The Effects of EFL Learners’ Awareness and Retention in Learning Metaphoric and Metonymic Expressions

The Effects of EFL Learners’ Awareness and Retention in Learning Metaphoric and Metonymic Expressions Yi-chen Chena, and Huei-ling Laib aForeign Language Center, National Chengchi University, NO.64, Sec.2, ZhiNan Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei City 11605, Taiwan (R.O.C) yicc@nccu.edu.tw bDepartment of English, National Chengchi University, NO.64, Sec.2, ZhiNan Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei City 11605, Taiwan (R.O.C) hllai@nccu.edu.tw 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 Keywords: Conceptual metaphor, Metaphoric mappings, Cultural universality/specificity 1. Introduction Researchers in the field of SLA contend that learners’ awareness of motivations is the key in second language acquisition (Ammar, Lightbown, & Spada, 2010; O’Mally & Chamot, 1990; R. Ellis, 2002). Cognitive linguists, applying the idea to research on figurative language learning, demonstrate the beneficial effects of enhanced awareness (Boers, 2000ab, 2001; Boers & Lindstromberg, 2006; N. Ellis, 2006ab ; Chung & Ahrens, 2004; Deignan et al., 1997; Dong, 2004; Kövecses, 2001; Low, 1988, among others). These studies mainly implement metaphoric themes—called conceptual metaphor—during the learning processes in order to raise L2 learners’ awareness of semantic motivation behind figurative expressions. The results have proved that L2 learners’ enhanced awareness of conceptual metaphor is indeed beneficial in comprehension and retention. However, the method of providing conceptual metaphor is not unproblematic. First of all, their method mainly focuses on metaphor; metonymy is seldom taken into consideration. The underestimation of the importance of metonymy may lead to an overlook of its effects on learning figurative expressions. Metonymy and metaphor, in extant literature, are believed to interact with each other in intricate ways and their boundary is fuzzy (Barnden, 2010; Goossens, 1990; Radden, 2003). Chen & Lai (in press), manifesting their interactions as a continuum, has found that L2 learners respond differently to figurative expressions locating on different spots of the continuum. However, with the significance of metonymy taken into consideration, whether L2 learners would respond to figurative expressions differently hasn’t been determined. 25th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, pages 541–548 541 Moreover, focusing mainly on awareness raising may lead to an underestimation of effects of one important element: the gaps caused by different cultures between native and target languages. In the early stage of learning, both similarities and differences between L1 and L2 may facilitate L2 learning (Kellerman,1977; Odlin, 1989; Ringbom, 1987); …

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