Enhancing EFL Students’ Idiomatic Competence: A Comparative Analysis of Lexical, Etymological, and Multimodal Approaches
Abstract
Background: Given the importance of idiomatic expressions in second language learning on one hand and their complex lexical, syntactic, and semantic characteristics on the other hand, previous studies have proposed numerous instructional models for teaching idioms. However, despite the various instructional approaches available, there is a research gap comparing their effectiveness in enhancing idiomatic competence, which causes inconsistencies in teaching practices and underscores the need to identify the most effective methods for improving idiomatic competence.
Purpose: To examine and compare the impact of three approaches (Lexical, Etymological, and Multimodal) on enhancing EFL students’ acquisition of idiomatic expressions and developing their overall idiomatic competence.
Method: The study used a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test research design with three intact classes. Three groups of EFL students (n=66) were taught idiomatic expressions using different instructional approaches to compare their effectiveness. The first group (23 students) learned idioms through the Lexical Approach, the second group (22 students) through the Etymological Approach, and the third group (21 students) through the Multimodal Approach. Pre- and post-tests were administered to the three groups, and their scores were analyzed using a mixed model ANOVA to determine significant differences in within-subjects effects (changes in idiomatic competence over time) and between-subjects effects (differences among the instructional approaches: Lexical, Etymological, and Multimodal).
Results: The results demonstrated that there were statistically significant differences between the three approaches (Lexical, Etymological, & Multimodal) in terms of their effects on enhancing L2 learners’ idiomatic competence. It was found that Multimodal group outperformed Lexical and Etymological groups significantly. No significant difference was found between Lexical and Etymological groups. This study suggests that the Multimodal Approach is highly effective for idiomatic competence development.
Conclusion: The study concluded that EFL teachers, curriculum developers, textbook designers, and researchers could implement the potentials of the Multimodal Approach to create more effective, interactive, and authentic environments for learning idiomatic expressions. Practical implications and further research recommendations were also suggested.
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References
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