VESL: Teaching Idioms. Renée Clark November 4, 2015

Transcription

1 VESL: Teaching Idioms Renée Clark November 4, 2015

2 Overview Introduction and Warm-Up Why Teach Idioms? Strategies for Teaching Idioms Activities for Basic Learners Activities for Intermediate Learners Activities for Advanced Learners Resources

3 Warm Up Introduce yourself to your new group Where do you tutor? What level(s)? Try to guess the meanings of the idioms These are taken from other languages, so they will be difficult to guess! Match the idiom with the definition The indicated language may give you a hint!

4 To give the pumpkin. To bang your butt on the ground. To pull old cows out of the ditch. To not hang noodles on your ears. Spanish: To stand someone up. French: To die laughing. Dutch: To bring up an old story or argument that should be left forgotten. Russian: I m being serious. I m not pulling your leg! Making tea with your navel. Like a dog in a canoe. To have tomatoes on your eyes. To play music to a cow. Japanese: Something that is laughable or ridiculous. Spanish: Slightly nervous. German: To be oblivious to what is happening around you. Chinese: To over-estimate your audience s intelligence or ability to understand your message.

5 The Need for Idioms What is an idiom? a group of words or an expression that has meaning other than what is communicated a group of words where the meaning as a whole is not dependent on the individual words an expression that holds meaning in one culture, but possibly not in another

6 The Need for Idioms Why teach idioms? Idioms are everywhere! Learners may have a hard time understanding conversations, TV, radio, etc. Idioms provide insights into English culture Many English idioms are based on farming and old professions, for example

7 Strategies for Teaching Idioms Strategies for all levels: 1. Make the idioms relevant: a) Choose based on need b) Choose based on theme 2. Reference the literal meaning as well as the metaphorical meaning 3. Watch your complexity! -Choose simpler idioms for basic learners

8 Strategies for Teaching Idioms 4. Pre-teach vocabulary needed for new idioms 5. Limit your number: Don t burden students with too many idioms in one session 6. Repetition, repetition, repetition! -Repetition aids retention. Go back to idioms you ve introduced in previous sessions.

9 Basic Activities 1. Matching idioms with definitions 2. Matching idioms with pictures Can give a picture of literal meaning and figurative meaning

10 Basic Activities 3. Partner Matching: Break idioms into 2 parts and give them to various learners. Learners must walk around and find their partner to complete the idiom. 4. Translation: Once an idiom is defined, ask them if they have an idiom similar in their own language.

11 Practice! Find your partner by matching idioms about Love Once you ve found your partner, discuss the meaning of the idiom and how you would teach this idiom in a tutoring session

12 Practice #2 Work in your group to match the idiom to the definition This activity is for a higher level learner, based on the number of idioms and the complexity

13 Intermediate Activities 1. Idiom of the Day/Week: Tutor supplied 2. Scrambled Idioms: Break down an idiom into different words/phrases. Write each word on a separate index card. Learners must combine the words to create an idiom and guess the meaning.

14 Intermediate Activities 3. Drawing: Have learners draw literal interpretations of idioms. The apple doesn t fall far from the tree 4. Idioms in Music: Find songs with idioms in the lyrics. Have learners listen to the songs, pick out the idiom, and discuss its meaning in context.

15 Practice! Groups 1 and 2: You will receive the idiom first. You must guess the meaning before you receive the sentence, and then finally the definition. Groups 3 and 4: You will receive the sentence first. Guess the meaning before you receive the idiom and the definition. Groups 5 and 6: You will receive the idiom and definition. Write your own sentence before you receive the example sentences.

16 Advanced Activities 1. Idiom of the Day/Week: Learner supplied 2. Research: Give learners a small group of idioms to research online. Find a definition, the origin, and an illustration depicting the idiom (if possible) 3. Videos with Idioms: ted.com, ed.ted.com, youtube.com

17 Advanced Activities Cont. 4. Reading Passage: Write a passage for the idioms you want to teach. Learners guess the meanings of the idioms from context. 5. Describing Idioms to a Partner: Give learners different idioms with their meanings and history explained. Have them read their own idioms and re-tell the information to a partner without the use of their sheet. This works well to develop summarizing and presentation skills.

18 Practice! With your partner, look at the Reading Passage example What level do you think this is appropriate for? How would you teach this in a session? What would you change/add? How would you ensure your learners remember these idioms?

19 Your Turn Change groups Find 3-4 people who tutor a similar level as you: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced What are some other ways that you have used Idioms in your tutoring sessions? Limitations? Problems? Suggestions?

20 Resources for Idioms Book for basic learners: David Kehe and Peggy Dustin Kehe, (1994). Conversation Strategies. 1st ed. Vermont USA: Pro Lingua Associates. Websites for Idiom Lists:

21 Resources for Idioms Videos: anguage/theteacher/