Teaching English Idioms in a Foreign Language Setting

Abstract

Adequate knowledge and appropriate use of idiomatic expressions often lead foreign language learners (hereafter L2) to higher levels of fluency and proficiency in the target language. In this paper we address the aspects that will determine the design of a teaching methodology and learning material for teaching English idioms in a foreign language context. We argue that the current idiom teaching practices are inefficient, hence, a series of preliminary and theoretical/practical concerns are introduced in order to answer the question of how to teach idioms more effectively. We focus on the theoretical parameters that should be taken into consideration when English idioms are to be taught in a foreign language context. The long-term objective of this research study is the design of a teaching methodology to be used in the English Language classroom for the teaching learning process of English idioms.