Comparative analysis of idiom selection and sequencing 5 in Estonian basic school EFL coursebooks
Abstract
The article investigates the selection and sequencing of the idioms encountered in two locally-produced and international coursebook series currently employed in Estonian basic schools. It is hypothesized that there exists a positive correlation between idioms’ difficulty and coursebooks’ language proficiency level. The hypothesis is tested through a statistical analysis of the idioms found which are categorized in terms of their analysability into three categories where category 1 includes analysable semi-literal idioms, category 2 comprises analysable semi-transparent idioms, and category 3 encompasses non-analysable opaque idioms, and then analysed through an online language corpus (British National Corpus). The results of the study reveal that the coursebook authors under discussion have disregarded idioms’ frequency as a criterion for selection or sequencing, whereas the factor utilized to some extent is the degree of analysability.
"Idioomide esitamisjärjestuse ja valikukriteeriumide võrdlev analüüs Eesti põhikoolides kasutatavates inglise keele õppekomplektides"
Artikkel analüüsib võrdlevalt idioomide valikut ja esitamisjärjestust Eesti põhikoolides kasutatavates inglise keele õppekomplektides “I Love English” ja “Upstream”. Uurimuse käigus püstitatakse hüpotees, et idioomide keerukusastme tõusu ja õppekomplektide keeleoskustaseme vahel eksisteerib statistiliselt oluline seos. Lähtudes eelnevatest idioomide tüpoloogiatest (Grant, Bauer 2004, Nunberg jt 1994) jaotatakse idioomid antud uurimuses kolme kategooriasse oma keerukusastme poolest: läbipaistvad otsetähenduses keelenditega idioomid, läbipaistvad otsetähenduses keelenditeta idioomid ja läbipaistmatud idioomid. Idioomide osakaalu muutumist õpikuseeriates uuritakse korrelatsioonikoefitsiendi abil BNC segakorpuse põhjal. Õpikutes kasutatud idioomide esinemissagedust vaadeldakse eraldi.
Uurimusest selgub, et läbipaistvad otsetähenduses keelenditega idioomid ja läbipaistvad otsetähenduses keelenditeta idioomid korreleeruvad tugevasti õpikute keeleoskustasemega, kuigi läbipaistmatute idioomide korrelatsioon on minimaalne. Võib täheldada, et ehkki mõlema õpikuseeria autorid on arvestanud idioomide keerukusastet ja esitamisjärjestust õpikute koostamisel, on idioomide valik neis puudulik. Samuti pole antud õpikutes kasutatud idioomide esinemissagedust kõnes ja kirjas nende valiku- ega esitamisjärjestuse kriteeriumina.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa13.01
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Copyright (c) 2017 Rita Anita Forssten, Liljana Skopinskaja, Suliko Liiv
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ISSN 1736-2563 (print)
ISSN 2228-0677 (online)
DOI 10.5128/ERYa.1736-2563