Teach English in Fangang Zhen - Anqing Shi

Teaching Slang and IdiomsWhat are idioms and slang and what is the difference? Well, idioms are a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words i.e. ?a dime a dozen?; they are a way of expression and are semantic units; as a group they do not share common characteristics relating to grammatical form or function and can be used formally and informally when spoken/written; ?Prepositional Verbs? or ?Phrasal Verbs? are idiomatic phrases that function as verbs and taught in many TEFL classrooms; they can stand the test of time. Slang on the other hand is the use of very informal words and phrases that are more common in speech than in writing and different sets of slang are used by different and particular groups, usually of a particular social or professional group, and only really used with people whom they know well or come from the same social background. Slang, unlike idioms, comes and goes; is a colloquial language with a short life span. Many slang words in books that have been written on the subject are already out of use by the time the book gets published! A different example is the movie ?Bringing Down the House?, when asked about the slang used in the film, Queen Latifah?s reply was that they had to make up the slang specifically for the movie because if they had used real life slang, it would be dead before they could finish filming! Slang like fashion, when it?s ?in? then everyone wants to use it, but if it?s out, no one will admit to having had used it. Idioms and slang can be well worth TEFL teachers teaching in the classroom, useful to more advanced learners planning on travelling to or working in an english-speaking country or especially useful to multilingual classes that are taught in an english-speaking country and surrounded by idioms and slang everyday! english purists will not agree, but the fact is that native english-speakers do use both idioms and slang in their everyday lives and for a large percent of the time. The fluency of a language is only part of learning and understanding a language, it is the means of human communication and despite the fact that most languages are spoken or written in a structured way, language is almost organic, a living thing that changes and grows with the people that speak it. english that is spoken in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England is very different and they are all a part of the UK! Not even taking into consideration regional areas of the above mentioned, nor does it reflect other english-speaking countries and their own use of the language. I would also like to point out that non-native speakers of english, i.e. business people in japan, also have this organic use of the english language thus producing their own forms of slang and idioms. Idioms and slang should be taught in the classroom how we would normally teach irregular verbs; they just need to be memorized. In Michael Swan?s book ?Practical english Usage? he has included separate sections for idioms and slang, plus a well thought out and explained entry on ?taboo? words. There are many other books that can be used for reference to teach idioms and slang (*see list at the end of this article). You can use many for use as teaching aids, references or for making your own activities and lessons. Teaching idioms to students is beneficial for the understanding and possible usage that students will need of what is used by native speakers with each other and with the student his/herself. Teaching slang is beneficial for understanding and knowledge purposes but is best not used by the students in practice. Some people sharing the same social background, do not like ?outsiders? (other social groups as well as foreigners) using their slang as it gives the impression that the user is part of the ?group ?and can cause unnecessary offense. When teaching slang, remember it is a fashionable type of colloquial language and a large amount of slang in current use won?t be in use by the time a student visits an english-speaking country. Concentrate on the slang words that survive but can be considered ?taboo? by native speakers, not to be spoken or only spoken by certain ?types? of people. I believe that teaching idioms and slang is important knowledge for the students to have for understanding how native speakers use the language. *Here are only a few: ?101 American english Idioms? by Harry Collis (which includes an audio cd), ?A Dictionary of American Idioms? by Adam Makki, M.T. Boatner, J.E. Gates; ?Collins Cobuild Idioms? workbook and there is also a dictionary (University of Birmingham); ?Word book of australian Idioms: aussie Slang? by Kerrin P Rowe; a free online dictionary that has an idiom section that includes english, australian and American idioms www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com and www.idiomsite.com ; for slang used in most english-speaking countries use www.urbandictionary.com