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ELT Voices – India Volume 3 Issue 2 | April 2013

ISSN 2230-9136

© Ignite (India) Publishing, Bhavnagar, Gujarat – India

www.eltvoices.in

ELT Research Paper 2

The Effect of Exposing Upper-Intermediate EFL learners to Idiomatic Expressions through Poetry on Improving their Metaphorical Competence Sohail Solaimanzadeh Azar English Department, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University, IRAN Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad, Ph.D. English Department, Shahreza Branch, Islamic Azad University, IRAN

Sohail Solaimanzadeh Azar & Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad: The Effect of Exposing Upper-Intermediate EFL

learners to Idiomatic Expressions through Poetry on Improving their Metaphorical Competence

16 | E L T V o i c e s – I n d i a ( V o l . 3 I s s u e 2 ) | A p r i l 2 0 1 3 | I S S N 2 2 3 0 - 9 1 3 6

Abstract

Learning idiomatic expressions as one of the most important aspects of a foreign

language is proved to be challenging for EFL learners of even advanced levels. This is

mainly because they express non-conventional and figurative senses. Thus, using an

influential method through which learners can face these expressions efficiently is

considered essential in TEFL. In this study, poetry as the authentic source of

contextualization for idiomatic expressions was used to indicate the meaning of such

expressions to the learners. Pre and post-tests were administered in the beginning and at

the end of the study, and the required data were collected respectively. The findings of

the study revealed the effect of the use of literature (poetry) in a higher level of

metaphoric development in contrast with mere descriptive teacher definition used in the

control group.

Key words: Idiomatic expressions, Metaphorical competence, Conceptual system,

Second language learners




Introduction

The traditional view of poetry as one of the most complicated forms of literary and linguistic

expression makes it by definition inaccessible to all but the most advanced language learners.

Even then, the wealth of literary allusions, historical references, and cultural assumptions

typically found in the works of great poets, can limit comprehension greatly for the native

and non-native speaker (Moore, 2002). If we take a broader view of the term, we find that: “a

poem is a piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their beauty and sound and are

carefully arranged, often in short lines which rhymes” (Sinclaire & Moon, 1995, p.1). This

definition, which contains no reference to comprehension of difficult metaphorical, cultural,

or ethical allusions, and nothing about grammatical correctness, metrical structure, sentence

structure or logical sequencing of ideas, opens the doors to pop-songs, pattern poems, picture

poems, nursery rhymes and folk-songs, all of which can be viewed as poetry. By stressing

enjoyment, and presenting poetry “through media and methods that provide maximum

student involvement and interest” (Brindley, 1980, p. 1), not only can language learning be

facilitated, but learners at all levels can use the medium of poetry to express themselves in the

target language.

Background

As Icoz asks, where should one start in teaching literature? (1992, p.11) For instance, how do

teachers match books or literature-based materials to their English language learners?

Krashen and Terrell (1998) suggest that EFL teachers must choose reading texts that are

sufficiently complex and of interest to the student, thus providing the necessary motivation

for learning.

The use of literature can be viewed as a whole-language approach in which adult learners are

seen as whole persons, not just ESL learners, involving affective and humanistic dimensions

of human nature. Such a view is supported by Goodman (1986) and who has asserted that

language is not learned from the part to the whole, but from the whole to the part, and that all

language functions interrelate. In other words, students have to learn a foreign language

holistically in order to increase their language ability.




Poetry in Teaching: The traditional view of poetry as one of the most sophisticated forms of

literary and linguistic expression makes it by definition inaccessible to all but the most

advanced language learners. Even then, the wealth of literary allusions, historical references

and cultural assumptions typically found in the works of great poets, can limit comprehension

greatly for the native speaker (NS) and non-native speaker (NNS) alike. As Brindley (1980)

points out:

However, if we take a broader view of the term, we find that: “a poem is a piece of writing in

which the words are chosen for their beauty and sound and are carefully arranged, often in

short lines which rhyme” (Sinclaire & Moon, 1995). This definition, which contains no

reference to comprehension of difficult metaphorical, cultural, or ethical allusions, and

nothing about grammatical correctness, metrical structure, sentence structure or logical

sequencing of ideas, opens the doors to pop-songs, haiku, pattern poems, picture poems,

nursery rhymes and folk-songs, all of which can be viewed as poetry. By stressing

enjoyment, and presenting poetry “through media and methods that provide maximum

student involvement and interest” (Brindley, 1980, p. 1), not only can language learning can

be facilitated, but learners at all levels can use the medium of poetry to express themselves in

the target language.

Statement of the Problem

Idiomatic expressions provide particular difficulty in acquisition and use for the foreign

language learners. Such configurations and the senses they embody pose no threat to the

native speakers as they are overwhelmed with ample evidence of usage from birth (Mandler

2004) to form the necessary image schemas whose properties would scaffold the construction

of abstract concepts which in turn signify relevant linguistic expressions. Such image

schemas, in the words of Johnson (1987, p. 29), "emerge as meaningful structures for us

chiefly at the level of our bodily movements through space, our manipulations of objects, and

our perceptual interactions." Thus an image schema is "a recurrent pattern, shape, or

regularity in, or of, our actions, perceptions, and conceptions." (Rohrer 2007, p.35).

Besides, development of metaphoric competence is central and really crucial to

second/foreign language learners. Metaphor is highly relevant to second/foreign language

learning, teaching and testing, from the earliest to the most advanced stages of learning. Since




conceptual systems differ from one language to another, to become conceptually fluent and to

develop metaphoric capacity seems to be challenging for EFL an ESL learners.

The acquisition of idiomatic expressions, as one of the aspects for filling this gap, is one of

the most outstanding challenges in TEFL. Besides, as it is believed that pictures, poetry, etc

has the effective role in making the atmosphere non-threatening, even at the time of learning,

they are supposed to be effective in comprehending idiomatic expressions. So, the main

purpose of this study is to investigate the probable influence of exposure to idiomatic

expressions through poetry and pictures on developing learners‟ conceptual and metaphorical

competence.

Research Question

To what extent can using poetry in teaching idiomatic expressions improve learners'

comprehension of idiomatic expressions?

Research Hypothesis

Exposing upper-intermediate EFL learners to idiomatic expressions through poetry does not

improve their metaphorical competence.

Participants

The participants initially selected to take part in this study were 60 adult EFL learners placed

at upper-intermediate levels of English proficiency. The population from which the

participants were selected included 150 learners studying at a private language school in

Isfahan, Iran. Placement was carried out through the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) used at a

language institute. All the students in the study shared Persian as their mother tongue.

Participants were told that the results of the study are for educational purposes and were

asked to write their names so that they would take the tasks seriously. The task was taken in

the presence of the researcher and the class teacher. The rationale was to have a sample

which was representative of the intermediate EFL learners' population. As a result and in

preparation for the study, the total number of 60 students at the same upper-intermediate

English proficiency level was randomly assigned into 2 groups, 30 students in each for

inclusion in either the control or experimental groups. The rationale was to have similar




learners in each group. It was assumed that participants in all the experimental and control

groups belonged to the same cultural and socioeconomic background.

Procedure

As mentioned above, the main participants who took part in this study were 60 Iranian

students with the same level in upper-intermediate at a private language institute. Prior to the

launching of the study, the participants were tested for their linguistic homogeneity. The

study lasted for the period of about 3 months. English was taught as a foreign language to

three groups: one control and two experimental groups, 3 times a week, 90 minutes long each

time. The control group instruction of idiomatic expressions was done through the description

by the teacher.

The experimental group's students, who were at the same pre-determined upper-intermediate

English proficiency level as the control group, were taught the same idiomatic expressions

used in the poetry presented for the students.

Pre and Post tests were administered in the beginning and at the end of the study for both

groups, and the required data were collected respectively in the beginning and at the end of

the study.

The choice of the selected idiomatic expressions was determined based on several different

criteria e.g. the suitability of language structure and the probable use of the expressions in

routine conversations. To select the poetry for the experimental group, the use of literature as

a means of creating a motivating, meaningful and interactive language context was taken into

account.

In the beginning of the study, a pre-test was administered to measure the actual pre-treatment

English level proficiency of the participants in the metaphoric and conceptual domain. This

pre-test was specifically designed and administered to tap into the participants‟ metaphorical

competence. This test was administered to the experimental group as well as the control

group. At the end of the study, the same test was administered as the post-test to measure

growth in the participants‟ comprehension of metaphorical language. The difference in the

pre-test and post-test result was analyzed using t-test to compare the achievements of control

and experimental groups, and to draw conclusion about the effects of the treatments.




Treatment

As for the instruction and treatment given to the experimental group, authentic literary works

were introduced to the learners. Students were instructed at the beginning of each session

with the use of particular poetry presented to them. They were asked to read silently, and get

the theme of the poetry. Meanwhile, the definition of the new words were written on the

board by the teacher, to try to change their attention from the new words to just that specific

idiomatic expression. After a really short discussion about the theme they had taken out, the

instructor helped the learners to go toward the correct way to grasp the main theme with the

help of the new words definition. In the process of the poetry's perception, the instructor

made a challenging situation for them by asking different questions, to get them on a way

through the understanding of the idiomatic expressions. What really was important and the

main focus of the treatment for this group was just providing clues for them so that they

could come to the conclusion about the exact meaning of the idiomatic expressions,

themselves. After being sure about the right understanding of the expressions by the students,

the teacher provided them with more accurate explanation and some examples. At the end of

each session, learners had about ten minutes to practice the expressions they had learned at

the beginning of the session. They were asked to make some situations in which those

expressions could be used. The teacher helped them to understand how to use them correctly.

Data Analysis

To find the answer to the research questions and in order to test the null hypotheses of this

study, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to see whether there was any

statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups on both the

pre and post-tests. In this statistical analysis, the confidence level and error level are

considered 0.95 and 0.05 respectively.

Table 1 reports comparative descriptive statistics for the experimental and control groups.

Table 1. Descriptive Analysis of Variables

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.Deviation

Control Pre test 30 0.00 5.00 2.1333 1.45586




Post test 30 3.00 10.00 6.5333 1.52527

Poem Pre test 30 0.00 4.00 1.9667 1.32570

Post test 30 8.00 17.00 11.8000 2.20345

The mean in pre–test of the control group is 2.13, and in the experimental group is 1.96,

while they were increased to 6.53 and 11.80, in the post-test respectively.

Comparison of the Means in Pre-test

As the first step of data analysis in this research it is needed to prove if the participants in

both of the groups are in the same level. As displayed in Table 2, the independent t-test

calculations indicated that there was no significant difference between the means of the two

pre-test performances of control and experimental group (p= 0.718). In other words, since p

value is more than α, there is no significant difference between the means of the pre-test

scores for both the control and experimental groups.

Table 2. Comparison of the Means in Pre-test

Levene's Test for Equality

of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F

Sig. t Df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean Difference

(Poem - Control)

.511 .477 .36

3

58 .718 -.13333

Comparison of the Means in the Control Group

As shown in table 3 the results from the pre-test and post-test scores show that there is a

significant difference between the means of the two performances of the control group.

(t=31.293, df=29, α=0.05, ρ=0.00). Since ρ-value is less than alpha, there is a significant

difference between the means of pre-test and post-test scores, which reveals the effectiveness

of the instruction used for this group, explained in chapter 3.




Table 3. Paired-Sample Test for the Control Group

Mean Std.deviation T df Sig.(2tailed)

Post test- pre test 4.40000 0.77013 31.293 29 0.0000

The means are shown in Figure 1, and two different letters are the index of inequality

between pre and post test.

Figure 1. Comparison of the Means in the Control Group

Comparison of the Means in the Experimental Group

To get the answer of the research question about the usefulness of using poetry as the major

material of teaching idiomatic expressions in experimental group 1 paired- sample test was

used. The calculation of this test for the scores’ means indicated that there is a significant

difference between the means of the pre and post-test‘s scores (t=32.806, df=29, α=0.05,

ρ=0.00). Since ρ-value is less than alpha, there is a significant difference between the means

of the pre and post test’s scores, which shows the effectiveness of the treatment in the

experimental group 1. The results are presented in table 4.6.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

pre Test Post Test

a

b

Control




Table4 Paired- Sample Test for the Experimental Group

Mean Std.deviation t df Sig.(2tailed)

Post test-pre test 9.83333 1.64177 32.806 29 0.000

The means are shown in Figure 4.2 and two different letters are the index of inequality

between pre and post test.

Figure 2. Comparison of the Means in the Experimental Group

Comparison of the Means in Post-test

The analysis done above shows the effectiveness of the instructions in both the control and

experimental groups. The research question designed in this study wants to get the conclusion

about the authority of one over the other. As shown in Table 4.6, independent t-test

calculations indicated that there was a significant difference between the means of the two

post-test performances of the control and experimental group (p=0.00). In other words, since

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

pre Test Post Test

a

b

Poetry




p value is less than alpha (α=0.05), there is a significant difference between the means of the

post-test scores for both the control and experimental groups.

Table 5. Comparison of the Means in Post-test

Levene's Test for Equality of

Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t

df

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean Difference

(Poem-Control)

3.732 .058 018.01 8. .000 5.26667

The following figure shows the result gotten from the data analysis briefly.

Figure 3. Comparison of the Groups' Performances

Discussion and Conclusion

The ways literature deepen a language reminds one of literature as being an authentic

material. Harwayne (2000) believes that the use of literature in classroom is really motivating

for the EFL learners because they may find themselves in loaded opportunities for natural

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Pre test Post test

Mea

n Control

Poem




talk. Besides, Heath (1996) states that various literature genres are good sources for language

exposure in the EFL/ESL classroom. He states, "literature has no rival in its power to create

natural repetition, reflection on language and how it works, and attention to audience

response on the part of learners" (p. 776). This study was committed to investigate whether

such approach would work better for second/foreign language learners' metaphoric

competence as compared with a traditional routine way of teaching idiomatic expressions.

Hashemian and Talebinezhad (2007) declare that second/foreign language learners have

never been exposed to the English conceptual concepts and idiomatic expressions,

systematically and formally, even up to the advanced levels of learning. As a result they are

not able to show signs of being conceptually fluent and metaphorically competent in English.

In this case, literature has a meaningful and authentic context that makes it an irreplaceable

source for ESL/EFL classroom.

William Littlewood (2000) highlights the importance of using literature in EFL classes as

follows:

A major problem of language teaching in the classroom is the creation of an authentic

situation for language. A language classroom, especially one outside the community

of native speakers, is isolated from the context of events and situations which produce

natural language. In the case of literature, language creats its own context. The actual

situation of the reader becomes immaterial as he or she takes on what D. W. Harding

calls 'the role of the onlooker', looking on the events created by language. These

events create, in turn, a context of situation for the language of the book and enable it

to transcend the artificial classroom situation (p. 179).

Since the Iranian students do not have opportunities to see various uses of English by the

native speakers, therefore they lack situations in which they experience authentic material in

context. So what is needed is to provide meaningful context for them to work from and in

which they can match what they learn.

Regarding the research question, the data were collected to be analyzed. After having

analyzed the descriptive statistics and the independent t-test for the control and experimental

group on the pre and post tests, the results revealed that the null hypothesis should be

rejected. As for the pre-tests, the computed p-value exceeded the pre-specified alpha level




(α=0.05), which indicates that there is no significant difference between the means of the pre

test scores for both the control and experimental group. After having the pre test and start of

the course, the instructions were done. As it was described before, poetry was used, because

of its rich authentic texts. It showed students how some of these idioms are used in real-life

like concepts.

With regard to the post tests, the calculated p-value (0.000) was less than the pre-specified

alpha level (α=0.05), which vividly points to the fact that there is a significant difference

between the performance of the participants on the post-tests in the control and experimental

group 1, in terms of idiomatic expressions' comprehension and metaphoric competence.

Literature-based instruction must have been generated by teachers using their knowledge and

devotion because it just does not happen naturally. It was attempted to create a meaningful,

literature-based and language-rich expressions' instruction in this study with the help of

poetry as one of the main literary genres to serve the purpose of the research question of this

study. The results showed that poetry in teaching idiomatic expressions does work; that is the

students who were introduced to idiomatic expressions through poetry during the course of

the study did prove better achievement in metaphoric aspects of language. One of the most

significant aspects of the study was that through statistical analysis and statistical measures,

this research provided data about the value of poetry in language instruction, mainly when

teaching one f the most important aspect of language: idiomatic expressions. The result

demonstrated that inclusion of poetry in second/foreign language teaching promotes the

comprehension of concepts and idioms and as a result boosts advanced learning. The main

aim of this type of instruction was to teach students how to comprehend the concepts, rather

than giving them the exact meaning of them. Poetry as an authentic material filled with

concepts and idioms were given to them, instead of bunch of out of context metaphors,

idioms, concepts, and the like. Learners were exposed to poems and its special language,

most important of all their figurative language, and thus became familiar with how to handle

this new type of language which as a matter of fact is a big part of everyone's everyday life.

Besides, working with poetry as a literary genre acted as a motivation for them and showed

them that there still is a lot to be learned.

The comparison of means in post-tests, therefore, shows a significant difference due to the

impact the treatment had on the experimental group 1's performance. Based on this analysis,




the null hypothesis was rejected and the following claim could be made: Exposing EFL

learners to the idiomatic expressions through poetry resulted in a higher level of conceptual

and metaphoric development for language learners of English as a foreign language

compared with language learners of English as a foreign language who were not exposed to

poetry during the instruction. So, as things stand, the null hypothesis of the study was safely

rejected, and as a result, the following directional hypothesis comes into view:

Exposing upper-intermediate EFL learners to idiomatic expressions through poetry

improves their metaphorical competence.




References

Brindley, D. J. (1980). Breaking the Poetry Barrier: Towards Understanding and Enjoying

Poetry. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Conference on the

Teaching of English. Sydney, Australia, 1980.

Goodman, Y. (1986). Children coming to know literacy. In W. H. Teale, & E. Sulzby, (Eds.)

Emergent Literacy: Writing and Reading, Norwood, NJ.: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Harwayne, S. (2000). Life time guarantees: Toward ambitious literacy teaching. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann.

Hashemian, M. & Talebinezhad, M.R. (2007). The Development of Conceptual Fluency and

Metaphorical Competence in L2 Learners. Linguistik Online, 30, 1-7.

Heath, S. B. (1996). Re-creating literature in ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 309(4), 776-

778.

Icoz, N. (1992). Teaching literature. English Teaching Forum. 30(1).

Johnson, M. (1987). The body in the mind: the Bodily basis of meaning, reason and

imagination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Krashen, S. D., & Terrell, T. D. (1998). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the

classroom. New York: Prentice Hall International.

Littlewood, W. (2000). Literature in the school foreign-language course. (Eds.) Brumfit, C.J.,

& Carter, R.A. Literature and language teaching. Oxford: OUP.

Mandler, J.M. (2004). The foundations of mind: Origins of conceptual thought. New York:

Oxford University Press.

Moore, J. N. (2002). Practicing poetry: Teaching to learn and learning to teach. English

Journal, 91(3), 44-50.

Rohrer, T. (2007). Embodiment and experientalism. In D. Geeraerts, & H. Cuyckens, (Eds.)

Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, pp. 25-47. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sinclair, J., & Moon, R., 1995. Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms. London: Harper

Collins Publishers.




About the Authors

Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad is an Associate Professor of Applied

Linguistics at Islamic Azad University, Shahreza Branch. He is also an

associate faculty member at Sheikhbahaee University, Iran. Dr. Talebinezhad

has widely published in Iranian as well as International professional journals.

He has presented papers in International conferences such as AILA, 2000;

Atiner, 2011; RAAM, 2002, 2001 in Paris and Tunis, EUROSLA, Switzerland,

2006; Multicultural Conference, 2007, China. In addition, Dr. Talebinezhad has

authored/coauthored eight books in related to ELT and ESP.

Sohail Solaimanzadeh Azar was born in Tehran in 1984. He got his B.A.

in English Language and Literature from Science & Culture University,

Isfahan Branch, Iran, and he received his M.A. degree in TEFL from

Islamic Azad University, Shahreza Branch, Iran, in February 2013. He has

been teaching English up to advanced levels for about 6 years at different

English institutes in Isfahan, Iran.

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