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Form-Focused Vocabulary Instruction: A Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Translation, Definition, Etymology, and Imageable Expressions on Retention of Idioms

Sedaghatkar, Mozhgan | 2015

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: English
  3. Document No: 47625 (31)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Languages and Linguistics Center
  6. Advisor(s): Jahangard, Ali
  7. Abstract:
  8. Currently, in the light of researches that have supported the necessity for pedagogical interventions to push L2 learners towards higher levels of proficiency, form-focused instruction (FFI) approach has gained critical importance in L2. FFI comprises both traditional approaches to teaching forms and more communicative approaches based on giving attention to form that are primarily meaning-focused. Considering FOF, the present study focused on idioms learning in L2 classrooms.Idiom is the inseparable part of teaching English as a foreign language and has an influential role in improving the communicative competence. However, it is not appropriately catered for in many English classes in Iran. The main reason might be the non-literal meaning of idioms that makes them challenging and difficult to teach. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of four prevailing teaching methods, i.e., translation, definition, etymology, and picture on the immediate and delayed retention of idioms in the receptive and productive modes. To meet this end, 120 EFL Iranian learners, among whom thirty received idioms through definition, thirty received idioms through translation, thirty received idioms through picture, and thirty received idioms through etymology in first language participated in the study. 20 idioms were selected and taught to them in two sessions. Retention of the idioms, in the productive and receptive modes were assessed immediately after the class and two weeks later. The findings showed that etymology and pictorial methods had a remarkably positive influence on the immediate and delayed retention of the idioms in the study in both of the receptive and productive modes. The findings of the current research can provide helpful information on the most effective ways of teaching idioms
  9. Keywords:
  10. Immediate Retention ; Delayed Retention ; Learning Idioms ; Form Focused Instruction (FFI) ; Focus on Form (FoF)

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