The effects of EFL learners` awareness and retention in learning metaphoric and metonymic expressions

Abstract

Cognitive linguists contend that learners` awareness of motivations is the key in not only second language acquisition but also figurative language learning. Two cognitive-oriented methods are proposed to raise L2 learners` awareness on metaphoric/metonymic expressions and to enhance retention: instruction involving conceptual metaphors (CM) and instruction involving metaphoric mappings (MM). The present study aims to examine their effectiveness in an EFL context. The results show favorable influences on learners` awareness and retention, which confirm that cognitive-oriented instructions indeed can assist learners to make better sense of figurative language. Moreover, the instruction on metaphoric mappings seems to result in better awareness of expressions which involve more complicated and abstract mapping relationships. The findings of the study can shed light on the application of metaphor and metonymy to EFL teaching and learning of figurative language.