"If an expression is thought to be non-compositional, it is believed that its meaning cannot be inferred by simply adding up the semantics of its constituents. As a result, the meaning of idioms appears to be quite arbitrary" (Boers, 2007)
Over the years people have based their ideas about the process of learning a foreign language on the idea that the process is very similar to learning their native language. "It is true that there are similarities, but what a high school student attempts to accomplish in a 36-week time period for 50 minutes a day is extremely different from what a child surrounded by, his native language every minute experiences"(Folse, 2004)
This interest is thought to be well founded since both American and British English contain many thousands of formulaic phrases and expressions that people must learn. "Given the fact that language production relies heavily on an ability to string together prefabricated, memorized multi-word expressions, that is, whole phrases which are stored in memory, and retrieved from it, as unbroken-up chunks, people are not considered competent speakers of the target language until they master the various cliched, idiomatic expressions that are ubiquitous in everyday discourse" (Guo, 2009)
It should never be considered as individual elements. Idioms are often referred to as fixed expressions because of the fact that they need to be looked at as a group, because in many cases users can not make linguistic changes such as adding or dropping words, replacing a word with another, or changing the order of words without changing the meaning completely (Mahmoud, 2002)
The reaction on the part of the community of language researchers has ranged between the grudging acceptance that some multiple word collocation do exist in the lexicon, and the lexicon re-conceptualized as incorporating elements from all levels of linguistic structure. "According to this second view idiomatic expressions represent one end of a continuum which places highly analyzable and semantically decomposable utterances at one end, and highly specified, semantically opaque idioms at the other" (Sanford, 2008)
This then forces teachers to make up their own exercises or lessons in order to put the teaching of fixed expressions into their curriculum. The cognitive approach to language learning often provides very useful aspects and implications on how to organize idiom learning into a classroom setting (Sportwissenschaftler, Steines, and Goertz, 2006)
Now, for a concrete example that you as students should be able to understand and appreciate. Sociolinguistics has profound implications for teaching and has played a huge role in understanding the poor educational performance of lower-class inner-city children (Labov, 1972)
This is unfortunate because sociolinguistics is a very exciting discipline that studies the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. Sociolinguists are interested in the social implications of the use and reception of language (Shuy, 1969)
Sociolinguistics is important because language is so important. We use language almost every minute to send vital social messages about who we are, where we come from, and who we associate with (Wolfram)
On the other hand, men are generally more domineering and assertive. These general distinctions have, however, become more varied in the modern world because of overall acceptance and greater comfort towards displays of non-gender-typical body language in situations (Amos)
These general distinctions have, however, become more varied in the modern world because of overall acceptance and greater comfort towards displays of non-gender-typical body language in situations (Amos). The differences in the way men and women communicate have evolved as a myth passed through the ages and cultures (Cameron 2007)
Men and women use language differently (Westin, Westin). Data Experience provides evidence that women and men do not speak alike in many communities (Marlow 2013)
These claims, however, have been discredited as largely built on myths rather than facts (Cameron). A study used 9,280 utterances from 6 English and 8 Persian film scripts from two libraries at the University of Shiraz to determine the differences between the genders' use of intensifiers, hedges and tag questions (Nemati & Bayer 2007)
Those who do are judged not in the same way as men are treated and judged. Women who change are judged harshly as unlady-like, rude or bitchy invaders (Tannen)
The results showed no significant difference between the sexes in the use of hedges or intensifiers (Nemati & Bayer). An undergraduate dissertation explored the use of gendered language by drag kings and queens and the translation of their language from spoken English to German subtitles (Voegeli 2005)
Genders and Linguistics Many studies have been conducted on the different ways that men and women use language (Westin 2013, Westin 2013)
English also has a well-articulated syntactic system of modification which assist in creating a specificity of identification beyond the addition of definite articles. Nouns can be modified with adjectives (usually preceding the noun in question) and by other nouns, which are placed in relation to the subject or object noun in question (El-Shiek 1977)
several) descriptors or, less commonly, through the use of numbered prefixes, such as the is found in biannual, monotone, etc. English also does not have a prefixal definite article as is seen in Arabic, an observation made in a case study of the use of repetition in Arabic-English translations due to the differing linguistic conventions pertaining to the morphology of the two languages (Shunnaq 1993)
Contrastly, the -- iyya suffix fulfills the same functions but with the overt feminine indicator in tact. Not all Arabic adjectives bear the nisba suffix, but it is commonplace for it to be used when there is to be a sequence of noun-adjective or noun-noun or noun-adjective (Stetkevych 1970 26)
curricula/curriculum, policeman/policemen, mouse/mice). English, due to its many areas of influence and rapidly expanding lexicon, is a highly semantic language, meaning that there are a great many specific, contextualized noun classes (Quirk 1985)