Luận Văn A study on English idioms and proverbs relating to fruits

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp
Đề tài: A study on English idioms and proverbs relating to fruits

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: INTRODUCTION . 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Purpose of the study 2
3. Scope of the study . 2
4. Method of the study 2
5. Design of the study 2
PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1 : GENERAL THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4
1. Idioms and Proverbs in English 4
1.1 An overview of Idioms 4
1.1.1 What is an Idiom? 4
1.1.2 Some common features of Idioms . 6
1.2 An overview of Proverbs . 6
1.2.1 What is an Proverb? . 6
1.2.2 Some common features of Proverbs 8
2. The Origins of Idioms and proverbs . 8
2.2 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of animals 9
2.3 Idioms from cognition of traditions and customs 10
2.4 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of natural environment 10
2.5 Idioms from cognition of living circumstance . 11
2.6 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of colors . 12
2.7 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of numbers 12
2.8 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of amusement . 13
2.9 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of culinary art and food, fruits . 13
2.10 Idioms and proverbs from cognition of laboring . 14
3. The role of idioms and proverbs in our daily life 15
CHAPTER 2 DEVELOPMENT 16
2.1 English idioms and proverbs relating to apple. . 16
2.1.1 "APPLE OF ONE‟S EYE " . 16
2.2. English idioms and proverbs relating to banana. 21
2.2.1 "GO BANANAS" . 21
2.3 English idioms and proverbs relating to grape 24
2.3.1 "SOUR GRAPES" . 24
2.3.2 "Hear Through the Grapevine" . 25
2.4 English idiom and proverbs relating to orange 26
2.4.1 " COMPARES APPLES AND ORANGES" 26
2.5 English idioms and proverbs relating to cherry . 29
2.5.1 "LIFE IS JUST A BOWL OF CHERRIS" 29
2.6 English idioms and proverbs relating to lemon 33
2.6.1 "LEMON" 33
2.6.2 "WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, YOU MAKE LEMONADE" 34
CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION OF THE STUDY 36
3. 1 Some related problems faced by learners in studying English idioms and
proverbs relating to fruits. . 36
3.2 Some useful advice for studying idioms and proverbs. . 37
3.3 Some suggested excercises 39
PART III CONCLUSION . 41
1. Summarization 41
2. Suggestion for further study . 42
LIST OF REFERENCES . 43
APPENDICES: 45
APPENDIX 1 45
APPENDIX 2: Keys to excercises 60
1
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, English is the most widely used in the world and plays an
important role together with the development of society and technologies.
English is not only the effective means of communication but also show its
progressive effects in many aspects of life.
Idioms and proverbs are one of the most important parts of Eng lish. It was
used in all kinds formal and informal, spoken and written to “ make our
observation, jubment and explanations more lively and interesting ” ( Horby,
Idiom dictionary ). “ Each country has its custom ” and it is the national
character that distinguishes one nation from the other. This study of English
idioms and proverbs has been traditionally asscociated with the study of
literature, the use of idioms and proverbs is not restricted to this kind of
language. A good understanding of how idioms an d proverbs are used in
everday language is not only important for students of English to increase our
vocabulary, but also to understand new and original idioms and proverbs
when we hear or speak them. An idiom is a word, phrase, or expression that
cannot be taken literally because the meaning is figurative. Idioms are a form
of expression peculiar to a language. It is impossible to speak, read, or listen
to English well without idiomatic language. Most native English speech is
idiomatic. Furthermore, learning and using idioms helps us to remember well
what we have learned. The wise men like using idioms so that their daily
communication and speech become more natural, interesting and eff ective.
For such these reasons the author decided to choose idioms and proverbs for
the author‟s study. There are many sources of English idioms including:
animals, colors, money, names, numbers and so on; however, the author only
takes fruits - related English idioms and proverbs into consideration.Thus, the
author would like to study about it in my paper. The author hopes with this
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study, readers can know them well and apply in communication successfully.
2. Purposes of the study
This study is done with the hope to reach some aims at :
- Providing the description of English idioms and proverbs
- Analyzing certain English idioms of fruits to help readers understand them
better, from then they can apply to their writings or speeches.
- Perfecting the ability of applying right words setting expression to particular
context and real communication.
3. Scope of the study
Idioms are very large and difficult aspect of each language. Furthermore, due
to the limitation of time and the author‟s knowledge, the author could not go
through all English idioms, the study just focuses on those relating to typical
fruits because it is attractive and living. Added to this, there are valuable
advice drawn from fruits -related idioms.
4. Methods of the study
During the researching process, there are many ways to find resources, such
as dictionaries, articles, and internet for this study. I
also read reference books and documents to find and collect essential
information.
Collecting specific examples and dialogues for study.
Then, the author will analyze those idioms to find out certain expressions.
5. Design of the study
- Part I: Introduction
Introduces about the rationale, purpose of the study, scope of the study,
method of the study, and design of the study.
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- Part II: Development
Chapter 1: Theoretical background of English idioms and proverbs: Some
definitions and common features of idioms and proverbs, the origins of
idioms and proverbs as well.
Chapter 2: Fruits -related English idioms and proverbs; in this chapter some
certain English idioms and proverbs are analyzed according to names of some
fruits.
Chapter 3: Application: Some difficulties faced by learners in learning
English idioms and proverbs. Some useful advice for English learners to
overcome these difficulties. And some suggested excercises are introduced.
- Part III: Conclusion
+ Summarization: Summarizing what have been mentioned and some
personal comments given
+ Suggestions for further study
4
PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 : GENERAL THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1. Idioms and Proverbs in English
English is a language particularly rich in idioms and proverbs – those modes
of expression perculiar to a language (or dialect) which frequently defy
logical and grammatical rules. Without idioms and proverbs English would
lose much of its variety and humor both in speech an writing.
1.1 An overview of Idioms
1.1.1 What is an Idiom?
In our daily life, in order to express ourselves more effectively and clearly, we
frequently need to call upon idioms. Idiom is a form of expression peculiar to
a language. It is a kind of compendious language, reflecting culture and
tradition of each nation in the most reliable way.
Each language has its own store of idioms; hence there are also many
concepts of idiom. But in the scope of this paper, the author only mentions
some concepts of idiom in English .
In English Oxford dictionary, Idiom is defined : “ An diom is a phrase which
meaning is difficult or sometimes impossible to guess by looking at the
meaning of the individual words it contains “ ( Oxford Press, 1955: 538 ).
For instance : Be in the same boat
If we look at each word of the idiom, we do not find anything except for
information: two or a group of people sit in the same boat, a kind of traffic
means in water. But its non-literal meaning refers to some people who have
the same difficult or unfortunate situation.
Idiom is also defined as “ Idiom is a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not


LIST OF REFERENCES
Books:
1. Procter, P.(1978). Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman
Goup Limited.
2. Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary .1995. Oxford University Press.
3. Longman Dictionary of English Idioms, (1984), Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome
and London
4. Jon Wright, 2000, idioms organiser, HCMC Press.
5. Idioms and idiomaticity, 1996, Oxford University Press
6. Vietnamese idioms and proverbs, 1990, Education Press
7. Ball, W.J,1961, A practical guide to Colloquial Idiom. Great Britain,
Plymouth: The Bowering Press.
8. Rowe, R. C, 2004. Rumor has it – a tale of idioms. DDT Vo .9, No.10,428
9. Mieder, Wolfgang, mained: A Dictionary of American Proverbs.
(Paperback) Oxford University, New York, 1996.
10.Coe: Bruner, Jerome. The Culture of Education. Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1996.
Websites:
11. http://www.answer.com/topic/idiom
12. http://www.simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/idiom
13.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/idiom
14. http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/D.html
15. http://www.gobooks.info/idioms.html
16. http://www.jhom.com/topics/idioms.html
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17. http://bbscer.nt/archive/index
18. http://www.Englishclub.com/idioms
19. http://www.idiomconnection.com/fruits.html
20. http://www.wikianswer.com/proverb
21.http://en.lingo24.com/articles/Why_Learn_Proverbs--7.html
22.http://www.ehow.com/facts_5521461_definition-idiom-lemonlaw.html#ixzz0qhmhLSbC
23. http://www.autoenglish.org
24. http://www.theonlinedictionary.com
25. http://www.englishtime.us