A cognitive approach to teach idioms to ESL students through movies

1. Irene López Rodríguez

2. Idioms
Traditional view of idioms:
Idioms= conventionalized expressions whose overall meaning cannot be determined
from the meaning of its constituent parts
E.g. to rain cats and dogs = cats and dogs falling from the sky = but to rain heavily
E.g. to let the cat out of the bag =
E.g. to kick the bucket =
to allow a cat to escape from a bag =
to strike out a bucket with the foot =
but to reveal a secret
but to die
Idioms present a clear mismatch between form and meaning
Surface meaning
Literal
VS.
Deep meaning
Figurative

3. EFL learners + idioms = problem
Why?
Apparent incongruity between form and meaning
To rain cats and dogs
evokes means

4. EFL learners + idioms = problem
To let the cat out of the bag
evokes means

5. Methodology towards teaching idioms
– Idioms are isolated linguistic expressions
– “dead” or “frozen” metaphors
– Incongruity form/meaning
– Do not make sense
– Need to be learnt by heartheavy learning burden
– Constant practice; otherwise forgotten
– Lack of motivation
•TRADITIONAL VIEW

6. Methodology towards teaching idioms
• idioms not as independent linguistic metaphors that
respond to the arbitrariness of language, but as being
motivated by conceptual metaphors
• Linguistic metaphors
– Level of language
Conceptual metaphors
level of thought
a group of mental schema whereby the
human mind understands abstract concepts
in terms of more concrete bodily
experiences
•NEW PERSPECTIVES:
Pivotal distinction: linguistic vs conceptual metaphor

7. are NOT the product of the
arbitrariness of language
BUT
constitute a whole network of
expressions in which the concept
of ANGER is conceptualized by
means of a systematic pattern of
ontological correspondences
pertaining to the concept of
HEATED FLUID IN A
CONTAINER
Linguistic and conceptual metaphors
The same mental pattern operates in Spanish: estar a punto de explotar, estar a punto de
reventar, hervirle la sangre a uno, está que echa chispas, está que echa humo
This distinction helps explain why a series
of expressions such as
to be fuming with anger
to be about to explode
to blow up
to let off steam

8. The embodied nature of conceptual metaphor
Cross-linguistic studies show that a
wide number of conceptual
metaphors are universal
WHY?
the common source for metaphoric
production is grounded in our
sensorimotor experiences and our
interaction with the physical world
EMBODIMENT
ANGER IS HEATED FLUID
IN A CONTAINER
Bodies as containers filled with
different types of liquids (sweat,
blood, urine, semen, tears) that can
be heated up and expelled for a
number of reasons such as physical
exercise or sexual arousal

9. Opacity versus transparency
to let the cat out of the bag
to spill the beans
to have a skeleton in the cupboard
To come out of the closet (gay people)
TRANSPARENCY
to reveal a secret
the act of revealing a secret is conceptualized
as letting some closed entity out

10. Opacity versus transparency
OPACITYnot metaphorical but historical motivation
People hanged themselves by
standing on a bucket with a rope
around their neck and then kicked
the bucket away
to rain cats and dogs=to rain
to bury the hatchet=to end a disagreement
the American Indian custom
of burying their hatchets to
show that hostilities were at
an end
In Norse mythology the
storm god Odin was often
portrayed with a cat and a
dog.
to kick the bucket=to die

11. The visual manifestation of conceptual metaphors
Metaphorsconceptual in naturerealized in other than linguistic ways
Literature
LIFE IS A JOURNEY
Little Red Riding Hood
“The road not taken”
The Wizard of Oz
The Canterbury Tales
HAPPINESS IS
BRIGHT/LIGHT
COLORS
SADNESS IS
DARKNESS/DARK
COLORS

12. MORE IS UP
ANGER IS HEATED FLUID IN A CONTAINER
Cartoons & Comic
strips
PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS
Advertisements &
Logos SEXUALLY ATTRACTIVE
WOMEN ARE BUNNIES
STRONG MEN ARE TIGERS

13. Metaphors & Movies
Movies in the EFL classroom
visual support
real material + native
pronunciation
appeal to children
contextual clues
Many idioms based on knowledge & image
Imagistic approaches
to idioms
Picturesmnemonic technique

14. A case study: HAPPINESS IS UP/SADNESS IS
DOWN
Spatial orientation
Idiomatic
expressions based
on orientational
terms
To feel up
To be over the moon
To be floating in the air
To cheer up
To feel down
To fall into a depression
To be under the weather
People share biological features
EMBODIMENT Correlation: Happy-up
Sadness-down
Poner a alguien por las
nubes
Arriba ese ánimo
Estar en el cielo
Estar de bajón
Tener la moral por los
suelos

15. Mary Poppins
TEA AT UNCLE ALBERT´S
Mary, the 2 children (Jane
& Michael) and Bert go to
visit Uncle Albert
Uncle Albert is having an
attack of mirth and is
floating in the air
Mary tells the children to
remain serious; otherwise,
Uncle Albert won´t be
able to get down
The situation is hilarious. Bert and the
children cannot control their laughter
and begin ascending in the air
Uncle Albert tells the
children that the only way
to get down is to think of
sth sad
Uncle Albert starts telling a sad
story and the children gradually
descend. Yet, there is a funny twist
in the last lines, which lifts the
children again
Finally, Mary Poppins
reminds the children that
it is high time they went
home, which really makes
them sad and brings them
down to the floor
HAPPINESS IS UP
SADNESS IS
DOWN

16. Mary Poppins
Uncle Albert: Oh, I kn--, I know, I...but I tried. Really, I did, my dear. I...but I so enjoy laughing, you know? And, well...when I
start, it´s all up with the...that´s what happens to me. I love to laugh! Oh, my goodness! I can´t help it. You can see that. I just like
laughing, that´s all.
Bert: Yes, whatever you do, keep a straight face. Last time, it took us three days to get him down.
Mary Poppins: Jane, don´t you dare! You´ll only make him worse. It´s really quite serious!
Uncle Albert: When things strike me as funny I can´t hide it inside. And squeak as the squeakelers do I´ve got to let go with a ho
ho ho ho. And laugh too. How nice. I was hoping you´d turn up!
Bert: Turn up!
Uncle Albert: We always have such a jolly time.
Uncle Albert & Bert: We love to laugh loud and long and clear. We love to laugh so everybody can hear.
Mary Poppins: Whoops, don´t you two start. Come back down here.
Uncle Albert: Oh, thank you, my dear. I´m having such a good time. I wish that you could all stay up here all the time.
Michael: We´ll jolly have to. There´s no way to get down.
Uncle Albert: Oh, no, there is a way. Frankly, I don´t like to mention it, because you have to think of something sad
Mary Poppins: Then do get on with it, please.
Uncle Albert: Let me see. I´ve got the very thing. Yesterday when the lady next door answered the bell, there was a man there.
And the man said to the lady, “I´m terribly sorry. I just ran over your cat
Jane: Oh, that´s sad.
Michael: The poor cat.
Uncle Albert: And then the man said, “I´d like to replace your cat” and the lady said, “That´s all right with me, but how are you
catching mice?” Well, you know I started out sad. I, I try, really I do. But, but everything ends up so hilarious, I can´t..can´t help...
Mary Poppins: That will be quite enough of that! It´s time to go home.
Jane: Oh, that is sad.
Michael: Oh no!
Uncle Albert: Oh, that´s sad. That´s the saddest thing I ever heard.
Mary Poppins: Come along, children. Spit spot!
HAPPINES
S IS UP
SADNESS
IS DOWN

17. Further elaborations
“I feel over the moon with
you Princess Yasmine”
“I feel up, up, up!”
“I´m so happy! I´m in the
clouds!”

18. THANKS!