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โครงการรวบรวมและจัดทําวารสารอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์

The f ndings from this investigation should help provide useful suggestions to 1) the teachers

of English to realize how English idioms have inf uenced on Thai college students’ reading
comprehension and 2) the columnists to be aware of important aspects of idioms as part

of the text when they write articles.

Literature Review

To address the research questions regarding types of idioms, the investigation

of this study was mainly based on two theoretical frameworks (Fernando, 1996; Makkai,
1972). Regarding the investigation on comprehension of the readers, the schema theory

in connection to the reading comprehension (Anderson, 2004; Carrel, 1988; Cooter, 1996)
was reviewed.

1. Types of idioms based on semantic framework: degree of non-literalness

(Fernando’s 1996)

Fernando classif es idioms into three types: pure idiom, semi-idiom, and literal idiom.

First, pure idiom is the idiom whose meaning and word form are not associated (e.g., “wet
behind the ear” means “no experiences”). Second, semi-idiom consists of non-literal word

and literal word (e.g., “save face” means “to save your good reputation, popularity, or
dignity when something has happened or may happen to hurt you.” The meaning of “save”

is considered literal while “face” does not mean one of the body part, thus, it is considered
non-literal). Last, literal idiom refers to the idiom whose meaning can be interpreted from

its word part (e.g., “speed up” means “to go faster”).

2. Type of idioms based on the framework of grammatical construction (Makkai’s 1972)

Makkai (1972) has classif ed idioms into the aspects of grammatical construction

including phrasal verb idiom, tournure idiom, irreversible binomial idiom, phrasal compound
idiom, and incorporating verb idiom. First, phrasal verb idiom is the combination of verb

and adverb which occurring as a preposition (e.g., call for, stave off, and stand up with).
Second, tournure idiom is composed of at least three constituents (e.g., weather the storm,

be a case in point, and show the door). Third, irreversible binomial idiom consists of two

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