Teach English in Huangmeixiannong Kesuo - Huanggang Shi

These days, foreign language teaching involves active interaction with the target language culture loaded with nonstandard English, e.g., slang and idioms, without which English learners are not fully capable of mastering the language and achieving mutual understanding with native speakers. Thus, the use of idioms and slang has a great influence in the teaching and learning process of a foreign language, because it could be one of the ways to give students better conditions to enhance communicative skills on a daily basis and help further develop fluency and fully comprehend the target language. English is a language extraordinarily rich in slang and idioms - those modes of expression peculiar to a language (or dialect) which usually defy logical and grammatical rules. Without idioms and slang, English would lose much of its variety and humor both in speech and writing. Simply put, knowledge of slang and idioms is highly vital for non-native speakers’ understanding of the language that native speakers use in day to day life, as they always appear in conversation, print (magazines and newspapers) and media(films, songs, radio and television). Moreover, idioms and slang add confusion and difficulty to learning of language, so the complexity of this area is another reason why teachers should familiarize students with this type of language. Idioms in English are sets of words that have particular meanings, draw out the essence of the English culture. These word chunks or expressions are figurative in nature, the meaning of which cannot be deduced from literal definitions of words. Spontaneously used by native language speakers, these idiomatic expressions bring out the unique flavour to the English language. It is quite natural and common that non-native speakers find idioms tough to instantly comprehend since they do not know what the image of the idiomatic expression is based on. For instance, If a non-native speaker is unfamiliar with the idiom "show you the ropes" and comes across such an expression, he or she will find it difficult to immediately understand. what is more, they will find it difficult to know that this expression proposes to teach one how a particular job is done. If these non-native speakers were told that such an idiomatic expression is used in a sailing context in which experienced sailors teach a novice how to deal with the ropes on a boat, this may assist them to understand and realize its meaning. Consequently, realizing the image that the idiom is based on and the origin of the idiom could help in resolving the figurative meaning of that specific idiom. Slang is here to stay and unavoidable, no matter what you are learning, and it is becoming more typical and common with the advent of the social media platforms , such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. According to the Longman dictionary, slang is “a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.” Slang is just one of those aspects of language which is not frequently taught in the classroom but is an essential part of becoming proficient in any language. Even countries which speak the same language, such as Britain and the U.S., have huge slang contrasts, and understanding what your counterparts are attempting to convey is highly fundamental to quick and efficient communication as well as a way to build up a stronger cultural and social bond. For instance, the American slang “for the birds”. In the US, if someone says that something is for the birds, it means that it is trivial or not worth thinking about. however, In the UK, “bird” is slang for a young woman. So, in the UK, if you said that something was “for the birds”, people would think you were trying to say it was only for young women. In fact, American often say “chick” to mean a young woman. Additionally, Americans usually say that they are “pissed”, meaning that they are angry or bored. British people also use the phrase “pissed off”, which means the same thing. However, when someone from the UK says that someone is pissed (not “pissed off”), it actually means they are drunk. In conclusion, slang and idioms should not be neglected and taken for granted in ESL classrooms since they are used daily and continuously by native speakers of English language, and also they are an essential part of every language and learners should be taught whether implicitly or explicitly both the meaning of slang and idioms and how to use them so as to communicate well without any confusion or hesitation on daily basis.