Uppsala University Department of English Tutor: Gregory Garretson

Linguistics essay HS2 Survey Course in Linguistics Spring semester 2011

A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF IDIOMS IN ENGLISH COURSE BOOKS Sanna Lindström and Jennifer Månsson

Aim & Scope Our aim is to investigate whether idioms taught in English course books for Swedish pupils are indeed used in reality, and if so, to what extent. Furthermore, we will look into whether the idioms appear in the same way as they are presented in the course books or if they appear in alternate versions. This is interesting because it is of importance that teachers focus on expressions that are actually used in everyday language and that they can present their possible variations. This kind of investigation on a larger scale could be important in the development of teaching materials used in schools. Hence, in the long run, the findings could influence future curricula.

Method & Material In order to find the most frequently taught idioms, one would have to search all English course books used in Swedish schools. However, for this mini-investigation this was not possible. Therefore, we decided to limit our study to 7 course books for grades 7-9 from which we collected 25 idioms. Both course books and idioms were chosen at random and because of this it is possible that the idioms we have chosen do not include those that are most frequently taught. To carry out this mini-investigation we will use the Corpus of Contemporary American English, COCA. The reason behind this choice of corpus was that it is a large corpus of 425 million words, which includes both written and spoken data. However, since the

corpus only covers American English our study will not show how the idioms are used in other English speaking countries, which obviously one must take into account. To answer our questions we first searched for the exact version of the idioms as they appear in the course books. This will enable us to see if the idioms are used in the way that they appear in the course books. Secondly, we will allow the corpus to search for alternate versions by typing in a main word and its collocate. This will show if the idioms vary, and if so, in what way. Consequently, we will be able to see if the course book versions differ from the most frequent realizations of the idioms. The results of our findings will be presented in a table followed by a brief discussion and conclusion.

Previous research In our research we decided to use the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English which defines an idiom as follows: Idiom [countable] a group of words that has a special meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of each separate word. For example, 'under the weather' is an idiom meaning 'ill'.

However, it can be difficult to define the term idiom since there is not always a clear distinction between what is an idiom, an expression or a proverb. Moon (1998) states that an idiom can be regarded as a kind of fixed expression. However, she emphasizes that this is ambiguous since idioms are not always fixed. When it comes to the use of idioms in English, previous research has shown that non-native speakers tend to use less prefabricated language, such as collocations and idioms, than native speakers. This is partly due to a lack of knowledge of usage. (Cowie, 1998) Native speakers, on the other hand, possess this type of knowledge, allowing them to deliberately vary their language in speech and writing. According to Benson (1997), it is of importance for non-native speakers to grasp this knowledge in order to fully master English. However, you should not learn a language in chunks (Cowie, 1998) instead there should be a balance between phraseological competence and fostering creative skills. In other words, learners of English should be encouraged both to know how to form a grammatically correct and accurate phrase and also to use the language creatively.

Presentation and discussion of results Table 1. Number of tokens in COCA of selected idioms Idiom

Tokens of idiom1

Have the guts Stand one’s ground At the top of one’s lungs Come to a head A piece of cake To make a beeline Neck-and-neck Pull somebody’s leg It knocked the wind out of us Apple of somebody’s eye Hold one’s horses Turn on one’s heels Over the moon Talk a mile a minute Have something up one’s sleeve She thinks she’s the cat’s meow Smart as a whip As fit as a fiddle Count one’s chickens before they are hatched Put one’s thinking caps on It’s your funeral It never rains but it pours The fitness of things Get a word in edgeways Bring somebody on a wild goose chase

659 541 348 346 291 247 150 91 85 81 68 53 43 43 38 36 34 29 21 17 13 2 1 1 0

Tokens corresponding to course book version 265

2 0 77 249 11 70 0 0 0 0 0 43 1 0 0 34 1 0 0 13 2 1 1 0

As table 1 show some of the selected idioms are more frequently used than others. Have the guts is clearly a common idiom, with many tokens corresponding to the course book version. The remaining ones are also fixed in the sense that they follow the same structure but appear in different tenses. Compare (1) and (2). (1) If you don't have the guts to do whatever Zhoglo might ask of you, you're dead. And if you do have the guts, you're damned. (Bk:ExtremeDanger) 2

1

Tokens of the idiom including the version found in the text book as well as alternate versions with for instance different pronoun usage and tense. 2

The code system following the examples are taken from the COCA, under the heading Source Information.

(2) How come the vice presidential candidate had the guts to say what the presidential candidate never did? (CNN_Politics)

There are two idioms that are quite frequently used and which always appear in the same version as written in the course books. These are over the moon and smart as a whip. Another idiom which does not appear in alternate versions is a piece of cake. It requires an indefinite article; otherwise it loses its function as an idiom. The only time it can appear without an indefinite article is when it is used as a statement or exclamation. Compare (3) through (5). (3) And if my 8-year-old can figure out whether to take the express, the red line or the crosstown l, it should be a piece of cake for most adults. (Denver) (4) Noticing the piece of cake in front of her daughter, she rang the small silver bell at her right hand. "Edward, Miss Quinn does not care for dessert. Please take it away.” (Bk: HerScottishGroom) (5) Just pretend they're still there. Piece of cake. You can do it. (Mov:Alien4)

We found that most idioms can be modified by inserting, for instance, an adjective or a noun phrase. However, this did not affect the word order of the original idiom. Compare (6) and (7). (6) By then Branson was Great Britain's reigning daredevil sportsman and poster-boy entrepreneur, the golden apple of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's eye, the charismatic head of one of Britain's most dynamic companies, Virgin Group, the founder of an upstart airline, Virgin Atlantic, and the master of his very own island in the Caribbean, a 74-acre jewel called Necker. (SportsIll) (7) With one decisive gesture his chic Israeli companion had swept the information sheet to the floor, turned on her elegant heels, and announced that their excursion was terminated. (SouthwestRev)

As for neck-and-neck, the reason for the difference in tokens is that it appears just as frequently without the hyphens. Another variation is that some idioms can appear in both singular and plural form: to put one’s thinking cap(s) on and as fit as (a) fiddle(s). See example (8). (8) We seemed like we might just be fine and fit as fiddles and fierce and able to withstand whatever it was a world of our own making might unfortunately bring. (LiteraryRev)

The results clearly show that the versions written in the course books do not always correspond to the most frequently realized version, as for instance in stand one’s ground.

Firstly, the reason for this is that the course books present the idioms using indefinite pronouns such as one and someone which obviously is not the form you would choose when using the idiom in practice. For instance, the idiom at the top of one’s lungs would be used with a personal pronoun such as my, her or his. Secondly, the idioms in the course books tend to be presented with the verb in its infinitive form, but in reality they appear in all tenses. Compare (9) and (10). (9) "Son! What son?" Myra screeched at the top of her lungs. (Bk:UnderRadar) (10) In a movie about a short-seller, you wouldn't cast an allAmerican type like Harrison Ford or Tom Hanks; you'd go for James Woods, chain-smoking, sweating and talking a mile a minute in a greasy, insinuating whisper. (Money)

The reason why the idioms get a word in edgeways and bring somebody on a wild goose chase get so few tokens is partly due to the fact that the forms in which they appear in the course books are incorrect; using send instead of bring results in four tokens, while changing edgeways into edgewise results in 64 tokens.

Conclusion In conclusion, the frequency of the selected idioms varies significantly. Some are very common while others are not. Learning an idiom such as have the guts is useful since it is so common. Likewise, the idioms over the moon, smart as a whip and a piece of cake are examples of idioms where the course books have indeed captured idioms in the set form in which they appear in reality. However, one could question the value of teaching and learning an idiom such as the fitness of things which obviously almost never occurs in American English. However, it is important to remember that this study is based on American English only, and it is possible that the frequency would be different when looking at for instance British English. Also, we have found that in some idioms the use of another word, e.g. edgewise instead of edgeways, results in more tokens, suggesting that these idioms, as they appear in the course book, might be incorrect, or valid only for, say, British English. This is an example of a finding which should be taken into account in the development of future teaching material.

When it comes to the form, all of these idioms are fixed in the sense that they do not differ in word order even though adjectives or noun phrases can be inserted. The most common way in which the idioms vary is in the use of different pronouns and tenses. Because of this, it is of importance that learners realize that idioms can be used with flexibility as regards different pronouns and different tenses. Therefore, teachers should focus on both the grammatical aspects of language in use but also how to realize language and idioms in a creative way. This is supported by both Cowie (1998) and Benson (1997) who state that one must possess grammatical knowledge and know how to correctly use idioms in context to be able to fully master English. Finally, after completing this study we have realized that our research might be slightly misleading and the results could be questioned. This is due to the fact that we might have been somewhat restrictive in our search as concerns the number of allowed words that could come in between the headword and the collocate. Also, we should have been more consequent in allowing the collocate to appear on both sides of the headword. Obviously, this might have affected the results even though we believe that the idioms we have found most frequent would remain the same. References Benson, Morton, Evelyn Benson, Robert Ilson. 1997. The BBI dictionary of English word combinations. Amsterdam, Philadelphia; John Benjamins Pub. Co. Cowie, A.P. 1998. Phraseology; theory, analysis and applications. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Davies, Mark. (2008-) The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): 425 million words, 1990-present. Available online at http://www.americancorpus.org. Gustafsson, Österberg & Cowle. 2006. What’s Up. Textbook 8. Stockholm: Bonniers Gustafsson, Österberg & Cowle. 2007. What’s Up. Textbook 9. Stockholm: Bonniers Hargevik, Christina & Hargevik, Stieg. 2002. Impact 3. Örebro: Almqvist & Wiksell Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. 2011. http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/idiom Moon, Rosamund. 1998. Fixed expressions and idioms in English. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Olsson, Jonas. 2005. In other words. Lund: Studentlitteratur AB Robertsen, Evy, Eva Olsson & Jennifer Haythorpe. 2008. Spotlights 7. Värnamo: Natur & Kultur Tholin, Jörgen, Rigmor Eriksson & Moira Linnarud. 2003. A piece of cake 2. Örebro: Almqvist & Wiksell Tyllerud, Malin & Johansson, Christer. 2006. Beeline For English. Viborg: Gleerups