A comparative evaluation of idioms in Russian-authored English language textbooks and idioms extracted from current authentic sources

Abstract

Many English language teaching (ELT) textbooks contain material that may not reflect native speaker usage. This is particularly true of less frequently used vocabulary such as idioms. The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate the selection of idioms in ELT textbooks published in Russia and used in Russian higher education institutions. Additionally, the paper examines a number of related issues surrounding ELT material development practices and language authenticity as well as idiom definition and usage. Regarding the question of idiom definition, the paper looks at the most commonly used terminology referring to idioms and related items (phrasemes, lexical bundles, etc.). A special focus is placed on such criteria of idiom definition as figurativeness, semantic transparency and opacity, and compositional invari-ance. Based on these criteria, the paper also explains why some categories of frequently recurrent and/or figurative language chunks remained outside the scope of the study. A major focal point of the study is the category of proverbs and sayings, which in the paper are placed under the umbrella of idioms. Due to their particularly low frequency of occurrence in authentic English language corpora revealed during the course of the study, the paper questions the viability of extensive coverage of proverbs and sayings in ELT materials. Driven mostly by pedagogical considerations, the paper provides a general overview of the idiom component in ELT textbooks. Examples of specific ELT contexts currently faced with the issue of textbook inauthenticity are given. In addition, the paper presents a brief historical account of ELT practices in Russia and links them to the issue of linguistic inauthenticity of some Russian-authored ELT materials. Highlighting the need to address concerns relating to textbook inauthenticity, the paper presents major advantages of relying on authentic sources in selecting idiomatic items to be taught to language learners. Specifically, the findings of the study empirically demonstrate that a bank of idioms compiled based on a random selection of contemporary authentic materials is likely to include more or less commonly used items that are present and explained in popular learner's dictionaries, feature adequate frequency in comprehensive authentic English language corpora and may therefore be safely included in syllabi. In the course of the study, idioms from three Russian-authored ELT textbooks (Corpus 1) were compared to idioms derived from contemporary authentic spoken texts featuring spontaneous, semi-spontaneous and prepared speech by native British and North American speakers (Corpus 2). The frequency of the idioms in the two corpora was then compared to the frequency of the same idioms in the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Idioms from Corpus 1 occurred with a considerably lower frequency than those in Corpus 2 in both the BNC and COCA. The results of the study indicate that many idioms in the Russian textbooks do not reflect authentic native speaker use. Since this problem may be widespread wherever ELT materials are developed without native speaker input, textbook writers and teachers should therefore consider carefully what idioms they include in their material, and, when possible, make greater use of authentic data.