Yuniar Fadmanagara, Sahnaz (2025) A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF IDIOM USAGE IN IISMA SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION ESSAY WRITING. S1 thesis, UNIVERSITAS SULTAN AGENG TIRTAYASA.
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Abstract
The use of idioms is often considered a marker of advanced English proficiency, yet its application in academic writing remains limited due to concerns about clarity and formality. Scholarship application essays, however, present a unique hybrid genre that blends academic argumentation with personal narrative, potentially allowing for more flexible idiom usage. This research aims to investigate the types, frequency, and functions of idiomatic expressions found in personal essays written by Indonesian applicants for the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program between 2021 and 2024. Employing a mixed-methods design with a sequential explanatory approach, the research combines corpus-based analysis using AntConc with a questionnaire distributed to essay contributors. A total of 30 essays were collected, both through voluntary submissions and publicly shared essays, and examined to identify idioms based on standard dictionaries. The total corpus contains 36,937 tokens, with an average frequency of approximately 0.92 idioms per 1,000 tokens. In total, 34 idiomatic expressions were identified, and 43 percent of the essays contained no idioms at all. Writers overwhelmingly favored phraseological unities (transparent idioms) such as step outside my comfort zone and avoided opaque phraseological fusions. Questionnaire data revealed a striking mismatch between perceived and actual idiom use: some participants believed they had used none when they had, while others believed the opposite, attesting to limited idiomatic awareness. Contextual analysis showed that idioms, when present, primarily framed personal growth, resilience, and cultural adaptability, enhancing narrative voice without being essential to essay quality. The study contributes to applied linguistics by detailing idiom use in a seldom‑explored academic‑personal genre and offers data‑driven guidance for applicants and writing instructors on when, why, and how idioms can be deployed strategically.
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| Additional Information: | The use of idioms is often considered a marker of advanced English proficiency, yet its application in academic writing remains limited due to concerns about clarity and formality. Scholarship application essays, however, present a unique hybrid genre that blends academic argumentation with personal narrative, potentially allowing for more flexible idiom usage. This research aims to investigate the types, frequency, and functions of idiomatic expressions found in personal essays written by Indonesian applicants for the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program between 2021 and 2024. Employing a mixed-methods design with a sequential explanatory approach, the research combines corpus-based analysis using AntConc with a questionnaire distributed to essay contributors. A total of 30 essays were collected, both through voluntary submissions and publicly shared essays, and examined to identify idioms based on standard dictionaries. The total corpus contains 36,937 tokens, with an average frequency of approximately 0.92 idioms per 1,000 tokens. In total, 34 idiomatic expressions were identified, and 43 percent of the essays contained no idioms at all. Writers overwhelmingly favored phraseological unities (transparent idioms) such as step outside my comfort zone and avoided opaque phraseological fusions. Questionnaire data revealed a striking mismatch between perceived and actual idiom use: some participants believed they had used none when they had, while others believed the opposite, attesting to limited idiomatic awareness. Contextual analysis showed that idioms, when present, primarily framed personal growth, resilience, and cultural adaptability, enhancing narrative voice without being essential to essay quality. The study contributes to applied linguistics by detailing idiom use in a seldom‑explored academic‑personal genre and offers data‑driven guidance for applicants and writing instructors on when, why, and how idioms can be deployed strategically. | |||||||||
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics |
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| Divisions: | 02-Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan > 88203-Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris | |||||||||
| Depositing User: | Mrs. Sahnaz Yuniar Fadmanagara | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 24 Oct 2025 08:19 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 24 Oct 2025 08:19 | |||||||||
| URI: | http://eprints.untirta.ac.id/id/eprint/54563 |
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