A study on idiomatic expressions containing
words denoting food and drink in English and
their Vietnamese equivalents from Cultural
Perspective
i hc Ngoi ng
Lu English Linguistics: 60 22 15
ng dn: Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thom
o v: 2013 Keywords: Ting Anh; hi chiu; Ting Vit;
Content
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale to the study
Mastering a foreign language is a strong desire of all learners. However, it is not an easy
task because of many obstacles that learners face during their learning. Moreover, their final
target of learning a foreign language is the ability to communicate. A successful communication
can only be reached when both the speakers and the listeners have a common understanding of
each other. However, the differences in many aspects of the languages and cultures cause various
problems for learners in the process of mastering a foreign language.
One of the most effective and colourful ways to transfer culture is the use of idioms.
1. What syntactic and semantic features are reflected in the food and drink idioms in both
English and Vietnamese?
2. What are the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and English cultures
through idioms related to food and drink? What factors lead to such differences?
3. Objectives of the research
My study is carried out with the aim to help Vietnamese learners have a better
understanding of English and Vietnamese idioms related to food and drink, which would
encourage them to use idioms more confidently not only in receptive skills like listening and
reading but also on productive skills like speaking and writing and avoid communication
breakdown.
4. Scope of the research
I have found idioms such an interesting English aspect that I decide to choose them as my
thesis topic. However, due to the limited time and knowledge, I just focus on a small part of
English idioms, “A study on idiomatic expressions containing words denoting food and drink in
English and their Vietnamese equivalents from Cultural Perspective”. idioms
containing food and drink“idioms of food and drink” for short.
Food and drink play a very important role in many cultures including English culture and
Vietnamese culture. Idioms containing food and drink account for a considerable large portion of
idioms in English as well as in Vietnamese, between which there are some outstanding
similarities and differences. A comparison between them can help Vietnamese teachers as well
as learners deal with idioms much more easily. For this reason, this paper aims at analyzing the
similarities and differences of idioms containing food and drink in English and Vietnamese from
cultural perspectives. On this basis, it also offers some educational implications for English
teachers and learners to make their teaching and learning idioms more effective.
5. Methods of the study
The study utilizes descriptive and comparative methods combined with the qualitative
and quantitative ones.
In reference with quantitative method, the study has collected data for the study including
both English and Vietnamese idioms containing food and drink from various reliable sources
(referent books, stories, novels, dictionaries and Internet websites).
Chapter III: Methodology and procedure
Chapter IV: Findings and discussion as well as some implications for teaching and
learning
The last part is the Conclusion of the study and suggestions for further studies.
The References and Appendixes are at the end of the thesis.
REFERENCES
ENGLISH
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