Conceptual Metaphor Theory And The Vocabulary Teaching And Learning In College English In China

Conceptual Metaphor Theory believes that metaphor is not only a prevalent language phenomenon but also an indispensable cognition tool to human beings. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) argue that when one conceptual domain is understood in terms of another conceptual domain, we have a conceptual metaphor. The fact that a large amount of expressions are closely linked with conceptual metaphors contributes new insights into foreign language vocabulary teaching. The application of conceptual metaphor theory has been drawing increasing attention within applied linguistics (Gibbs 1994, 1997; Kovecses & Szabo 1996; Boers 2000). Nowadays, the importance of metaphorical competence starts to be recognized by scholars. However, there is general lack of empirical support in EFL vocabulary teaching in authentic college English teaching and learning in China for a long time.With the purpose of introducing metaphor as a cognitive approach to improve college English vocabulary teaching, this paper put it into practice. There is a close connection between conceptual metaphor and vocabulary teaching. This paper put forward that conceptual metaphor has an active effect in college vocabulary teaching, it is more effective than traditional method such as repetition and automatic remembering. According to Conceptual Metaphor Theory, metaphor is ubiquitous and systematic. Therefore, Chinese English learners can learn vocabulary through metaphor and organize their retention in a systematic and vivid way. Their metaphorical awareness will be raised meanwhile in learning the word. Second, according to conceptual metaphor theory, language must be based on experience. People who have the different mother tongues have different metaphor conceptual systems. During the course of learning English vocabulary, that can help students find out the consistency between the two kinds of language metaphors, with which to recognize the relationship between language, vocabulary, thought and the external world, thus make the vocabulary learning systemic. Third, Using the conceptual metaphor theory in teaching can make the students understand the deep culture intention, and make the students know the mechanism of the language orientation of the same word in different contexts, and also the words that have the same or similar semanteme can be used in the same context. Fourth, by using the conceptual metaphor theory in vocabulary teaching, the students can grasp the thinking mode of native speakers and learn to found a effective English vocabulary teaching mode.There are altogether six chapters in the thesis. The first chapter is an introduction. The second chapter is a literature review of metaphor theory. The third chapter is mainly about the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, which includes the definition, the mechanism, classifications and features of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The fourth chapter is about the application of Conceptual Metaphor Theory in English vocabulary teaching. Conceptual Metaphor Theory can be use in the teaching of polysemy, the teaching of idioms, the teaching of cultural implications, the teaching of words connection and the teaching of new words. The fifth chapter is an experiment of using Conceptual Metaphor Theory in College English vocabulary teaching. The experiment shows that using Conceptual Metaphor Theory in English vocabulary teaching is really effective.On the whole, teaching English vocabulary through metaphor is a promising, virgin in China, which may become the trend of applied linguistics in the near future. Relevant parties including education authorities, teachers and learners etc. should devote enough attention to this area.