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
35 will make it varies and more lively. In other words, when it comes to a specific
conversation, the speakers can respond with the appropriate idioms in right context. Learning idioms according to their
theme will enhance learner‟s vocabulary towards specific idioms.
3. Avoiding Misinterpretation in Conversation
Maisa and Karunakaran 2013, in their research, presents the teachers‟ perspective on the advantages of learning idioms that knowledge on idiomatic
English can promote language fluency in terms of language capacity and give the learners opportunity to convey message in shorter manner in flowery language p.
117. The real advantage is learning idiom may assist learners to avoid misinterpretation when communicating with non-literal language like idioms. It
also depends on how the learners understand the conversation or dialogues containing idioms Caro, 2009, p. 133. This notion is also based on the dialogue
example cited from Irujo 1985 and was adapted from Phap 1980. It contains the misinterpretation in using several idioms. The dialogue example as follows:
Girl : why don‟t you give me a ring some time?
Foreign boy : Oh , no I don‟t know you well enough to marry you
Girl : you must be pulling my leg
Foreign boy : How can I pull your leg ? I‟m not even near you
The dialogue above shows misinterpretation that occurs between the girl and foreign boy. The girl says „pulling my leg’ which implicitly means to tease her.
She tends to say so in non- literal way rather than saying “you must be teasing me”.
The context of the dialogue above is joking. However, the foreign boy
36 misinterprets it and supposes that the girl accuses him. In accordance with the
idiom misinterpretation, the speakers who learn idioms will know how to use them in appropriate situation of the topic being discussed. It will create adequate
understanding of idioms in proper context of conversation. Cacciari and Tabossi 1988 give illustration about two stories containing non-literal interpretation of
idiom and its literal interpretation. The stories are shown below: Idiom story
Alice was telling her friend about her brother Bo b. “Bob saw someone steal
diamond bracelet in a jewellery shop.” “Did he tell anyone?” the friend asked.
“No,” Alice replied, “he kept it under his hat.”
Literal Story Grace and Mary were watching a magician perform at their school. For one trick,
he held out a rabbit and made it disappear. Grace couldn‟t figure it out. “Where is
it?” she asked. “It‟s obvious,” Mary replied, “he kept it under his hat.” Based on the two stories and dialogues above, it can be concluded that the
idiom, kept under one’s hat has two different meanings. Literally, kept under
one’s hat means to keep something as a secret idioms.thefreedictionary.com. In that case one has to understand its idiomatic meaning as well to avoid
misunderstanding in conversation. While the conversation between the girl and the foreign boy ends up with misinterpretation among the two. The foreign boy
cannot get what is meant by the girl‟s utterance. Thus, misunderstanding happens. Simply, the speakers have to understand what topic or context being
discussed in conversation. In this case, good comprehension on English idioms contributes a certain kind of concept for learners how to differentiate idioms in
37 different context. In short, it means that with the adequate comprehension on
idioms or by learning idioms, the learners will know how to create conversation containing idiomatic expressions appropriately in right context and situation so
that the utterance will not be ambiguous. Nattinger and Carrico 1992 also point out that “lexical chunks like idioms help speakers to be able to construct
responses and expressions from word chunks and this goes the same with idioms as multi-
word chunks” p. 114. According to Nattinger and Carrico 1992 the knowledge on lexical chunks such as idioms provide effective and efficient way
of interaction about self-selected topic and it will train the speakers to speak accurately. It also means that learning idioms will give considerable benefits
towards the learners to use idioms in right situation and context. The explanation above presents the benefits of learning idioms especially
for English Language Education students. There are many benefits of learning idioms which are visible. Yet, the most significant benefit is that learning idioms
can enhance vocabulary knowledge Curtain Dahlberg, 2004. From the stored vocabulary of idioms and with the good comprehension of idioms, the learners
will be able to use idioms in many kinds of situation either written context or oral communication. At the end, this will contribute to considerable benefits towards
the learner‟s fluency Lewis, 1997; Tajali Tehrani, 2009 as cited in Maisa Karunakaran, 2013, pp. 110 -111 in using foreign language.
38
CHAPTER III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This section presents the conclusions of the study about the benefits of learning idioms for English learner especially for English Language Education
students as well as the recommendations for future researchers and lecturers of English Education Study Program.
A. Conclusions
English idioms are widely used by native speakers for daily speech in informal way. In written context, the English learners will often find idioms in
magazines, articles, and newspaper headlines. This fact shows that idioms play significant role in English language learning. From the previous chapter, it is
known that learning idioms contributes considerable benefits towards English language learning and English Language Education students. Regarding to this
statement, thus, what are the benefits of learning English idioms for English Language Education students?
There are three benefits of learning idioms for English Language Education students. Firstly
, it can enhance the learner’s vocabulary knowledge and later increases the learner’s ability in reading, writing, and speaking skill. In
Chapter II, the researcher has provided the examples of idioms in discourse such as reading passage, idiom vocabulary building, dialogues about idioms, and some
idioms that appear in news headlines. They can be good media for learning idioms. In a nutshell, learning idioms can help English Language Education students to
39 achieve advanced vocabulary skill which will ease the learners to figure out
idioms which often appear in discourse like articles, common texts, dialogues, etc. Secondly, the benefit of learning idioms is that English Language
Education students can achieve fluency in using English which means that they can speak more informally and idiomatically using idioms in a wide range of
contexts. By learning idioms, the learners will understand how to construct and build expressions or utterances containing non-literal message. As said from the
theory of fluency, the language users have the ability to be creative and imaginative in language such as using in conversation. Specifically, the English
Language Education students will have good describing skill. This means that by using idioms, the learners can describe certain phenomena, situation, one’s
physical appearance, one’s character and any others; particularly with simple language that can represent something as a single unit. In other words, they will
be able to use simpler language which sounds idiomatic. Thirdly, the further benefit of learning idiom is the learners can avoid
misinterpretation when using non-literal language like idioms particularly. There are many kinds of types of idioms and many of them have different use and theme.
The use of idiom should be based on the topic of the conversation being discussed. Thus, with good idiom comprehension on various types of idioms and themes, the
English Language Education students will be able to use them in appropriate topic of conversation. At the end, by learning idioms the learners will be able to
differentiate the non-literal meaning of idioms and their literal meaning to avoid
