VOLUME 13

ISSUE 2
fall 2009

Featured Theme: Teaching and Learning Idioms:

teaching idioms
The Big Picture
by Eve Zyzik
University of California, Santa Cruz
In recent years, there has been heightened awareness of the critical role of vocabulary
in second language (L2) learning and teaching. Within this broad area of academic
inquiry, there is also general consensus that the vocabulary of a given language is
much more than a list of individual words. A speaker’s mental dictionary (or lexicon)
also contains a wide range of multiword units such as phrasal verbs (“put up with”),
social routines (“take care”), collocations (“plastic surgery”), and idioms (“bite the
bullet”). There is good reason for focusing on multiword units: research suggests that
a large proportion of language—perhaps as high as 50 percent—is composed of such
sequences (cf. Erman and Warren, 2000). Many of these multiword units contain one
or more figurative elements, such that the meaning of the entire phrase is not easily
predicable. Consider the following examples and think about how often you might
have used or heard them:
1. I like him because he’s so down to earth.
2. We all have to be on the same page.
3. Who’s going to foot the bill for that?
4. Don’t beat around the bush.
Native speakers use these expressions so frequently in everyday situations
that they may not be aware of their figurative nature, unless they
experience a communication breakdown with a nonnative
speaker. Idioms, as illustrated in the examples above, are
a particular type of multiword unit that have a least
one element with a figurative (i.e., nonliteral)
meaning. For example, “being on the same
page” in (2) does not refer to reading in
INSIDE THIS ISSUE unison from a book, but rather to a group of
MAIN ARTICLE people being in agreement on something. In
this case, there is a fairly clear relationship
EDITOR’S MESSAGE
between the figurative and literal meaning.
CLEAR on Facebook
(Continued on page 4)
Summer Workshop
overview
Announcements &
Resources
 Editor’s Message
Dear Readers,
Greetings from Michigan State University! The students are We continue to visit regional and national conferences to
back on campus and this morning I noticed a tree that has give sessions and run exhibits about CLEAR’s free and
begun to turn gold … it must be fall. We’ve finished up a low-cost products for world language teachers. We hope to
busy summer at CLEAR, with five summer workshops meet some of you at ACTFL in San Diego this November.
taking place in addition to other professional development Come visit us at Booth #2143 in the LRC Pavilion to say
outreach and continued product development. Be sure to hello and learn more about CLEAR and our products in
watch our website in October for a list of our summer person. You can also always visit our website for the latest
2010 workshops. information about CLEAR and our projects:
http://clear.msu.edu.
This issue of CLEAR News gives language teachers some
concrete ideas on how to teach idioms, a topic sure to Finally, as you embark on a new year of teaching, I
interest your students. Dr. Eve Zyzik shares several insights wish you all a fruitful and productive school year.
based on her own research and that of others. She also Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most
identifies a number of issues for teachers to consider when powerful weapon which you can use to change the
teaching foreign language idioms. world.” What better way to help our students become
agents of global change than to teach them the value of
Also featured in these pages is an article announcing the
learning world languages and cultures?
launch of CLEAR’s Facebook group. You have no doubt
heard about this social networking giant, and we’d like
to invite you to join our online community. There are
wonderful networking opportunities for language educators Joy Campbell
just a few clicks away!

SUggestions WANTED!
We strive to publish CLEAR News articles that represent current topics in foreign language
teaching, and we want to hear from you! If you have an idea for an article or would like to
see a particular subject addressed, please let us know at [email protected]. We will consider
your idea for future issues of the newsletter.
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Susan M. Gass & Patricia R. Paulsell then create an account for yourself.
Co-Directors
Joy M. Campbell
Executive Associate Director
The U.S. Department of Education awards grants through Center (LARC) at San Diego State University; the National
Dennie Hoopingarner Title VI funding to a small number of institutions for the African Language Resource Center (NALRC) at the
Associate Director for Technology purpose of establishing, strengthening, and operating lan- University of Wisconsin—Madison; the National Capital
guage resource and training centers to improve the teaching Language Resource Center (NCLRC), a consortium of
This publication was produced with support and learning of foreign languages. There are currently fifteen Georgetown University, the Center for Applied Linguistics,
Language Resource Centers nationwide: the Center for and George Washington University; the National East Asian
from a Department of Education grant (CFDA Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research Languages National Resource Center (NEALRC) at The
84.229A and P229A060011). The contents (CALPER) at The Pennsylvania State University; the Center Ohio State University; the National Foreign Language
do not necessarily represent the policy of the for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) Resource Center (NFLRC) at the University of Hawai´i at
Department of Education, and one should not at the University of Minnesota; the Center for Applied Manoa; the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource
Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Center (NK-12LRC) at Iowa State University; the National
assume endorsement by the federal government. Oregon; the Center for Languages of the Central Asian Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC), a consortium
Region (CeLCAR) at Indiana University; the Center for of UCLA and the UC Consortium for Language Learning
Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy and Teaching; the National Middle East Language Resource
(CERCLL) at the University of Arizona; the Center for Center (NMELRC) at Brigham Young University; and the
Language Education and Research (CLEAR) at Michigan South Asia Language Resource Center (SALRC) at The
State University; the Language Acquisition Resource University of Chicago.

2
CLEAR Joins the Facebook Ranks
Social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter are like CLEAR and its sister centers, language-related contests
becoming an increasingly important means of communica- like those sponsored by ACTFL, and a host of other networks
tion, as a glance at any news source can tell you—articles on that can inspire enthusiasm for language learning. Another
these Web 2.0 phenomena have appeared with regularity in article, “Reaching Students with Facebook: Data and Best
both print and online news sources for the last several years. Practices,” which can be found at http://southernlibrarian-
Given our interest in and commitment to making technology ship.icaap.org/content/v08n02/mack_d01.html, gives a number
an integral part of the foreign language classroom, CLEAR of useful tips for entering the world of social networks.
has branched out into the world of social networking. While
Facebook is significant because it has become an important
you shouldn’t expect “tweets” from CLEAR staffers anytime
place for your students to communicate and interact. In addi-
in the near future (ask your students if you don’t know what
tion to sending messages to each other and posting updates
a tweet is), we do now have a Facebook group.
on their own and each other’s walls, students are using
Facebook, for the uninitiated, is a free website that allows Facebook to coordinate group projects and activities, post
people to set up accounts that they then use to keep their pictures, and conduct surveys and quizzes. Facebook also
friends and colleagues up to date on their activities. CLEAR has a live chat program. For many students, Facebook is a
is using its Facebook group to keep members informed about communication hub for keeping in touch with their friends.
upcoming activities and conference presentations, new prod- They may be receptive to adding the new dimension of inter-
ucts, and professional development opportunities. The group acting with their teachers to their use of the social network.
is open and anyone can join. If you have a Facebook account,
CLEAR still maintains a separate discussion forum for its Rich
do a search for “CLEAR” and look for our logo in the search
Internet Applications (RIAs). This site is dedicated to sharing
results. If you are new to Facebook and interested in learning
tips and information for getting the most out of these free
more, begin at http://www.facebook.com.
online tools. The forum allows you to connect with other
We are hoping that we can use our Facebook group to people using our RIAs, to ask questions, answer others’
maintain a dynamic online presence. Group members can questions, and share your experiences in using the tools. To
post questions and discussion topics to the group’s “wall,” join the conversation, go to http://ria.clear.msu.edu and click
or collection of posts. A number of other language education on the “forums” link.
organizations, such as ACTFL, the Central States Conference
We hope to see you on Facebook soon!
on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, and other national,
regional and local groups, have a Facebook presence as well.
Joining one or several of these groups allows you to keep on
top of opportunities available to language educators as well
as to network among others in our field and in related areas.

You might also consider using Facebook in your own

classroom. It lets you connect with students via a medium
with which they are mostly likely familiar and which they
enjoy using. A helpful article entitled “Facebook for College
Professors” can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/
ProfAlliHost/facebook-for-college-professors. This white
paper gives step-by-step instructions on how to set up your
own Facebook group and use it in (and out of) your
classroom. Beginning a Facebook group for your own
students also would allow you to direct them to resources

3
 (Continued from cover)

Grant and Bauer (2004) remind us that many figurative learn. On the other hand, idioms that are only
expressions can be “undone” or “unpicked” to work out the partially similar will likely cause errors. Laufer
meaning; linguists refer to these as “transparent” or “decom- (2000) also reminds us that there are some idioms in
posable” idioms. On the other hand, there are opaque idioms one language that can only be expressed literally in
that have little (if any) overlap with the literal meaning (e.g., another. For example, the English idiom “it’s over
4 above). Since not all idioms are equal, there is not one sin- my head” (meaning something is very difficult to
gle definition accepted by all scholars. Nevertheless, most understand) has no corresponding idiom in Spanish;
researchers agree that idioms can be characterized according the idea can only be expressed literally.
to the following properties: Insight 2–Contextual clues are useful to learners in
1. Their meaning is not completely derivable comprehending unknown idioms. Cooper (1999)
from the sum of the parts.
explored the comprehension strategies used by L2
2. They are generally rigid or fixed in structure.
learners when trying to decipher the meanings of
3. Although a literal meaning of the phrase is
possible, it is less frequent. English idioms in one- or two-sentence contexts. The
most commonly used strategies were guessing from
In addition, I caution against considering idioms as simply
context, discussing and analyzing the idiom, and
the “colorful” side of language or “amusing” expressions
using the literal meaning. Overall, guessing from
that we use exclusively in colloquial settings. While this is
context was the most successful strategy, leading to
a common perception, it is inaccurate. Although idioms are
correct interpretation in 57 percent of the cases.
indeed more common in informal discourse, there are
hundreds of idioms used in academic settings as well. For Insight 3–Teaching idioms based on their underlying
example, Simpson and Mendis (2003) conducted a corpus themes or literal origins is a potentially useful
search of academic spoken English and found numerous approach. For example, Boers et al. (2004) outlines
idioms such as on the right track, come into play, and down the a teaching method based on problem-solving tasks
line. Furthermore, idioms are often used to achieve a desired in which students are made aware of the origin of
communicative effect that cannot be easily expressed without figurative idioms. For example, the idiom “to be
figurative language (for example, try to think of a way to say waiting in the wings” derives from the literal context
“our plans fell through” without using the idiom fall through). of actors waiting in the wings of the theater before
In fact, research shows that idioms have more specific and appearing on stage. In this approach, all idioms
complex meanings than their literal paraphrases (Gibbs, pertaining to a particular source domain (e.g., food
1992). The implication is that idioms are an essential part of and cooking) would be grouped together. A comple-
knowing a language and, thus, should be systematically mentary method may be to group idioms according
incorporated into L2 curricula. to their metaphoric themes (cf. Boers 2000). For
example, the metaphor “mental control is physical
Before considering how to approach the teaching of idioms, it
control” yields many idioms, including drop the ball,
is important to consider some of the research findings in this
get a grip on something, etc.
area. There is a limited body of research on the L2 acquisition
of idioms that yields the following insights:
What do these research findings mean for teachers?
Insight 1–Not all idioms will be equally difficult for
First, and most important, it should be clear that
learners to master. The degree of similarity between a
idioms can be taught in principled ways that go
given idiom in the L2 and its
beyond rote memorization or blind guessing. I
equivalent in the learner’s
consider on the following pages some of the specific
native language is an
issues that should be considered when incorporating
important variable. Idioms
idioms into the L2 classroom.
that are identical in both
languages will be easiest to

4
Issue 1–Which idioms to teach they can later share their examples in class and ask questions
This is a primary consideration since we want our students about appropriate usage. Teachers can draw attention to new
to learn those idioms that will allow them to participate more idioms by embedding them into regular vocabulary and/or
fully in interactions with native speakers. Since there are reading activities. If we assume that idioms are best learned
thousands of idioms in any language (for example, some through exposure to authentic language (rather than contrived
English idiom dictionaries contain up to 7,000 idioms), we examples), teachers should take advantage of natural language
want to devote attention to the most useful ones. Generally source passages (e.g., TV, newspapers, or even a corpus search).
“most useful” overlaps with “most frequent.” Fortunately, Authentic examples can be easily modified for classroom
corpus research has greatly contributed to knowledge in this purposes depending on the students’ proficiency level.
area; English as a second language (ESL) teachers
may consult the work by Liu (2003) on the most Issue 3–Specific classroom activities
frequently used spoken idioms in American English There is no pedagogy exclusive to idioms; most
as well as the comparison of American and British research suggests using a wide range of
English done by Grant (2007). Another potential techniques. Teachers can rest assured that
resource is the Longman grammar of spoken and written most vocabulary teaching strategies will be
English (Biber et al., 1999), which includes a small applicable to idioms as well. An important first
section on frequently used idioms. Teachers of step is exposing students to idioms in context
languages other than English will be disappointed (see issue 2 above). Students should be encour-
to learn that, unfortunately, such frequency analyses aged to infer the meaning of the idiom by using
of idioms are not yet available. Nevertheless, frequency contextual clues, conceptual knowledge, and/or first
is not the only factor to consider when choosing which idioms language equivalents. Teachers may provide assistance during
to teach. Context of use will also determine how useful a this process, especially if the idiom is not easily decomposable.
particular idiom is for the target audience. For example, the There are several techniques to make learners aware of the
idiom “call it a day” is a low-frequency item according to link between the idiom’s literal and figurative meanings. For
Liu’s corpus analysis, but is routinely used to mark the end example, students can draw pictures to represent the literal
of a class or meeting. Thus, in that context it is a very useful meaning; this can be particularly effective for lower-proficiency
idiom. In short, frequency is only one criterion when choosing learners or for idioms that have image-evoking potential (e.g.,
idioms for teaching purposes. “to be down in the dumps”). Alternatively, the teacher can
provide an image associated with the idiom. Note that images/
Issue 2–Separate lessons or pictures are more than mere entertainment for your students;
an integrated approach research suggests that forming a mental image of an idiom
If you’ve decided to devote attention to idioms in your class, is a powerful tool for learning and further retention. After
you may consider creating separate lessons in order to teach presenting idioms in context and helping students infer their
“useful” idioms. However, this is not necessarily the most meaning, teachers should force retrieval of the idioms that
effective approach. The reason is that idiom lessons will likely have been studied. This can be done in numerous ways,
be limited in two ways: the time spent on them (perhaps only including typical vocabulary exercises like matching idioms
15–20 minutes per week) and the naturalness of the language to their meanings, filling in blanks with the appropriate
used to contextualize the idioms. For these reasons, many idiom, replacing underlined expressions with an idiom, etc.
scholars have argued in favor of an integrated approach, Finally, to promote output and creative language use, students
which involves incorporating idioms into regular lessons that can write dialogues using the idioms or tell stories based on
focus on any of the four skills. A first step would be to raise pictures. For additional teaching ideas, I recommend the
students’ awareness of idioms so that they develop a habit of articles by Cooper (1998) and Irujo (1986) and chapter nine
noticing them in everyday situations, including reading and of Liu (2008).
listening. Students can be asked to keep an idiom notebook; (Continued on page 6)

5
 (Continued from page 5)

Incorporating idioms into your curriculum may seem like a Cooper, T. (1999). Processing of idioms by L2 learners of English. TESOL Quarterly,
33, 233-262.
daunting task because of the sheer number of idioms that Erman, B., & Warren, B. (2000). The idiom principle and the open choice principle.
exist in any language. It is unlikely (and unrealistic) to expect Text, 20, 29-62.
Gibbs, R. (1992). What do idioms really mean? Journal of Memory and Language, 31,
an ESL student to master the 5,000 idioms in the Cambridge 485-506.
dictionary of American idioms (Heacock, 2003). To approach Grant, L.E. (2007). In a manner of speaking: Assessing frequent spoken figurative
idioms to assist ESL/EFL teachers. System, 35, 169-181.
the task, teachers and students should remember that L2
Grant, L.E., & Bauer, L. (2004). Criteria for re-defining idioms: Are we barking up
idiom learning is a lifelong process. Another important the wrong tree? Applied Linguistics, 25, 38-61.
point is that by teaching idioms in class using some of the Heacock, P. (Ed.). (2003). Cambridge dictionary of American idioms. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
techniques mentioned, you are also providing your students
Irujo, S. (1986). A piece of cake: Learning and teaching idioms. ELT Journal, 40,
with coping strategies for dealing with figurative language in 236-242.

general. Through a greater awareness of idioms, their literal Laufer, B. (2000). Avoidance of idioms in a second language: The effect of L1-L2
degree of similarity. Studia Linguistica, 54, 186-196.
meanings, and underlying conceptual metaphors, your Liu, D. (2003). The most frequently used spoken American English idioms: A corpus
students will be better equipped to “unpick” figurative analysis and its implications. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 671-700.
Liu, D. (2008). Idioms: Description, comprehension, acquisition, and pedagogy.
language and make sense of it without teacher guidance. New York: Routledge.
References Simpson, R., & Mendis, D. (2003). A corpus-based study of idioms in academic
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finnegan, E. (1999). Longman speech. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 419-441.
grammar of spoken and written English. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Boers, F. (2000). Metaphor awareness and vocabulary retention. Applied Linguistics, 24,
553-571.
Eve Zyzik is Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Language
Boers, F., Demecheleer, M., & Eyckmans, J. (2004). Etymological elaboration as a
strategy for learning figurative idioms. In P. Bogaards & B. Laufer (Eds.), Vocabulary in Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has
a second language: Selection, acquisition, and testing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
designed and implemented lessons for teaching Spanish idioms
Cooper, T. (1998). Teaching idioms. Foreign Language Annals, 31, 255-266.
in the classroom.

Summer Workshops a Success

For the 13th consecutive year, CLEAR hosted Another workshop focused on teaching culture in the
workshops this summer, drawing participants from language classroom, in which participants learned a
all over the United States—and a few other countries! number of pedagogical techniques from the perspective
Teachers of many different languages gathered in of language students. The theoretical foundation was
East Lansing to gain hands-on experience in a variety built on with discussion of the ACTFL standards and
of topics. the Common European Framework of Reference, but
there was a lot of hands-on work as well. As one
Participants in three of the workshops learned how
participant noted, “I liked how interactive it was, not
to incorporate technology in the language classroom.
just a lot of lecturing.”
There was enthusiasm about sharing new techniques
with colleagues, as one participant commented, “I’ll Finally, participants in the language program develop-
go back to my school and train my fellow language ment workshop were able to create plans to maintain
teachers on the new versions of Conversations and or increase enrollment in their foreign language
Audio Dropboxes [two of CLEAR’s free Rich Internet programs. Teachers appreciated the “real examples”
Applications].” Teachers also appreciated that their and “step-by-step activities” and had plans to apply
suggestions were immediately incorporated to improve their new knowledge immediately. “We will now be
the Rich Internet Applications tools. As another partici- able to write our proposal in a way that speaks to all
pant commented, “The best thing was that the instructor [constituents],” one participant said.
solicited input to improve the tools we were using.”

6
 announcements and resources

Upcoming Conferences familiar with the language teaching activities found in

CLEAR will be represented at exhibit booths at the following CLEAR’s Instructional Guide for Use in Small Classes:
conferences this academic year. Stop by to introduce yourself African Languages, which is available as a free
and let us show you what we can offer for your language downloadable PDF. The video depicts three types of
classroom. language learning activities: information gap activities,
role plays, and text-based lessons. It also discusses topics
We will be presenting sessions and/or workshops at some of
such maximizing the use of the target language and
these conferences as well!
implementing appropriate error correction. Note that
• Michigan World Language Association (MiWLA), while African languages are the original focus of the
October 15-16, 2009, Lansing, MI
guidebook, the activities can be implemented in any
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages language classroom.
(ACTFL), November 20-22, 2009, San Diego, CA
• Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Language Resource Centers
Languages (CSCTFL), March 4-6, 2010, Minneapolis, MN CLEAR is one of 15 Language Resource Centers (LRCs) funded
• World Languages Day, April 17, 2010, East Lansing, MI by grants from the U.S. Department of Education. The LRCs
• Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium recently published a comprehensive booklet that gives infor-
(CALICO), June 8-12 2010, Amherst, MA mation about the projects in which they are engaged as well
Videos Now Available Online as an overview of each individual LRC and some if its key
In response to requests from local and national language initiatives. You can download the full booklet at http://clear.
teachers, CLEAR has made accessing several of its videos msu.edu/clear/otherlrcs/lrc_broc_full.pdf, or simply visit
easier than ever. You can now watch the following videos in CLEAR’s website and click on the “Other LRCs” tab. You’ll
streaming format right on CLEAR’s website. To save a video learn about numerous free and low-cost resources as well as
for later viewing or classroom use, you can also download exciting programs happening at LRCs around the country.
each one as a free MP4 file. Videos available in this format
Get Help, Give Help
include:
Are you using CLEAR’s Rich Internet Applications? They are
• Foreign Languages: Doors to Opportunity – The first part
powerful and useful tools for enhancing your language classes.
of this video is intended for use with middle and high
We host a discussion forum dedicated to sharing tips and
school students of foreign languages. The second part
information for getting the most out of the tools. Feel free to
is designed for K–12 educators, including teachers,
ask questions, answer others’ questions, and share your
guidance counselors, administrators, and parents. A free
experiences in using the tools. You’ve joined our community;
downloadable discussion guide accompanies the video and
now add your voice to the conversation! Go to http://ria.clear.
contains preview and postview activities to help educators
msu.edu and click on the “forums” link.
in facilitating discussion of both parts of the video.
• Test Development Video – This video and companion Subscribe to CLEAR News!
workbook (available as a free PDF) are designed to CLEAR News is available in hard copy at conferences and
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more than a thousand models for test items.
• Instructional Guide for Use in Small Classes: African
Languages (video) – This video is intended for use as a
training tool for new language teachers who may not be

7
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