Enhancing University Students' Pragmatic Competence Through Teaching English Language Idiomatic Expressions

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the importance of teaching English Language idiomatic expressions in developing university students' pragmatic competence. It also investigates if foreign language idiomatic expressions motivate university students to communicate fluently. The study was conducted according to both descriptive and experimental method. The data for the questionnaire were collected from a random sample of university lecturers of English language in Khartoum state. A diagnostic test also was given to the students at the last year majoring English at the college of languages, Sudan university of science and technology. Descriptive statistics were conducted so as to analyze the data.The study revealed that carefully selected texts can help narrow the cultural gap and help the student to have a better grasp of the subject matter and improve their communicative competence and classroom interaction. Consequently, tutors have to be selective to the type of material they seek to handle with their students. It was found that introducing authentic material can maximize the students’ grasp of the language. The researcher recommends that:To increase classroom interaction and pragmatic competence the cultural gap must be reduced by means of including texts known to have that effect as literature and special attention should be paid to idiomatic expressions particularly their cultural aspect. Tutors should be trained to handle their classes in a way that promotes their students’ communicative and pragmatic competence.