Keywords: proverbs, vocabulary activity, English teaching, metaphorical
learning, effective communication.
According to the paroemiologist Wolfgang Mieder (2004), proverbs have
been used and should be used in teaching as didactic tools because of their content
of educational wisdom. When it comes to foreign language learning, proverbs play
a role in the teaching as a part of cultural and metaphorical learning. Linguists also
claim that the use of proverbs in the teaching of English as a second or foreign
language is important for the learners’ ability to communicate effectively.
The use of proverbs and its declining in the teaching of modern languages has
long been discussed.
Durbin Rowland (1926) points at some arguments pro the use of proverbs in
language teaching. Rowland says that proverbs “stick in the mind”, “build up
vocabulary”, “illustrate admirably the phraseology and idiomatic expressions of
the foreign tongue”, “contribute gradually to a surer feeling for the foreign tongue”
and proverbs “consume very little time”.
It was also said that proverbs are not only melodic and witty, possessed with
rhythm and imagery; proverbs also reflect “patterns of thought”. As proverbs are
universal, there are analogous proverbs in different nations that have related
cultural patterns. Proverbs are therefore useful in the students’ discussions of
cultural ideas when they compare the proverbs’ equivalents in different languages.
But as the experience shows the incorporation of proverbs in the foreign
language classroom is rare. When proverbs are included, they are often used as
timefillers and not integrated into a context. The proverbs that are used are often
randomly picked from dictionaries, which often include archaic proverbs and new
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proverbs might therefore be missed. The suitability of proverbs in teaching is due
to their form; they are pithy and easy to learn, they often rhyme and contain
repetition figures like alliteration and assonance.
Some scholars propose the use of proverbs in a range of areas within language
teaching: grammar and syntax, phonetics, vocabulary development, culture,
reading, speaking and writing. They state that proverbs, besides being an important
part of culture, also are an important tool for effective communication and for the
comprehension of different spoken and written discourses.
The person who does not acquire competence in using proverbs will be
limited in conversation, will have difficulty comprehending a wide variety of
printed matter, radio, television, songs etc., and will not understand proverb
parodies which presuppose a familiarity with a stock proverb.
It is considered
that both the structure and the content of proverbs are useful
in ESL teaching especially when it comes to teaching and understanding of culture,
as proverbs conveys the values and metaphors shared by a culture. Proverbs are
also useful in teaching the differences between spoken and written language,
something that often confuses language learners; they use conversational style
when they write. Proverbs are one way to help the students to clarify the
distinction between oral and written English. One of the scholars compares the
content of proverbs, which includes the metaphors contained in them, to “a
microcosm of what it means to know a second language”. He points out that
proverbial competence both requires knowledge of the linguistic structure of a
target language (i.e. morphology, syntax, lexicon, pronunciation, and semantics)
and of the rules and regulations that are necessary to be able to use a proverb
accurately. His conclusion is that the processing of proverbial language involves
all the functions of both the right and the left hemisphere of the brain. The function
of the left hemisphere is to interpret the incoming linguistic data, i.e. text, while the
right hemisphere supports the understanding of context. Due to the metaphorical
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content of a proverb, the function of the right hemisphere is to create a literal
meaning with the help of the contextual features in which the proverb is used,
while the left hemisphere processes the linguistic structure of the proverb. Proverbs
therefore serve an important purpose in the second-language classroom.
Proverbs change with time and culture. Some old proverbs are not in use any
longer because they reflect a culture that no longer exists, e.g. Let the cobbler stick
to his last, which has vanished more or less, because the profession of the cobbler
nowadays is rare. However, new proverbs that reflect the contemporary society are
created instead, e.g. Garbage in, garbage out, a proverb created due to our
computerised time. Old proverbs are also used as so called anti-proverbs today, i.e.
“parodied, twisted, or fractured proverbs that reveal humorous or satirical speech
play with traditional proverbial wisdom”. One example is Nobody is perfect, which
as an anti-proverb is changed to No body is perfect.
Work with proverbs and sayings at the lessons not only helps to diversify
educational process and to make its brighter and interesting. Moreover it helps to
solve a number of very important educational problems: proverbs in the classroom
can improve students’ learning experiences, their language skills, and their
understanding of themselves and the world. This happens, because:
Proverbs provide an opportunity for students to be knowledgeable experts
as well as learners.
Proverbs provide an opportunity for students to learn about each other and
their shared values.
Proverbs provide an opportunity for students to gain insight as they
discuss their experiences and work out their understanding of proverb meanings.
Proverbs provide an opportunity for students to use their home culture as
a stepping stone into school culture.
Proverbs provide an opportunity to improve thinking and writing as
students both provide and receive information.
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