognition and recall of English idioms. Ninety intermediate level EFL learners who were preparing themselves for IELTS participated in this study. They were in three groups of thirty members each. Each group was taught idioms using one of the afore-mentioned visual mnemonic devices. Receptive and productive tests of idioms were administered to all groups after the treatment. The one-way ANOVA procedure was used to analyze the collected data. The results revealed statistically significant differences among these devices, with pictures method being the most effective on both recognition and recall of idioms. The findings of the study can have significant theoretical as well as pedagogical implications for...