The Power Of Sports Metaphor In English Business Writings

With the theory of conceptual metaphor as the guideline, this thesis aims to explore the power of sports metaphor in English business writings. The main task is to build a theoretic framework and an analytic model for sample analysis and discussion, which hopefully will make some contributions to the study of the application of sports metaphor in business world.Chapter 1 introduces the intention of this study: to bring English language learners and other relevant people attention to a very useful thinking weapon—sports metaphor and see how it is successfully applied in English business writings and displays its great power. The hypothesis is: properly used, sports metaphor can increase the vividness and effectiveness of English business writings, thus the power of expression. The organization of this thesis, together with its research methodology is also introduced. Chapter 2 is literature review. The theory of conceptual metaphor by Lakoff and Johnson is clearly and comprehensively elaborated to lay a solid foundation for building up the theoretical framework and further an analytic model for sample analysis and discussion. Chapter 3 focuses on research methodology. It is a qualitative analysis approach based on my theoretical framework and analytic model. Language data is collected from varieties of English business articles on the Internet. Sentences concerning sports metaphor in business writings are the primary focus for this research.Chapter 4 is devoted to sample analysis and discussion. Sentences concerning sports metaphor in English business writings are categorized and studied according to the theoretical framework and analytic model. Sample sentences are accordingly classified into twelve groups. They are analyzed and discussed in details by a five-step approach concerning grounding, sports metaphor, metaphorical expressions, entailments and power. Chapter 5 is conclusion. A summary of this thesis is made. Possible significance of this thesis is pointed out from theoretical and application perspective. Weakness of sports metaphor. Finally limitations and suggestions on further research are given.