Luận Văn A study on business idioms relating to specific business activities

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp năm 2012
Đề tài: A study on business idioms relating to specific business activities


Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Part one- Introduction
1. Rationale. . 1
2. Aims of the study . 2
3. Scope of the study 2
4. Methods of the study. 2
5. Design of the study. . 3
Part two- Development
Chapter I: Theoretical background.
I.1. Idioms
I.1.1. Definitions . 4
I.1.2. Functions of idioms. 7
I.1.3. Common features of idioms 10
I.2. Business idioms
I.2.1. An overview of business idioms 13
I.2.2. Classification of business idioms. . 14
Chapter II: A study on business idioms relating to specific business
activities.
II.1. Business idioms relating to producing. . 30
II.2. Business idioms relating to buying. . 33
II.3. Business idioms relating to selling. 38
II.4. Business idioms relating to negotiating. 41
Chapter III: Implication
III.1. Some difficulties faced by learners of English when studying
idioms in general and business idioms in particular. 46
III.2. Suggested solutions. . 47
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Part three- Conclusion 49
References 50
Appendixes . 52


Part one: Introduction.
1. Rationale.
Language is prominent in daily life. Without language, society cannot
develop. In detail, language is an essential tool in every activity: politics,
economy, education, etc. Nowadays, the more society develops, the more
social activities are, and as a result, the more diverse language is.
Everything has two sides, language is not an exception. On one side,
language makes society develop, on other side, language diversity is also
barrier of development. Each country has its own language; even one
country has many different languages. To break the disadvantages of
language barrier and as result of politic and economic domi nance of
English empiricism in the past, English has been considered ―the world’s
language‖.
Learning English as ESL, learners have many difficulties; one of them is
learning English idioms. Idiom is common part of language, native
speakers like to use idioms in communication so frequently that they even
do not realize while using them. One of the key to speaking, writing like a
native is the ability to use and understand casual expressions or idioms.
English is full of idioms. You will not learn these expressions in a standard
textbook, but you hear them all the time in everyday conversation. You
also meet them in books, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, and on the
internet. Idioms add color to the language, learning idioms is really a
challenge for English learners, however.
Recognizing the importance of business in modern world as well as using
business idioms in business activities, I am particularly interested in
business idioms during my study in university. As in Oxford dictionary,
business is the activity of making, selling, buying, supplying goods or
services, etc. It is obvious that business is complicated, diverse field.
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Similarly, business idioms are also diverse as business activities. As said
above, natives like to use idioms, therefore, to understand and have success
in business, proper use of idioms is one of the most important factors.
For my money, in the future, I myself take part in business activities as
translator and interpreter, good knowledge of idioms is favorable condition
in work. My study on business idioms relating to specific business
activities is an excellent chance to diversify and improve my knowledge of
English idioms.
2. Aims of the study.
Being aware of the fact that idioms are an extremely difficult topic and
merely well- understood by foreign English learners and even if native
speakers of English who take the idioms for granted because when they use
idioms, they do not know that they are using them. This study focuses on
following aims:
- Widening the English vocabulary of business field.
- Helping the learners use right idioms in relevant situations.
- Raising the learners’ awareness of the importance business idioms and
their effects on communication.
3. Scope of the study.
Idioms are treasure of each country and all that I know about idioms is very
little. Due to time frame and limited knowledge, in this paper, I am only
concerned with theoretical background of idioms and English idioms
relating to several specific business activities (buying, selling, producing
and negotiating).
4. Methods of the study.
In order to study English idioms in general and business idioms in
particular, I have applied following methods:
Having discussion with supervisors, experts and friends.
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Collecting books studying on language to improve the knowledge and
have reliable citations.
Accessing internet or reference in workbook, dictionary and search
libraries.
5. Design of the study.
This paper provides a clear organization consisting three main parts that
help an easy exploration and practical benefits gained for readers as well.
Part one is the introduction, which includes rational, scope of the study,
aims of the study, method of study and design of the study.
Part two is the development, which consists of three chapters as following:
Chapter1: Theoretical background, dealing with idioms of definition and
common features, overviews of business activities and business idioms.
Chapter2: Business idioms relating to specific business activities: buying,
selling, producing and negotiating.
Part three is conclusion, which restates the knowledge mentioned through
two chapters above. A suggestion for further research on idioms is also
provided in this part.
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Part two- Development
Chapter I: Theoretical background
I.1. Idioms
I.1.1. Definitions of idiom
There are hundreds of languages all over the world, each nation has its own
language, and even one nation has many different languages. Language is
complicated field, all its component too. Idiom is not an exception. It is
easy to meet idioms in all fields of the life: economy, polity, arts, etc.
However, have you ever taken ―What is an idiom?‖ under consideration?
 “Idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the
meanings of the individual words”.
Hornby (2005) - P. 770
We can see that the definition of idiom in Oxford Advanced Learners’
Dictionary is so clear and understandable. In construction, English idiom is
not one word but ―a group of words‖. The number of words of an idiom is
not limited. An idiom can contain two words:
 ―To date‖ (until now),
 ―Time flies‖ (time seems to pass very quickly),
 ―Money talks‖ (people who have a lot of money have more power and
influence than others),
Three words:
 ―True to form‖ (used to say that somebody behaving in the way that
you expect them to behave, especially when this is annoying),
 ―An object lesson‖ (used o express surprise at something new or
unexpected you have been told),