Luận Văn A study on English and Vietnamese idioms which contain words denoting time

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp năm 2012
Đề tài: A study on English and Vietnamese idioms which contain words denoting time


TABLE OF CONTENT
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study . 2
3. Scope of the study . 2
4. Design of the study 2
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT . 4
Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND . 4
1. Some Related Theoretical definitions . 4
1.1. Idioms 4
1.2. Time 5
1.3. Idioms which contain Words Denoting Time (IT) 5
2. Principal features of idioms . 6
2.1. Structural Stability 6
2.2. Semantic Opacity 7
2.3. Cultural Features 8
3. Overview of Phrase, Clause and Sentence Structures 9
3.1. Phrase . 9
3.2. Clause . 9
3.3. Sentence 10
Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES . 12
1. Research Design 12
2. Research Methods . 12
3. Research Procedures 12
4. Description of the Sample 12
5. Data Collection 13
6. Reliability and Validity 13
Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 15
1. Syntactic Features . 15
1.1. IT with Noun Phrase Structure (42) . 15
1.2. IT with Verb Phrase Structure (70) 16
1.3. IT with Adjective Phrase Structure (21) (7E + 14V) 17
1.4. IT with Prepositional Phrase Structure (12) 18
1.5. IT with Adverb Phrase Structure (15) 19
1.6. IT with Sentence Structure (27) 19
1.7. IT with Parallel Structure (16) (3E + 13V) 20
1.8. Similarities and Differences of Syntactic Features of English and
Vietnamese Idioms which contain Words Denoting Time . 21
a. Similarities . 21
b. Differences . 22
2. Semantic Features . 22
2.1. Advice (3E + 13V) 23
2.2. Characteristics (15E + 12V) 23
2.3. Frequency (6E + 3V) 24
2.4. Activities (23E + 25V) 24
2.5. Mood (15E + 5V) 24
2.6. Objects (10E + 4V) . 25
2.7. Opinion (9E + 15V) 25
2.8. Physical state (9E + 2V) . 25
2.9. Time (20E + 10V) . 25
2.10. Weather (3E + 1V) 26
2.11. Similarities and Differences of Semantic Features of English and
Vietnamese Idioms which contain Words Denoting Time . 27
a. Similarities . 27
b. Differences . 28
3. Difficulties students encounter when learning idioms 29
3.1. Idioms are not literal 29
3.2. It‟s difficult to use idioms correctively . 29
3.3. Teaching materials are not much available . 29
4. Some suggested solutions 30
4.1. Learn idioms in context, never in isolation 30
4.2. Create conversations using idioms . 30
4.3. Keep an „Idioms‟ diary . 30
4.4. Amount: Not Too Many At Once 30
4.5. A lot of idioms can be found in songs . 30
4.6. Themes: Related To Your Topic . 30
4.7. Try to see the idiom in your mind . 31
PART III: CONCLUSION . 32
1. Summary of the study . 32
2. Limitation of the study . 34
3. Suggestions for further studies 34
APPENDIX 1: LIST OF ENGLISH IT 36
APPENDIX 2: LIST OF VIETNAMESE IT 50
REFERENCES 55


PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, together with growth of global connection, English
language has become more and more important. Especially in Vietnam,
learning English seems to be one of main tasks of students. In this process,
they encounter a large number of difficulties. One of them is understanding
idioms.
Every country or nation has got their own idioms that are specific to
their own culture, while many idioms have synonyms in several countries,
what refers to the equal shared human nature in many cultures. Learning the
specific idioms related to a certain culture helps you learn more about the
history, customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of it.
Idioms make a language more interesting and vibrant. Mastering
idioms means you are using and understand ing the language more like a
native speaker would. As for English learners, effectively communicating
with others especially native speakers is the ultimate goal. And we cannot
reach that goal if we pay little or even no attention to the idioms. So graspin g
the use of idioms is an essential part of English study.
Idioms are everywhere. You will find them in newspapers, books,
magazines, on the radio, on the television, in everyday conversation and at
work.
Understanding the meaning of idioms in general and idioms which
contain words denoting time (IT) in particular is the first difficulty of learners
and the second one is the way of using idioms in each specific context.
Moreover studying idioms which contain words denoting time is a part of
language learning and it can help learners use language more naturally and
effectively.
I am interested in the way English and Vietnamese people use idioms
to satisfy their own need in daily communication. Here and there, there are
several studies on idioms with certain linguistic units. However, in range of
Hai Phong Private University, there is no study of idioms containing words
indicating time. Thus, the topic “A study on English and Vietnamese idioms
which contain words denoting time” is chosen for my thesis. Hopefully, the
result of the study will be useful for learners of English and contribute a small
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part into the teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam,
especially at Hai Phong Private University.
2. Aims of the study
This study is carried out with the hope to reach some aims at:
- Making a systematic description of English idioms containing words
denoting time and Vietnamese idioms containing words denoting time.
- Identifying the similarities and differences between English IT and
Vietnamese IT in terms of the syntactic and semantic features.
3. Scope of the study
This research is restricted to idioms containing words denoting time. It
is focused on making a contrastive analysis in terms of syntactic and sema ntic
aspects. Syntactically, my study will investigate into IT with noun phrase
structure, verb phrase structure, adjective phrase structure, prepositional
phrase structure, adverb phrase structure and sentence structure. In aspect of
semantic opacity, an investigation into Advice, Characteristics (Human
characteristics and characteristics of objects), Frequency, Activities, Mood,
Objects, Opinion, Physical state, Time, Weather will be carried out.
4. Design of the study
For a clear organization, my graduation paper is divided into three main parts
in which the second is the most important part:
- Part 1 is entitled the “Introduction” where rationale, aim, scope and
design of the thesis are presented.
- Part 2 is the “Development” which consists of three chapters:
+ Chapter 1: Theoretical Background, including four main small parts:
* Some Related Theoretical definitions of idioms, time and
IDWT.
* Principal features of idioms
* Overview of Phrase, Clause and Sentence Structures
* Overview of Semantic Opacity and Semantic Field
+ Chapter 2: Methodology and Procedure, dealing with research design,
research methods, research procedures, description of the sample, data
collection, reliability and validity.
+ Chapter 3:Finding and discussion, focusing on four main matters:
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* Similarities and differences of syntactic features of English and
Vietnamese IT.
* Similarities and differences of semantic features of English and
Vietnamese IT.
* Difficulties students encounter when learning idioms
* Some suggested solutions
- Part 3 is the “Conclusion”with the aim of performing the following
ideas:
* Summary of the study: summarizing what have been discussed
in previous parts.
* Limitation of the study
* Suggestions for further studies