Explicit vs. Contrastive-based Instruction of Formulaic Expressions in Developing EFL Learners’ Reading Ability

Explicit vs. Contrastive-based Instruction of Formulaic Expressions in Developing EFL Learners’ Reading Ability

Gholam-Reza Abbasian[1]

 Imam Ali University & IAU

Sayyed Jalil Ehsanian

 Ministry of Education

 

As an integrative component of textual structure, formulaic expressions (FEs) play a key role in communicating the message and comprehending the text. Furthermore, interlingually contrastive features of FEs add to their both significance and complexity of their instruction. Given these facts, this study was an attempt to explore a sound mechanism on how to teach FEs; whether an explicit or CA-based approach to FEs instruction could entail various achievements among EFL learners’ reading ability. To this end, three groups of Iranian EFL learners, identified as homogeneous based on Nelson Proficiency Test, were classified into one control and two experimental (i.e. explicit and CA-based instruction) ones. They were exposed to conventional, explicit and CA-based instructions of a set of selected FEs developed into and presented in the form of an instructional handout. Their Knowledge of reading was also tested based on a researcher-made diagnostic test prior to the experiment. Both quantitative and qualitative paradigms were employed to measure both the achievements and the extent of contrast between Persian and English languages in terms of FEs. The former analysis revealed significance difference among the groups in terms of instruction type effectiveness; both explicit and CA-based instruction groups outperformed the control group; on the contrary, no statistically significant difference was revealed between the experimental groups. Additionally, the latter paradigm revealed differences and mismatches between Persian and English FEs in terms of semantic, syntactic and pragmatic parameters. The findings could be insightful for EFL instructors, learners, textbook writers, and syllabus designers to take into account issues like these in their pedagogical programs.

Keywords: Formulaic Expressions, Explicit Instruction, CA-based Instruction, Reading Ability

Different approaches, strategies, and skills have been suggested as to mastering reading skill. Lying on a continuum of instructions, they range from rendering a large portion of vocabulary, exploiting, “previewing and reading for main idea”, (Sharpe, 1989, p. 262), intensive and extensive reading skills (Chastain, 1988; Richards and Renandya, 2002), provision of pre-reading, schema-building tasks to predicting, skimming, and scanning strategies (Nunan, 2001). Besides, readers themselves may rely on various personal approaches such as bottom-up, text dependence, top-down approach, or schema dependence one to perceive and comprehend written passages (Nunan, 2001).  From all these explicit-type instructions, it is inferred that teachers can help learners improve their reading comprehension ability and, consequently, develop themselves in learning a second or foreign language (SL/FL) (Richards & Platt, 1992).      Researches adopt the effectiveness of explicit instruction in TESL/ TEFL. In this respect, Karen, et al. (2007) suggest that “the explicit instruction is significantly better than the implicit (instruction) for the complex rule” (p.1), and it may lead to a long term effect for learners (Tode, 2007). It helps learners to perceive new items consciously and this conscious awareness, consequently, assists and notifies learners to take the square and produce accurate pieces of language (Richard and Schmidt, 2010).

Explicit type of instruction may take variety of forms. Among them Contrastive Analysis (CA) oriented approach, though may be charged for being traditional in essence, has proved pedagogically significant in certain areas. CA aims at juxtaposing two language systems to compare and contrast the extent of similarities and differences between them , claiming that it can predict the problematic issues the learner encounters while learning a SL/FL, and thereby most appropriate materials for teaching SL/FL can be developed (Keshavarz, 2008; Ziahosseiny, 2008).

Further to the mechanism of developing reading, subject of instruction being either language skills or components is of crucial importance. For example, formulaic language as an innovative domain in TEFL and TESL has been subject to research in the last decade. Wray (2002) emphasizes the importance of the formulaic language and the lexicon in speakers’ production and mentions that some formulaic sequences of language are present in normal conversations. Wood (2010) asserts a large portion of communicative acts deals with prefabricated chunks. These items are acquired and stored in long term memories. In addition, learners can retrieve these packages of chunks autonomously. Some others (Bulter, 2006; Charles, et al., 2009; Mey, 2009; Wray, 2008) discuss different advantages of formulaic language in a variety of perspectives. They assert that formulaic language helps learners reduce the processing load.

Studies on formulaic language (Birkenstein, et al., 2008; Hackson and Fernandez, 2008; Hall, 2009; Van Lancker & Rallon, 2004; Sadeghi,2009; Wray, 2008) confirm the importance of teaching formulaic expressions and show that a great extent of any language consists of fixed or semi-fixed chunks and language packages. These chunks need to be fully taken into account since these pre-fabricated items let learners store language economically and develop autonomy in production.

The remaining controversial issue is the way formulaic expressions could be effectively rendered in pedagogical situations. Variety of solutions including form-focused, meaning focused, explicit, implicit, contrastive analysis (CA-based) and the like has been experienced in the literature. Among many, CA-based and explicit instructions seem worthwhile to be investigated.     

CA-based vs. Explicit Instructions

The main task of CA is to compare and contrast two languages to explore the rate of similarities and differences in terms of phoneme, morpheme, syntax, semantics, etc.   Consequently, after studying the corpus, the findings are employed in pedagogical materials. The product of these processes shows that CA, in spite of its limitations in some cases, appears to be a significant tool for EFL learners to improve their learning career (Keshavaz, 2008; Yang, 1986; Ziahosseiny, 2008). Proponents of CAH state: “The main purpose of CA is to give a description of differences between languages to establish a linguistically motivated hierarchy of differences” (Ziahosseiny, 2008, p.  2). The modified version of CA, that is, Error Analysis (EA), still seems popular and dominant in pedagogy and serves as “the primary means of conducting research into L2 acquisition” (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2009, p. 52).

Yang (1986) states that in spite of some drawbacks of the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH), it can be an effective tool for “teachers to gain useful insight to find out their students’ problems and students to better realize that their native language habits can be transferred to the new language system” (p.3).

CA claimed that learners transferred forms and meanings of their L1 while learning a foreign or second language. Lado (1957, p. 2 cited in Keshavarz, 2008, p. 5) states: “Individuals tend to transfer the forms and meanings, and distribution of the forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture, both productively when attempting to grasp and understand the language … as practiced by natives.” He maintains that “based on this assumption ( as mentioned above), Structural linguists set out to identify areas of difficulty for second language learners and produce appropriate teaching materials to overcome these difficulties.” (ibid). Citing from Fries (1947, p. 9), Keshavarz (2008, p.6) suggests that “the most effective materials (for foreign language teaching) are those that are (designed) based upon a scientific description of the language to be learned, carefully compared with parallel description of the native language of the learner.”  CA can help material developers to design appropriate materials, aids the learners to understand and learn how L1 differs from L2, assists the teacher to better understand weaknesses and strengths the learner may have while learning a second or foreign language (Corder, 1986; Ellis, 2009).

On the other side of the coin, we face explicit instruction. Semantically speaking, explicit means something clear-cut and direct which refers to visible and definite issues. But educationally speaking, the learner is most probably able to access, focus, understand and perceive the [target learning] points (Oxford, 2004; Richards and Schmidt, 2002). Moreover, instruction refers to pedagogical processes of any educational institution.  It refers to a set of activities on the part of instructors and learners for fulfilling and approaching the pre-specified objectives (Richards and Schmidt, 2010). Instruction can also refer to “formal teaching that you are given in a particular skill or subject” (Longman, 2003, p. 844). Combining the two notions, Richards and Schmidt (2010) characterise explicit instruction as an approach which:

• clearly describes the goals of learning in terms of observable behaviour;
• describes the conditions under which the behaviour will be expected to occur; and
• States an acceptable standard of performance (the criterion). For example, one of the behavioural objectives for a conversation course might be: Given an oral request, the learner will say his or her name, address and telephone number to a native speaker of English.”(p.51)

Obviously, instructional mechanism should be compatible with the content or target of the instruction. So, necessity of awareness of the nature of formulaic expressions and respective research trend would be illuminating in the process of conducting this study.

 

 

Formulaic Expressions (FEs)

Sequences of words, phrases, or sentences such as ‘on time’, ‘make a mistake’, ‘look up’, ‘how do you do’, see you later’, etc. are called FEs (Wray,2002). As an umbrella term, “FE  includes these terms: idioms, collocations, preferred ways of saying things, routines, set phrases, rhymes and songs, prayers and proverbs” (Gardiff University, 2011, p.1), which cover a large portion of any language in the form of fabricated chunks.

Researchers believe that “these sequences of words are stored and retrieved as a unit from memory” (Richards and Schmidt, 2010, p. 229). These chunks (i.e. linguistic packages) are significant because they assist learners to develop their fluency and productivity (Hall, 2007, p.1). According to Istvan (2006, p.1) “Nonnative learners find learning FEs problematic since they may not know the conventions of the expressions.”  EFL learners may commit syntactic and semantic errors due to collocation discrepancies between the L1 and L2. Van Lancker & Rallon   (2004) conclude that FEs make up nearly 25% of the phrases in any language. Ellis (2005) found that native speakers used a very large range of FEs. Then, he claimed that language learners needed a significant portion of such expressions for developing their fluency.  Importantly, learners can achieve skill and fluency in language learning by using chunks or fixed sequences. In fact, formulae assist learners to produce spontaneous speech. Therefore, the researchers assumed that the inclusion of formulaic language in EFL educational programs could probably be beneficial and effective in developing learners’ reading comprehension ability. They assert that teaching and learning lexical chunks, collocations, idioms (i.e. FEs) should be taken into account in classroom practices for many advantageous, influences, and functions such as:

• “Conserving processing resources, enhancing both fluency and idiomatically” (Richards and Schmidt, 2010, p. 229).
• “Providing learners with connotational meaning besides dictionary meaning” (Lee, 2008).
• “Reminding the teacher and the learner to look up equivalent or semi-equivalent items in his or her own native language rather than to rely on the loan translation” ( Hackson and Fernandez, 2008, p. 57).
• “Helping the learner to store the string of lexical and chunk items in the mental lexicon as a single unit and retrieve them as a whole, too (Wray, 2002; cited in Hackson and Fernandez, 2008, p.2).
• “Helping the learner to develop productivity” (Hall, 2007, p.1).
• “Being the heart and soul of native-like use” (Wray, 2002, p.5).
• Teaching FEs develop fluent speakers, writers or learners. The inclusion of formulaic language provides learners with an opportunity to improve their own language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Birkenstein, 2008; Hackson and Fernandez, 2008; Hall, 2007; Layboutt,2009; Sefidvand and Vahdani, 2011; Wray, 2008).

In addition to the targeted mechanisms (i.e., CA- and FE-based instructions), reading skill as the target skill being developed in light of these mechanisms, has been subject to extensive research as well. Nunan (2001) found that “background knowledge was a more important factor than grammatical complexity in the ability of readers to comprehend cohesive relationships in the text” (p.260). His finding is compatible with the schema theory as well. Richards and Renandya (2002) have focussed on incorporation of extensive reading as a developmental tool.

Favouring the role of culture in developing reading skill, Chastain (1988) suggests that “a significant factor affecting comprehensibility in language classes is the lack of familiarity students may have with the foreign culture” (p. 233). Furthermore, lots of studies have been done on how to teach reading skill; all emanating from the significance of reading ability.  

Contrary to the significance of the formulaic expressions in language skill acquisition, what seems rather crucial is the way they can be rendered explicitly or contrastively. Since this area has not been thoroughly investigated in the literature and almost all EFL learners find formulae expressions difficult to internalize, the present paper sets out to investigate the impact of such expressions on EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability.

In this very line and to address the problem stated empirically, four research questions were formulated as follows:

1. Does explicit instruction of FEs have any significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension?

2. Does contrastive instruction of FEs have any significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension?

3. Are there any significant differences between explicit and contrastive instructions of FEs in developing EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability?

4. To what extent are English and Persian different in terms of FEs?

Method

Participants

Seventy four Iranian senior high school male EFL learners participated in the study. They were divided into one control group (n=22) and two experimental groups (i.e. Explicit Instruction Group (n=27) and CA Instruction Group (n=25).

Instrumentation

To conduct this study, the researchers employed the following multiple instruments and mechanisms:

Researcher-made Handouts of  Explicit and Contrastive Types: Explicit and contrastive handouts had been planned before the experiment started. Whereas the explicit type handout was a collection of formulaic expressions extracted from the participants’ textbooks without any Persian equivalence, the CA-based type included the Persian equivalence of the FEs.

Tests

• Nelson Reading Proficiency Test was administered to select three homogenous groups of participants.
• Researcher-made pre-test of reading ability was developed and administered to measure the reading achievement of the participants prior to the treatment.
• Researcher-made post-test of reading ability, parallel to the pre-test, was designed and administered to probe the extent of effectiveness of the instructions.

 Procedures

In order to conduct the experiment, the following steps were followed: First, Sampling was carried out by administering Nelson Proficiency Test and selecting homogeneous groups of participants. Second, the Researcher-made pre-test was administered in order to diagnose the participants’ current mastery of reading comprehension ability on the related textbook. Then, Treatment was launched targeting three groups of the participants classified into one control group receiving conventional instruction and two experimental groups one of which received explicit instruction and the other received contrastive instruction of FEs.To implement the treatment, the pre- planned handout of explicit instruction of FEs was distributed among the explicit instruction group. Besides their common instruction of reading, the participants received explicit instruction of the formulaic expressions for five weeks, twice a week. For example:

Teacher: When you get completely confused, it means you get mixed …..

 Class: Mixed up

Meanwhile, every session, the errors were used to be recorded and collected for further analysis in an answer to research question   No. 4.

-The pre-planned handout of contrastive instruction of formulaic expressions was distributed and taught among the group of contrastive instruction of FEs for five weeks, twice a week.

 For example:

Teacher: If you practice some words over and over, they will stick in your mind. In Persian, you say that they will …………

 

 Students: ملکه ذهن میشود            [malak-e zehn mishavad]

 

Finally, Researcher-made post-test was administered following a five-week instruction carried out in 10 sessions to probe the extent of the effectiveness of the instructions.

Results

Overview

The statistical analyses took the advantages of both quantitative and qualitative research methods depending on the variable and research question types. Correlation coefficients estimation, ANOVA, Shefee test, and frequency analysis were the main procedures of data analysis.

Preliminary Analyses

In order to run any parametric test, four assumptions of independence, interval data, normality and homogeneity of variances should be met (Field, 2009). The first two assumptions of independence and interval data do not have any statistical test. The researcher should confirm that none of the subjects participates in more than one group and the dependent variables are measured on an interval scale. However, the latter two assumptions – normality and homogeneity of variances - require statistical test.

To investigate the normality of the data, the ratio of the skewedness over their respective standard errors should be within the ranges of +/- 1.96. As displayed in Table 1, the ratios of the skewedness and kurtosis over their respective standard errors are all within the above mentioned range (i.e. the present data enjoy normal distribution on all tests).

 

 

Table 1

Normality Test

GROUP		N	Skewness		Normality	Kurtosis		Normality
					Of			Of
		Statistic	Statistic	Std. Error	Skewness	Statistic	Std. Error	Kurtosis
CONTROL	PRETEST	22	-0.35	0.49	-0.71	-0.75	0.95	-0.79
	POSTTEST	22	0.46	0.49	0.95	-0.48	0.95	-0.50
	NELSON	22	-0.09	0.49	-0.19	-1.32	0.95	-1.39
CIFEs*	PRETEST	25	-0.39	0.46	-0.84	-0.45	0.90	-0.50
	POSTTEST	25	-0.15	0.46	-0.32	-1.45	0.90	-1.60
	NELSON	25	-0.03	0.46	-0.05	-0.99	0.90	-1.10
EIFEs**	PRETEST	27	-0.55	0.45	-1.23	-1.02	0.87	-1.17
	POSTTEST	27	-0.59	0.45	-1.33	-0.70	0.87	-0.81
	NELSON	27	-0.41	0.45	-0.91	-0.03	0.87	-0.03

Note: * means Contrastive Instruction of Formulaic Expressions;

     **stands for Explicit Instruction of Formulaic Expressions

The assumption of homogeneity of variances is discussed when reporting one-way ANOVA results, although in case this assumption is violated, one can reduce the significance level to .01 to compensate for the violation.

NELSON Test

A one-way ANOVA was run to compare the mean scores of the three groups (i.e. control, explicit instruction of FEs and contrastive instruction of FEs) on the NELSON test in order to find out whether the groups were homogeneous. As displayed in Table 2, the mean scores for the control, EIFEs and CIFEs are 37.68, 43.28 and 41.19, respectively.

 

 

 

Table 2

Descriptive Statistics for NELSON

		N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error	95% Confidence Interval for Mean		Min.	Max.
						Lower Bound	Upper Bound
NELSON	CONTROL	22	37.68	6.00	1.28	35.02	40.34	28.00	46.00
	CIFE	25	43.28	13.06	2.61	37.89	48.67	18.00	62.00
	EIFE	27	41.19	10.14	1.95	37.17	45.20	16.00	56.00
	Total	74	40.85	10.40	1.21	38.44	43.26	16.00	62.00

 

As displayed in Table 3, the assumption of homogeneity of variances is not met (Levene’s F = 6.68, P = .002 < .05). To compensate for the violation of the assumption of homogeneity of variances, as suggested by Pallant (2005, pp. 234-259), the level of significance was reduced to .01.

 

Table 3

Assumption of Homogeneity of Variances for NELSON

The results of the one-way ANOVA indicate that there are not any significant differences between the mean scores of the three groups on the NELSON test (F = 1.75 (2, 71), P = .181 > .01). Based on these results, it can be concluded that three groups enjoyed the same level of general proficiency knowledge prior to the administration of the treatments.

 

Table 4

One-Way ANOVA NELSON Test by Groups

 

Instrument Validation: Criterion Related Validity

The Pearson correlation coefficients between the NELSON test and pretest and posttest of reading comprehension were employed as validity indices of the latter two tests. As displayed in Table 5, the pretest of reading comprehension (r = .47, P = .000 < .05) and posttest of reading comprehension (r = .46, P = .000 < .05) both show significant correlations with the NELSON test; in other words, the pretest and posttest of reading comprehension enjoy acceptable indices of criterion related validity.

 

Table 5

Pearson Correlation

 

Reliability Indices

As displayed in Table 6, the K-R21 reliability indices for the pretest, posttest and NELSON test are .89, .93 and .95, respectively.

 

Table 6

K-R21 Reliability Indices

	Mean	Variance	K-R21
Pretest	51.5553	201.833	0.89
Posttest	59.9792	304.688	0.93
NELSON	40.8514	108.156	0.95

Pretest of Reading Comprehension

A one-way ANOVA was run to compare the mean scores of the three groups (control, explicit instruction of FE’s and contrastive instruction of FE’s) on the pretest of Reading Comprehension test in order to ascertain whether they were homogeneous in terms of reading comprehension ability prior to administration of the treatments to the experimental groups. As displayed in Table 7, the mean scores for the control, contrastive instruction of FEs (CIFE), and explicit instruction of FEs (EIFE) are 47.59, 55.54 and 51.10, respectively.

 

Table 7

 Descriptive Statistics Pretest of Reading Comprehension

		N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error	95% Confidence Interval for Mean		Min.	Max.
						Lower Bound	Upper Bound
PRETEST	CONTROL	22	47.59	8.29	1.77	43.91	51.26	33.33	60.00
	CIFE	25	55.54	11.71	2.34	50.71	60.38	30.00	76.66
	EIFE	27	51.10	18.86	3.63	43.64	58.56	13.00	80.00
	Total	74	51.56	14.21	1.65	48.26	54.85	13.00	80.00

 

As displayed in Table 8, the assumption of homogeneity of variances is not met (Levene’s F = 12.47, P = .000 < .05). To compensate for the violation of the assumption of homogeneity of variances, as suggested by Pallant (2005, pp. 234-259), the level of significance is reduced to .01.

 

Table 8

Assumption of Homogeneity of Variances for Pretest of Reading Comprehension

       

The results of the one-way ANOVA indicate that there are not any significant differences among the mean scores of the three groups on the pretest of Reading Comprehension test (F = 1.90 (2, 71), P = .156 > .01). Based on these results, it can be concluded that the three groups enjoyed the same level of reading comprehension ability, along with general language proficiency, prior to the administration of the treatments.

 

Table 9

One-Way ANOVA Pretest of Reading Comprehension Test by Groups

 

 

Figure 1. Mean Scores on Pretest of Reading Comprehension Test

Analyses of the Post-test Results: Investigation of the Research Questions

A one-way ANOVA was run to compare the mean scores of the three groups (control, EIFE and CIFE) on the posttest of Reading Comprehension test in order to investigate the effect of the explicit and contrastive instruction of FEs to develop reading ability. As displayed in Table 10, the mean scores for the control, CIFE, and EIFE groups are, 48.33, 66.25 and 63.66, respectively.

Table 10

 Descriptive Statistics Posttest of Reading Comprehension

	N	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error	95% Confidence Interval for Mean		Minimum	Maximum
					Lower Bound	Upper Bound
CONTROL	22	48.33	13.79	2.94	42.22	54.45	26.66	80.00
CIFE	25	66.25	18.38	3.68	58.66	73.84	40.00	86.66
EIFE	27	63.66	14.94	2.88	57.75	69.58	30.00	83.33
Total	74	59.98	17.46	2.03	55.94	64.02	26.66	86.66

 

As displayed in Table 11, the assumption of homogeneity of variances is met (Levene’s F = 3.05, P = .053 > .05).

 

Table 11

Assumption of Homogeneity of Variances for Posttest of Reading Comprehension

 

The results of the one-way ANOVA indicate that there are significant differences among the mean scores of the three groups on the posttest of Reading Comprehension test (F = 8.59 (2, 71), P = .000 > .05).

 

Table 12

One-Way ANOVA Posttest of Reading Comprehension Test by Groups

 

Although the F-value of 8.59 indicates significant differences among the mean scores of the three groups on the posttest of reading comprehension, the post-hoc Scheffe’s tests should be run to compare the means two by two. Based on the results displayed in Table 12, it can be concluded that:

A: There is a significant difference between the mean scores of the EIFE and control groups. The EIFE group with a mean score of 63.66 outperformed the control group on the posttest of reading comprehension (see table 10). Thus, the first null-hypothesis (i.e. explicit instruction of FEs does not have any significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension) is rejected.

 

Table 13

 Post-Hoc Scheffe’s Tests

 

B: There is a significant difference between the mean scores of the CIFE and control groups. The CIFE group with a mean score of 66.25 outperformed the control group on the posttest of reading comprehension (table 10). Thus, the second null-hypothesis (i.e. CIFE does not have any significant effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension) is rejected.

C: There is not any significant difference between the mean scores of the CIFE and EIFE groups. Thus, the third null-hypothesis (i.e. there are not any significant differences between EIFE and CIFE instructions in developing EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability) could not be rejected (see table 10 and graph 2).

 

Figure 2.  Mean Scores on Posttest of Reading Comprehension Test

Quantitative Analysis: Research Question Four

In order to answer the research question four, a list of FEs was extracted from the participants’ textbooks including English Book 3 and Pre-university English Book. Then, the FEs were juxtaposed to explore the matches or mismatches interlingually. The list is given in Appendix B, which obviously reveals that these two languages vary semantically, syntactically and pragmatically.  Out of 91(i.e. 60+31) cases of FEs, Persian and English vary in 31 cases, an indication of roughly 34 percent. The distinctive specifications are as follows:

I Expressions may be structurally divergent. For example, ‘make plans: برنامه چیدن [barname chidan] ‘indicates that the English structure (Verb + Noun) does not match the Persian structure [ noun+verb]  (اسم +فعل) or the formulaic expression ‘be afraid of:   ترسیدن از’ [tarsidan az] is different from that of Persian in terms of structure (be + adjective+ preposition versus فعل+ حرف اضافه) [ verb+pp].

II. Expressions may be semantically divergent, for example, ‘make a decision:  تصمیم گرفتن’ [tasmim gereftan] rather than * تصمیم ساختن  یک  [tasmim saakhtan]or   ‘take action: اقدام کردن’[eghdam kardan] rather than *اقدام برداشتن [eghdam bardashtan].

III. Expressions may be pragmatically divergent. For example, ‘How do you do? : از دیدارشما خوشوقتم’ [az didar-e shoma khosvagtam] may have different interpretations for English and Persian speakers.

Discussion and Conclusion

The findings indicate that explicit instruction of FEs plays a significant role in developing learners’ reading comprehension ability. They are in line with the studies supporting the effectiveness of explicit instruction (Andrew, 2007). In addition, the results revealed that formulaic instruction made the EFL participants outscore the control group, suggesting that teaching Formulaic expressions could be an effective pedagogical technique in enhancing reading comprehension competence.

Along the same line, some researchers (Butter, et al., 2006; Ellis, 2005; Mey, 2006; Wood, 2010; Wray, 2005) found that teaching and learning lexical chunks, collocations, idioms (i.e. FEs), had significant effects and functions on learners. But they did not investigate the effect of FEs instructions on EFL learners’ reading ability. In fact, most of them have been concerned with the effect of FEs on EFL learners’ fluency and productivity.

Additionally, CA-based instruction of FEs helps learners develop their reading comprehension ability significantly. CA-based instruction of FEs assists learners in perceiving L1 and L2 similarities and differences by comparing and contrasting the systems. Then, the achievements may be insightful for learners in enhancing and learning EFL reading materials. Therefore, the study confirms Ellis (2009) and Corder (1986) suggesting that teachers, learners, and researchers can take advantage of CA. However, the scope of this study (i.e. CA-based mechanism of FEs instruction) appears to be an innovative approach in teaching reading in the field of TEFL. Even though some researchers such as Ziahosseiny (2008) and Keshavarz (2008) have concerned themselves with contrastive analysis of English and Persian, they don’t fully support the argument of the current research. Meanwhile, the findings are consistent with that of Manucheri (2005). She concludes that, for example, the Persian learner of English has problems while learning the verb forms such as ‘teach: یاد دادن / yaad dadan/   rather than * give learning’ or ‘learn: یاد گرفتن yaad gereftan/ rather than *get learning’. She suggests that the teacher should provide ample opportunities for learners to realize the collocational nature of verb forms on CA-based study.

Meanwhile, this study reveals that the two mechanisms of explicit and CA-based instructions bring about roughly equal achievements. Even though the dual mechanism equality probably seems to be the unique achievement of this experiment, it supports the significance of explicit instruction of Richards and Schmidt (2002), confirming Ziahosseiny’s (2008) claim that “Contrastive analysis is largely associated with language teaching” (p.6).

Both the explicit and CA-based experiments reported in the literature (Ghadessy, 1977; Jafarpur, 1979; Keyvani, 1977; Yarmohammadi, 1967) aimed at providing learners, teachers, researchers with new insights to develop in their pedagogical programs. Along the same line, this study was an attempt to teach the most frequent formulaic expressions extracted from the participants’ textbook through two mechanisms of explicit and contrastive approaches. CA-based study on the extracted sample of FEs reveals that 34 percent of English and Persian formulae are different in terms of structures, semantics and pragmatics. 

FEs are almost fixed or semi-fixed prefabricated chunks which play a significant role to develop learners’ fluency. In addition, formulae assist language users to acquire language (Lucker, 2004). In fact, learners store and retrieve these chunks wholly within a set of ready-made packages (Gardiff University, 2011). However, almost all EFL learners in different levels find idioms and collocations problematic. They often find such formulae difficult to internalize since syllabus designers do not include enough proportion of formulaic expressions- collocations and idioms- in EFL course books. EFL teachers might sometimes overlook teaching formulaic expressions at the expense of teaching isolated items. In addition, the study of formulaic language is in its infancy.

Conclusively, the findings assert roughly equal effectiveness of both EIFE and CIFE instructions on the participants’ reading comprehension ability and greater incompatibility between Persian and English in terms of FEs, which warrants the inclusion of CIFE instruction at the top of the priority list of candidate instructional mechanisms.

The Authors

Gholam-Reza Abbasian, born in Ahar, East Azerbaijan, Iran, is an assistant professor of TEFL at Imam Ali University & IAU. He has presented at (inter) national conferences and is the author & translator of about 15 books, publisher of scholarly articles and offers psycholinguistics, language testing, & syllabus design courses. He has received awards as top scholar and has been nominated as the most successful teacher for seven years. He is the internal manager of JOMM, reviewer of Sage, FLA and GJER journals and a member of editorial board of JSSIR. 

Sayeed Jalil Ehsanian, holds an MA in TEFL and is an English teacher at the Iranian Ministry of Education and has been teaching English for fifteen years. His research interests are syllabus design and materials preparation.     

References

Birkenstein, C. (2008). Point of view in teaching composition: ‘Formulaic’ is not a four letter word. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http;//WWW.thefreelibrary.com.

Broukal, M., & Nolan, E.  (1999). NTC’s preparation for the TOEFL. USA: NTC Publication.

Butter, C. (2006). The Dynamics of language use: Functional and contrastive perspectives. Combridge: Cambridge University Press.

Charles, M., Picorari, D., Hunston, S. (Eds) (2009). Academic writing:  At the interface of corpus and discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cardif University, (2011). What is Formulaic Language? Retieved from the World Wide Web: http: www.cf.ac.uk/encap/research/networks/flarn/what is/index.html.

Chastain, K. (1988). Developing second- language skills, USA: Harcourt Brace

Corder, S. (1981). Error analysis & interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, R., & Barkhuizen, G. (2009). Analyzing learner language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ghadessy, M. (1977) Error analysis: A criterion for the development of materials in foreign language education. ELT JXXXI: 244-248.

Hackson, P., Fernandez, P. M. (2008). Terminology and formulaic language in computer assisted translation. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.skase.sk/volumes/JT103/1.pdf.

Hedge, T. (2008). Teaching & learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hall, T., (2007) L2  Learner-made formulaic expressions and constructions. Columbia: Columbia University Press.

Hayati, M., Kazemzadeh, Gh. ( 2009 ). A contrastive study of English & Persian linking verbs complementation. Ahvaz: Shahid Chamran University.

Istvan, K., (2006). Formulaic Language in English Lingua Franca. Second Language Research 22(2): 219-237

Karen, L. et al. (2007).The Effect of Implicit and Explicit Instruction on Simple and Complex Grammatical Structures for Adult English Language Learners. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: mhtml:TESEL-EJ 11 2.

Keshavarz, M. (2008). Contrastive Analysis & Error Analysis, Tehran: Rahnama Publication.

Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics Across Culture. Ann Arbort: Michigan University Press.

Laybutt, B. E. (2009). Collection  and textual cohesion. England: University of Birmingham.

Longman. (2003).  Dictonary of Contemprary English. UK: Longman Publication.

Mey, J. (2009). Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmaics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Nunan, D. (2001). Second Language Teaching and Learning. USA: Heinle & Heinle

Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodologies. Great Bitain: Prentice Hall Publication.

Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (2004).   Britain: Mobile Systems Inc.

Richards, J. and Renandya, W.  (2002). Methodology in language teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J., Platt, J. and Platt, H. (1992). Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. Great Britain: Longman.

Richards, j. and Schmidt, R. (2010). Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics, England: Longman

Sadeghi, K. (2009). Collocational differences between L1& L2: Implications for efl learners & teachers. TESL Canada Journal. 26(2).

Sefidvand, A. and Vahdani, R.  (2011). The impact of FEs on the Iranian EFL students’ writing. Iran: IAU.

Sharpe, J. (1989). Barron’s how to prepare for the TOEFL, New York: Barron’s Publication.

Tode, T. (2007). Durability problems with explicit instruction in an EFL context: The learning of English copula be before and after the instruction of the auxiliary be. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://ltr.sagepub.com/content/11/1/11.

Van Lancker, D., Rallon, G. (2004). Tracking the incidence of formulaic expressions in every day speech: Methods for classification & verification. WWW.elsvier.Com. 24. (2004). 207-240.

Wray, A., (2002).  Formulaic language and the lexicon. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Wray, A., (2008). Formulaic language: Pushing the boundaries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 Wood, D. (2010). Perspectives on formulaic language: Acquisition and communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wood, D.  ( 2010). Formulaic language and second language speech flency. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Yarmohammadi, L. (1965). A Contrastive Study of Modern English and Modern Persian. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Indiana University. Dissertation Abstracts: Section A. Humanities and Social Science, 28, 219A-220A.

Yang, B. A.  (1986). A Review of  Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis. UK: Oxford University Press.

Ziahosseiny, M.(2008). A Contrastive Analysis of Persian & English Error Analysis. Tehran: Rahnama Publication.

Appendices

Appendix A: Explicit Handout of FEs

Grade one at guidance school

 And you?                                                                                       Just fine

Notebook                                                                                        What is he/she?

What are they?                                                                              What about you?

Grade two at guidance school                                                     

Excuse me.                                                                                      Feel fine/ well

Here you are.                                                                                  How many……………..?

Hurry up                                                                                         In the afternoon/ evening

Let’s……………….                                                                        Make ( tea , dinner……)

On ( Tuesday)                                                                                 Put on

Policeman                                                                                        Say prayers

See you later                                                                                    She is twelve

Sit down                                                                                           Stand up

Thanks God ……                                                                           There is /there are

You’re welcome.                                                                             What color…..?

What time……..?                                                                            Whose car …….?

Grade three at guidance school

A little                                                                                         A lot of

Bookcase                                                                                     Be in time

Come back                                                                                  Com from

Can I help you?                                                                          Fifteen years old

Free  time                                                                                     Get ready

Good luck                                                                                    Go shopping

Handwriting                                                                                Have a headache

How much …….?                                                                        How many …….?

Have a good time                                                                         Have  a test

Have breakfast                                                                            Have a difficult life

Have an accident                                                                         Heavy  traffic

Have a break                                                                                Hard worker

How old……..?                                                                             Ice- cream

In a hurry                                                                                      It may rain

I see                                                                                                Keep clean

Look like                                                                                        Not too bad

On the way                                                                                    Shopping center

Say hello to                                                                                    Sunrise

Take off                                                                                         The country

Turn on                                                                                         What’s the matter?

Wait for                                                                                         Wake up

What does he /she look like ?                                                      With sth

                        

Grade one at high school

Ask for                                                                                        A. D

Anything else…?                                                                        A short time

All day long                                                                                All over

A long time                                                                                  At the age of ….

As …. As                                                                                      Be born

Be afraid of                                                                                  Be able to

Be away                                                                                        Be good

Change into                                                                                  Could I …….?

Climb up/down                                                                            Daylight

Do good                                                                                         Drop down

Far from                                                                                        First name

Find one’s way back home                                                          Fly by

For certain                                                                                    Full of sth

Get late                                                                                          Get lost

Get sick                                                                                          Get up

Glad to meet you.                                                                          Grow up

Grow shorter                                                                                 Go away

Good looking                                                                                 Get milk

Have a cold                                                                                    Have got

How far…….?                                                                               How odd!

Hometown                                                                                     How about this one?

Help yourself                                                                                Just a moment

In front of                                                                                     Learn about sth

Last name                                                                                     Light brown

Look for                                                                                       Make a noise

May I borrow…..?                                                                      Never mind.

Not at all                                                                                      Nice to meet you.

On time                                                                                        Once more

Opposite of                                                                                  On top of

Ok, I’ll take it.                                                                             Out of reach

Pay attention to                                                                           Pay for

Peace be upon him.                                                                     Piece of sth

Plenty of                                                                                       Receive sb with open  arms

   Share of sth                                                                               Steam engine   

Stand in line                                                                                Some day

Some more                                                                                  Something else                                                                               

Turn down                                                                                 Turn into

Turn off                                                                                      Sitting room                                                                                 

Turn against                                                                              Welcome sb warmly

 What size do you wear?                                                          Would you …….?

Who is it on the phone?                                                           What fun it was?

Grade two at high school                                              

Against the law                                                               A short while

All of a sudden                                                                A foot wide/ long

According to                                                                   Bad luck

Cassette player                                                               Comment on /about

Depend on                                                                       Different from

Disagree about                                                                Do right

Feel sorry for                                                                  Find out

For a while                                                                      For the fun of it

For no good reason                                                        Full of sth

Get cold                                                                           Get out of sth

Get into trouble                                                              Get mixed up

Go hungry                                                                      Go hic

Go on a picnic                                                               Go on a trip

Go around                                                                     Give back

Have to                                                                          Hand clock

Hold one’s breath                                                         How about this one?

How is everything with you?                                         Keep on

Language lab                                                                 Light bulb

Light up                                                                          Look like

Make a mistake                                                             Merry –go –round

Mixed up                                                                      Mind one’s own business

Most of the time                                                            Paper bag

Pay attention                                                                Put sth aside

Pick up                                                                           Run out of

Run along                                                                      Say goodbye

Small talk                                                                       Stay with

Soft drink                                                                       Take sth apart

Take a breath                                                                 Take a photograph

Take place                                                                      Transport system

Toy gun                                                                           Turn off

You’re welcome.                                                             Walk around

Would you mind……..?                                                  rite about

Grade three at high school

At the end of                                                                     At the front

After a while                                                                     And so on

As soon as                                                                          Be afraid of

Be careful about                                                                 Be interested in

Be ashamed of                                                                    Be on time

By means of                                                                       Do best

Do silly things                                                                    Driving test

Far apart                                                                           First aid

Get away from                                                                  Go straight on

Hard working                                                                      Hear about

How do you do?                                                                   Ice-hockey

Instead of                                                                             I n addition to

In other words                                                                     Insist on

Keep accounts                                                                      Long ago

Look after                                                                            Make up

On holidays                                                                          On your left

Over & over                                                                         Once a week / month

Responsible for                                                                     Play a part in

Pocket-sized                                                                          Right- hand side

Search for                                                                             Similar to

Slow down                                                                              Sorry about

Stick in one’s mind                                                                  Talk with/ to

Turn up                                                                                   Take a test

Take part                                                                                 Take sth away from

Track & field                                                                          Twice a week/ month

Up & down                                                                              Wind power

Worry about                                                                            What time is the film on?

Grade four at high school/ pre-university

A large number of                                                                      As long as

As soon as possible                                                                      As well

As well as                                                                                    Be aware of

Be concerned about                                                                    Be free of sth

Be made up of                                                                             Be robbed of sth

By oneself                                                                                   Come in

Concentrate on                                                                            Do one’s part

Do research in sth                                                                       Get tired

Give a speech                                                                               Help out

In addition to                                                                               In public

In the front of                                                                              Keep up with sth

Make a decision                                                                           Make a difference

Make a speech                                                                             Make eye –contact

Make plans                                                                                  Pass on

Rely on                                                                                        Run away

Stand away                                                                                 So far

Take action                                                                                 Take notes

Take sth seriously                                                                        Tell a joke

Whether ….. or                                                                           Weigh sth against sth

                                                                    

Appendix B: CA-based Handout of FEs

Grade one at guidance school

 And  you?                                                                                                 و شما چطور؟

Fine, thanks.                                                                                              خوبم ، ممنون

Just fine                                                                                                          حالم خوبه

Notebook                                                                                                     دفتر یادداشت

What is he/she?                                                                     او( مذکر/مونث ) چکاره است؟

What are they?                                                                                        آنها چکاره اند؟

What about you?                                                                                         شما چطور؟

Grade two at guidance school

At the table                                                                                                       کنار میز

Excuse me.                                                                                                          ببخشید

Feel fine/ well                                                                                               سرحال بودن

Here you are.                                                                                                   بفرمایید.

How many……………..?                                                                           چه تعداد......؟

Hurry up                                                                                                          عجله کن

In the afternoon/ evening                                                                       عصر / سر شب

Let’s……………….                                                                                      بیاییم.........

Make ( tea , dinner……)                                                         درست کردن (چای، شام.....)

On ( Tuesday)                                                                                     در روز ( سه شنبه)

Put on                                                                                                                پوشیدن

policeman                                                                                                        مرد پلیس

Say prayers                                                                                                  نماز خواندن

See you later                                                                                                به امید دیدار

She is twelve                                                                                    (او) دوازده ساله هست

Sit down                                                                                                               بنشین

Stand up                                                                                                               پا شو

Thanks God ……                                                                                    خدارو شکر......

There is /there are                                                                           وجود دارد/ وجود دارند

You’re welcome.                                                                                        خواهش میکنم

What color…..?                                                                              ....... چه رنگی هست؟

What time……..?                                                                                چه ساعتی .........؟

Whose car …….?                                                                  ..........ماشین چه کسی هست؟

Grade three at guidance school

A little                                                                                                             مقدار کمی

A lot of                                                                                                  مقدار/تعداد زیادی

Bookcase                                                                                                     قفسه ی کتاب

Be in time                                                                         زودتر/دیرتر از معمول حاضر بودن

Come back                                                                                                         برگشتن

Com from                                                                                                  اهل جای بودن

Can I help you?                                                  ممکنه به شما کمک کنم؟/ چیزی می خواستید؟

Fifteen years old                                                                                           پانزده ساله

Free  time                                                                                         وقت آزاد/ اوقات فراقت

Get ready                                                                                                      حاضر شدن

Good luck                                                                                                     موفق باشید

Go shopping                                                                                                   خرید رفتن

Handwriting                                                                                                     دست خط

Have a headache                                                                                       سر درد داشتن

How much …….?                                                        چه مقدار......؟/....... چه قیمتی هست؟

Have a good time                                                                                       وقت تان بخیر

Have  a test                                                                                                امتحان داشتن

Have breakfast                                                                                        صبحانه خوردن

Have a difficult life                                                                             زندگی سختی داستن

Have an accident                                                                                        تصادف کردن

Heavy  traffic                                                                                              ترافیکسنگین

Have a break                                                         زنگ تفریح داشتن /استراحت مختصر کردن

Hard worker                                                                                        کارگر سخت کوش

How old……..?                                                                             ......... چند ساله است ؟

Ice- cream                                                                                                           بستنی

In a hurry                                                                                                          با عجله                                                                   

It may rain                                                                                      ممکن است باران ببارد

I see                                                                                                                  متوجه ام

Keep clean                                                                                                تمیز نگه داشتن

Look like                                                                                                       شبیه بودن

Not too bad                                                                                                خیلی بد نیست                                                                    

On the way                                                                                                          در راه

Shopping center                                                                                             مرکز خرید

Say hello to                                                                                                                   سلام کردن      

Sunrise                                                                                                      تابش خورشید

Take off                                                                                                    در آوردن لباس                                                                    

The country                                                                                                          ییلاق

Turn on                                                                                                        روشن کردن

What’s the matter?                                                                                  موضوع چیست

Wait for                                                                                                       منتظر ماندن

Wake up                                                                                          بیدار شدن / بیدار کردن

What does he /she look like ?                                                         او شبیه چه کسی هست؟

With sth                                                                                    باچیزی/  به وسیله ی چیزی

Grade one at high school

A piece of sth                                                                                           یه تکه از چیزی

Ask for                                                                                                   تقاضا کردن برای

A. D                                                                                                      پس از میلاد مسیح

Anything else…?                                                                                   چیز دیگه.........؟

A short time                                                                                                زمان کوتاهی

All day long                                                                                               تمام طول روز

All over                                                                                                       سراسر، تمام

A long time                                                                                                  زمان طولانی

At the age of ….                                                                                                 در سن

As …. as                                                                                                     به میزان برابر

Be born                                                                                                          متولد سدن

Be afraid of                                                                                                    ترسیدن از

Be able to                                                                                         قادر بودن / توانا بودن

Be away                                                                                                           دور شدن

Be good                                                                                                          خوب بودن

Change into                                                                                                تبدیل شدن به

Could I …….?                                                                                     آیا می توانم........؟

Climb up/down                                                                                  بلا رفتن / پایین آمدن

Daylight                                                                                      روشنایی روز/ روز روشن

Do good                                                                                               کار نیک انجام دادن

Drop down                                                                                                به پایین اناختن

Far from                                                                                                             دور از

First name                                                                                                     اسم کوچک

Find one’s way back home                                                               مسیر برگشت را یافتن

Fly by                                                                                                   اطراف پرواز کردن

For certain                                                                                                   به طور یقین

Full of sth                                                                                                      پر از چیزی

Get late                                                                                                             دیر شدن

Get lost                                                                                                              گم شدن

Get sick                                                                                                          بیمار شدن

Get up                                                                                                              برخاستن

Glad to meet you.                                                                              از دیدارتان خوشحالم

Grow up                                                                                                بزرگ شدن(افراد)

Grow shorter                                                                                         کوتاه شدن (روز)

Go away                                                                                                          دور شدن

Good looking                                                                                                  خوش تیپ

Get milk                                                                               شیر گرفتن( دوشیدن از گاو،...)

Have a cold                                                                                                 سرما خوردن

Have got                                                                                                              داشتن

How far…….?                                                                                                        ...؟     چقدر فاصله

How odd!                                                                                                     عجیب است!

Hometown                                                                                                           زادگاه

How about this one?                                                                           این یکی چطور است

Help yourself                                                                                  از خودتان پذیرایی کنید.

In front of                                                                                                         در مقابل

Just a moment                                                                                    یک لحظه صبر کنید

Last name                                                                                                    نام خانوادگی

Learn about sth                                                                              درباره چیزی آگاه شدن

Light brown                                                                                              قهوه ای روشن

Look for                                                                                                         گشتن برای

Make a noise                                                                                           سر و صدا کردن

May I borrow…..?                                                                ممکن است ...........قرض کنم؟

Never mind.                                                                                                    مهم نیست

Not at all                                                                                         قابلی نداره/ چه زحمتی

Nice to meet you.                                                                        از ملاقات با شما خوشوقتم

On time                                                                                                 به موقع، سر وقت

Once more                                                                                                  دفعه ای دیگر

Opposite of                                                                                               مخالف/ متضاد

On top of                                                                                                           در بالای

Ok, I’ll take it.                                                        خوب آن را بر می دارم( زمان خرید کردن)

Out of reach                                                                                             دور از دسترس

Pay attention to                                                                                        توجه داشتن به

Pay for                                                                                                پرداخت کردان برای

Peace be upon him.                                                                       (ص)/ سلام خدا بر او باد

Piece of sth                                                                                              تکه ای از چیزی

Plenty of                                                                                               مقدار/ تعداد فراوان

Receive sb with open arms               با آغوش باز از کسی استقبال کردن/ به گرمی کسی را پذیرفتن

Right now                                                                                                 همین حالا/ فوراٌ

Share of sth                                                                                                    سهم چیزی

Stand in line                                                                             به صف ایستادن/ صف بستنن

Steam engine                                                                                                 موتور بخار

Some more                                                                                                     کمی بیشتر

Some day                                                                                                   زمانی / روزی

Something else                                                                                                 چیز دیگر

Turn down                                                                    کم کردن ( صدای رادیو، تلویزیون....)

Turn off                                                                                                     خاموش کردن

Turn into                                                                                                        تبدیل شدن

Turn against                                                                                          مخالف/ ضد شدن

Sitting room                                                                                                  اتاق نشیمن

Welcome sb warmly                                                                        به گرمی استقبال کردن

What size do you wear?                                                           چه شماره ای را می پوشید؟

Will you….?                                                                                             آیا می شود....؟

Would you …….?                                                                           آیا لطف می کنید.......؟

Who is it on the phone?                                                                  شما؟ ( پشت خط تلفن)

What fun it was!                                                                                     چقدر جالب بود!

Grade two at high school

Agree about/ on                                                                          موافق بودن در مورد / سر

Against the law                                                                                         بر خلاف قانون

A short while                                                                                           مدت زمان کوتاه

All of a sudden                                                                                                    ناگهان

A foot wide/ long                                                                              به عرض/ طول یک پا

According to                                                                                                          طبق

Bad luck                                                                                                          بد شانسی

Cassette player                                                                                              ضبط صوت

Comment on /about                                                              نظر دادن درباره ی/ سر چیزی

Depend on                                                                                                    وابسته بودن

Different from                                                                                         متفاوت بودن از

Disagree about/on                                                  اختلاف داشتن سر چیزی/ درباره ی چیزی  

Do right                                                                                                        درست کردن

Feel sorry for                                                                               احساس تاسف کردن برای

Find out                                                                                                 پی بردن / فهمیدن

For a while                                                                                                     برای مدتی

For the fun of it                                                                                       بخاطر سرگرمی

For no good reason                                                           بخاطر دلیل ناخوشایندی/نامعلومی

Get cold                                                                                                      سرما خوردن

Get out of sth                                                                               از چیزی رها/خلاص شدن

Get into trouble                                                          به درد سر افتادن / به مشکل بر خوردن

Get mixed up                                                                               سر در گم شدن/ گیج شدن

Go hungry                                                                                                    گرسنه شدن

Go hic                                                                                                    به سکسکه افتادن

Go on a picnic                                                                                            به تفریح رفتن

Go on a trip                                                                                         به سفر کوتاه رفتن

Go around                                                                                               چرخیدن به دور

Give back                                                                                                         پس دادن

Have to                                                                                                          ناچار بودن

Hold one’s breath                                                                          نفس خود را حبس کردن

How about this one? ؟                                                                        این یکی چطور است

How is everything with you?                                                              کارو بارت چطوره؟

Keep on                                                                                                           ادامه دادن

Language lab                                                                                           آزمایشگاه زبان

Light bulb                                                                                                      لامپ حبابی

Light up                                                                                       روشن کردن/ روشن شدن

Look like                                                                                                        شبیه بودن

Make a mistake                                                                                            اشتباه کردن

Merry –go –round                                                                             گردونه/ چرخ و فلک

Mixed up                                                                                                    قاطی/ سردرگم

Mind one’s own business                                                                        تو لاک خود بودن

Most of the time                                                                                           بیشتر مواقع

Paper bag                                                                                                     پاکت کاغذی

Pay attention                                                                                                توجه داشتن

Put sth aside                                                                                         کنار گذاشتن چیزی

Pick up                                                                                                              برداشتن

Run out of                                                                                         تمام کردن/ تمام شدن

Run along                                                                                         در امتداد حرکت کردن

Say goodbye                                                                                            خداحافظی کردن

Small talk                                                                                        گپ مختصر و دوستانه

Stay with                                                                                                 ماندن پیش/  نزد

Soft drink                                                                                              نوشابه بدون الکل

Take sth apart                                                         اجزای چیزی را از هم باز کردن/ جدا کردن

Take a breath                                                                                              نفسی کشیدن

Take a photograph                                                           عکسبرداری کردن/  عکس انداختن

Take place                                                                       اتفاق افتادن /در مکانی برگزار شدن

Transport system                                                                                  سیستم حمل و نقل

Toy gun                                                                                                 تفنگ اسباب بازی

You’re welcome.                                                                                       خواهش می کنم

Walk around                                                                                      در اطراف قدمی زدن

Would you mind……..?                                                           اگه برات زحمتی نیست.......؟

Write about                                                                                درباره (موضوعی) نوشتن

Grade three at high school

At the same time                                                                                               هم زمان

At the end of                                                                                          در انتها/ در پایان

At the front                                                                             در خط مقدم ( جبهه ی جنگ)

After a while                                                                                              برای لحظه ای

And so on                                                                                                            و غیره

As soon as                                                                                                 به محض اینکه

Be afraid of                                                                                                    ترسیدن از

Be careful about                                                                                         مواظب بودن

Be interested in                                                                                        علاقمند بودن به

Be ashamed of                                                                    خجالت کشیدن از/شرمنده شدن از

Be on time                                                                                 سر وقت حاضر شدن / بودن

By means of                                                                                 با استفاده از/ به وسیله ی

Do best                                                                                          نهایت سعی را انجام دادن

Do silly things                                                 کارهای احمقانه انجام دادن/ خنگ بازی در آوردن

Driving test                                                                                 آزمون راهنمایی و رانندگی

Far apart                                                                                                        دور از هم

First aid                                                                                                   کمک های اولیه

Get away from                                                              دور کردن(کسی از چیزی) / دور شدن

Go straight on                                                                               مستقیم ادامه مسیر دادن

Hard working                                                                                               سخت کوش

Hear about                                                                                 درباره ی ( چیزی ) شنیدن

How do you do?                                                                         از آشنایی با شما خوشوقتم

Ice-hockey                                                                                                  هاکی روی یخ

Instead of                                                                                               بجای،  به عوض

In addition to                                                                                                 به انضمام

In other words                                                                                          به عبارت دیگر

Insist on                                                                                     اصرار ورزیدن برای/ بر سر

Keep accounts                                                                                    حسابداری انجام دادن

Long ago                                                                                                         زمان دور

Look after                                                                           مواظبت کردن از (کسی ، چیزی)

Make up                                                                                      درست کردن ، درست شدن

On holidays                                                                                               روزهای تعطیل

On your left                                                                                                سمت چپ تان

Over & over                                                                                               به طور مکرر

Once a week / month                                                               یکبار در هفته، یکبار در ماه

Responsible for                                                                                  مسئول (چیزی) بودن

Play a part in                                                                         نقشی در (انجام کاری) داشتن

Pocket-sized                                                                                                          جیبی

Right- hand side                                                                                            دست راست

Search for                                                                                              تحقیق کردن برای

Similar to                                                                                                           شبیه به

Slow down                                                                                                         کند شدن

Sorry about                                                                                            متاسف در مورد

Stick in one’s mind                                                                         ملکه ی ذهن کسی شدن

Talk with/ to                                                                                             صحبت کردن با

Turn up                                                                               بالا بردن صدا( رادیو، تلویزیون)

Take a test                                                                                                    امتحان دادن

Take part in                                                                                          شرکت داشتن در 

Take sb /sth away from                                                                                 دور ساختن

Track & field                                                                                                دو و میدانی

Twice a week/ month                                                            دو بار در هفته ، دو بار در ماه

Up & down                                                                                                     بالا و پایین

Wind power                                                                                                     نیروی باد

Worry about                                                                                    نگران بودن درباره ی

What time is the film on?                                                      چه ساعتی فیلم شروع میشود؟

Grade four at high school/ pre-university

A large number of                                                                                        شمار زیادی

As long as                                                                                      مادامی که ، تا زمانی که

As soon as possible                                                                                      در اسرع وقت

As well                                                                                                               هم چنین

As well as                                                                                                    و، به انضمام

Be aware of                                                                                                  آگاه بودن از

Be concerned about                                                             درباره ی ( چیزی ) نگران بودن

Be free of sth                                                                      مصون بودن از، در امان بودن از

Be made up of                                                                                    متشکل شدن ازچیزی

Be robbed of sth                                                                        از چیزی(حق کسی) دزدیدن

By oneself                                                                                                         به تنهای

Come in                                                                                                        متداول بودن

Concentrate on                                                                                      متمکرکز شدن بر

Do one’s part                                                              وظیفه ی خود / سهم خود را انجام دادن

Do research in sth                                                                             در کاری تحقیق کردن

Get tired                                                                                                        خسته شدن

Give a speech                                                     سخنرانی کردن ( استاد ، دانشجو ، محقق،....)

In public                                                                                                    در جمع( افراد)

In front of                                                                                        در روبروی، در مقابل

Keep up with sth/sb                                               ازعهده کاری بر آمدن، از کسی عقب نماندن

Make a decision                                                                                        تصمیمی گرفتن

Make a difference                                                                        تمیز دادن ، تشخیص دادن

Make a speech                                                                                           سخنرانی کردن

Make eye –contact                                                                       ارتباط چشمی ایجاد کردن

Make plans                                                                                                   برنامه چیدن

Pass on                                                                                                           انتقال دادن

Rely on                                                                                                         وابسته بودن

Run away                                                                                           در رفتن ، فرار کردن

Stand away                                                                                                  دور ایستادن

So far                                                                                                                 تا کنون

Take action                                                                                                     افدام کردن

Take notes                                                                                            نکته برداری کردن

Take sth seriously                                                                               کاری را جدی گرفتن

Tell a joke                                                                                            لطیفه تعریف کردن

Whether ….. or                                                 خواه ............... خواه/  یا   ،  چه...........چه

Weigh sth against sth                                        چیزی را با چیزی سنجیدن، سبک سنگین کردن

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article View: 745

PDF Download: 394