Idioms denoting Intelligence and understanding" in English and Vietnamese: a contrastive analysis and teaching implications

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND TEACHING IMPLICATIONS PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰ THÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Linguistics Code : 60 22 02 01 HANOI – 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ KIM OANH IDIOMS DENOTING “INTELLIGENCE AND UNDERSTANDING” IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE: A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND TEACHING IMPLICATIONS PHÂN TÍCH ĐỐI CHIẾU VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢNG DẠY CÁC THÀNH NGỮ CHỈ SỰ THÔNG MINH HIỂU BIẾT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Linguistics Code : 60 22 02 01 Supervisor : Nguyễn Huy Kỷ, Ph.D HANOI – 2014 DECLARATION I, Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh, hereby certify that the thesis entitled Idioms denoting “Intelligence and understanding” in English and Vietnamese: A contrastive analysis and teaching implication is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at VNU University of Languages and International Studies Hanoi, July, 2014 Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Apart from the efforts of myself, the success of any study depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this MA thesis I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Dr Nguyễn Huy Kỷ for his valuable instructions, critical but constructive criticisms, his share of personal experience and expertise I also would like to send my sincere thanks to all the teachers in M.A course at VNU University of Languages and International Studies for their training and their assistance that has helped me to complete this thesis Last but not least, my profound thanks and deep gratitude go to my family and my friends for their valuable support and encouragement ii ABSTRACT Although great attention has been paid to idioms by researchers and linguists in Vietnam as well as in the world, there has been no study conducted on idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese This is the reason for the author‟s choice of the study This thesis has two major purposes: (1) to find out not only the syntactic but also semantic similarities as well as differences in the idioms of this type in English and Vietnamese, and (2) to give some teaching implications for teachers English In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, contrastive analysis method was used Moreover, 50 English and 50 Vietnamese idioms were collected various sources, mainly from dictionaries They were then carefully analyzed with the main focus on their syntactic and semantic features The results of the analysis mentioned above shows that although the idioms under investigation share some similarities, they have notable and interesting differences in terms of their syntactic features especially with regard to their clause and phrase patterns as well as their semantic ones The study suggests that the above-mentioned idioms in English are more difficult to learn than their Vietnamese counterparts Therefore, more attention should be paid to the teaching of these idioms, especially to such factors as the number of idioms, student level and frequency of practice iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Objectives of the study Research questions Significance of the study Scope of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Previous studies related to the research 1.2 The author's framework 1.3 Idioms 1.3.1 Definitions of idioms 1.3.2 Definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 1.3.3 Distinctive features of English idioms 1.3.3.1 Syntactic features of English idioms 1.3.3.2 Semantic features of English idioms 11 1.3.3.3 Cultural features of English idioms 13 1.4 Distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs and fixed expressions 14 1.4.1 Idioms and Metaphors 14 1.4.2 Idioms and Proverbs 15 1.4.3 Idioms and Fixed Expressions 15 1.5 Summary 16 iv CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 Research methods 17 2.2 Data collections instruments 17 2.3 Data analysis techniques 18 2.4 Data analysis procedure 18 2.5 Summary 19 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 20 3.1 Syntactic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in contrastive analysis with Vietnamese counterparts 20 3.1.1 Structural features of English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding 20 3.1.1.1 English idioms denoting intelligences and understanding have clause patterns 20 3.1.1.2 English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding have phrase patterns 25 3.1.2 An English – Vietnamese contrasting of syntactic features of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 27 3.1.2.1 Similarities 27 3.1.2.2 Differences 30 3.2 Semantic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in contrasting with Vietnamese counterparts 32 3.2.1 Semantic features in idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 32 3.2.2.An English – Vietnamese contrasting of semantic features of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding 34 3.2.2.1 Similarities 34 3.2.2.2 Differences 36 3.3 Summary 38 CHAPTER 4: TEACHING IMPLICATIONS 39 4.1 Number of idioms 39 v 4.2 Theme 39 4.3 Level 40 4.4 Comprehension 40 4.5 Practice 40 4.6 Summary 41 PART C: CONCLUSION 42 Recapitulation 42 Concluding remarks 42 Limitations of the study 43 Suggestions for further study 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX I I APPENDIX II II vi PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study English is a language particularly rich in idioms - those modes of expression peculiar to a language (or dialect) which frequently defy logical and grammatical rules Without idioms English would lose much of its variety and humor both in speech and writing However, the background and etymological origins of most idioms are at best obscure There are many students who have the chance to travel abroad and when these students were in the United States, they experienced many difficulties because they did not understand the meaning of many idioms that native speakers used in their daily conversations They even felt embarrassed and frustrated because they could not understand the idioms they heard A strong knowledge of idioms, therefore, will help students be better speakers and facilitate communication The fact that a large number of idioms are frequently used in discourse makes them an important aspect of vocabulary Nonetheless, their characteristic features cause many difficulties to learners of English First of all, idioms not only have brief and extraordinary forms, contain key words but also hold profound meanings They manifest much what the speakers want to say and not want to say in words This means that the idioms can express speakers‟ viewpoints, feelings, attitudes and even personalities and culture is their ways of idioms usage Secondly, idioms are based not only on several aspects of language such as semantics, syntax, phonetics and phonology, pragmatics but also on their flexibilities in language usage Moreover, they are the combination of culture, language usage and creative competence They are everlasting and passed from generation to generation because of their own distinctive features Therefore, learning idioms helps learners understand more about cultures, people, languages which they are studying Idioms have attracted a number of researchers and linguists who have researched on idioms and the application in teaching and learning Such as" The Study of Idioms and its Application to ESL and Intercultural Communication"(Ito, Yoko, 1993) In the thesis the author made an attempt to investigate into English idioms from different aspects However, there has been no study on idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese This study is therefore conducted in order to fill the gap We hope that it will make contribution to improving learners‟ understanding and knowledge of this particular type of idioms and give some suggestions to their teaching and learning Objectives of the study The study is carried out for the following objectives: First of all, the study tries to analyze and contrast idioms to detect some similarities, basic differences between idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese in terms of their syntactic and semantic features Secondly, it presents some implications in teaching and learning English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding Research questions The study attempts to answer the following questions: What are some similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in terms of syntactic and semantic features? What are some teaching implications for using appropriate idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in teaching English? Significance of the study Idioms are considered an interesting and popular phenomenon of every language Thus, they play an important role in all languages in general, in both English and Vietnamese in particular They also add color to the language and make the communication more lively and interesting Therefore, effective communication cannot be achieved successfully without idioms 3.2.2.2 Differences Cultural is reflected through language, using language will be affected by cultural in general and idioms in particular, therefore, first of all, with the differences of culture, English and Vietnamese idioms have many different expressions and meaning Vietnam was affected by culture of China many years ago; therefore borrowing words also exists in a lot of Vietnamese idioms This means that it causes misunderstanding of meaning in idioms when we want to look through the particular words and understand with literal meaning Some examples are collected: Bày binh bố trận Tương kế tựu kế Dương đơng kích tây Tích tiểu thành đại Nhất sinh bá kế Thiên biến vạn hóa/ Tùy ứng biến The second difference between both languages involving also culture is western and eastern culture In the western, economy develops rapidly with hanging of science, information technology, and of course the sayings, idioms will be close by scientific words such as: Walking encyclopedia Chinese arithmetic Rocket science Get the message On the other hand, the eastern culture in general, Vietnamese in particular is an agriculture with soft words expressing characteristics of the labors like kind, friendly , loving jobs, loving homeland , bravery, patience, adaptability difficult environment or to changes in the current environment (…)Tuy chập tối, nhà đóng cửa im ỉm, khơng đâu cịn chút đèn lửa Những kẻ cầy sâu cuốc bẫm suốt ngày mệt nhọc, phải trả nợ mắt để nuôi lấy sức làm việc cho ngày mai.(…) (Ngô Tất tố, Tắt đèn) As well, 36 Ăn cần kiệm Ăn bữa hôm lo bữa mai Ăn mặc bền Trâu chậm uống nước đục Ăn vóc học hay “Intelligence and understanding” is one of the characteristics of the people that express abilities, knowledge and skillful behavior of him or her in any situation Therefore the third difference is that Vietnamese idioms mainly focus on skillful behavior among people, relatives causing the geographic location: ( )Thời xưa, loài người chưa phải sống chen chúc nhà rộng hang chuột kỷ tiến này, cổ nhân có câu "trạch lân xử" "bán anh em xa mua láng giềng gần" để thuyết minh liên lạc hệ trọng người sống gần gũi nhau, đề phòng lúc nguy nan, tối lửa tắt đèn, hoạn nạn, dễ cầu cứu nhau.(…) (Truyện ngắn Vũ Trọng Phụng, Một đờng bạc) And others: Có qua có lại Qua sơng phải lụy đị Liệu cơm gắp mắm In other words, English idioms like this not exist by reason of recognition about the relations among people in society freely Fourthly, in 100 idioms collected in both English and Vietnamese , there are many idioms denoting intelligence and understanding using relating words such as brain, thinking, head , to expressing the intelligence, the abstract meaning and in Vietnamese idioms uses a lot of concrete words like “khôn” which has the same meaning “intelligence” word to express the direct meaning For example: In English, Now here's this week's quiz; it‟s time to put your thinking caps on! Like this: Can't make head or tail of Brains behind something Collect one's thoughts Hit the nail on the head In Vietnamese, 37 Khôn ranh Khôn ba năm dại Khôn cáo Khôn nhà dại chợ Khôn ngoan chẳng lọ thật Khôn miệng dại tay 3.3 Summary In this chapter, the author has analyzed and contrasted idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese in syntactic and semantic features to find out similarities and difference between two languages (i) In syntactic, both two languages have two kinds of patterns: clause pattern and phrase pattern However, idioms in English belong to the inflecting and idioms in Vietnamese are symmetrical in form In other words, the numbers of idioms divided according to clause and phrase patterns in both two languages are different Moreover, English idioms allow inflectional changes to indicate change of time, Vietnamese ones are rarely used (ii) In semantic, idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in both of languages have characteristics of meaning which use meaning groups as the author applied and based on the background knowledge And the difference focuses on the cultural factor, recognition of meaning in each of language 38 CHAPTER 4: TEACHING IMPLICATIONS Idioms are a colorful and fascinating aspect of English; they are commonly used in all types of languages, informal and formal, spoken and written Learners‟ language skills will increase rapidly if learner can understand and use them confidently and correctly (Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2010: 6) The author would like to give some suggestions for teaching idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in class: 4.1 Number of idioms Also as teaching the other idioms, the teachers should concern about the amount of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding: should not try to teach too many at once Idioms are complex and difficult not only to understand but also to explain, so teachers should consider introducing only a small number, maybe three to five, at a time and apply them in each lesson This approach will give them enough time to cover them thoroughly and allow students sufficient practice time without overwhelming them 4.2 Theme Theme is also very important, teaching idioms fundamental is relating the topic Teachers can include idioms in the normal lessons by introducing them thematically If they are related to the topic teachers are studying, students will have an easier time remembering them and will be familiar with the vocabulary you are using When talking about information technology, for instance, teachers can introduce idioms such as “rocket science” and “walking encyclopedia” which are related to the idioms denoting intelligence and understanding and will give students something to discuss What makes idioms so interesting is that they are a unique combination of words that have completely different meanings from the individual words themselves 39 4.3 Level Teaching idioms involves two levels Many teachers not introduce idioms to students who are not at the advanced level In some ways this seems like a good approach because idioms are complex and have different meanings than their words alone suggest However, idioms not have to be just for advanced students, you can introduce them earlier as long as teachers choose ones that are appropriate for their students Obviously, beginners may not have the vocabulary and comprehension skills to learn certain idioms however, intermediate students could definitely benefit from learning about this aspect of the English language Using the two examples above, teachers can even discuss how these phrases may have been created basing on the literal meaning of idioms 4.4 Comprehension Comprehension plays seriously important role in understanding meaning of idioms Students have to know or understand the individual words of an idiom before understanding the idiom itself Teachers should avoid introducing idioms which use new vocabulary words and be able to simplify the meaning of idioms Teachers could say, for instance, that “rocket science” means to emphasize that something presents major difficulty Students will have to know all the words you use in your explanation as well so use the simplest language you can Even with advanced learners, simplifying idioms to their basic meanings make them easier to understand and learn 4.5 Practice Practice is the most important step of teaching idioms Practice is asking and answering Students need to practice not just using idioms in sentences but also responding to their use and understanding their meaning For instance, students may be able to create a lot of sentences using the phrase “morning, noon, and night” by saying “I study morning, noon, and night.” and simply changing the verb to make more sentences Teachers can give students practice hearing the idioms used, ask them questions using idioms By asking questions, teachers can also prompt students to use idioms correctly For this example say “What is something you morning, noon, and night?” Students should also be asked to identify situations that 40 best demonstrate the meaning of idioms For this activity simply prepare two or three sentences that not use idioms and ask students to choose the one that best matches the meaning of the idiom they are learning Using this example again, the correct answer might be “My father goes to work early in the morning and does not even get home until nine in the evening.” This gives students more time to think about what the idiom means It is important to practice exercises that test the students‟ ability to use idioms as well as understand them 4.6 Summary With five criteria: amount of idioms, theme, level, comprehension, and practice the author would like to help the teachers and students identify suitably, effectively learning and teaching style of English idioms not only in writing essay but also in communication every day, enrich the vocabulary, understanding of English culture in using idioms in general, in idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in particular 41 PART C CONCLUSION Recapitulation The study has demonstrated basic features of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding, ranging from syntax and semantics The first chapter of the study deals with previous studies related to the research and theoretical background for the study in which aspects of idioms Theoretical background consist of definition of idioms, definition of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding, distinctive features of English idioms, syntactic, semantic, cultural features The author also makes clear the distinction between idioms, metaphors, proverbs, and fixed expressions to create a foundation for analyzing, contrasting the idioms of two languages The second one is methodology concerned with research methods and data techniques, procedure Main method in study is contrastive analysis to the aim of detecting the similarities, differences of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese The next chapter is data analysis and discussion with the distinctive syntactic, semantic features of English idioms of intelligence and understanding and its contrasting to Vietnamese ones Many examples collected from Vietnamese literature works, websites in trust have illustrated for the research‟s framework The same step is chapter in which teaching implications are presented Some suggestions for teaching idioms in class are related to five important factors; amount of idioms, theme, level, comprehension, practice which will decide directly to learning and teaching idioms effectively Concluding remarks Concluding remarks on objective 1: analysis and contrasting of idioms to detect similarities, basic differences between idioms denoting intelligence, understanding in English and Vietnamese in terms of their syntactic and semantic features A syntactic and semantic analysis of English idioms denoting intelligence and understanding has shown that the English has tendency toward using clause patterns 42 to express human intelligence and understanding when the number of clause patterns far exceeds that of other patterns Similarly, Vietnamese tends to use verb phrase to denote intelligence and understanding when Vietnamese idioms of intelligence and understanding in this form outnumber other patterns With regard to syntactic features, idioms in Vietnamese have symmetrical rules making the idioms more musical and easy to learn by heart Moreover, the numbers of idioms in both two languages are different when they are divided into the different clause, phrase patterns Using simile in idioms exists in Vietnamese idioms much more than in English Inflectional changes in English idioms also make the difference between two languages With respect to semantic features, idioms of both languages have distinctive meaning denoting intelligence and understanding but for reason culture, geographic location creates the differences in using idioms In other words, recognition of people in society and using the words according to the habit are different so they also make idioms not the same In short, the cultural factor affects the most to the deference in using idioms of both in which the language was born Concluding remarks on objective 2: some teaching implications for idioms denoting intelligence and understanding From analysis and contrasting idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese to find out the similarities, differences, the author has shown some suggestions in teaching and learning English idioms involving five criteria: amount of idioms (learning a small number will create effect), theme(choosing the favorite topics), level ( be suitable for efficiency of each person), comprehension (teaching the simple vocabulary for learners) , and practice every day in order to help the teachers, students improve levels of the own English Limitations of the study The study has investigated idioms of intelligence and understanding in terms of its linguistic aspect However, the application of the findings into teaching and 43 translation has not given Besides, there is possibly shortage of idioms in the process of collecting data This may result in some mistakes in the study Suggestions for further studies This study only focuses on the syntactic and semantics similarities as well as differences of idioms denoting intelligence and understanding in English and Vietnamese Thus, further studies can be conducted on their cultural and pragmatic features or more research can be done on other kinds of idioms 44 REFERENCES VIETNAMESE (1) Bùi Phụng (2003), Thành ngữ Anh Việt, Nxb Văn hóa thơng tin, Hà Nội (2) Doãn Ngọc Diệp (2007), A Study on Structural and Semantic Features of English Idioms of Anger in Comparison with Vietnamese Equivalents,(Unpublished M.A thesis) ĐHNN-ĐHQG, Hà Nội (3) Nguyễn Cơng Đức (1995), Bình diện cấu trúc hình thái – ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ 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