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Article published In:
Journal of Second Language Studies
Vol. 2:1 (2019) ► pp.119–139

A comparative analysis of the effect of using translation, definition, etymology, and imageable expressions on the retention of idioms

| Sharif University of Technology
| Sharif University of Technology

The present study aimed to examine the effect of four prevailing teaching methods, i.e., translation, definition, etymology, and imageable expressions on the immediate and delayed retention of idioms in the receptive and productive modes. To meet this end, 120 EFL Iranian learners participated in the study. Thirty of them received idioms through definition, thirty through translation, thirty through pictures, and thirty through etymology in their first language. Twenty idioms were selected and taught in two sessions. Retention of the idioms, in the productive and receptive modes was measured immediately after the class and again two weeks later. The results indicated that etymology and pictorial methods had a remarkably more positive influence on the immediate and delayed retention of the idioms in both the receptive and productive modes.

Keywords: immediate retention, delayed retention, learning idioms, receptive knowledge, productive knowledge
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Review of the related literature
    • 2.1Idioms
    • 2.2Retention of idioms
    • 2.3Receptive and productive knowledge
    • 2.4Techniques in teaching idioms
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Instrumentation
      • 4.2.1Homogeneity test
      • 4.2.2Target items, pretest, and posttests
    • 4.3Procedure
    • 4.4Scoring
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Results of the pilot study
    • 5.2Results of the main study
      • 5.2.1Results related to the first research question
      • 5.2.2Results related to the second research question
      • 5.2.3Results related to the third research question
      • 5.2.4Results related to the fourth research question
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 18 April 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jsls.17004.jah
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