A study of idioms by food in english and vietnamese from a perspective of components

l MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY KHƢƠNG THỊ THỦY A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY FOOD IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF COMPONENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ THỰC PHẨM TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN) M.A THESIS Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Hanoi, 2018 ` MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY KHƢƠNG THỊ THỦY A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY FOOD IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF COMPONENTS (NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ THỰC PHẨM TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN) M.A THESIS Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Đặng Nguyên Giang, Ph.D Hanoi, 2018 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A Study of Idioms by Food in English and Vietnamese from a Perspective of Components” 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, 2018 Student‟s Signature Khƣơng Thị Thủy Approved by SUPERVISOR Đặng Nguyên Giang, Ph D Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from my suppervisor, teachers and closest relatives First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr Đặng Nguyên Giang, Ph D, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher Many thanks go to my colleagues and many others whose support and encouragement help me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for their patience, endless love, and devotion Whatever choices I have made, they have always stood by me and believed in me I am immensely thankful for all the assistance they have given me It is the support of all of the above that has enabled the completion of this study, and for this I remain eternally grateful ii ABSTRACT An investigation of idioms by food in English and Vietnamese in terms of structural and semantic components is carried out in the present study The study is done in the hope to reach the three objectives: (1) uncovering how the components of idioms by food are organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese, (2) finding out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by food in terms of structural and semantic components, (3) giving some implications for teaching and learning idioms by food through component analysis The study also uses the componential analysis and descriptive methods to describe in details structural and semantic components of idioms by food in English and Vietnamese Besides, the contrastive analysis will be used to identify the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by food in terms of structural and semantic components The findings of the study are concerned with the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by food in terms of (1) structural components and (2) semantic components In order to collect the data, a hand search approach of the dictionaries in both languages has been conducted, which helps to establish a corpus of 162 idioms by food in English and 167 idioms by food in Vietnamese The collected data forms a corpus under three categories: symmetrical idioms by food (11 for English and 79 for Vietnamese), similized idioms by food (42 for English and 45 for Vietnamese), and non-symmetrical idioms by food (109 for English and 43 for Vietnamese).The findings of the current study also reveal that most of the idioms in both English and Vietnamese are analyzable and have meanings that are at least partly motivated The thesis also presents the implications for idiom teaching and learning iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Classification of symmetrical figurative idioms in Vietnamese 16 (Hoàng Văn Hành 2008: 76) Figure 2.2: Classification of non-symmetrical figurative idioms in Vietnamese (Hoàng Văn Hành 2008: 100) 17 Figure 2.3: Classification of similized idioms in Vietnamese (Hoàng Văn 17 Hành 2008: 115) iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v CHAPTER 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the Study 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Methods of the Study 1.5 Scope of the Study 1.6 Significance of the Study CHAPTER 2.LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical Background 2.1.1 Idioms Defined 2.1.2 Syntactic and Semantic Features of Idioms 2.1.3 Idioms Classified 11 2.1.4 Idioms and other Language Units 18 2.2 Previous Research 21 2.2.1 Previous Research Works on Idioms Carried out in Foreign Countries 21 2.2.2 Previous Research Works on Idioms Carried out in Vietnam 22 2.3 Summary 25 CHAPTER 3.METHODOLOGY 27 3.1 Subjects 27 3.2 Instruments 28 3.3 Procedures 29 3.4 Data Analysis 30 3.5 Summary 36 CHAPTER 4.STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS BY FOOD IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 37 v 4.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Food in English and Vietnamese 37 4.1.1 Symmetrical Idioms by Food 37 4.1.2 Similized Idioms by Food 39 4.1.3 Non-Symmetrical Idioms by Food 41 4.2 Semantic Components of Idioms by Food in English and Vietnamese 45 4.2.1 Motivation Degrees of Symmetrical Idioms by Food 45 4.2.2 Motivation Degrees of Similized Idioms by Food 46 4.2.3 Motivation Degrees of Non-symmetrical Idioms by Food 48 4.2.4 Composition of Semantic Components of Idioms by Food in English and Vietnamese 50 4.3 English and Vietnamse Idioms by Food Compared in Terms of Structural and Semantic Components 52 4.3.1 Structural and Semantic Components Found in both Languages 52 4.3.2 Structural and Semantic Components Unique to English 53 4.3.3 Structural and Semantic Components Unique to Vietnamese 53 4.4 Implications for Idiom Teaching and Learning 54 4.4.1 Participants 54 4.4.2 Data Collection 54 4.4.3 Findings and Discussions 57 4.5 Summary 59 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 61 5.1 Summary of the Findings 61 5.2 Concluding Remarks 62 5.3 Recommendations for Further Studies 63 REFERENCES 65 APPENDIX I A CORPUS OF 162 IDIOMS BY FOOD IN ENGLISH I APPENDIX VII A CORPUS OF 167 IDIOMS BY FOOD IN VIETNAMESE VII vi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In Vietnam, English has long been regarded 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 Idiom is often defined as “a group of words which have a different meaning when used together from the one it would have if the meaning of each word was taken individually” In fact, idioms are frequently heard and read in everyday speech and in literature thanks to their succinctness, vividness and especially quintessence in every language Idioms in this way bear the cultural features of a country in which they are used In order to understand as well as translate idioms from a language into another one, knowledge of not only linguistic aspects but also of cultural reality has to be involved Therefore, there may be nothing strange in the fact that gaining an insight into English idioms is not only a wish but also a necessity to any English learners Actually, studying idioms is not new; nonetheless, it has never been old In Vietnam, there exist three approaches in studying idioms: etymology, synchronic evolution, and comparison and contrastive analysis (Hoàng Văn Hành, 2008) Firstly, the investigations on idioms under etymology go into macro field These studies focus on the formation and transformation of each idiom during its existence It is hard work taking a lot of time and energy The method mainly used in these studies is the etymologizing, i.e the origins of idioms are recovered in order to make the forms and the idiomatic meanings transparent Hoàng Văn Hành (2002) and Tiêu Hà Minh (2007) are the typical authors who pay attention to this area The second approach in studying idioms is synchronic evolution Descriptive method is used in these studies from which the underlying cultural factors behind the idioms are partly interpretable This area of study attracts a lot of authors such as Trương Đông San (1974), Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Đang (1978), Nguyễn Cơng Đức (1995), Hồng Văn Hành (2008), etc Studying idioms under comparison and contrastive analysis is the third approach The studies under original recovery and synchronic evolution are the backgrounds for comparison and contrastive works Several attempts have been made to work out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of emotion expressing idioms (Nguyễn Văn Trào, 2009), idiomatic verb phrases (Nguyễn Văn Long, 2010), idiom translation (Nguyễn Thị Lan, 2001; Hoàng Thị Minh Phúc, 2009), structural and semantic components of idioms (Đặng Nguyên Giang, 2014), etc There have been so far studies on idioms such terms as colors, geography, animals, time and so on from different perspectives However, there have not been any studies investigating idioms related to food in English and Vietnamese from a perspective of components As a result, the present study is carried out to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of idioms by food from the perspective of components 1.2 Aims of the Study The study is conducted to improve the English teaching and learning in general and idiom teaching and learning in particular The findings of the study, to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better way to improve English and Vietnamese idioms The present study is done in the hope to reach the following objectives: - to uncover how the components of idioms by food are organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese; - to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by food in terms of structural and semantic components; Vietnamese Authors Đỗ Hữu Châu (1981/1999) Từ vựng-ngữ nghĩa tiếng Việt [Vietnamese lexicology-semantics] Hà Nội: Nxb Giáo dục Nguyễn Đức Dân (1986) Ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ tục ngữ - vận dụng [Semantics of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs – application] Ngôn ngữ, 3, 810 Nguyễn Công Đức (1995) Bình diện cấu trúc hình thái-ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Vietnamese idioms from formal-semantic perspectives] Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Viện Ngôn ngữ học Việt Nam, Hanoi, Vietnam Đặng Nguyên Giang (2012) Bàn thêm đặc tính ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ tiếng Việt [On the semantic properties of Vietnamese idioms] Từ điển học Bách khoa thư, 15 (1), 38-43 Đặng Nguyên giang (2013) A Study on Structural and Semantic Components of Typical Idioms in English and Vietnamese Unpublished doctoral dissertation, ULIS Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1985/2002) Từ vựng học tiếng Việt [Vietnamese lexicology] Hà Nội: Nxb Đại học Trung học chuyên nghiệp/Giáo dục Hoàng Văn Hành (1976) Về chất thành ngữ so sánh tiếng Việt [The nature of similized idioms in Vietnamese] Ngơn ngữ, 1, 11-19 Hồng Văn Hành (1987) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Idioms in Vietnamese] Văn hoá dân gian, 1, 25-32 Hoàng Văn Hành (2004/2008) Thành ngữ học tiếng Việt [Vietnamese idiom studies] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội 10 Nguyễn Lân (2003) Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam [A dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs] Hà Nội: Nxb Văn học 11 Hồ Lê (1976) Vấn đề cấu tạo từ tiếng Việt đại [Word-forming of modern Vietnamese] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội 12 Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Đang (1978/2009) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt [A dictionary of Vietnamese idioms] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội 67 13 Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1972) Về ranh giới thành ngữ tục ngữ [Idioms vs proverbs] Ngôn ngữ, 14 Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1986) Vài suy nghĩ góp phần xác định khái niệm thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Some thoughts in contributing to the definition of idioms in Vietnamese] Ngôn ngữ, 3, 12-18 15 Phan Văn Quế (1996) Ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ - tục ngữ có thành tố động vật tiếng Anh [The semantic properties of idioms and proverbs having constituents of animals in English] Unpublished doctoral dissertation of literature, Viện Ngôn ngữ học Việt Nam, Hanoi, Vietnam 16 Trương Đông San (1974) Thành ngữ so sánh tiếng Việt [Idioms with comparisons in Vietnamese] Ngôn ngữ, 1, 1-5; 55 Viện ngôn ngữ học (2004) Từ điển tiếng Việt [A dictionary of Vietnamese] Đà Nẵng: Nxb Đà Nẵng 17 Bùi Khắc Việt (1981) Thành ngữ đối tiếng Việt [Symmetrical idioms in Vietnamese] In Giữ gìn sáng tiếng Việt mặt từ ngữ [Keeping the purity of the Vietnamese language in terms of words and phrases] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội 18 Nguyễn Như Ý (2002) Từ điển thành ngữ tiếng Việt phổ thông [A dictionary of common Vietnamese idioms] Hà Nội: Nxb Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội 68 APPENDIX A CORPUS OF 162 IDIOMS BY FOOD IN ENGLISH Symmetrical Idioms (11/162: 6.79%) Symmetrical Opaque Idioms(11/11: 100%) apples and oranges apples for/to apples apples to oranges bread and butter/cheese bread and water cakes and ale carrot and stick chalk and cheese from soup to nuts 10 meat and drink 11 meat and potatoes Similized Idioms (42/162: 25.92%) Semi-transparent Similized Idioms (32/42: 76.2%) as alike as two peas in a pod as cheap as chips as cold as a cucumber as cool as a cucumber as different as chalk and cheese as easy as beans as easy as pie as easy as taking candy from a baby as flat as a pancake 10 as full as an egg 11 as smooth as butter /oil I 12 as hot as pepper 13 as keen as mustard 14 as mild as milk 15 as nice as pie 16 as nutty as a fruitcake 17 as queer as a chocolate orange 18 as red as a beetroot 19 as red as a cherry 20 as round as an apple 21 as sure as God made little green apples 22 as sure as egg is egg 23 as sweet as a nut 24 as weet as a gumdrop 25 as sweet as honey 26 as sweet as pie 27 as thick as mince 28 as useless as a chocolate fireguard 29 as useless as a chocolate teapot 30 dropped like a hot cake 31 go like hotcakes 32 sell like hot cakes Semi-opaque Similized Idioms(10/42: 23.8%) like a curate‟s egg like a hot knife through butter/margarine like a kid in a candy store like a sack of potatoes like giving a donkey strawberries like hotcakes like taking candy from a baby II like the cat that stole the cream like two peas in a pod / two beans 10 like watching sausage getting made Non-symmetrical Idioms (109/162: 67.29%) Semi-opaque Non-symmetrical Idioms (107/109: 98.17%) an apple a day keeps the doctor away (an/the) apple of one‟s eye (an/the) apple of discord apple pie order (a) bad apple (a) bad egg/lot (a) banana republic banana skin bear fruit 10 big apple 11 (a) big cheese 12 bread winner 13 bring home the bacon 14 bun in the oven 15 butter wouldn't melt in their mouth 16 (a) cake's not worth the candle 17 chew the cud 18 chew the fat 19 couch potato 20 cream rises to the top 21 curry favour with somebody 22 (a) custard pie 23 cut the mustard 24 (one‟s) daily bread III 25 dine on ashes 26 duck soup 27 earn one‟s bread 28 eat humble pie 29 eat the bread of affliction 30 eat the bread of idleness 31 egg on one‟s face 32 eye candy 33 fall off the turnip truck 34 feel one‟s oats 35 finger in the pie 36 food/a dish for the gods 37 forbidden fruit 38 food for thought 39 full of beans 40 (the) fruit(s) of one‟s labour(s) 41 gild/sugar the pill 42 (not) give a fig 43 go bananas 44 go nuts 45 go pear-shaped 46 (a) good egg 47 hard cheese 48 (not) have etc a bean 49 have one‟s cake bake 50 have (got)/with other/bigger fish to fry 51 hot potato 52 icing on the cake 53 If you are given lemons, make lemonade IV 54 in a pickle 55 in the soup 56 jam on one‟s face 57 jam tomorrow 58 (not) know beans about 59 know which side one's bread is buttered on 60 know one‟s onions 61 life is just a bowl of cherries 62 live on bread and cheese 63 low-hanging fruit 64 money for jam/old rope 65 nest egg 66 one bad apple spoils the barrel 67 one man's meat is another man's poison 68 over-egg the pudding 69 pay peanuts 70 peanut gallery 71 pie in the sky 72 (a) piece of cake 73 pieces of the same cake 74 polish the apples 75 polish peanuts 76 proof of the pudding 77 pull the fat from the fire 78 put all one‟s eggs in one basket 79 (a) real plum 80 (the) red meat 81 salt of the earth 82 save one‟s (own)/somebody‟s bacon V 83 say cheese 84 separate the wheat from the chaff 85 (a) sharp cookie 86 small potatoes 87 sour grapes 88 sow (one‟s) wild oats 89 spice of life 90 spill the beans etc 91 take the biscuit 92 take the bread out of someone‟s mouth 93 take the cake 94 that is the way the cookie crumbles 95 the apple does not fall far from the tree 96 teach one‟s grandmother to suck eggs 97 (a) tough cookie 98 (a) tough nut to crack 99 upset the apple cart 100 walk on eggshells 101 white-bread 102 (not) worth a row of beans 103 worth one‟s salt 104 you can't have cake and the topping, too 105 you can‟t have your cake and eat it too 106 you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs 107 you're toast Opaque Non-symmetrical Idioms (2/109: 1.83%) (an) apple for the teacher (one‟s) salad days VI APPENDIX A CORPUS OF 167 IDIOMS BY FOOD IN VIETNAMESE Symmetrical Idioms (79/167: 47.3%) Semi-opaque symmetrical Idioms (77/79: 97.5%) áo ấm cơm no ăn cá bỏ lờ ăn cháo đá bát ăn cháo đái bát ăn cơm nói chuyện cũ ăn cơm nhà thổi tù hàng tổng ăn cơm nhà vác ngà voi ăn cơm nhà vác tù hàng tổng ăn mít bỏ xơ 10 ăn bát cháo chạy ba qng đồng 11 ăn ốc nói mò 12 ăn xôi nghe kèn 13 ba cơm bảy mắm 14 bánh ú trao bánh chì trao lại 15 bát cơm manh áo 16 bẻ hành bẻ tỏi 17 bữa cơm bữa cháo 18 bữa rau bữa cháo 19 cà chua mắm mặn 20 canh cặn cơm thừa 21 cao lương mỹ vị 22 chia cơm sẻ áo 23 chồng ăn chả vợ ăn nem 24 có nếp có tẻ VII 25 cá rau 26 cơm áo gạo tiền 27 cơm bưng nước rót 28 cơm cao gạo 29 cơm dẻo canh 30 cơm đùm cơm gói 31 cơm đùm cơm nắm 32 cơm đùm xơi bới 33 cơm giời nước sông 34 cơm gà cá gỏi 35 cơm hẩm cá thiu 36 cơm hàng cháo chợ 37 cơm lành canh 38 cơm nắm cơm đùm 39 cơm nắm cơm gói 40 cơm nặng áo dày 41 cơm nhà áo vợ 42 cơm nhà má vợ 43 cơm niêu nước lọ 44 cơm no áo ấm 45 cơm no bò cưỡi 46 cơm sung cháo dền 47 cơm thừa canh cặn 48 củi quế gạo châu 49 gạo châu củi quế 50 gạo chợ nước sông 51 gạo trắng nước 52 giá áo túi cơm 53 kén cá chọn canh VIII 54 liệu cơm gắp mắm 55 liệu oản đọc kinh 56 mạnh gạo bạo tiền 57 mạt cưa mướp đắng 58 mật ruồi nhiều 59 mật chết người 60 mỹ vị cao lương 61 tiền gà ba tiền thóc 62 nem cơng chả phượng 63 nên cơm nên cháo 64 nhiều khế ế chanh 65 nhờ gió bẻ măng 66 nhường cơm sẻ áo 67 no cơm ấm áo 68 no cơm ấm cật 69 no cơm ấm ổ rơm 70 no xôi chán chè 71 nước lọ cơm niêu 72 ơng chân giò bà thò chai rượu 73 sơn hào hải vị 74 thành cơm thành cháo 75 thóc cao gạo 76 trứng gà trứng vịt 77 xôi hỏng bỏng không Opaque symmetrical Idioms (2/79: 2.5%) ăn cơm chúa múa tối ngày cố đấm ăn xôi Similized Idioms (45/167: 26.9%) Semi-transparent similized Idioms (41/45: 91.1%) IX cãi chém chả câm thóc chán ngán cơm nếp nát chấy rận sung chua dấm chua mẻ chuyện giòn bắp rang chuyện nở bắp rang chuyện nở ngô rang 10 coi người mẻ 11 dễ ăn gỏi 12 dẻo kẹo 13 đắt tôm tươi 14 đen củ tam thất 15 đứng im thóc 16 đứng yên thóc 17 ép ép giò 18 gắt mắm 19 gắt mắm tơm 20 hiền củ khoai 21 im thóc 22 lành củ khoai 23 mặt vàng nghệ 24 mềm bún 25 mắt mắt lợn luộc 26 mắt xát ớt 27 mặt nhẵn cầu hàng thịt 28 nát mẻ 29 nát tương X 30 nát cám 31 nát tương Bần 32 mía lùi 33 đường 34 nhịn nhịn cơm sống 35 nói dẻo kẹo 36 nói đường 37 nổ ngơ rang 38 rối canh hẹ 39 rẻ cá ươn 40 tròn hạt mít 41 tròn hạt mít Semi opaque simelized idioms.(4/45 – 8.9%) ăn cơm bữa mèo thèm mỡ nước đổ khoai cay ớt Non-Symmetrical idioms (43/167: 25.8%) Semi opaque non-symmetrical idioms (40/43: 93.03%) ăn cơm thiên hạ ăn cướp cơm chim ăn mày cướp xơi ăn mày đòi xơi gấc ăn xôi chùa ngọng miệng ăn cơm trước kẻng bát cơm sẻ nửa bóc bánh chẳng dính tay cá không ăn muối cá ươn 10 cá nằm thớt XI 11 cá nằm trốc thớt 12 cá treo mèo nhịn đói 13 cắn cơm khơng bể 14 cắn hạt cơm không vỡ 15 cắn hột cơm khơng vỡ 16 chanh chua khế chua 17 chó ăn vụng bột (So) 18 có bột gột lên hồ 19 có cá mòi đòi cá chiên 20 cơm chấm cơm 21 cơm nhà chúa múa tối ngày 22 cơm treo mèo nhịn đói 23 cướp cơm chim 24 chả có cá lấy rau má làm trọng 25 chê cam sành vớ phải quýt hôi 26 hàng thịt quịt hàng cá 27 hạt gạo cắn làm đôi 28 hạt cơm cắn làm đôi 29 kiếm cơm thiên hạ 30 lấy thịt đè người 31 mầu mỡ riêu cua 32 măng mọc tre 33 mèo mù vớ cá rán 34 mỡ để miệng mèo 35 thả vỏ quýt ăn mắm rươi 36 trứng chọi với đá 37 trứng để đầu đẳng 38 trứng khôn rận 39 trứng khôn vịt XII 40 trứng quẩy đầu gậy Opaque non-symmetrical idioms (3/43: 6.97%) ăn cháo đa bánh chưng góc bánh đúc bày sàng XIII ... non-symmetrical idioms by food (109 for English and 43 for Vietnamese) .The findings of the current study also reveal that most of the idioms in both English and Vietnamese are analyzable and have meanings... Data Analysis 30 3.5 Summary 36 CHAPTER 4.STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS BY FOOD IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 37 v 4.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Food in English and Vietnamese. .. improve the English teaching and learning in general and idiom teaching and learning in particular The findings of the study, to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better way to