Idioms and fixed expressions - Implications of cognitive linguistics for the selection of web-based teaching exercises

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar), course: Idioms - Cognitive and Didactic Aspect, language: English, abstract: Idioms are an important factor in native-like discourse by an English as a foreign language (EFL) speaker. According to Fernando (1996) ¿the sheer number of idioms and their high frequency in discourse make them an important aspect of vocabulary acquisition and language learning in general¿. Many linguists claim that idioms require special attention in language programs and should not be relegated to a position of secondary importance in the curriculum.

However, classroom learning of EFL is - at least in Germany - not very concerned with the teaching of idioms and fixed expressions, as analyses from current and historical textbooks have shown. This results in the necessity for the teacher to make up own exercises or series of lessons to put the teaching of fixed expressions into the curriculum. The cognitive approach to language learning provides useful aspects and implications on how to organize idiom learning in a classroom context.

The aim of our paper is to use the cognitive linguistics approach towards idioms and other fixed expressions in English to analyse different homepages on the World Wide Web. In order to do this we will first present a short survey of different cognitive approaches to idioms and their didactic implications for teaching exercises. We will then go on with an analysis of six websites with respect to how the content, structure and exercises follow the implications given by the presented cognitive approaches.

After a discussion of the positive and negative aspects we found on the web, we try to give a proposition on how an idiom learning website could be structured and how exercises could look like, when they try to follow a cognitive approach.