TEACHING AND LEARNING IDIOMS IN ENGLISH (THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS)

Dr. Mihaela Ctlina Trcoanu Postdoctoral Fellow, Iai Branch of the Romanian Academy

Traditionally, teaching and learning idioms was a neglected topic, but it is very challenging and enlightening and this is why I have chosen to treat it in my paper, in which I will focus on the theoretical and practical parameters that should be taken into consideration when English idioms are to be taught in a foreign language context. Theoretical Considerations will use me to frame the linguistic theory involved when teaching and learning idioms Eugeniu Coseriu integral linguistics text linguistics, sense, discourse, expressive competence etc. There is a very close connexion between English Weltanschauung, linguistic competence, linguistic performance, designation, meaning and sense. Practical considerations will treat English phraseology, the concept of idiom, teaching and learning idioms via different media, traditional and modern, advantages and disadvantages. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This paper was made within The Knowledge Based Society Project supported by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development (SOP HRD), financed from the European Social Fund and by the Romanian Government under the contract number POSDRU/89/1.5/S/56815.

Keywords: Weltanschauung, idiom, text linguistics, linguistic competence, linguistic performanceIntroductionEnglish phraseology reflects English people vision on the world. A comprehensive world view, calqued of the German word Weltanschauung, is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the entirety of the individual or societys knowledge and point-of-view. The so-called Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is holding that the structure of a language affects the perceptions of reality of its speakers and thus influences their thought patterns and worldviews. Since idioms are influenced by the culture, teaching and learning idioms of a language can be very interesting and enlightening. Traditionally, teaching and learning idioms was a neglected topic. English phraseology is a very challenging topic and this is why I have chosen to treat it in my paper. Specialists wonder if we should or we shouldnt teach English idioms to ESL/ EFL students. If you choose to not teach them idioms, theyll be missing an important cultural element of the language they strive to speak fluently. If we choose to teach, we must cope with any challenge that might appear like translation. In my opinion, idioms should be taught to upper-intermediate or advanced students, individuals who are ready to take their English fluency to the next level. But, depending on students knowledge and competencies, in different contexts, a small number of idioms can be taught to beginners, too.In this paper I will focus on the theoretical and practical parameters that should be taken into consideration when English idioms are to be taught in a foreign language context. It is impossible for the foreign students not to engage in idioms not only in ordinary speech, but even in academic texts. The structure of my paper, Teaching and Learning Idioms in English: (Theoretical and Practical Considerations) includes two main chapters Theoretical Considerations and Practical Considerations. The first one has the next subchapters: 1.1 Weltanschauung (Worllview); 1.2 Linguistics Competence vs. Linguistic Performance; 1.3 Designation. Meaning. Sense. Practical Considerations will treat 2.1 English Phraseology; 2.2 The Concept of Idiom; 2.3 Teaching and Learning Idioms in English via Different Media; 2.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Teaching and Learning Idioms. Obviously, I will have to sum up with some conclusions. Theoretical Considerations will use me to frame the linguistic theory involved when teaching and learning idioms. I attempt to demonstrate that there is a very close connexion between English Weltanschauung, linguistic competence, linguistic performance, designation, meaning and sense. Noam Chomsky and Eugeniu Coseriu are very well known for their innovative theories that I will have in mind. An idiom is a phrase in which the words have a different meaning from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. This is why sometimes it is hard for students to understand, learn and use them. Every language has idioms, and they can be difficult to learn if you are not a native speaker of that language. The best thing to do is to have conversations with native speakers and ask them about phrases that you dont understand.

The concept of competence a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context is proteic, the term has different definitions, for instance in Chomskys vision (linguistic competence vs. linguistic performance), in Coserius vision (elocutional competence vs. idiomatic competence vs. expressive competence), in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated as CEFR, figurative competence, metaphorical competence etc. In my paper I will also refer to Noam Chomsky distinction: linguistics competence vs. linguistics performance. According to Chomsky, competence is the ideal language system that makes it possible for speakers to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences in their language, and to distinguish grammatical sentences from ungrammatical sentences. Another term for competence used by Coseriu is linguistic knowledge (saber lingstico). I will also have to consider Eugen Coserius trichotomy elocutional competence, idiomatic competence, and expressive competence. My paper explores the framework of Coserius integral linguistics, focusing mainly on the three planes of language and their corresponding linguistics the three directions in language investigation that Coseriu postulated, especially on text linguistics.When teaching idioms, the historical level is involved; we teach students different meanings, so they will have idiomatic competences. For instance, rom. a ine pumnii strni can be translated in English to keep your fingers crossed. It is an interesting and original way to perceive the world. When students will try to use in linguistic acts this idiom the individual level will be involved, and they will have to deal with the expressive competence (in Coserius vision), or with the linguistic performance (in Chomskys vision), so teaching and learning idioms must be studied by text linguistics.

Practical considerations will treat English phraseology. I will also try to define idiom and to distinguish between idioms idiomatic constructions/ expressions. I will also focus on teaching and learning idiomatic constructions via different media (different kinds of exercises typical vocabulary exercises like matching idioms to their meanings, filling in blanks with the appropriate idiom, replacing underlined expressions with an idiom; translation; write dialogues using the idioms or tell stories based on pictures; quizzes, films, Disney movies etc.), advantages and disadvantages. There are a lot of resources to use traditional and modern, and different media also. A lot of factors must be taken into consideration when choosing to teach idioms: students age, students background (knowledge, competences); the difficulty of the exercises; the complexity of the exercises; the time needed; giving tests after practicing in exercises etc.

Hence, idiom instruction involves decisions about issues such as teaching strategies, frequency of use, register and so on, which are of crucial importance in order to achieve better learning and retention of this kind of vocabulary. I will also present two paradigm of teaching: Present Practice Produce (PPP) and Observe Hypothesize Experiment Paradigm (OHE). Some aspects of grammar either are not governed by rules or are governed by rules so complex that they seem not to exist. Such constructions must simply be memorized. Most handbooks, especially those aimed at new learners of English; contain lists that can be helpful.My goal was to draw at the most indicative dimensions that arise when idiom instruction is to take place. This short introduction has provided a background needed to illustrate the multitude of aspects a teacher needs to take into consideration when teaching idioms.1. Theoretical Considerations1.1 Weltanschauung (Worldview)In introduction, I mentioned that a comprehensive world view calqued of the German word Weltanschauung, composed of Welt (world) and Anschauung (view or outlook) refers to a wide world perception; is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the entirety of the individual or societys knowledge and point-of-view, including natural philosophy. Worldview is a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and. Rodica Dimtriu observes that: Promoters of a linguistically separated universe draw on W. von Humboldts conception of language as an active principle, energeia, which imposes its own values and distinctions on thought and on the non-linguistics world. Louis Hjelmeslev, Ernst Cassirer, Leo Weisgerber, as well as Neo-Humboldtian theorist such as Benjamin Lee Worf and Edward Sapir also adopted the idea of a universe that is linguistically determined. Since language precedes thought, it follows that each code offers the generations to come a ready-made interpretation of reality. This interpretation is peculiar to each language, as each language has its own way of structuring the reality, hence the impossibility of connecting these different cut-outs of the surrounding world. (Rodica Dimitriu, 2002: 19).Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf advanced the so-called Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holding that the structure of a language affects the perceptions of reality of its speakers and thus influences their thought patterns and worldviews: The human languages determine the structure of the real world as perceived by human beings, rather than vice versa, and that this structure is different and incommensurable from one language to another. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sapir-Whorf+hypothesis).Teaching and learning idioms involves translation. The myth of the Tower of Babel has been interpreted as either the beginning of translation or, more recently, as a warning that translations are doomed to failure. (Rodica Dimitriu, 2002: 19). On the other hand, Cristinel Munteanu asserts that To consider that there can be a relationship of interlinguistical synonymy between the terms belonging to different languages is a mistake, which is generally rejected by linguists and accepted by some logicians and philosophers. (Cristinel Munteanu, 2009: 54). This means that linguistics signs (with a few exceptions) are arbitrarily chosen by different peoples and it is not a special reason why in Romanian language mare is a feminine noun, in Spanish el mar is a masculine noun. In my opinion, English phraseology reflects English people vision on the world. When somebody tries to translate an idiom, one can not translate word by word, must convey also peoples worldview vision. In every language there is the possibility to express the extra-linguistic reality designation, in dictionaries we can find the different meanings of the word of a language. In linguistic acts (oral or written) the senses are actualized. But we will detail these aspects in another subchapter. I will also have to consider Noam Chomsky distinction linguistics competence vs. linguistics performance and Eugeniu Coserius trichotomy elocutional competence, idiomatic competence, and expressive competence. Another term for competence used by Coseriu is linguistic knowledge (saber lingstico). My paper explores the framework of Coserius integral linguistics, focusing mainly on the three planes of language and their corresponding linguistics the three directions in language investigation that Coseriu postulated. Coserius linguistic theory offers the basis for a correct and efficient approach of each aspect of language. Since idioms are influenced by the culture, teaching and learning the idioms of a language can be very interesting and enlightening.2.1 Linguistics Competence vs. Linguistic PerformanceThe concept of competence a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context is proteic concept, the term can be found with different definitions, for instance in Chomskys vision (linguistic competence vs. linguistic performance), in Coserius vision (elocutional competence vs. idiomatic competence vs. expressive competence), in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, figurative competence, metaphorical competence etc. According to Chomsky, competence is the ideal language system that makes it possible for speakers to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences in their language, and to distinguish grammatical sentences from ungrammatical sentences. Theoretically, students learning EFL/ ESL are able to speak it, they know grammar rules, vocabulary, idioms etc. (linguistic competence), but it is very important to use what they learn in different linguistics acts linguistic performance. In case of idioms, they must know to use the right one, in an appropriate context or collocation.Wondering What is Linguistic Competence Really? Eugeniu Coseriu has in mind the distinction Conoscere e distinguere (B. Croce): This distinction which originated as a result of the discomfort with the distinction langue/ parole, language/ speech in the context of the post-saussurian discussion of these notions, concern in reality the levels of language, but applies first of all to what in the last decades has been called linguistic competence and what I called at that time and still continue to call linguistic knowledge (saber lingstico). (Eugenio Coseriu, 1985: XXV). Since I will use Coserius distinctions, I think it is necessary to present them briefly. Eugenio Coseriu distinguishes within language, on the one hand, three levels: the universal one (the level of designation), the historical one (the level of signification) and the individual level (that of sense), since language is a universal human activity which is done individually but always following some historically established techniques (langues). The language is generated, on the other hand, according to some acquired knowledge and is presented as some objective facts, that is why Coseriu adopts, just as W. von Humboldt did before, the terms used by Aristotle: rgon (product), enrgeia (creative activity), which goes beyond the learnt technique and dnamis (competence found only with Aristotle). Language is not essentially rgon, but enrgeia, creative activity. One can clearly see from the table below what means activity, competence and product for each of the three levels to Coseriu. However, it is worth mentioning the fact that at the universal level, the elocutional competence, as a technique, means to be able to speak, in general; at the individual level, expressive competence refers to the knowledge regarding the way discourses are made, while at the historical level, the idiomatic competence refers to language as traditional knowledge of a community. The rgon, seen at the historical level, is also worth mentioning: product can only refer here to the abstract language, which is the language deduced from speech and materialized in a grammar book or in a dictionary (Eugen Coeriu, 2000: 237).When teaching idioms, the historical level is involved; we teach students different meanings, so they will have idiomatic competences. For instance, rom. a ine pumnii strni can be translated in English to keep your fingers crossed. When students will try to use in linguistic acts this idiom the individual level will be involved, and they will have to deal with the expressive competence (in Coserius vision), or with the linguistic performance (in Chomskys vision), so teaching and learning idioms must be studied by text linguistics.Points of

view

Levels enrgeia Activity dnamis Competence/ Knowledge Type of contentAdequacy of Jugementrgon Product Science

Universal

(universally-human activity)Speaking in general

Elocutional competence Reference/

DesignatumCongruenceEmpirically infinite totality of utterances Designational

Linguistics

Historical

(idiomatic traditions)Concrete particular language

Idiomatic competence Significatum/

Signification/ MeaningCorrectness(Abstracted particular language) Signification

Linguistics

Individual

(individual speech) Discourse

Expressive competence SenseAppropriatenessText Linguistics of sense

Text linguistics

1.1 Designation. Meaning/ Signification. SenseIn introduction I stressed that English phraseology reflects English Weltanschauung. There are three types of linguistic content and, as long as I intend to represent the reality of language functioning, in a meaningful and accurate manner. This idea appears in different studies of Coseriu, as in Linguistic Competence: What is it Really? A more important point, however, is that these three levels of language and linguistic knowledge are paralleled by three levels of linguistic content which we can observe in every speech act, namely, designation (or reference), meaning, and sense. A speech acts relates to a reality, to an extra-linguistic states of affairs, but it does so through certain categories of a particular language and it has in each case a certain discourse function. (Eugenio Coseriu, 1985: XXX).There is possible to express using language a certain linguistic content designation, but in a specific language there is a different way to express it (for instance, in English the article the is used for both feminine and masculine nouns, and there is no reason for that, instead in other languages we have different forms for gender) meaning. Linguists believe that in dictionaries we find meanings, thus, the sense is activated only in linguistics acts: Designation is the relation to extra-linguistic object or to extra-linguistic reality itself, be it a state of affairs or the corresponding content of thought. Meaning is the linguistic content in a particular language, the particular form of the possibilities of designation in a given language. Sense is the particular linguistic content which is expressed by means of designation and meaning and which goes beyond designation and meaning in a particular discourse, such as a speakers attitude, intention, or assumption. (Eugenio Coseriu, 1985: XXX). Coserius theory may sometimes seem difficult (to some people), since it is based on so many distinctions, but this is required by the complexity of language in itself. In the field of research, these distinctions prove to be of great use when applying them to concrete matters as teaching and learning idioms. 2. Practical Considerations2.1 English PhraseologyIn this section, I will focus on practical parameters that should be taken into consideration when English idioms are to be taught in a foreign language context. It is impossible for the foreign students not to engage in idioms not only in ordinary speech but even in academic texts. In dictionaries we can find indications like: formal, informal, slang, helping pupils to use the idioms correctly, but will prevent them from using them in an inappropriate context which can cause embarrassment (E.M. Kirkpatrick, C.M. Scwartz, 1996, cover 4). It is well known that English is particularly rich in idioms those modes of expression peculiar to a language which frequently defy logical and grammatical rules, but without which both speech and writing would lose much of their vitality and colour. (E.M. Kirkpatrick, C.M. Scwartz, 1996: cover 4). This is why the linguists created dictionaries, in order to help native and non native speakers to use idioms: [...] translation is directly concerned with the level of discourse, and not with the level of particular language (only texts are translated) and it is therefore related to the distinction designation/ meaning/ sense. The particular language and its meanings are not the object of translation, but rather its instruments. The purpose of translating is not to achieve identity between the meanings in the texts of the source language and those in the texts of the target language (this is in principle impossible as meaning belongs by definition to a particular language), but rather to express the same designation and the same sense by means of other meanings. Precisely because the specific content of a text is it sense, we often must give up the designation in order to express the sense. (Eugenio Coseriu, 1985: XXIV). Coseriu exemplifies his theory with the Italian idiom Mi dispiace translated in English not with I dislike it, but with I am sorry. When should a teacher teach students to use such instruments? What age? What level? During primary school? During secondary school? Difficult decision. I assume that as soon as the pupil knows how to read and write (about 10 years). All specialists agree that trying to find an idiom in a dictionary is often not easy. Sometimes they are listed under the first word and sometimes under what is considered to be the most important word in the idiomatic phrase. It is difficult for the user to decide where to look. Cristina Ionescu analyzes an example. If we have come across the following idiomatic expression to be like a bear with a sore head, we must decide upon the key word. The key word can be either bear or sore or head. The dictionary shows the correct key word: bear n. 4.like a bear with a sore head irritable, bad-temperate. When hes just woken up hes like a bear with a sore head. If you looked up the wrong word, the dictionary shows the right entry: sore adj. (idm.) like a bear with a sore head bear. (C. Ionescu, 2001: 5).Digital natives use electronic dictionaries and solve this problem very quickly using the search option (Ctrl+F). Others will use printed dictionaries. For instance, like other dictionaries The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms can be considered: [] a compact guide through this fascinating linguistic maze. It not only gives the meaning of idiomatic expressions in simple form, but gives also examples sentences and phrases showing the idioms as they are actually used, and where appropriate explains the background and the etymological origins. For the longer phrases, too, all the various keywords are here fully cross-referenced, making the Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms the perfect handbook to the variety and humour of the English tongue. (E.M. Kirkpatrick, C.M. Scwartz, 1996: cover 4). An essential resource for students with language learning needs is The Expressionary: The Ultimate Dictionary Companion for Idioms, Everyday Phrases, and Proverbs The expanded, second edition of the Expressionary. This comprehensive volume includes definitions and sentence examples for over 10,000 expressions commonly encountered in the curriculum and in everyday conversations, over 500 pages in length.

It is very important not to confuse idiom and phrasal verbs, called also multi-word verbs lexical verb and a preposition or adverb. I must stress that my paper focuses only on idioms: The description of linguistic knowledge is in fact supposed to justify and account for speech precisely to the extent to which speech corresponds to a body of linguistic knowledge. This is perfectly legitimate, since the description of the capacity to speak English may yield an explanation of speaking English, of that which belongs to the English language as such, but not of the whole speech of English speakers, which depends also on elocutional and expressive knowledge. (Eugenio Coseriu, 1985: XXXII).2.2 The Concept of IdiomThe use of idioms will greatly enliven ones style of writing and make it more interesting and more entertaining consider the editors of The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. When teaching, terminology used is very important, so, the teacher should decide what term to use after clarifying the concepts. Which is the right one? In this section I will focus on terminology. Since not all idioms are equal, there is not one single definition accepted by all scholars. For instance, according to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, an idiom is a phrase or a sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit, e.g. give away, a change of heart. (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary: 616). In Eve Zyziks opinion, idioms are a particular type of multiword unit that have at least one element with a figurative (i.e., nonliteral) meaning. For example, being on the same page does not refer to reading in unison from a book, but rather to a group of people being in agreement on something. In this case, there is a fairly clear relationship between the figurative and literal meaning. (Eve Zyzik, 2009: 1).

Idioms, indeed, constitute a notoriously difficult area of foreign language learning and teaching because, by definition, idioms are conventionalized expressions whose overall meaning cannot be determined from the meaning of their constituent parts. Hence, an idiomatic expression like let the cat out of the bag is composed of several words (let/the/cat/out/of/the/bag) whose individual meanings do not seem to contribute to the meaning of the idiom as a whole (reveal a secret). In addition to this apparent incongruity between form and meaning, the scarcity of teaching materials and the lack of a clear methodology make idioms a stumbling block for EFL students. (Irene Lpez Rodriguez, Elena Mara Garca Moreno, n.d.: 241).To conclude, I must stress that teacher should: introduce the concept of idioms with clear definitions, for instance: Idioms are a form of figurative language where a phrase comprised of a group of words combined together has a dramatically different meaning than the dictionary definitions of the individual words.; emphasize that idioms are unique because the meaning of the parts do not equal the meaning of the whole; be sure to make it clear that idioms differ from other types of figurative expressions, such as smiles or metaphors, because they can be translated into conventional meanings. (McFarland-McDaniels, n.d.: n.p.).2.3 Teaching and Learning Idioms in English via Different MediaIf the teacher decides to teach idioms, it will be noticed that there are a lot of resources to use traditional and modern, and different media also. A lot of factors must be taken into consideration when choosing to teach idioms: students age (children, young learners, adolescents, young adults or adults), students education and cultural background (knowledge, competences), students reasons and motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic); learning styles, multiple intelligences; levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced); the difficulty of the exercises; the complexity of the exercises; the time needed; giving tests after practicing in exercises etc. All around the world students of all ages are learning to speak English, but their reasons for wanting can differ greatly: Some students, of course, only learn English because it is on the curriculum at primary or secondary level, but for others, studying the language reflects some kind of choice. (J. Harmer, 2007: 11). I would say that teaching and learning idioms reflects some kind of choice, teachers choice and students choice. In this section I attempt to provide different strategies for teaching and learning idioms in the EFL/ ESL classroom. Teachers and materials alike tend to present idiomatic expressions in isolation, as though they were an oddity, as a quirk of language. More recent materials illustrate figurative usages with cartoons, group them under topics (e.g. weather, food, colours, etc.), list them in vocabulary sections, accompany them with their literal paraphrase or insert them in random sentences as to provide contextual clues for their interpretation. After presenting idioms in context and helping students infer their meaning, teachers should force retrieval of the idioms that have been studied. This can be done in numerous ways, including typical vocabulary exercises like matching idioms to their meanings, filling in blanks with the appropriate idiom, replacing underlined expressions with an idiom etc. Finally, to promote output and creative language use, students can write dialogues using the idioms or tell stories based on pictures.There is a range of techniques for encouraging learners to produce language in the context of reading and listening activities. Teachers employ sophisticated information gap and opinion gap techniques to promote interaction on a range of topics and issues. We have on the other hands a range of established techniques which provide opportunities for communication in the classroom. The challenge is to propose a methodological framework which integrates formal and communicative activities. In theory there is no difficulty in combining a focus on a form and a focus on communication. One very widely used approached which aim to do just this is based on a three-part cycle: Presentation: The teacher highlights a particular form for study. The form is contextualized in some way to make the meaning clear. Learners are encouraged to produce the target form under careful teacher control until they produce it with some consistency. Practice: The teacher begins to relax control. Perhaps learners are encouraged to ask each other questions to elicit a response of the appropriate form or perhaps pictures reused to elicit the response. Production: When teacher feels reasonably confident that learners are able to produce the required form the lesson moves on to the production stage, sometimes called the free stage. This usually takes the form of a role play or discussion or problem-solving activity in which the target form has a high likelihood of occurrence. The important thing here is that learners are no longer working under close teacher control. The focus at this stage is said to be on language use. (J. Willis, 1996: IV). This methodological cycle, often referred to by acronym PPP, is so widely accepted that it now forms the basis of many teacher training courses. Indeed on some teacher training courses this is the only methodology offered to trainees. If youve decided to devote attention to idioms in your class, you may consider creating separate lessons in order to teach useful idioms. However, this is not necessarily the most effective approach. The reason is that idiom lessons will likely be limited in two ways: the time spent on them (perhaps only 1520 minutes per week) and the naturalness of the language used to contextualize the idioms. For these reasons, many scholars have argued in favour of an integrated approach, which involves incorporating idioms into regular lessons that focus on any of the four skills. A first step would be to raise students awareness of idioms so that they develop a habit of noticing them in everyday situations, including reading and listening. Students can be asked to keep an idiom notebook they can later share their examples in class and ask questions about appropriate usage. Teachers can draw attention to new idioms by embedding them into regular vocabulary and/or reading activities. If we assume idioms are best learned through exposure to authentic language (rather than contrived examples), teachers should take advantage of natural language source passages (e.g., TV, newspapers, or even a corpus search). Authentic examples can be easily modified for classroom purposes depending on the students proficiency level. (Eve Zyzik, 2009: 5).Different steps should be taken into consideration when teaching idioms and their meaning: 1. Choose 5 to 8 idioms that may be easily grouped; 2. Introduce idioms in context, never in isolation; 3. Students create conversations using idioms; 4. Students act out their conversations; 5. Practice with games and activities; 6. Use real life, authentic material. (How to Teach.... n.d., http://busyteacher.org/3712-how-to-teach-english-idioms-and-their-meaning.html >. n.pag.).Tim Bowen is wondering how the learner can make sense of the plethora of idiomatic expressions that exist in everyday speech and writing and how can they even scratch the surface and approach this area of language in a systematic way. He proposes two approaches: to take certain basic key words in the target language and organise your notes selectively around them or to compare idioms in the target language with idioms in the mother tongue. The Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners lists (with definitions and notes on degree of formality) no fewer than 40 idioms in everyday use that contain the word head: Other productive key words to look up in the dictionary for this purpose include colours, common animals, parts of the body, basic adjectives (e. g. long, fast) and natural phenomena (e.g. wind, sun). The advantages of using an up-to-date dictionary to refer to these terms as opposed to a practice book devoted to idioms is that there is often an attempt to be all-encompassing in such books with the result that expressions that are slightly obscure or old-fashioned are included. (Tim Bowen, n.d.: n.p.). In this section I will also try to exemplify different methods to teach and evaluate learning idioms in order to achieve consciousness-raising. Language is so vast and varied that a teacher can never provide learners with a viable and comprehensive description of language as a whole. Teacher can provide them with guidelines and, more important, with activities which encourage them to think about samples of language and to draw their own conclusions about how the language works. (J. Willis, D. Willis, 1996: 63). In Practice Makes Perfect. Exercises on Idioms and Phrasal verbs, tefniu Alina-Antoanela propose 30 exercises on phrasal verbs and 90 exercises on different types of idioms, classified according to their key words: noun, adjectives and verbs. She chosen an alphabetical order on the key words helps reader to find the explanations in the reference section and to check his/ her answers more easily (for instance, for nouns: air, arm, bag, bed, bell, bird, blood, book, business, chance, day, dog, door, ear, end, eye, face, foot, ground, hand, head, heart, life, line, man, mind, money, nose, side, skin, spot, tooth, thing, time, tongue, wind, way, word, world). I have noticed that there is a plenty of bibliography and a lot of modern and traditional strategies: fill in the gaps exercises/ tests (Teacher can provide students o list of idioms and ask them to learn by using them into sentences (a traditional approach, in my opinion) or he can choose a text containing different idioms in contexts, read the text with students, identify the idioms and explain them. After that students are asked to use them into sentences (a modern approach, in my opinion)); find the English/ Romanian equivalents of the different expressions; exercises/ test with one/ multiple choice; translation exercises from English into Romanian and from Romanian into English (for advanced students); explaining the meaning of the underline idiom; Self-Study Idiom Quizzes, Medium (Animal Idiom, Change Idioms to Plain English, Idioms with Body Parts, Idioms with Numbers etc.) and Difficult (Idioms and Expressions with Eggs and Bunnies, Food Idioms, Idioms Beginning with A, B, ... Z ), a very useful resource can be found onhttp://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html. Irene Lpez Rodriguez and Elena Mara Garca Moreno proposed Teaching Idiomatic Expressions to Learners of EFL Through a Corpus Based on Disney Movies. They consider that: Adopting a cognitive approach, idioms are seen as being motivated by conceptual metaphors which tend to be grounded in our embodied experiences and which very often involve mental imagery. This imagistic component, in turn, is brought to the fore by means of Disney movies which very often commingle the pictorial, linguistic and embodied elements associated to an idiom. (Irene Lpez Rodriguez, Elena Mara Garca Moreno, n.d.: 240).

There is no pedagogy exclusive to idioms; most research suggests using a wide range of techniques. Teachers can rest assured that most vocabulary teaching strategies will be applicable to idioms as well. An important first step is exposing students to idioms in context. I agree to Dave Willis who considers that, if teachers are to be able to offer their learners a range of language learning activities, if they want to find out how best to meet the needs of their students, if they are to take full advantage of a range of teaching materials and to keep abreast of new teaching opportunities, then they need to adapt to new values, new approaches to languages, to learning and to students. They need to assimilate a range of new techniques and procedures. They need to be prepared to experiment and to innovate. (J. Willis, 1996: VI). It is a relation of complementarities between teacher and students, as Peter Skehan observes Teachers and learners cannot simply choose what is to be learned. To a large extent the syllabus is built in to the learner. (Peter Skehan, 1996: 19).ConclusionIt is argued that, in the panorama of contemporary approaches to language, Coserius integral linguistics offers one of the most comprehensive and finely articulated frameworks for investigating the functioning of language in a dynamic perspective. This is why I have chosen the integral linguistic theory because it serves to teach and learn idioms. English phraseology is a very challenging topic. Specialists wonder if we should or we shouldnt teach English idioms to ESL/ EFL students. Traditionally, teaching and learning idioms was a neglected topic. One of the main problems which seem to bedevil EFL learners has to do with the acquisition of idioms and figures of speech. A teacher may use diverse strategies to teach such exercises, films, Disney movies etc. during separate lessons or integrated lessons. Teacher should teach idioms that students will frequently encounter in reading, writing and speaking contexts. Idioms can be difficult to master. If the teacher discovers students getting frustrated with the idioms, he/ she must choose simpler idioms. Teacher should also be supportive and encouraging to students and reassure them that with time and practice they will become proficient in using idioms.

In this paper I have focused on the theoretical and practical parameters that should be taken into consideration when English idioms are to be taught in a foreign language context. It is impossible for the foreign students not to engage in idioms not only in ordinary speech but even in academic texts. Theoretical Considerations used me to frame the linguistic theory involved when teaching and learning idioms and I attempted to demonstrate that there is a very close connexion between English Weltanschauung, linguistic competence, linguistic performance, designation, meaning and sense. I have showed that the concept of competence a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context is proteic and the term has different definitions, for instance in Chomskys vision (linguistic competence vs. linguistic performance), in Coserius vision (elocutional competence vs. idiomatic competence vs. expressive competence), in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated as CEFR, figurative competence, metaphorical competence etc. Practical considerations treated English phraseology. I have tried to define idiom and to distinguish between idioms idiomatic constructions/ expressions. I also focused on teaching and learning idioms via different media (different kinds of exercises typical vocabulary exercises like matching idioms to their meanings, filling in blanks with the appropriate idiom, replacing underlined expressions with an idiom; write dialogues using the idioms or tell stories based on pictures; quizzes, films, Disney movies etc.), advantages and disadvantages. There are a lot of resources to use traditional and modern, and different media also. I also noticed that a lot of factors must be taken into consideration when choosing to teach idioms: students age (children, young learners, adolescents, young adults or adults), students education and cultural background (knowledge, competences), students reasons and motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic); learning styles, multiple intelligences; levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced); the difficulty of the exercises; the complexity of the exercises; the time needed; giving tests after practicing in exercises etc. Real learning is a long-term complex process. Teaching and learning idioms help students enhance their vocabulary. In a nutshell, it could be said that the acquisition of idioms is one of the most outstanding challenges. The focal underlying idea of the present paper is that, as teachers, we have the responsibility to search for viable alternatives, challenging existing practices, to maintain an open view of the possibilities in our classrooms, adopting different roles, depending on what students are doing: controller, prompter, assessor, resource, tutor etc. To use an idiom, there is the danger of throwing out the baby with the bath water. BibliographyARENDS, I.R. (1994), Learning to Teach (3rd ed.), New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.BOWEN, T., Grammar and Vocabulary: Teaching and Learning Idioms. n.d. Available at http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/methodology/grammar-vocabulary-and-skills/grammar-and-vocabulary-teaching-and-learning-idioms/146469.article, n.p., Accessed the 24 June 2012. CHOMSKY, N. (1965), Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Cambridge: MA: MIT PressCOSERIU, E. (1985), Linguistic Competence: What is It Really?, in: The Modern Language Review, nr. 80/ 4, pp. XXV-XXXVCOERIU, E. (2000), Lecii de lingvistic general, Chiinau: Editura Arc

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Am rugamintea ca aceste infomaii s apar neaprat.