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Idioms in the ESL Classroom: A Piece of Cake
piece of cake

Idioms in the ESL Classroom: A Piece of Cake



March 1, 2017

As a child, I found great joy in reading the Amelia Bedelia series written by Peggy Parish. Amelia, the protagonist, works as a housemaid for a wealthy family. In each story of the series, Amelia finds herself in a predicament due to her misunderstanding of figurative language. She literally “dresses the chicken” and “draws the curtains”. Often, this reminds me of how my students might react to figurative language in English.

 

amelia bedelia       amelia bedelia2

 

Idioms and language learning

Practically every language uses some kind of imagery to make the language more interesting. In English, idioms are frequently used by native speakers and are a natural part of the language. To an ESL learner, though, idioms can be quite confusing. I believe that one of the signs of second language mastery is when the speaker uses figurative language accurately. Although understanding figurative language might be quite challenging for beginning ESL learners, more advanced learners would benefit greatly from learning some of the most commonly used idioms. Learning these idioms can help our students develop fluency and get better grades in language tests such as IELTS and the newly introduced EmSAT. Additionally, it would help them to be more creative and have fun with the language.

 

Idioms and L1

An important aspect of introducing idioms is getting students to think about idioms in their own language. For example, a white lie has similar meanings in both English and Arabic. And while walking on eggs means being careful not to offend someone in English, in Arabic, the same expression is used sarcastically to mean walking slowly.

On another note, students could be introduced to usage and appropriateness. For instance, kick the bucket can be somewhat impolite, and a more appropriate euphemism would be pass away. In Arabic, there are quite a number of idiomatic expressions used for death, and our students our usually quick to pick up on how idioms are used in their own language.

 

Teaching idioms

When introducing idioms in the classroom, I usually

  • begin with a very common idiom such as raining cats and dogs
  • provide a context for the idiom and accompany that with a picture depicting the literal meaning
  • inform students that the actual meaning of the idiom is quite different from what they would expect
  • ask students to guess the meaning of the idiom, and finally
  • compare the literal meaning to the actual meaning

 

When the actual meaning is revealed, there are usually some pretty confused faces since many students resort to their dictionaries or Google Translate only to find the literal translation.

 

Suggested activities

 

1. Provide Pictures

Prepare a few sketches depicting some popular idioms. If you are not much of an artist, the website https://www.behance.net/gallery/5719523/Idioms-in-pictures has some pretty good images. The idioms you choose should be common idioms that students may have come across but never actually paid attention to. They should also not contain any unfamiliar words that students need to look up in a dictionary. Some students may not recognize any of the idioms and become frustrated, but that is part of the fun!

 

holdyourhorsesSome idioms which I like to use for this activity are:

  • Killing time
  • Caught red-handed
  • Drive someone up the wall
  • Feeling blue
  • A green thumb
  • Pull someone’s leg
  • A piece of cake
  • Break a leg
  • Over the moon
  • Time flies
  • Butterflies in your stomach
  • Break your word
  • Hold your horses

 

After students have had time to go through the images, discuss and check their answers. This might also be a good opportunity to check whether there is a similar expression in their own language.

 

2. Draw the Idiom

Print idiomatic expressions on strips of paper and place these in a hat/bag/bowl. Have students choose one and draw the literal meaning of the idiom they have selected. Students might argue that they do not know how to draw – encourage them to use stick figures if they have to. Once they have finished, they can use their dictionaries or search online for the actual meaning. This is usually quite a lot of fun!

 

3. Guess Meaning from Context

Provide a context for the idiom and have students use context clues to guess the actual meaning. The website http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/figurative-language/idiom-worksheets/ has plenty of worksheets.

 

4. Watch and Listen

Have students watch a short video and record any idiomatic expressions they hear. American sitcoms are usually full of figurative language. Just make sure the video is culturally appropriate.

 

5. Grouping Idioms

Challenge students to find idioms based on themes (e.g. color, animals, body parts, food). This could be a group activity in which each group is assigned a theme. The groups could then share their results and explain any unfamiliar expressions.

 

6. The Teacher’s Turn

Ask students to identify idioms in their first language and provide the literal translation in English. The teacher would then try to guess the actual meaning!

 

More Ideas

For more suggestions and activities, visit the website https://freelanguagestuff.com/idioms/ . There are some great ideas for different levels of ESL students.

March 1, 2017
Curriculum & Materials, Lesson Plans & Ideas, Teaching & Learning