Metaphor Awareness Raising And Vocabulary Teaching In EFL Classroom

Many philosophers, linguists and psychologists, such as Lakoff & Johnson, Richards, Kittay etc., have demonstrated that metaphor is a basic cognitive instrument and is pervasive not only in language but also in our thought and action. But in our college EFL class, metaphor is treated only as a rhetorical device and a trill or an ornament to language. With the rising of conceptual metaphor, more attention has been attached to the significance of conceptual metaphor in second language teaching. Nevertheless, little work has been done to study the connection between conceptual metaphor and foreign language teaching, including vocabulary teaching. In order to give some enlightenment to vocabulary teaching and learning, the researcher applies a study of raising metaphor awareness in college students. With the purpose of introducing metaphor as a cognitive approach to improve college English teaching and learning, this paper is an empirical study of conceptual metaphor and English vocabulary teaching and learning, and particularly of how conceptual metaphor theory can act as a facilitator of English vocabulary teaching and learning in college EFL class.This dissertation firstly gives a general introduction of definition of conceptual metaphor, its working mechanism, philosophy basis, and the close relationship between conceptual metaphor and English vocabulary teaching and learning. Then the researcher attaches much more importance to the experiment which based on Boers' study. In order to test the effectiveness of using conceptual metaphor in English vocabulary teaching and learning, an empirical study was undertaken in Guiyang Medical University. An experimental group and a controlled group with similar English level in Guiyang Medical College were chosen to participate in this empirical study. The experiment lasted two months, which consists a pretest, a post test and a series of classroom teaching activities. Two different approaches were taken in EC (experimental class) and CC (controlled class). EC learned novel words under systematic instructions of conceptual metaphor while CC received the same words group in a traditional approach without systematic instructions of conceptual metaphor. With reference to some previous work by other scholars, both vocabulary and metaphoric tests were designed and conducted to test the effectiveness of the experimental teaching.All the raw data collected in the tests were analyzed systematically by software SPSS 13.0. The analysis of data led to some findings. It was found that the experimental class surpassed the controlled class in both their retention of learned words and metaphoric competence. These findings verified the hypotheses concerning the relationship between conceptual metaphor and English vocabulary teaching in college classroom. According to the data analysis and findings of the experiment, we can come to the following conclusion: 1) The results of the experimental study indicate that the teaching of metaphors had improved the vocabulary retention and extending.2) The subjects' awareness of conceptual metaphor can be cultivated by classroom activities. 3) Both metaphor awareness and competence can be cultivated through classroom activities. Researchers should pay more attention to the differences of conceptual metaphor system of different cultures when applied them in classroom activities.In addition, basing on the analysis of the results of the experimental study, the researcher gives some suggestions of pedagogical implications for vocabulary teaching in college English classroom. On the whole, teaching English vocabulary through metaphor may conform to the trend of English teaching and learning in the near future; teachers and learners should devote more attention to this area.