‘Avoiding Idioms’ EAL Strategy: Explanation and Rationale

Here are five idioms:

• It’s raining cats and dogs.
• He’s a man of the cloth.
• She’s got a hat-trick!
• Don’t sail close to the wind.
• They really saved my bacon.

And here are literal translations of these:

• Cats and dogs are falling to earth from out of the clouds.
• He is either made of cloth, or he works in the textile industry, perhaps selling cloth.
• She has a trick of some sort involving a hat.
• If you are in a boat, avoid getting close to the wind. This would seem to be very difficult. You would need to know where all the wind was in advance. It also means you can only sail in a boat that has a motor or is propelled by oars. Also, how do you get ‘close’ to wind?
• The person had some bacon which was in danger and these other people saved it. Quite what endangered the bacon is not made clear.

It’s best to avoid idioms when working with EAL learners.

(This becomes less relevant when EAL learners are advanced speakers of English, but even here they may need idioms explained to them due to lack of prior exposure.)

They are confusing.

They are illogical. Invariably, there is no obvious connection between the words that go to make up the idiom and the meaning the idiom possesses.

There are idiom dictionaries available that explain the historical origins of these types of phrases.

When native English speakers learn them, it is usually through hearing them used in context.

It may take many hearings before the speaker understands what the meaning is and can use the idiom correctly.

It is likely that at no point will they be made aware of the actual origin of the phrase.

Their knowledge of it will be through experience of its use and therefore of its meaning.

EAL learners, once they have developed a good degree of fluency in English, will almost certainly learn some or many idioms.

They are not exclusively for native speakers. Not by any means.

No matter where your EAL learners are at on the continuum though, it is better to avoid using idioms where possible.

They have the potential to confuse, placing learners on the back foot (idiom) and opening up a can of worms (idiom).

Dodge the bullet (idiom) and avoid your lessons going pear-shaped (you get the idea).

Try not to use idioms.

If you do find yourself using idioms, take it as an opportunity to explain to your EAL learners what these phrases mean. You could even Google their origin together.

But, generally, try to avoid them.

Clear as mud, eh?