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169USING PROVERBS IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE Khodzhaeva S.S.
Khodzhaeva Saodathan Saidullaevna - Senior Teacher, FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM,
UZBEK STATE UNIVERSITY OF WORLD LANGUAGES, TASHKENT, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: the article is devoted to the problem of using proverbs in teaching English as a foreign language. Proverbs reflect human experience across cultures and languages, which contain folk wisdom tested throughout the time.
Keywords: proverbs, teaching English as a foreign language, knowledge, learning process.
Proverbs are a part of every language as well as every culture. Proverbs have been used to spread knowledge, wisdom and truths about life from ancient times up until now. They have been considered an important part of the fostering of children, as they signal moral values and exhort common behavior. Proverbs belong to the traditional verbal folklore genres and the wisdom of proverbs has been guidance for people worldwide in their social interaction throughout the ages.
Proverbs are concise, easy to remember and useful in every situation in life due to their content of everyday experiences. Here there is the general description of the proverb: "A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation".
According to the 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.
Basically, proverbs reflect human experience across cultures and languages, which contain folk wisdom tested throughout the time. In relation to language teaching, they can be used to teach, among others, speaking, writing, grammar, vocabulary, culture, and values. Teachers can invite the students to make some comparison between English proverbs and local proverbs to start with. Looking for similarities and differences in proverbs from two different cultures may trigger students' curiosity to learn further. Introducing a foreign culture and values can be carried out through the use of proverbs. In addition, using English proverbs can serve as an alternative lead-in activity to start new lessons to keep the students interested in the lesson from the beginning. As the English proverb says that "Well begun is half done", teaching can be successful when the students are interested in the lesson from the start. Having an effective lead-in activity plays an important role for this purpose. Keeping the students' interest high is paramount for interest will drive students to explore more experience in the process of learning.
To have a good start a teacher needs something to raise the students' motivation or to warm them up so that they will have a feeling pleasure during the learning process. A good lead-in activity is necessary to be done for this purpose. Reciting or using English proverbs can be an effective way to start a new lesson. When necessary, a teacher can compare English proverbs with Uzbek proverbs. For example, a teacher may ask his/her students to compare the English proverb "East or West, Home is best" with an Uzbek proverb "O'z uying - o'lan to'shaging' and with Russian proverb "В гостях хорошо а дома лучше". By using the proverbs, a teacher can help students learn English faster and get pleasant experience while the learning process is going on. A good start may guarantee happy and profitable time while the learning is taking place.
At the beginning it's possible to use proverbs for improving learner's pronunciation. They help to put the difficult pronunciation of certain consonants, especially those that are not in Russian. Instead of single words and phrases that contain a particular sound, you can offer a class specially proverbs and sayings. Then, within two or three lessons proverb or saying is repeated,
pronunciation is corrected. It is necessary to select proverb or saying depending on what sound is fulfilled. You can offer such proverbs and sayings for training different sounds. For example, sound [w]:
1. Where there is a will there is a way. Watch which way the cat jumps.
2. Sound [m]: So many men, so many minds. To make a mountain out of a molehill.
3. Sound [b]: Don't burn your bridges behind you. Business before pleasure.
4. Sound combinations [t] and [r]: Don't trouble until trouble troubles you. Treat others as you want to be treated yourself. The use of proverbs and sayings all the more justified because is ideally combined improvement of pronunciation and auditory-rhythmic and intonation skills. Using them in teaching pronunciation is an extremely appropriate and effective.
A teacher can use certain proverbs to start his/her grammar class prior to teaching the material in details. For example, a teacher who wants to teach gerund, he/she may use the following proverbs as a lead-in activity: Seeing believes. Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes. Lighting never strikes twice in the same place. Missing the wood for the trees. Thinking the worst always prepares you for the worst. Winning is earning. Losing is learning. In teaching imperative sentences, a teacher may use the following proverbs as a lead-in activity. It can be about positive and negative imperative sentences.
Here are some examples of proverbs for this purpose:
Positive: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teaches a man to fish and you feed him for a life time. Look before you leap. Make hay while the sun shines. Never trouble till trouble troubles you.
Negative: Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Don't burn your bridges before they're crossed. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Don't cry over spilt milk. Don't judge a book by its cover.
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.
References
1. Stefanovich T.A., Shvydkaya L.I. i dr. Angliyskiy yazyk v poslovitsakh i pogovorkakh. M.: Prosveshcheniye, 1999.
2. Mieder Wolfgang, 1993. Proverbs Are Never Out of Season. Popular Wisdom in the Modern Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
