A study on idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in english with reference to their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING THE WORD “EYE” IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ CÓ CHỨA TỪ MẮT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VỚI NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT) DƯƠNG THỊ HƯƠNG THÚY Hanoi, 2016 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY ON IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS CONTAINING THE WORD “EYE” IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ CÓ CHỨA TỪ MẮT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VỚI NHỮNG THÀNH NGỮ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT) DƯƠNG THỊ HƯƠNG THÚY Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Dang Ngoc Huong, Ph.D Hanoi, 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2016 Dương Thi Hương Thuy Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Dang Ngoc Huong, Ph.D Date: 10/12/2016 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to those who have contributed to this thesis and proud to acknowledge their help I would like first and foremost to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Mr Dang Ngoc Huong, for his inspiring and invaluable guidance, advice, encouragement and everything that I learnt from him throughout my work Without him this thesis would not have been possible My sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and the staff of the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at Hanoi Open University for their useful lectures, assistance and enthusiasm during my course Special acknowledgement is also given to my lecturers at National College for Education for their precious knowledge, useful lectures in linguistics, which lay the foundation for this study Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my husband and my family for their understanding, patience and support during the entire period of my study There are many others I should mention here, people who helped me along the way and provided me support Listing all of them would fill a book itself, so I merely will have to limit myself to a few words: I thank you ALL! ii ABSTRACT This study focused on idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents Through their syntactic and semantic features, we find out the similarities and differences between idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” between two languages under the light of contrastive analysis and cross-cultural perspective Data used for analysis in this study were mainly collected through dictionaries and the internet Through analysis of forms of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English and Vietnamese, it is deduced that idioms are really important in communication Idioms are used to express ideas in figurative styles They bring the vividness and richness to the speakers' speeches This is the reason why the more skillfully a person uses idioms in his conversations, the more effectively he can establish his communicative relationship The findings of the thesis illustrate some implications for teachers, learners of English and translators from the use of linguistic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English and focus on the meanings of the English idioms containing the word ‘eye’ and a comparative analysis with Vietnamese ones Hopefully, the study may help learners, teachers, and translators of English avoid difficulties in realizing and translating English idioms into Vietnamese and vice versa iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of research and objectives 1.3 Scope of research 1.4 Significance of research 1.5 Organizational structure of Thesis CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of previous studies 2.1.1 Previous Studies of English Idioms in Foreign Countries 2.1.2 Previous Studies of English and Vietnamese Idioms in Vietnam 2.2 Review of theoretical background 2.2.1 Literal meanings and Idiomatic meanings 2.2.2 Definition of Idioms 2.2.3 Features of Idioms 2.2.4 Types of idioms 11 2.2.5 Functions of idioms 12 2.2.6 Specific characteristics of idiomatic meanings 14 2.2.7 The relationship between idioms and culture 14 2.2.8 The similarities and differences between idioms and proverbs 16 2.3 Summary of the chapter 18 CHAPTER III: PROPOSED RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Research-governing orientations 19 3.2 Research questions 19 iv 3.3 Research methods 19 3.4 Summary of the chapter 20 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 21 4.1 Syntactic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English (eye-word idioms) and their equivalents in Vietnamese 21 4.1.1 English eye-word idioms in the form of Noun Phrase Structure (26 E idioms + V idioms) 22 4.1.2 English eye-word idioms in the form of Verb Phrase Structure (51 E idioms + 33 V idioms) 23 4.1.3 English eye-word idioms in the form of Adjective Phrase Structure ( 15 E idioms +15 V idioms) 25 4.1.4 English eye-word idioms in the form of Prepositional Phrase Structure (17 E Idioms+ V idioms) 26 4.1.5 English eye-word idioms in the form of Adverb Phrase Structure 26 4.2 Semantic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English and their equivalents in Vietnamese 28 4.2.1 Idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English 28 4.2.1.1 Expressing good points 28 4.2.1.1.1 Positive looks 28 4.2.1.1.2 Describing people and their abilities 29 4.2.1.1.3 Describing appearances 30 4.2.1.2 Expressing bad points 31 4.2.1.2.1 Negative looks 31 4.2.1.2.2 Describing people and their negative actions 32 4.2.1.3 Expressing neutral points 33 4.2.1.3.1 Neutral looks 33 4.2.1.3.2 Describing people 33 2.1.3.3 Describing views and appearance 34 4.2.2 Idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in Vietnamese 39 v 4.2.2.1 Positive look 39 4.2.2.1 1.Describing people and their abilities 39 4.2.2.1.2 Describing appearances 40 4.2.2.2 Negative looks 40 4.2.2.2.1 Describing people and their negative actions 41 4.2.2.2.2 Describing appearance 42 4.2.2.3 Expressing neutral points 42 4.2.3 English eye-word idioms with their equivalents in Vietnamese 43 4.2.4 Summary of the chapter 45 4.3 Implications for teachers, learners of English and translators from the use of linguistic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English 46 4.3.1 Implications for English language teaching to Vietnamese learners 48 4.3.2 Implications for students and learners of English 51 4.2.3 Implications for English – Vietnamese translation and vice versa 51 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 54 5.1 Recapitulation of the study 54 5.2 Concluding remark of the study 55 5.3 Limitation of the study 57 REFERENCES 58 APPENDIXES 61 vi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In the world today, there are 5,000 to 6,000 living languages, of which English is by far the most widely used Approximately 350 million people speak English as their first language About the same number use it as a second language It is the English language that is used as the language of aviation, international sport and pop music 75% of the world's mail is in English, 60% of the world's radio stations broadcast in English and more than half of the world's periodicals are printed in English It is also the English language that is used as an official language in 44 countries, and as the language of business, commerce and technology in many others English is now an effective medium of international communication In Vietnam, English has long been considered as a tool of international communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning English is becoming more and more urgent It can't be denied that all foreign learners in general and Vietnamese learners in particular desire to master English as the native speakers; however, they usually face a lot of difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms Each nation's language lies in itself similar and different concepts on many fields of life such as humane values, ways of thinking, behavior standards, religious beliefs, customs and traditions, social conventions, etc Words and expressions including idioms have formed the vocabulary system of a language Idioms are considered as special factors of a language's vocabulary system because they reflect cultural specific characteristics of each nation, including material and spiritual values In fact, we can see a lot of idioms violating the principles of their fixed characteristics such as: I could eat a horse His eyes are bigger than his stomach It's not up to scratch I got there in the nick of time Idioms are considered an interesting area of English, which make English more attractive and colorful And nobody can deny that idioms are really important in communication Firstly, idioms are important because they are very common It is impossible to speak, read, or listen to English without meeting idiomatic language This is not something you can leave until you reach an advanced level Secondly, language is literal and metaphorical In communication, however, the metaphorical use of a word is more common today than its literal use For example, we know that catch a ball is an example of the literal use of catch, nevertheless, catch is more used in a metaphorical way: you can catch the bus; you can catch my attention; you can also catch the sun; or you can catch what I said If we just learn the literal meaning of the word catch, we cannot use it in a variety of communicative situations Finally, idioms are important because it is fun to learn and to use Because there is so much to learn, anything which helps you to remember things is important and if the language you are learning is more colorful and interesting, there is more chance that you will remember it You will also sound more natural if your English contains more idioms.( Wright 1999:9) Understanding the meaning of idioms in general and idioms which contain words “eye” in particular is the first difficulty of learners and the second one is the way of using idioms in each specific context Moreover studying idioms which contain words “eye” is a part of language learning and it can help learners use language more naturally and effectively In terms of differences, among the idioms that we have mentioned, English idioms carry more positive meanings than negative while Vietnamese ones carry more negative Therefore, to describe people, the English have many idioms such as: “clear- eyed”, “brighteyed and bushy- tailed”, “easy on the eye”, “starryeyed”,… In Vietnamese, however, in comparison with English, we can see much fewer idioms describing people We can find only “da ngà mắt phượng/mắt phượng mày ngài” and “sáng mắt chặt đầu gối” Also in describing good appearances there is only Vietnamese idiom: “bắt mắt”, while there are many in English Meanwhile, The Vietnamese have many idioms describing negative actions In terms of similarities, there are many idioms which are absolutely similar in the two languages While the English have „As far as the eye can see‟, the Vietnamese have “Xa ngút tầm mắt” The English have „Eyes in the back of one's head’ , the Vietnamese have „Mắt để sau gáy’ and so on Also, there are some idioms having nearly the same meaning For example, „Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed’ in English and ‘Sáng mắt chặt đầu gối’ in Vietnamese or „Pull the wool over one’s eyes‟ in English and ‘Lấy vải thưa che mắt thánh’ in Vietnamese Mastering idioms containing the word „eye‟ is very helpful in process of translating them from English into Vietnamese and vice versa as well as in teaching them A good idea to teach idioms is that teachers should put them in text before giving the meanings of these idioms And in the process of translating idioms containing the word „eye‟, when you meet an idiom having no equivalent in the target language, the first task is that you need to master the meaning of the idiom as well as using it in the context The next task is to find suitable words to convert information so that it sounds good and the readers can understand 56 5.3 Limitation of the study Despite my considerable efforts, certain limitations could be detected in this study due to time constraint and other unexpected factors That is the number of EYE between English idioms and Vietnamese equivalents in the study remained relatively low in comparison with the enormous number of English and Vietnamese idioms However, I hope that the serious work had well served the research questions as a contribution to the rich collection of other previous studies on the same area Due to the limitation of my knowledge as well as time my research stops here but I expect that it will be profoundly analyzed more by following people who are interested in idioms which contain words denoting EYE 5.4 Suggestions for further studies Some suggestions for further studies to people who are interested in topics related to mine: - Idioms are language units functioning as words They can form sentences and have their own meaning colours The roles of idioms in forming sentences in English and Vietnamese have not been investigated in a systematic way We hope that this can be studied in the coming time - Idioms are considered as very special language units because they are different from words and expressions They are phrases where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words Besides special meaning colours, idioms also have their own figurative style colours “A study on figurative style colours of idioms in both English and Vietnamese” need studying 57 REFERENCES English Anh, Đỗ Quỳnh (2004), Graduation paper: A Contrastive Analysis on English and Vietnamese Idioms of Comparison, VNU-CFL, Hanoi Bell, R.T (1991) Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice London: Longman Cowie, A.P Mackin, R & I.R Mc Caig (1993) Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms.Oxford: Oxford University Express Fernado, C (1996) Idioms and Idiomaticity Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press Fromkin, V & Rodman, R (1998) An Introduction to Language Orlando: Harcourt Brace College Publishers Hà, Lê Thu (2001), Graduation Paper: A contrastive Analysis on Animalbased Comparison Idioms in English and Vietnamese, VNU-CFL, Hanoi Nguyễn Dương Nguyên Hảo (1999) Semantic Structures of Words Denoting Human Body Organs in English: Eye-Ear-Nose-Mouth.(M.A Thesis) Homby, A.S (1995), Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, OUP, Oxford Jackson, H & Amvela, E.Z (2000), Words, Meaning and Vocabulary, Castle, New York 10 Nhung, Vũ Thị Tuyết (2000), Scientific Research: Some Suggestions for learning English Idioms through Learning about Animal-Related Idioms, Hanoi Foreign University, Hanoi 11 Lacviet MD02 (1994-2002) 12.Lyons, J (1977) Semantics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 13.Lyons, J (1981) Language and Linguistics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 14.McCarthy, M & O‟Dell, F (2002) English Idioms in Use Cambridge: Cambridge University Express 15.McCarthy, M (1995) Vocabulary Oxford University Press 58 16.Yến, Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh (2003), Graduation Paper: Metaphors in English and Vietnamese Human-Body-Based Idioms, VNU-CFL, Hanoi 17 Saeed, John I (2003), Semantics 2nd edition Oxford: Blackwell p 60 18.Nguyễn Thị Yến Thoa (2005) A Contrative Analysis of Metaphors Relating to Parts of Human Body in English And Vietnamese .(M.A Thesis) 19.Trang, Đỗ Thị Thu (2006), Graduation Paper: A Study on Comparative Idioms (from Cultural Perspective), VNU-CFL, Hanoi 20.Ðào Thanh Tú ( 2007) Idiomatic expressions Containing The Word ‘Dog’ in English and Vietnamese .(M.A Thesis) 21.Wright, J (1999) Idioms Organiser: Organised by metaphor, topic and key word London: Commercial Colour Press Vietnamse 22.Đỗ Hữu Châu (1981), Từ vựng ngữ nghĩa tiếng Việt, Nxb Giáo dục, Hà Nội 23.Viết Chương (2004), Từ điển thành ngữ, tục ngữ, ca dao Việt Nam, Nxb Đồng Nai, Đồng Nai 24.Vũ Dung (2000), Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam, Nxb Văn hoá, Hà Nội 25.Lương Văn Đang (1978), Thành ngữ tiếng Việt, Nxb KHXH, Hà Nội 26 Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1975), “Về khái niệm thành ngữ tiếng Việt”, Ngơn ngữ, (3) 27.Hồng Văn Hành (2004), Thành ngữ học tiếng Việt, Nxb Khoa học xã hội, Hà Nội 28.Nguyễn Ðình Hùng (1999).Tuyển Tập Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Ca Dao Việt – Anh thông dụng Nxb Giáo dục 29 Nguyễn Lân (1994) Từ điển Thành ngữ Tục ngữ Việt nam Nxb KHXH 30 Nguyễn Lân (2000) Từ Điển Từ ngữ Việt nam Nxb TP Hồ Chí Minh 31 Nguyễn Lực (2005) Thành ngữ Đồng nghĩa Tiếng Việt Nxb Thanh niên 32.Nguyễn Văn Khang (1993), Từ điển thành ngữ Việt Nam, Nxb Văn hoá, Hà Nội 59 33.Nguyễn Lực (1978), Thành ngữ tiếng Việt, Nxb KHXH, Hà Nội 34.Vũ Ngọc Phan (2000), Tục ngữ, ca dao, dân ca Việt Nam, Nxb Văn học, Hà Nội 35 Nguyễn Thị Minh Phượng (2006), Hiện tượng biến thể đồng nghĩa thành ngữ tiếng Việt, Luận văn thạc sĩ, Trường đại học sư phạm Hà Nội 36.Phan Xuân Thành (1993), Từ điển thành ngữ Việt Nam, Nxb Văn hoá, Hà Nội 37.Viện ngôn ngữ học (2004), Từ điển tiếng Việt, Nxb Đà Nẵng 38.Nguyễn Như Ý (2002), Từ điển thành ngữ tiếng Việt phổ thông, Nxb ĐHQG, Hà Nội 39.Nguyễn Như Ý(1995) Đại Từ điển Tiếng Việt Nxb GD.Bùi Hạnh Cẩn (1993), 500 thành ngữ Hán Việt thường dùng, Nxb Giáo dục, Hà Nội Internet websites 40 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idioms 41 http://www.lwck.cn/Article/yingyu/yuyan/200814/2324.Html 42 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye 43 http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/e.html 44 http://www.learn-english-today.com/idioms/idiom-categories/eyes.htm Bibliography (optional) Appendices (optional) 60 APPENDIXES Apendix1: List of English and Vietnamese idioms containing the word “eye” In English In Vietnamese Apple of one’s eyes All eyes on sb As far as the eye can see Xa ngút tầm mắt Bat an eye/ eyelid Believe one’s eyes Tin vào mắt (mình) Blink of an eye Trong nháy mắt In the twinkling of an eye Better than a stick in the eye Bird’s eye view (Sáng mắt chặt đầu gối) 10 Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 11 Blue-eyed boy 12 Catch one’s eyes Bắt mắt 13 Cast/Run an eye /one’s eye(s) over 14 Give the glad eye to sb Liếc mắt đưa tình 15 Make eyes at 16 Cast sheep’s eyes at 17 Clear- eyed 18 Close/Shut one’s eyes to Nhắm mắt làm ngõ 19 Turn a blind eye to something (Bưng tai bịt mắt) 20 Cry one’s eyes out (Khóc mắt) 21 Eye – filling 22 Eyes are bigger than one's stomach/ 10 Con mắt to bụng belly 11 No bụng đói mắt 23 Eye for an eye [Ãn miếng trả miếng] 24 Eye candy 25 Eyes in the back of one's head 12 Mắt để sau gáy 61 26 Eyes like a hawk 13 Mắt diều hâu 27 Eyes wide open 28 Eye- wash 29 Eye-opener 30 Eyes down! 31 Easy on the eye 32 Eagle eyes 33 The evil eye 34 The eye of the storm 14 Mắt bão 35 The eye of the wind/the wind’s eye 36 Do someone in the eye 37 For someone’s eyes only 38 Find/ lose favour in someone’s eyes 38 Find/ lose favour in someone’s eyes 39 Feast one's eyes on something 15 (Bổ mắt) 40 Four-eyes 41 Get the eye 42 Give an eye to 43 Give sb the eye 44 Green-eyed monster 45 A gleam in one’s eyes 46 Half an eye 47 Have an eye on 48 Have an eye to 49 Have an eye to the main chance 50 Have a roving eye 51 Have eyes for 52 Have eyes only for 53 Have one’s eyes on stalks 54 Hit sb in the eye 62 55 Hit between the eyes 56 Hit the bull’s eye 57 If you had half an eye 58 In the public eye 59 In the eyes of the law 60 In the eyes of sb/ in sb’s eyes 61 In one's mind's eye 62 In a pig‟s eye 63 Keep an eye on 16 Ðể mắt đến 64 Keep an eye on the ball 65 Keep one’s eyes peeled 66 Keep one’s eyes off 67 Keep an eye open/out 68 Keep your eyes on the prize 69 Keep a weather eye open 70 Lay/ set eyes on 71 Look someone in the eyes 72 Lift one’s eyes 73 Make someone open his eyes 74 Meet one’s eye 75 Meet the eye 76 Misty – eyed 17 Mắt nhòa lệ 77 More than meet the eye 78 My eye! 79 Mud in your eye 80 The naked eye 18 Mắt thường 81 Never/not (be able to)take one’s eyes off 82 Not a dry eye in the house 83 Open (up) one’s eyes 19 (Sáng mắt ra) 63 84 Out of the corner of one’s eye 85 One in the eye for someone 86 On the blink eye 87 Pull the wool over one’s eyes 20 (Lấy vải thưa che mắt thánh) 88 Private eye 89 Pick the eyes out 90 Rounded – eyed 21 Mắt tròn mắt dẹt 91 Raise a few eyebrows 92 Roll your eyes 93 Run one’s eye over 94 See eye to eye 95 Sight for sore eyes 96 Stars in one’s eyes 97 See with half an eye 98 The scales fall from sb’s eyes 99 Stary-eyed 100 Up to your eyes 22 (Bận chúi mắt chúi mũi) 23 (Bận không kịp mở mắt) 101 Under the eye of sb 102 To the eye 103 There’s more to … than meets the eye 104 Throw dust in sb’s eyes 105 Weather eye 106 Wipe one’s eyes 107 With an eye to 108 With (one’s) eyes open 109 With (one’s) eyes close 24 Nhắm mắt làm 110 Worm’s eye view 25 Bịt mắt ăn dơ 64 26 Bụng đói mắt mờ 27 Có mắt khơng 28 Cái đinh bụng gai trước mắt 29 Coi mắt, bắt tay 30 Chẳng tuần chay không nước mắt 31 Che mắt gian 32 Chờ/mong đỏ mắt 33 Chướng tai gai mắt 34 Coi/ Nhìn người nửa mắt 35.Coi đời nửa mắt 36 Cười nước mắt 37 Da ngà mắt phượng 38 Mắt phượng mày ngài 39 Ðầu mày cuối mắt 40 Ðĩa dầu vơi, nước mắt đầy 41 Ðói vàng mắt 42 Khuất mắt cho qua 43 Lạ mắt lạ tai 44 Làm đổ mồ hôi, sôi nước mắt 45 Mau nước mắt 46 Mắt dơi mày chuột 47 Mắt để chán 48 Mắt la mày lét 49 Mắt lòa chân chậm 50 Mắt đổ đom đóm [To see stars] 51 Mắt nhắm mắt mở 65 52 Mắt sắc dao 53 Mắt thấy tai nghe 54 Mắt trước mắt sau 55 Móc mắt lơi mề 56 Múa rìu qua mắt thợ [Never offer to teach fish to swim] 57 Nhắm mắt đưa chân 58 Nhắm mắt khoanh tay 59 Nước mắt chảy xuôi 60 Nước mắt cá sấu 61 Rơi nước mắt ớt, rớt nước mắt hành 62 Tai mắt 63 Thấy tối mắt lại 64 Tiếc rỏ máu mắt 65 Trãm tay nghìn mắt 66 Trõ mắt ếch 67 Trời khơng có mắt 68 Tức nổ mắt 66 Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS The following questionnaire aims at figuring out problems encountered by non-major students of English at National College for Education in learning English idioms to suggest ways to improve their ability in speaking English idioms Please fill out by checking the box(es) which best describe(s) your ideas or specifying your answer Your responses are more than of beneficial values Thank you very much for your cooperation! Question What you think of English idioms? A Very interesting and important B Interesting and important C No idea D Others ((please specify) ……………………………… Question I’m not willing to speak English idioms in class because … A The idioms are not a separate of the understand words so it is difficult to understand the meaning of an idiom B I’m afraid that my classmates will laugh at me if I make mistakes C We often misunderstand the figurative meaning of idioms D I can’t find exact idioms to express my ideas 67 E I lack of practicing idioms, language skills F I lack of confidence G My teacher hardly expand their knowledge of different cultures through learning idioms Question Does your teacher often use activities for you to practice speaking English idioms in classrooms? A Yes, very often I like the activities B Yes, very often But the activities are not interesting and varied enough C Yes, sometimes I like the activities D Yes, sometimes But the activities are not interesting and varied enough E Occasionally I like the activities F Occasionally And the activities are not interesting G Never H Others (please specify) …… 68 Appendix 3: Questionnaire for teachers QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS The following questionnaire aims at figuring out difficulties that teachers have in teaching idioms for non-major English students at National College for Education so as to suggest ways to help teachers solve the problem Please fill out by checking the box(es) which best describe(s) your ideas or specifying your answer Your responses are more than of beneficial values Thank you very much for your cooperation! Question What are your difficulties in teaching idioms for non major students of English at National College for Education? A Students are unwilling to speak idioms B Students’ levels of proficiency are varied C I don’t have enough time to prepare activities to speak idioms D I can’t find suitable and interesting teaching activities about idioms E Teaching activities about idioms takes time when I have to cover all other contents of the course book F Others (please specify) …………………………………………… …………………………………………… 69 Question What you to motivate students to learn idioms in class? A I create interesting games about idioms and activities B I equip students with knowledge of syntactic and semantic features of idioms C I give them many questions about idioms D I always listen attentively to and appreciate students’ answers E I never forget to praise them before pointing out their mistakes in speaking idioms F I encourage students to learn by reminding them in the context G Others (please specify) …………………………………………… …………………………………………… 70 ... of linguistic features of idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English and focus on the meanings of the English idioms containing the word ‘eye’ and a comparative analysis with Vietnamese. .. University, there is no study of idioms containing words “eye” Thus, the topic A study on idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents ,... questions: What are the syntactic features of the idiomatic expressions containing the word “eye” in English with reference to their equivalents in Vietnamese? What are the semantic features of the