The following selection still has to be modified and compressed, but may serve as a tentative guide to possible topics:
1. Idiom types 2. Idiom and metaphor 3. Idioms in stereotypic dialogue (e.g. ceremonial, small talk, gossip) 4. Specific theories of idiom (syntactic, semantic, pragmatic) 5. The role of speech act idioms in verbal encounters (e.g. chance encounters, courtroom, classroom) 6. The relationship between "situation" and the use of fixed expressions 7. The relationship between text type and the use of fixed expressions, (e.g. advertising, business letters, legal language, different media) 8. Literary uses of fixed expressions (e.g. plays by Albee, Ayckbourn, Pinter) 9. Fixed expressions as connective devices 10. The treatment of fixed expressions/idioms in dictionaries a. Idiom dictionaries b. General dictionaries 11. Fixed expressions from a contrastive point of view 12. Proverbs and their use in Modern English 13. Proverbs patterns 14. Catchphrases 15. Phonetic characteristics of fixed expressions (intonation, rhythm, stress) 16. How fixed are fixed expressions? 17. Theories of idiom structure and interpretation (esp. generative syntax and semantics) 18. Idioms and sound patterning 19. "Frozenness" and "creativity" in language 20. Idiom, stereotype, prototype 21. Idiom as a figure of speech 22. Idiom, ritual, phatic functions of speech (Sigrun Hoppe-Meier) 23. Idioms and speech/text varieties (colloquial speech, registers of various kinds, literature) 24. Problems in the construction of an idiom dictionary 25. Idioms in Classroom English 26. Idioms in existing grammars and dictionaries (Frank Hillebrenner) 27. Idioms, proverbs, catch phrases, hackneyed phrases 28. Idioms and the problem of translation 29. Syntactic idiom types 30. Semantic typology of idioms 31. Idioms & restricted registers 32. Levels of idioms: structure (Newmeyer:: 339) 33. Levels of idiom: functions 34. Idioms as stylistic devices/textual function 35. Idioms and slang/register/dialect 36. Syntactic & semantic restrictions as idioms (Fraser vs. Newmeyer) 37. The place of idioms in a description of English: pre-generative approaches 38. Makkai's stratificational analysis of idioms 39. The place of idioms 40. The place of idioms in a description of English: early generative approaches 41. Weinreich's generative analysis of idioms 42. Later generative approaches to idiom description 43. Criteria for the identification of idiom types 44. Idioms, analyzability and the problem of translation 45. Idioms, metaphors, proverbs and their interrelations 46. Practical and theoretical problems for idiom lexical 47. The function of idioms: pragmatic and sociolinguistic aspects 48. The treatment of idioms in pedagogic handbooks and textbooks 49. Idioms and the stages and strategies of language acquisition 50. The relationship between text type and the use of fixed expressions 51. The use of fixed expressions in football commentary 52. The use of fixed expressions in advertising 53. The use of fixed expressions in sermons 54. The use of fixed expressions in business letters 55. The use of fixed expressions in telephone language 56. The use of fixed expressions in public notices 57. The use of fixed expressions in polit. language 58. The use of fixed expressions in every day informal conversation 59. The use of fixed expressions in academic writing 60. The use of fixed expressions in intellectual discussion 61. The use of fixed expressions in romantic fiction 62. The use of fixed expressions in legal language 63. The use of fixed expressions in Parliamentary language 64. The use of fixed expressions in speeches and toasts 65. The use of fixed expressions in newspaper English 66. The use of fixed expressions in fairy tales 67. The use of fixed expressions in ballads 68. The use of fixed expressions in different media 69. The treatment of fixed expressions/idioms in dictionaries a. idiom dictionaries b. general dictionaries 70. Fixed expressions as connective devices 71. Fixed expressions from a contrastive point of view 72. Proverbs and their use in Modern English 73. Catchphrases 74. Fixed expressions as markers of style or class 75. Speech acts and the use of fixed expressions 76. Sum up and explain/illustrate an article from the linguistic literature 77. Phonetic characteristics of fixed expressions 78. Intonation and fixed expressions 79. Proverbs patterns 80. Idiom types/Stereotypes types 81. Idiom & metaphor 82. Idioms stereotypic dialogue 83. Syntactic aspects of phrasal idioms 84. Role of pragmatic idioms in verbal encounters 85. Role of pragmatic idioms in written communication 86. Specific theories of idiom: a. syntactic (Fraser) b. semantic (K & F; Weinreich, Newmeyer) c. pragmatic (Hockett? Gibbon, Burger, Henke, Coulmas) 87. Idiomaticity & descriptive adequacy