The Effect of Teaching Idioms from Numbers in English on Iraqi Non Specialists Students’ Comprehension

Abstract

This research consists of two parts: the theoretical part and the practical part. The first part provides a general description of idioms and idiomatic expressions. The definition of the idiom depending on different points of view and theories, its composition and types according to different standards and criteria, and the relation between the idiom and other linguistic phenomena were given in detail. To give a simplified and complete image about idioms and to pave the way to the second part of the research, which focuses specifically on one type of idioms "idioms from numbers", all aspects regarding the idiom should be clarified in detail. The reason for choosing this kind of idioms is the absence of studies that tackle it well, particularly in Iraq ,and this type represents the core of the second part of present research .This part refers to the importance and role of idioms from numbers in comprehension English at various levels such as syntactic, semantic  , vocabulary and context. To achieve the purpose of this research, two tests (pre -test and post- test) have been constructed and presented to a group of specialists to verify their validity and reliability. Then, the two tests were applied to a sample consisting of 40 undergraduate students and a lecture dealing with the subject of research has been delivered to the sample. The results of the two tests have been analyzed  statistically and compared with each other in order to show the progress of achievement  of the sample at various levels of the language which were mentioned above . In the light of the results of the study, several conclusions were inferred, one of them, the important and effective role played by idioms from the numbers in teaching English as a foreign language for Iraqi students