1 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Purposes and Significance of the Study
1.3 Organization of the Study
2 Literature Review
2.1 Trends in English Idiom Research
2.2 Psycholinguistic Research on English Idioms
2.3 Language Acquisition Research on English Idioms
3 Characteristics of English Idioms
3.1 Phonetic Characteristics of English Idioms
3.2 Structural Characteristics of English Idioms
3.3 Semantic Characteristics of English Idioms
3.4 Pragmatic Characteristics of English Idioms
3.5 Cultural Characteristics of English Idioms
3.6 Variations of English Idioms
4 The Rhetorical Study of English Idioms
4.1 Phonological Rhetoric in English Idioms
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