Idioms are a very important part of the English language: you are told that if you want to go far (succeed) you should pull your socks up (make a serious effort to improve your behaviour, the quality of your work, etc.) and use your grey matter (brain).1 Learning and translating idioms have always been very difficult for foreign language learners. The present paper explores some of the reasons why English idiomatic expressions are difficult to learn and translate. It is not the aim of this paper to attempt a comprehensive survey of the vast amount of material that has appeared on idioms in Adams and Kuder (1984), Alexander (1984), Dixon (1983), Kirkpatrick (2001), Langlotz (2006), McCarthy and O'Dell (2002), and Wray (2002), among others. The paper concentrates on idioms as a learning-translation problem; it makes no claim to be comprehensive or academically rigorous. Leech (1989) defines an idiom as follows: “An idiom is a group of two or more words which we have to treat as a unit in learning a language. We cannot arrive at the meaning of the idiom just by adding together the meanings of the words inside it. E.g.John and Mary usedto be hardup (='They had very little money'.)”(P.186) To be more exact, an idiom is a sequence of words which is semantically and syntactically restricted, so that they function as a single unit. From a semantic point of view, the meanings of the individual words cannot be summed to produce the meanings of the idiomatic expression as a whole. Thus, fly off the handle, which means lose one's temper, cannot be understood in terms of the meanings of fly, off, or handle. The idiom phrase hot air, which means empty or boastful talk, is neither hot nor air; with hot air we are dealing with a set phrase where the meaning cannot be suggested on the basis of the two constituent words. The idiomatic meaning of spill the beans in So who spilt the beans (=told the secret) about her affair with David? has nothing to do with beans or with spilling in its literal sense. The foreign-language learner is left trying to figure out where and how the beans were spilt. From a syntactic viewpoint, the constituent parts of an idiom often do not permit the usual variability they display in other contexts. The point to be emphasized here is this: most idioms do not lend themselves easily to manipulation by speakers and writers; they are invariable and must be learned as wholes, but concord ofnumber, person and gender in the idiom phrase is still necessary, i.e. the verbs must be put into the correct form, and pronouns must agree with their antecedents: I don't give a hoot for her opinion! 2 • She doesn't give a hoot for my opinion! etc.)║He won, but only by the skin of his teeth2• She won, but only by the skin of her teeth• Iwon, but only by the skin ofmy teeth,I had to run for the train, and caught it by the skin of myteeth, etc.║He kept pullingmy arm, throwing me off my balance 2 • She kept pulling his arm, throwing him off his balance • We kept pullingher arm, throwingher offher balance, etc.2 The present paper is divided into five parts, as follows: Part I: An Overview; PART II: Learner’s Difficulties with Idioms; PART III: Some Pedagogical recommendations and Suggestions about Idioms; Part IV: Activities to Practice Idiomatic Expressions; Part V: Summary and Conclusion.
This review paper examines the crucial impact of YouTube on learning English as a Foreign Language. Recently, learners’ interaction and development of their skills have been improved due to the integration of digital platforms into language education. YouTube is regarded as one of the most prevalent platforms due to its accessibility, multimodal content, and capacity to simulate real-life communication. This study tackles thirty selected research articles from various cultural and institutional backgrounds to identify the pedagogical benefits and challenges associated with using YouTube in teaching English. Conventional methods of teaching English as a foreign language encounter difficulties in improving students’ engagement and
... Show More
(1)
Research Summary The aim of the search for knowledge of the effect generative learning strategy in: 1 - Achievement of the second grade. 2 - Systemic thinking for the second grade students when studying the biology. The study sample increased (60) students distributed into two equal experimental and control groups. Prepare the test of 40 pieces of multiple choice type and prepare a test for systematic thinking according to three skills 1. Understand the relationships between the parts of the systemic form and complement the sentences given 2 - complement the relationships between parts of the systemic form 3. Building the systemic form. It was a search result 1- There is a difference of statistical significance (at level 0.05) between th
... Show MoreThe study aims at finding out:
1. The students' attitude towards the mixed learning at the university.
2. The statistically significant differences in attitude towards the mixed learning at the university according to the specialization variable.
3. The statistically significant differences in attitude towards the mixed learning at the university according to the gender variable.
The researcher has constructed a scale for measuring the students' attitude towards the mixed learning at the university.
After assuring its validity and reliability, the scale has been given to a sample of (100) students. The sample is selected randomly from (4) colleges of the university of Baghdad, (2) for scientific specialization and (2)for h
Cryptocurrency became an important participant on the financial market as it attracts large investments and interests. With this vibrant setting, the proposed cryptocurrency price prediction tool stands as a pivotal element providing direction to both enthusiasts and investors in a market that presents itself grounded on numerous complexities of digital currency. Employing feature selection enchantment and dynamic trio of ARIMA, LSTM, Linear Regression techniques the tool creates a mosaic for users to analyze data using artificial intelligence towards forecasts in real-time crypto universe. While users navigate the algorithmic labyrinth, they are offered a vast and glittering selection of high-quality cryptocurrencies to select. The
... Show More
(5)
(3)
(1)
The present study was designed to indicate the influence of the feeding plate on the nutritional and general health problems of the isolated cleft palate infants. For this study fourteen infants were taken, their ages between one day to one week, refered from cosmetic surgery and palate center to cleft lip and palate rehabilitation center in institute of technical medical / Baghdad for feeding plate purpose . Four infants put them as normal group; all those infants were subjected during (6th) month to evaluate the body weight, feeding problem and the respiratory infection. According to tables and figures this study showed a gradual improvement in nutritional problem including (feeding problem, body weight) and health problem (such as respir
... Show MorePurpose: The research aims to explore the impact Business Intelligence System (BIS) and Knowledge Conversion Processes (KCP) in the Building Learning Organization (LO) in KOREK Telecom Company in Baghdad city.
Design/methodology/approach: in order to achieve the objectives of the research has been the development of a questionnaire prepared for this purpose and then has tested the search in the telecommunications sector, representatives of one of the telecommunications companies in Baghdad city, has therefore chosen KOREK Telecom company as a sample for research, and the choice was based on the best standard international companies to serve mobile communications in terms o
... Show More
(1)
Original Research Paper Mathematics 1-Introduction : In the light of the progress and rapid development of the applications of research in applications fields, the need to rely on scientific tools and cleaner for data processing has become a prominent role in the resolution of decisions in industrial and service institutions according to the real need of these methods to make them scientific methods to solve the problem Making decisions for the purpose of making the departments succeed in performing their planning and executive tasks. Therefore, we found it necessary to know the transport model in general and to use statistical methods to reach the optimal solution with the lowest possible costs in particular. And you know The Transportatio
... Show More