Enhancing Idiomatic Vocabulary on English Idioms

25 Table 2.2 Vocabulary Building with the Meaning No. VOCABULARY 1 a back-bencher a less important member of the Commons 2 a cat burglar a burglar who enters house from the roof by climbing 3 a party line, a telephone line shared to two or more people 4 a pretty kettle of fish a confusing situation 5 a red herring unimportant or irrelevant matter 6 a rubberneck a tourist who turns his head as much as possible when seeing sightseeing 7 as cool as cucumber a person who remains calm in difficult or dangerous situation 8 babes and sucklings innocent children 9 bad debts debts which are not expected to be paid 10 bags under the eyes dark skin under the eyes 11 butter-fingers s omeone who cant‟s hold objects properly or tends to drop it 12 catch 22 situation a problem that cannot be solved and is impossible to escape because one problem must be solved before solving other problems. 13 dogs life a miserably unhappy existence 14 few and far between rare 15 full of beans energetic, badly mistaken 16 go bankrupt to become insolvent 17 guinea pig the subject for any sort of experiment 18 in a jam in hard situation 19 peeping Tom a person getting pleasure from watching others secretly 20 pressed for the time feeling that one has to hurry 21 puppy fat a fat like on the body of a child and will disappear at adolescence 22 shadow-cabinet the group of ministers of the parliamentary opposition 23 smart Alec a person who like to show off his cleverness or knowledge 24 to be a party to something to take part in it 25 to be all ears to listen eagerly 26 to break prison to escape from prison 27 to burn down to burn to the ground 26 28 to do a roaring trade to do good business and make high profits 29 to drop someone a line to write to someone 30 to get over an illness to recover from it completely 31 to go on the sick to give a report to the workplace that you are sick 32 to have green fingers to be good at gardening 33 to hog the road to drive in the middle of the road 34 to keep off to stay away from 35 to let ones hair down to relax and enjoy 36 to make someone redundant to end a workers employment because he is no longer needed 37 to work like a Trojan to work very hard Source: Thomas B. J., Advanced Vocabulary Idiom,; Dixon J. Robert, Essential Idioms in English; Seidl, J., McMordie W., English Idioms and How to Use them Note : The idioms‟ meanings of number 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 29 the above were taken from http:idioms.thefreedictionary.com and http:dictionary.reference.com. The table above presents vocabulary building on English idioms. It is presented with the random categories or types of idiom with their meaning. There are idioms of names, animals, idioms of colours, and other kinds mentioned above. The English language learners or English Language Education students can learn each idiom and its meaning in English through repetition or memorizing which is done through repeated rehearsal of the material Thornburry, 2002, p. 24. With the two methods of learning such as memorization and repetition, the learners can effectively absorb and memorize the chunks of idioms as well as the meaning. Repetition method can strengthen the memory about expression or chunks stored in mind. This will assist them to be more advanced in vocabulary knowledge. 27 There are many kinds of idioms that often appear in written context as in many texts in the books, magazines, articles, textbook and especially news headlines. Some newspaper headlines contain idiomatic expressions that are difficult to understand. In that situation, the readers may need to understand several idioms because of most newspaper headlines sound idiomatic as in the news titled Minna’s skirts all the rage taken from http:www.burtonmail.co.uk NewsMinnas-skirts-are-all-the-rage-.htm Appendix 3. It contains the idiom, all the rage Jones, 1990, p. 14 which means to be very popular at particular time dictionary.cambridge.org. Idioms in news headlines also appear in the leading city newspaper such as Daily News and New York Post. The researcher has cited some idioms from those two city newspapers from http:www.newyorker.comonlineblogsnewsdesk201107murdoch-new- york-post.html Appendix 4. The Daily News’ headline is Humble Pie which means humility forced upon someone; usually under embarrassing situation http:dictionary.reference.com. While the New York Post ‟s headline is All In the Family means that something is not for people who are not in our family http:www.goenglish.com. The news taken from www.bbc.comnewsworld-us- canada-25565898 titled ‘Obamacare’ health reforms come into force in US Appendix 2 contains idioms as well. The idiom, come into force Jones, 1990, p. 14 means to become effective http:www.english- test.netforumftopic3531.html. There are still many idiomatic words in news headlines or articles. Thus, it might be necessary for readers to enhance their 28 idioms knowledge through reading. Otherwise, reading English newspapers or articles will enhance idioms vocabulary. The most common idioms in written context are phrasal verbs which are combined from verb plus adverb Palmer, 1981, p. 80. They can be categorized as one of idioms because many of them sound idiomatic. The use of phrasal verbs in written text is shown in the example below: The story We had broken out in the desert kingdom and we realized that we had to get away . Amanda turned up at my apartment three hours late, so we immediately got the car and set off across the desert. Soon, our petrol supply ran out , but we managed to beg some from a passing lorry. We were within sight of the border, when there was a sudden, loud bang, and everything went black. When I came around, night had fallen and Amanda was watching over me with a worried expression. It was then that I realized we had driven over a landmine. Completing the sentences using right phrasal verbs from the story 1. He is still unconscious; I‟ll call you when he comes around 2. She was so unhappy at home that she just had to get away 3. If you turn up late, you won‟t be allowed into the concert 4. We‟ll have to set off really early to catch the ferry. 5. Just use a cheque if your cash runs out 6. A flu epidemic has broken out at work; I hope I don‟t catch it. 29 The story and questions were taken from Naunton J, Think Ahead to First Certificate, Longman; as cited in Thornburry, 2002, p. 126 The story above consists of six phrasal verbs which are common in English. The learners will find those kinds of phrasal verbs either in oral conversation or texts. From the text, the phrasal verbs which are mentioned cover broken out No. 6 meaning to begin suddenly, get away No. 2 meaning to escape, turned up No. 3 meaning to arrive, set off No. 4 meaning to leave, ran out No. 5 meaning to finish, came around No. 1 meaning to recover consciousness. After reading the text, the learners should have understood the meaning of each phrasal verb and therefore, they have to be able to apply the phrasal verbs if used in different context as in the six questions above. This kind of story as in written example above can be a good way of learning idioms. The learners will find so much variety of idioms such as phrasal verbs which frequently appear in texts particularly. The frequent occurrence of idioms in text creates an effective way to enhance vocabulary through idioms with the reading passage especially with the questions that test the comprehension of those six phrasal verbs. The previous statement is suitable that according to Thornburry 2002 the high occurrence of idioms like phrasal verbs in the text is conducive ingredient to successful vocabulary learning p. 126. He adds that working out with idiomatic meaning in text contributes to passive vocabulary knowledge and improve reading skill as well Thornburry, 2002, p. 128. The point here, lies on when the learners study the idioms especially with story as the illustration or passage, it will both escalate the learner‟s vocabulary and the 30 reading skill. On the other hand, if the learners know well about idioms vocabulary, they will be able to understand the reading passage then answer the question. Simply, involving the learners how to work out with idiomatic meaning like in reading passage will contribute to passive vocabulary knowledge but also improve reading skills as well Thornburry, 2002, p. 128. The researcher further contends that by learning idioms, the English language learners especially English Language Education students will achieve better comprehension on speaking fluency Nattinger Carrico, 1992 or communication particularly if a person interacts or communicates with native speakers. On the other hand, the learners can achieve what is called by natural English through learning idioms. It means that learning idioms can help the learners speak English in informal way Caro, 2009, p. 129 and with an easy or relaxed tone Casas, 1995, p. 59.

2. Achieving fluency in speaking English

Other types of idioms can function to help lear ners describe human‟s phenomena, feelings, emotions, characters of someone and the present situation. This means that idiom is one of non-literal ways to describe person, situation, time, action, one‟s skill, or object and conveys ideas or intention of speakers. It is shown in the following page: 31 Completing sentences using verbs in the box 1. Hard work – not much money, no time to enjoy yourself. It‟s a dogs life 2. I was once a guinea pig in a medical experiment to test a new drug 3. Wait a minute It has been very tiring all day, I need to let my hair down 4. If you want to be a successful gardener, of course you‟ve got to have green fingers 5. Someone who can do many different things is called Jack of all trades. 6. This gambling machine is called one-armed bandit 7. I want to kill the time. The principals speech has been for hours. 8. Although it was very dangerous but he could manage to be as cool as cucumber. 9. It‟s a pretty kettle of fish. I do not know what decision to take. 10. I‟d like to drop her a line by the time I finish this assignment. 11. Johnny used to show his action at night by being a cat burglar. 12. My mom has bag under the eyes. She must be unhealthy. 13. 150 convicts managed to break prison a month ago. 14. The corruption eradication commission has recently smelt a rat among the officials. dog‟s life let my hair down Jack of all trades guinea pig kill the time have green fingers one-armed bandit drop her a line as cool as cucumber a pretty kettle of fish break prison smelt a rat bag under the eyes a cat burglar 32 Source: Thomas B. J., Advanced Vocabulary Idiom,; Dixon J. Robert, Essential Idioms in English; Seidl, J., McMordie W., English Idioms and How to Use them The „filling in the blanks questions‟ in the previous page may be very useful for English Language Education students. With idioms above, English Language Education students will have better descriptive skill by using non- literal language like idioms. This is supported by Maisa and Karunakaran 2013 who explain the use of idioms to describe personality, character, appearance, work, success, illness, and health p. 112. While, the idioms above are taken from random types of idioms each of which helps them to be able to use them in describing many things. Specifically, the good knowledge on the variety of word combination such as idioms will become an aid to fluency Thornburry, 2002, p.112. The term „fluency‟ in using English is later asserted by Thornburry 2002 that the capacity to use chunks e.g. idioms in conversation will develop fluency. The theory of fluency is taken from Fillmore 1979 as cited in Brumfitt 1984. Fluency has four different kinds including the ability to say appropriate things in a wide range of contexts and to be creative and imaginative in language use such as creating metaphors, jokes, puns, varying styles, etc. This means that speaking English more informally or idiomatically can contribute to fluency in English. Improving fluency is shown through various examples of filling the blank questions mentioned before. Of all 14 questions before, there are some aspects that are described like person‟s situation as in number 1; dog’s life which means to a miserable or unhappy life, 7; kill the time which means that someone as if wanting to do 33 something so that the time can run faster. He or she might be boring, 9; a pretty kettle of fish meaning to a confusing situation. The skillcapability of a person is described in number 4; to have green fingers meaning to be good at gardening and 5; Jack of all trades or someone who can do many different things. The idioms above also describe an object as in 6; one-armed bandit which means a gambling machine and one‟s character as in 8; as cool as cucumber a person who is always calm in dangerous or difficult situation. The idioms attached in each question above also describe one‟s activity or action, one‟s experience, physical appearance, and feeling. Number 10; drop her a line an activity or action to write to someone, 13; break prison an action to escape from prison, and 3; let may hair down an activity to feel relaxed describe the activity or action of a person. Number 11; a cat burglar which describes a person who likes to climb the roof by climbing the pipe, 2; a guinea pig a person who always becomes a subject of experiment represents or describes a person‟s bad experience. Idioms also function to describe one‟s physical appearance and feeling as in number 12; bag under the eyes dark skin under the eyes and 14; smelt a rat means to suspect something. Direct interaction absolutely requires interface communication. It deliberates two speakers or more. The plot or the topic of the conversation may use many kinds of expressions which sound idiomatic. At this situation, the speakers are required to understand the topic being discussed especially if it contains idioms. The previous statement shows that the learners need to figure out various themes or topics of lexical chunks idioms in the conversation which are 34 used. This variation can be found in idioms which have different topic to be used in conversation. Nattinger and Carrico 1992 point out the significance of lexical chunks or phrases to provide effective and efficient way of interaction about self- selected topic with other speakers and it will test the speakers how to construct responses accurately. In real life, if the speakers want to discuss a certain topic, they can use idioms according to the theme whether it is about holiday or travel, motoring, politics or government, telephoning, or about job. Several idioms are classified according to the theme or situation. Learners who intend to learn idioms according to the theme of the conversation will know how to use idioms which suit the topic of the conversation. When they are discussing about business, they can use idioms like bad debts see. p. 27, no. 8 which means debts that are not expected to be paid, go bankrupt see. p. 28, no. 15 or to become insolvent. If it is about holiday and travel, a speaker can describe the behaviour of tourist in common with idiom as in rubberneck see. p. 27, no. 5 which means a tourist who often turns around his head for being amazed of sightseeing around him. People also often discuss about politics and government. They can say terms of idiom like a back-bencher see. p. 27, no. 1 which means a less important member of House of Commons, the shadow-cabinet see. p 28, no. 22 meaning the group of Ministers of Parliamentary Opposition. In another situation as in public relations or job, a superior can use idiomatic expression as in to make someone redundant see. p. 29, no. 37 which means to end one‟s employment because he is no longer needed. The use of idiom in every topic of conversation