Metaphorical Analysis Of Economics Discourse And Its Pedagogical Implications In Reading

Metaphor is pervasive in life. Metaphorical thinking is a common phenomenon in language, thought and action. Metaphor has traditionally been viewed as a rhetorical device. And yet it is viewed not only as a figure of speech, but also a cognitive activity in which experiences in well-known domain are mapped onto those in less well-known domain in cognitive linguistics. Metaphor is often used in economics discourses. Many scholars study economics discourses in language itself or from the perspective of relevance theory. There are also some scholars who study economics discourses from perspective of metaphor but have not gone much further. Thus the present thesis tries to use image schema and structural metaphor which are important concepts in Lakoff and Johnson's cognitive metaphor theory to analyze economic terms or economic activities, and to show the significance of this analysis in reading teaching. Image schema is of great importance in comprehending complex concepts. Two image schemas involving up-down and container are introduced and used in economics discourse analysis in my thesis. Lakoff and Johnson view that schemas are basic in our conceptual system. Besides, they also point out image schemas do not say very much about things, and structural metaphor may be provided to help do more. In economics discourse, economic entities are described as organism involving human being, animal and plant while economic activities as human being's activities such as war, game and journey. Economics discourse is analyzed on the basis of structural metaphor from seven aspects. Due to frequent use and its specific semantic features in economics discourses, metaphor is bound to have influence on students' reading comprehension. Metaphor, as a means to construct knowledge, is of great significance in economics discourse learning and analysis. Reading is one reliable source of authentic materials for students. In this thesis, reading is also recognized as a process of communication between readers and discourses. A successful communication depends on how much readers understand, represent and reconstruct knowledge. Teachers may use conceptual metaphor theory to help students improve their reading comprehension in economics discourses.