Describes a unit of instruction in the ESL classroom in which students conceive, develop, and complete anthologies of proverbs from around the world. Details the logistics and the student reactions to such an assignment. (HB)

Evaluation of the role of concreteness and familiarity in the development of proverb comprehension in 180 students in grades 5, 8, and 11 found that both concreteness and familiarity as well as student age, influenced comprehension. Results support the "metasemantic" and the "language experience" hypotheses of language comprehension development.…

Comparison of the comprehension of proverbs of 200 students (50 each in Grades 6, 8, 10, and 12) found growth in proverb comprehension was most pronounced at two transitional points in development: when students move from late childhood into early adolescence, and again when they move from late adolescence into adulthood. Implications for…

Written for young readers, this illustrated story centers on two ordinary clay pots and the extraordinary fate that befalls one of them. The pots were just two lumps of clay to begin with. But in the talented hands of Juan Gomez, the potter, they began to take shape. The story's central figure is the pot that cracks, alas, while still in the oven.…

Discusses objectives that can be accomplished through the study of proverbs. Suggests a number of exercises involving proverbs that can be used to improve reading comprehension and hone writing skills and to develop a vocabulary. (RBW)

This study investigated Koreans' understanding of and agreement with Korean proverbs concerning the parent-child relationship. Ninety-five proverbs were selected from literature and categorized into nine areas: value of a child, affection toward a child, boy-preference, positive or negative affection toward a daughter, importance of a child's…

The proverbial language of Spanish provides a resource for teaching and testing various aspects of phonetics, syntax, vocabulary, and cultural features of the language. Incorporation of these features into the Spanish curriculum can enrich the classroom experience. Specific suggestions for their use are provided. (Author/MSE)

Describes how German proverbs and idioms can be purposefully and efficiently incorporated into the German foreign-language classroom. Presents a holistic model with exercises on lexical approximations, semantic understanding, and pragmatic usage. Eighteen "vehicles" (chain reactions, association games) are introduced. (Author/VWL)

What Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm brothers achieved by collecting stories from the common people that had been handed down orally from generation to generation is also achieved in this collection of folktales consisting of 45 fables and 65 tales and short stories. This publication, addressed to educators, anthropologists, and specialists…

In this document, a review of traditional definitions and theories of metaphor suggests that they err in equating metaphors with comparisons rather than merely implying comparisons. Empirical research is then reviewed, revealing serious problems, particularly in developmental research. These problems include inadequate theories about the nature of…

The four Bulgarian folk tales presented in this booklet are part of an ethnic heritage studies teaching unit on Bulgarian culture. The objective of the cultural awareness project is to help American students in elementary, junior high, and high school understand and appreciate Bulgarians and their culture. Titles of the folk tales are "Poor…

Two dimensions of the definition of idiom (the semantic and the structural) that may be relevant to the foreign language learner language learner are abstracted from non-specialist dictionary definitions of the term "idiom." The structural dimension is further subdivided into two aspects: place in a structural hierarchy, and degree of…

This collection of essays, originally published in the 1950's, discusses South African literature from a perspective which emphasizes writers who resisted the society of the colonizers. All of the essays were written by a native black South African scholar. The essays deal with (1) the people and their languages; (2) traditional poetry; (3) the…

Introduces the use of proverbs to teach students about values analysis. Students are involved in considering the sound and rhythm of various proverbs, deriving data about different societies from proverbs, and analyzing the role of proverbs in the development of value systems. (Author/DB)