MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M.A THESIS A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM COMPONENT PERSPECTIVE (NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ THỰC VẬT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN) TRẦN THỊ NHUNG Field: English Language Code: 60220201 Hanoi, 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ NHUNG A STUDY OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FROM COMPONENT PERSPECTIVE (NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH NGỮ THUỘC CHỦ ĐỀ THỰC VẬT TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT TỪ BÌNH DIỆN HỢP PHẦN) Field: English Language Code: 60220201 M.A THESIS Supervisor: Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D Hanoi, 2017 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled A study of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese from component perspective submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Student’s Signature Tran Thi Nhung Approved by SUPERVISOR Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from several people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dang Nguyen Giang, Ph D, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher Many thanks go to my colleague and many others whose support and encouragement help me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for their patience, endless love, and devotion Whatever choices I have made, they have always stood by me and believed in me I am immensely thankful for all the assistance they have given me ii ABSTRACT Idioms are used to express ideas in figurative styles They bring the vividness and richness to the speakers' speeches This is the reason why the more skillfully a person use idioms in his conversations, the more effectively he can establish his communicative relationship One more important thing is that the general present tendencies are towards idiomatic usage; therefore, knowing how to use idioms effectively in the right situations is becoming essential Therefore, this thesis aims at analyzing the structural and semantic components of idioms in English and Vietnamese It is conducted with the hope of finding out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components The findings of the study, to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese languages through the idioms Data used for analysis in this study are mainly collected from books and dictionaries Componential analysis, describing, comparing and contrasting, experimental research are regarded as the main methods used in the present study iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the Study 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Scope of the Study 1.5 Significance of the Study 1.6 Methodology 1.6.1 Major Methods 1.7 Design of the Study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW .6 2.1 Previous Research 2.1.1 Previous Research Works on Idioms in English 2.1.2 Previous Research Works on Idioms in Vietnamese 2.2 Theoretical Background 10 2.2.1 Definitions of Idioms 10 2.2.2 Syntactic and Semantic Features of Idioms 12 2.2.3 Classification of Idioms 16 2.2.4 Idioms and Other Language Units 23 2.3 Summary .26 CHAPTER STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 27 3.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese .27 3.1.1 Symmetrical Idioms by Plants .27 3.1.2 Similized Idioms by Plants .29 3.1.3 Non-symmetrical Idioms by Plants 32 3.2 Semantic Components of idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese 36 3.2.1 Motivation Degrees of Symmetrical Idioms by Plants 36 3.2.2 Motivation Degrees of Similized Idioms by Plants 37 3.3 Comparison between English and Vietnamsese Idioms by Plants 39 3.3.1 In terms of Structural Components .39 iv 3.3.2 In terms of semantic components 40 3.4 Chapter Summary 41 CHAPTER IDIOM TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENT ANALYSIS 43 4.1 Idioms and their Importance for English Language Learners 43 4.2 Reality of Idiom Teaching and Learning at Hoang Van Thu High School 45 4.3 Idiom Teaching and Learing through Componential Analysis .46 4.3.1 Participants .46 4.3.2 Data Collection .47 4.3.3 Findings and Discussions 49 4.4 Chapter Summary 51 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 52 5.1 Recapitulation .52 5.2 Concluding remarks .52 5.3 Limitations of the Study .53 5.4 Implications for Idiom Teaching and Learning Idioms by Plants 53 5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 56 REFERENCES 57 APPENDIX 1: A CORPUS OF 63 IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH I APPENDIX 2: A CORPUS OF 53 IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN VIETNAMESE VI APPENDIX 3: THE FIRST TEST X APPENDIX 4: THE SECOND TEST XI APPENDIX 5: FIRST TEST AND SECOND TEST RESULT OF THE STUDENTS XII v CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale English is now an effective medium of international communication In Vietnam, English has long been considered as a tool of international communication, and together with its rising importance, the need of learning English is becoming more and more urgent It can't be denied that all foreign learners in general and Vietnamese learners in particular desire to master English as the native speakers; however, they usually face a lot of difficulties that prevent them from gaining successful conversations One of the reasons for these problems lies in the way people perceive and use idioms Idioms can be considered as an attractive and popular phenomenon of every language They are able to be used to indicate the speakers’ intention more interestingly and more persuasively than individual words It is the reason why idioms, a special part of a language, seem to be the familiar elements which occur not only in daily conversations but also in literature works People are likely familiar with idioms which are used to express ideas in an attractive and figurative way Therefore, understanding the meanings of idiomatic expressions are essential and useful for English users Traditionally, the meanings of idioms are quite implicit, and they usually derive from unusual forms, stylistic devices and conventional knowledge From cognitive view, the meanings of idioms can be analyzable or at least motivated from its component parts Although idioms are not easy to comprehend, it is necessary for learners not to disregard idioms in studying languages because idioms are an unseperated element of a language and so common in daily use In the process of communication, we sometimes come cross some expressions that we can’t understand although we can comprehend the meaning of their every single word It seems that the main reason why we cannot understand what these sentences are about lies in the low level of linguistic competence of idioms and the way we analyze the components of idioms Several linguists have given a lot of definitions about an idiom basing on its fixed characteristics For example, "An idiom is a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the meaning of several words" (Dictionary of English Idioms, 1979) Sharing the same point of view, Hoàng Văn Hành (2002) considered an idiom as a fixed group of words which is firm in terms of structure, complete and figurative in terms of meaning, and is widely used in daily speaking In fact, there have been many studies on idioms containing such topics as food, weather, animals, colors, etc However, as a teacher of English, the need of improving my English idiom teaching and learning urges me to conduct the thesis entitled A study of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese from component perspective to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of idioms containing the words denoting plants from the component perspective 1.2 Aims of the Study The study is conducted to improve the English teaching and learning in general and idiom teaching and learning in particular The findings of the study, to some extent, help the teachers and the learners have a better understanding of English and Vietnamese languages through the idioms by plants In order to achieve the aim, the study is expected to reach the following objectives: - to uncover how the components of idioms by plants are organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese; - to find out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components; - to give some implications for idiom teaching and learning from the main findings 1.3 Research Questions The objectives of the study can be elaborated into the research questions as follows: - How are the components of idioms by plants organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese? - What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese idioms by plants in terms of structural and semantic components? - What is the effectiveness of the main findings applied to idiom teaching and learning at Hoang Van Thu High School? 1.4 Scope of the Study I myself have found idioms such an interesting English aspect that is chosen as the topic of the study Idioms in both English and Vietnamese have been investigated from several different points of view However, due to the limited time and knowledge, the author only focuses on English and Vietnamese idioms by plants from component perspective The idioms in the present study are collected from dictionaries, books available in English and Vietnamese 1.5 Significance of the Study Theoretically, the findings of the study, to some extent, prove that the components forming idioms can be analyzed from both structural and semantic perspectives The idioms by plants are quite popular in both English and Vietnamese; therefore, the investigation is highly reliable in terms of theoretical framework suggested Practically, with the purpose of making a study on the components of idioms by plants in English and Vietnamese, the study will be able to provide Vietnamese learners of English with better mastering how to apply this kind of idioms in sensible ways and how to understand the meanings of idioms thoroughly, effectively and naturally 1.6 Methodology 1.6.1 Major Methods Due to the main aims and objectives of the study, description, componential analysis, contrastive exploitation and experimental method would be mainly carried out throughout the process Also, the thesis makes use of the Hoàng Văn Hành (1973) Suy nghĩ cách dùng thành ngữ qua thơ văn Hồ Chủ Tịch [Some thoughts about the ways the President Hồ Chí Minh used Vietnamese idioms in his poems] Ngơn ngữ, 3, 10-19 Hồng Văn Hành (1976) Về chất thành ngữ so sánh tiếng Việt [The nature of similized idioms in Vietnamese] Ngơn ngữ, 1, 11-19 Hồng Văn Hành (1987) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Idioms in Vietnamese] Văn hoá dân gian, 1, 25-32 Hoàng Văn Hành (2002) Kể chuyện thành ngữ, tục ngữ [Telling tales out of idioms, proverbs] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội Hoàng Văn Hành (2004/2008) Thành ngữ học tiếng Việt [Vietnamese idiom studies] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội Đinh Gia Khánh (1977) Điển cố văn học [Classic reference of literature] Hà Nội: Khoa học Xã hội Press Nguyễn Thị Lan (2001) Phương thức dịch thành ngữ nhận xét đánh giá người ngôn ngữ Việt – Anh – Nga [Translation strategies of idioms denoting human comments among Vietnamese, English and Russian] Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Đại học KHXH & NV, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, Vietnam Nguyễn Lân (2003) Từ điển thành ngữ tục ngữ Việt Nam [A dictionary of Vietnamese idioms and proverbs] Hà Nội: Nxb Văn học Nguyễn Lực & Lương Văn Đang (1978/2009) Thành ngữ tiếng Việt [A dictionary of Vietnamese idioms] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1972) Về ranh giới thành ngữ tục ngữ [Idioms vs proverbs] Ngôn ngữ, Nguyễn Văn Mệnh (1986) Vài suy nghĩ góp phần xác định khái niệm thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Some thoughts in contributing to the definition of idioms in Vietnamese] Ngôn ngữ, 3, 12-18 Đái Xuân Ninh (1978) Hoạt động từ tiếng Việt [Performance of Vietnamese words] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội 60 Phan Văn Quế (1996) Ngữ nghĩa thành ngữ - tục ngữ có thành tố động vật tiếng Anh [The semantic properties of idioms and proverbs having constituents of animals in English] Unpublished doctoral dissertation of literature, Viện Ngôn ngữ học Việt Nam, Hanoi, Vietnam Đào Thản (1993) Hệ thống từ ngữ màu sắc tiếng Việt liên hệ với điều phổ quát [Colour-denoting word system in Vietnamese with reference to the universals] Ngôn ngữ, 2, 11-15 Phạm Xuân Thành (1992) Để luận giải ý nghĩa thành ngữ tiếng Việt với tư cách đơn vị ngôn ngữ văn hóa dân gian [Explaining the meanings of Vietnamese idioms - a unit of linguistics and folk culture] Văn hóa Dân gian, 1, 62-65 Phạm Xuân Thành (1993) Cơ sở hình thành biến đổi thành ngữ tiếng Việt [Grounds for the formation and variation of Vietnamese idioms] Văn hóa Dân gian, 1, 55-58 Nguyễn Đức Tồn (2006) Từ đông nghĩa tiếng Việt [Synonyms in Vietnamese] (111-128) Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội Nguyễn Văn Trào (2009) Emotion Expressing Idioms in English and Vietnamese: A Contrastive Analysis Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Queensland, Australia Nguyễn Văn Tu (1976) Từ vốn từ tiếng Việt đại [Words and vocabulary in modern Vietnamese] Hà Nội: Nxb Ðại học Trung học Chuyên nghiệp Cù Đình Tú (1973) Góp ý kiến phân biệt thành ngữ với tục ngữ [Opinions on how to demarcate idioms and proverbs] Ngôn ngữ, 1, 39-43 Cù Đình Tú (1983) Phong cách học đặc điểm tu từ tiếng Việt [Styles and rhetoric in Vietnamese] Hà Nội: Nxb Đại học Trung học chuyên nghiệp Viện ngôn ngữ học (2004) Từ điển tiếng Việt [A dictionary of Vietnamese] Đà Nẵng: Nxb Đà Nẵng Bùi Khắc Việt (1981) Thành ngữ đối tiếng Việt [Symmetrical idioms in 61 Vietnamese] In Giữ gìn sáng tiếng Việt mặt từ ngữ [Keeping the purity of the Vietnamese language in terms of words and phrases] Hà Nội: Nxb Khoa học Xã hội Nguyễn Như Ý (2002) Từ điển thành ngữ tiếng Việt phổ thông [A dictionary of common Vietnamese idioms] Hà Nội: Nxb Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội 62 APPENDIX 1: A CORPUS OF 63 IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH a rolling stone gathers no moss barking up the wrong tree beat about the bush bouquet of orchids broken reed can’t see the forest for its tree clutch at straws come up roses come up smelling of roses 10 cut down the tall poppies 11 demon weed 12 draw the shortest straw 13 easy as falling off a log 14 flowery speech 15 forest for the trees 16 gild the lily 17 go to seed 18 grasp the nettle 19 grass roots 20 hit the hay 21 in the tall cotton 22 jungle out there 23 (just) as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined 24 kick something into the long grass 25 knock on wood 26 last straw 27 lead someone up the garden path 28 let the grass grow round your feet I 29 little strokes fell great oaks 30 make hay 31 mighty oaks from little acorns grow 32 muck or nettles 33 needle in a haystack 34 never a rose without the prick 35 nip it in the bud 36 no bed of roses 37 old chestnut 38 olive branch 39 oops a daisy 40 out of the woods 41 primrose path 42 pushing up the daisies 43 put someone out to pasture 44 rough end of the stick 45 run around the bush 46 seed money 47 short end of the stick 48 shrinking violet 49 sow the seeds 50 take a straw poll 51 the grass is always greener 52 the short straw 53 thorn in your side 54 touch wood 55 turf war 56 turn a new leaf 57 turn up one's toes to the daisies 58 ugly as a stick II 59 up a gum tree 60 wallflower 61 wood for the trees 62 wither on the vine 63 watch grass grow Symmetrical Idioms (2 / 3.17%) Semi-transparent Symmetrical Idioms (1/1.58 %) just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined Opaque Symmetrical Idioms (1/ 1.58 %) muck or nettles Similized Idioms (2/ 3.17%) Se-mi Transparent Similized Idioms ugly as a stick easy as falling off a log Non-symmetrical Idioms ( 59/93.65 %) Semi-opaque Non-symmetrical Idioms (27/ 44.45%) cut down the tall poppies broken reed demon weed flowery speech kick something into the long grass lead someone up the garden path let the grass grow round your feet never a rose without the prick no bed of roses 10 seed money 11 thorn in your side 12 watch grass grow 13 barking up the wrong tree 14 a rolling stone gathers no moss III 15 the grass is always greener 16 can’t see the forest for its tree 17 wood for the trees 18 draw the shortest straw 19 clutch at straws 20 forest for the trees 21 come up roses 22 come up smelling of roses 23 gild the lily 24 jungle out there 25 turf war 26 last straw 27 put someone out to pasture 28 old chestnut Opaque Non-symmetrical Idioms (31/ 49.2%) beat about the bush run around the bush bouquet of orchids go to seed grasp the nettle grass roots hit the hay in the tall cotton knock on wood 10 touch wood 11 wither on the vine 12 wallflower 13 up a gum tree 14 turn a new leaf 15 turn up one's toes to the daisies IV 16 short end of the stick 17 shrinking violet 18 sow the seeds 19 take a straw poll 20 the short straw 21 olive branch 22 oops a daisy 23 out of the woods 24 primrose path 25 pushing up the daisies 26 rough end of the stick 27 nip it in the bud 28 needle in a haystack 29 little strokes fell great oaks 30 make hay 31 mighty oaks from little acorns grow V APPENDIX 2: A CORPUS OF 53 IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN VIETNAMESE ăn táo, rào bồ quân ăn cháo đa ăn rau ăn cháo ăn bò ngốn cỏ nây buồng cành vàng ngọc cắn rơm cắn cỏ cao bóng cao dài 10 cao bóng mát 11 nhà vườn 12 chém sống trồng chết 13 có lốt , tình phụ xương sơng 14 có qn tình phụ đa 15 mắt răm 16 cưỡi ngựa xem hoa 17 dạy khỉ leo 18 đắm nguyệt say hoa 19 đen củ súng 20 đỏ hoa vơng 21 đói ăn rau , đau uống thuốc 22 đói bụng ăn rau má 23 mùa lúa, úa mùa cau 24 già mạ tốt lúa 25 hoa cười ngọc 26 hoa hòe hoa sói 27 hoa tàn nhị rữa 28 khai hoa kết VI 29 ngọc cành vàng 30 lành đùm rách 31 lâu ngày dâu thành lụa 32 lông mày liễu 33 ma gạo, cú cáo đề 34 mẹ già chuối chín 35 nắng tháng tám rám bưởi 36 nâng nâng trứng , hứng hứng hoa 37 ngọc nát hoa tàn 38 nhân 39 gấm thêu hoa 40 nước chảy hoa trôi 41 sinh hoa kết 42 sương sa hoa nở 43 thấy mà chẳng thấy rừng 44 trăng tủi , hoa sầu 45 trâu chậm uống nước dơ, trâu ngơ ăn cỏ béo 46 trẻ đeo hoa, già đeo tật 47 tươi hoa nở 48 trời sinh voi, trời sinh cỏ 49 xanh lá, bạc vôi 50 xỏ ba que 51 xót liễu hoa 52 yêu nhớ đến hoa 53 ếch vồ hoa dâm bụt Symmetrical Idioms (30/ 56.6%) Semi-opaque Symmetrical Idioms (30/56.6 %) ăn táo rào bồ quân ăn rau ăn cháo VII nây buồng cành vàng ngọc cắn rơm cắn cỏ cao bóng cao dài cao bóng mát nhà vườn 10 chém sống, trồng chết 11 đắm nguyệt say hoa 12 đói ăn rau , đau uống thuốc 13 mùa lúa, úa mùa cau 14 già mạ tốt lúa 15 hoa cười ngọc 16 hoa hòe hoa sói 17 hoa tàn nhị rữa 18 khai hoa kết 19 ,a gạo, cú cáo đề 20 ngọc nát hoa tàn 21 nhân 22 nước chảy hoa trôi 23 xỏ ba que 24 trăng tủi , hoa sầu 25 trâu chậm uống nước dơ, trâu ngơ ăn cỏ béo 26 trẻ đeo hoa, già đeo tật 27 trời sinh voi, trời sinh cỏ 28 sinh hoa kết 29 sương sa hoa nở 30 trôi hoa, dạt bèo VIII Similized Idioms (13/ 24.5%) Semi-transparent Similized Idioms (12/ 22.6%) xanh lá, bạc vôi tươi hoa nở thấy mà chẳng thấy rừng gấm thêu hoa nâng nâng trứng , hứng hứng hoa nẹ già chuối chín mặt tươi hoa đen củ súng đỏ hoa vơng 10 ăn bò ngốn cỏ 11 mắt răm 12 lông mày liễu Semi-opaque Similized Idioms (1/ 1.89%) ếch vồ hoa dâm bụt Non-symmetrical Idioms (10/ 18.9%) Semi-opaque Non-symmetrical Idioms (10/ 18.9%) có lốt tình phụ xương sơng có qn tình phụ đa dạy khỉ leo đói bụng ăn rau má lành đùm rách lâu ngày dâu thành lụa nắng tháng rám bưởi yêu nhớ đến hoa ăn cháo đa IX APPENDIX 3: THE FIRST TEST English idioms broken reed Their explanation especially when things seemed to be going badly at first demon weed something very easy or simple to come up roses affect and influence us in our childhood shape the kind of adult we turn out to be cut down the tall poppies all or nothing clutch at straws if something or someone fails to give you the support you were hoping for, they are a broken reed easy as falling off a log final problem that makes someone lose their temper or the problem that finally brought about the collapse of something go to seed tobacco is the demon weed as the twig is bent, the tree’s have declined in quality or inclined appearance last straw criticise people who stand out from the crowd 10 muck or nettles 10 someone is in serious trouble and tries anything to help them, even though their chances of success are probably nil X APPENDIX 4: THE SECOND TEST English idioms seed money Their explanation money that is used to start a small business broken reed what other people have or looks preferable to our life come up roses very ugly indeed cut down the tall poppies especially when things seemed to be going badly at first the grass is always greener something or someone fails to give you the support you were hoping for easy as falling off a log a shy person who doesn't express their views and opinions shrinking violet criticise people who stand out from the crowd ugly as a stick mean people at the bottom of a hierarchy last straw the final problem that makes someone lose their temper or the problem that finally brought about the collapse of something 10 grass roots 10 something very easy or simple to XI APPENDIX 5: FIRST TEST AND SECOND TEST RESULT OF THE STUDENTS Wrong answers Right answers Idioms First % test Second % test First % test Second % test 15 33 8.8 30 66 41 90.2 17 37.4 10 22 28 61.6 35 77 19 41.8 11 26 57.2 40 88 15.4 0 38 83.6 45 100 24 52.8 19.8 21 46.2 36 79.2 25 55 16 35.2 15 33 29 63.8 28 61.6 17 37.4 17 37.4 28 61.6 25 55 13.2 20 44 39 85.8 14 30.8 6.6 31 68.2 42 92.4 10 33 72.6 16 35.2 12 26.4 29 63.8 XII ... divided into two main parts: structural components of idioms by plants in English and in Vietnamese, and semantic components of idioms by plants in English and in Vietnamese Chapter 4, applying the... CHAPTER STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC COMPONENTS OF IDIOMS BY PLANTS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 27 3.1 Structural Components of Idioms by Plants in English and Vietnamese .27 3.1.1 Symmetrical Idioms. .. formed by two main parts: a review of previous research works, and a review of theoretical background Chapter 3, structural and semantic components of idioms by plants in English and in Vietnamese,