Idioms: in the world, the classroom

and English as a Lingua Franca

What isEnglish as a Lingua

Franca?

‘English when it used as a contact language between people from different languages (including native English speakers)’ (Jenkins, 2014: 24).

EFL

L1 ESL

E L F

What is the place of idiomaticity

in English as a Lingua

Franca?

idiomatic usage, slang, phrasal verbs, puns, proverbs, cultural allusions and the like...as far as ELF is concerned, this sort of knowledge of the English language is ‘irrelevant’(Jenkins, 2000: 220).

What do we mean by idiomaticity?

‘an idiom is a combination of two or more words which function as a unit of meaning’.

She turned on me

A different kettle of _____

(to be) glad to see the _____ of (someone)

To put your ______ in it

She turned on me

A different kettle of fish

(to be) glad to see the back of (someone)

To put your foot in it

What can happen to idioms in

the classroom?

I learnt how to make Turkish coffee easily, but Italian espresso was a completely different kettle of fishes.

??

Mrs Johnson said she was glad to see Pablo’s back

??

Raffaella was having an argument with her sister when she suddenly turned me on

??

I’d forgotten that Mrs Matthews’ sister died last week, so whenI asked who the photograph was of, I really put my foot on it.

??

Why is idiomaticity important?

Idiomaticity = fluency (?)

tested

??

Idiomaticity embodies

shared knowledgeand

culture

What happens when shared knowledge

and shared culture are absent?

‘unilateral idiomaticity’

situations in ELF when

Rafael Benitez: ex-manager of Liverpool football club

Journalist: Rafa, you seemed to be under the cosh a little bit, didn't you?

??

Rafa Benitez: Yes, I thought we played very good football and we pressed and pressed them and did well to convert our chances.

Two Can and must

play at the idiom game

Benitez:Some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar

??

Benitez:We have a saying in Spanish: White liquid in a bottle has to be milk

??

‘These idioms involve both the influence of the speakers’ first language and the desire to accommodate towards an interlocutor to enhance understanding’

(Jenkins, 2014: 34)

What can we do with idiomaticity in the ELF classroom?

Teaching and testing

Shuttling between varieties…

EFL

L1 ESL

E L F

We have to move from an either/or orientation in the testing debate to a both and more perspective

Canagarajah, 2006: 233-239

Posing the options as either ‘native English norms’ or ‘new Englishes norms’ is misleading – a proficient speaker of English in the postmodern world needs both.That is, the ability to negotiate varieties…

Canagarajah, 2006: 233-239

In the classroom: principles

Encourage intercultural understanding and accommodation

Aim for comfortable intelligibility

‘noticing’ activities translationparaphrase

contrastive idiomaticitysongspoems

newspaperspodcasts

the internetset up interactive contexts

idioms in discourse

In the classroom: practice

EFL

L1 ESL

E L F

‘ELF: a jointly-performed dance’

(Aston, 1993: 228)