Idioms: in the world, the classroom and English as a Lingua Franca
What is English as a Lingua Franca?
‘English when it used as a contact language between people from different languages (including native English speakers)’ (Jenkins, 2014: 24).
EFL L1 ESL E L FE L F
What is the place of idiomaticity in English as a Lingua Franca?
idiomatic usage, slang, phrasal verbs, puns, proverbs, cultural allusions and the like...as far as ELF is concerned, this sort of knowledge of the English language is ‘irrelevant’ (Jenkins, 2000: 220).
What do we mean by idiomaticity?
‘an idiom is a combination of two or more words which function as a unit of meaning’.
She turned on me A different kettle of _____ (to be) glad to see the _____ of (someone) To put your ______ in it
She turned on me A different kettle of fish (to be) glad to see the back of (someone) To put your foot in it
What can happen to idioms in the classroom?
I learnt how to make Turkish coffee easily, but Italian espresso was a completely different kettle of fishes. ? ?
Mrs Johnson said she was glad to see Pablo’s back ? ?
Raffaella was having an argument with her sister when she suddenly turned me on ? ?
I’d forgotten that Mrs Matthews’ sister died last week, so when I asked who the photograph was of, I really put my foot on it. ? ?
Why is idiomaticity important?
Idiomaticity = fluency (?)
tested ? ?
Idiomaticity embodies shared knowledge and culture
What happens when shared knowledge and shared culture are absent?
‘unilateral idiomaticity’ situations in ELF when
Rafael Benitez: ex-manager of Liverpool football club
Journalist : Rafa, you seemed to be under the cosh a little bit, didn't you? ? ?
Rafa Benitez: Yes, I thought we played very good football and we pressed and pressed them and did well to convert our chances.
Two Can and must play at the idiom game
Benitez: Some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar ? ?
Benitez: We have a saying in Spanish: White liquid in a bottle has to be milk ? ?
‘These idioms involve both the influence of the speakers’ first language and the desire to accommodate towards an interlocutor to enhance understanding’ (Jenkins, 2014: 34)
What can we do with idiomaticity in the ELF classroom?
Teaching and testing
Shuttling between varieties…
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We have to move from an either/or orientation in the testing debate to a both and more perspective Canagarajah, 2006:
Posing the options as either ‘native English norms’ or ‘new Englishes norms’ is misleading – a proficient speaker of English in the postmodern world needs both. That is, the ability to negotiate varieties… Canagarajah, 2006:
In the classroom: principles Encourage intercultural understanding and accommodation Aim for comfortable intelligibility
‘noticing’ activities translation paraphrase contrastive idiomaticity songs poems newspapers podcasts the internet set up interactive contexts idioms in discourse In the classroom: practice
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‘ELF: a jointly- performed dance’ (Aston, 1993: 228)