Naslov
The Effects of Informal Learning on the Acquisition of English Idioms: The Case of Croatian University Students

Autori
Proroković, Jakov ; Balenović, Katica

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, ostalo, znanstveni

Skup
36. međunarodna konferencija HDPL-a: STANDARDNI I NESTANDARDNI IDIOMI

Mjesto i datum
Osijek, Hrvatska, 09.06.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
English idioms, informal learning, EFL learners

Sažetak
English idioms as a linguistic phenomena have been studied extensively across various cultures and languages, with numerous research focusing on different modes of teaching and their effectiveness (see Chen & Lai, 2013 ; Zarei & Shahidi Pour, 2013 ; Abolfazli Khonbi et al., 2017 etc.). In our research, we focus more on informal learning, operating under the assumption that idioms’ relatedness to lexicon makes the acquisition of idioms less associated with formal EFL teaching, which tends to primarily focus on teaching grammar. The study was conducted on the students of education studies (N=88) (at the Department of Preschool and Teacher Education in Zadar, Croatia), and it incorporated a brief questionnaire regarding their habits when it comes to watching films, playing videogames, the use of social media etc., as well as a test containing 60 multiple-choice questions with examples of various English idioms. Inspired by the classification of idioms based on their link with a particular theme or a subject outlined in The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms (Siefring, 2005: 323-340), we divided the idioms into 4 thematic units (education-related idioms, violence-related idioms, relationships and romance-related idioms and technology-related idioms). The test included education-related idioms due to students' academic and professional interests, while the other categories were posited because of their assumed omnipresence in both popular culture and media. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the best predictor for the knowledge of English idioms is the frequency of listening to English and American music, while other significant predictors were the frequency of watching Youtube videos with foreign content, the frequency of playing videogames, the grades achieved in English language-teaching classes throughout high school and the scores on the English-language tests administered at the end of the first semester at the university ; the total predictive value of the examined variables was surprisingly high (R2=0.612). Aside from discussing the implications of these results, the paper also reflects upon the fact that the frequency of watching English and American movies/tv-shows turned out to be a negative predictor despite the positive correlation with the overall results on the test, as well as on the fact that the frequency of using social networks had no impact on the acquisition of English idioms whatsoever.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija, Interdisciplinarne humanističke znanosti

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