An Empirical Study Of L1 Chinese Transfer In L2 English Metaphor Learning

Metaphor has long been a hot topic among linguists. Researchers have made many theoretical studies on metaphor in various academic fields and from different perspectives. With the development of cognitive science and in-depth studies of metaphor, researchers have come to a clear understanding that metaphor is not only an ornament of language, but also an important way for us to cognize and interpret the world. This understanding has given rise to a shift of research focus from the rhetoric function of metaphor to its cognitive nature. The cognitive study of metaphor was marked by the publication of Metaphors We Live By by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980. A new theory of metaphor - conceptual metaphor theory was thus presented before us. It mainly states that metaphor is pervasive in language and thought. It also believes that there is close relationship between language, metaphor and cognition.Due to its cognitive nature, metaphor is believed to play an important role in second language acquisition (SLA). In the study of metaphor and SLA, one branch is to study metaphor transfer since cross-linguistic transfer has been a central issue in second language acquisition and second language teaching for a long time. Research shows that cross-linguistic transfer is one of the important factors that influence the successful acquisition of a second language (L2). Moreover, it has been found that learners'conceptual system developed in the first language (L1) influences their SLA and L2 metaphor learning as well. This influence is, to a high degree, determined by the similarities and differences between the conceptual systems of the two languages involved. Many foreign studies have proved that transfer of metaphor occurs in the process of SLA, but the representations are complicated.The present study aims to explore how L1 Chinese transfer would influence L2 English learners'comprehension of English metaphors. The main research questions are:(1) Would learners'conceptual system developed in L1 Chinese significantly influence their L2 English metaphor comprehension? (2) How would L1 Chinese transfer be reflected in learners'L2 English metaphor comprehension? (3) Would there be any difference in cross-linguistic transfer of metaphor among learners of different English proficiency levels?The study involved 70 participants, who were all sophomores of English major. According to their achievements in the course Comprehensive English in the previous term, the subjects were divided into three groups, representing three different English proficiency levels:high, middle and low. The subjects were first asked to complete a test, which was composed of 45 multiple-choice questions concerning five different types of English metaphorical expressions and the subjects were required to select the correct metaphorical meaning. Then the subjects were required to finish a questionnaire, which was aimed to investigate what kind of view they hold on the influence of L1 Chinese in L2 English learning. The data collected were analyzed with SPSS 17.0.The findings are as follows. First, there are significant differences among the learners in their comprehension of different types of metaphorical expressions, so it may be safe to say that the learners'conceptual system developed in L1 Chinese significantly influences their L2 English metaphor comprehension. Second, in the process of cross-linguistic metaphor transfer, the influence that L1 Chinese exerts on the learners is varied among different types of English metaphorical expressions. English metaphorical expressions which have equivalent conceptual bases and equivalent linguistic forms to the Chinese counterparts are the most possible to trigger positive transfer. The metaphorical expressions which have equivalent conceptual bases but similar or different linguistic forms are also possible to generate positive transfer but not so strong as the above-mentioned type. The metaphorical expressions which have different conceptual bases but equivalent or similar linguistic forms are the most difficult types for Chinese learners to comprehend because the seemingly identical metaphors between the two languages can easily cause negative transfer. Third, there are considerable differences in the learners'comprehension results among groups of different English proficiency levels. The learners'performance in the whole comprehension test shows positive correlation with their L2 proficiency levels. The mean score of the high-proficiency group, in comprehending all of the five types of English metaphors, is slightly higher than that of the middle-proficiency group but greatly higher than that of the low-proficiency group. The learners in the high-proficiency group, possibly due to their advanced linguistic proficiency in the target language, could sometimes shake off the constraints of their L1 conceptual system more easily.In general, this study explored the cross-linguistic transfer of metaphor from L1 Chinese to L2 English and found out that L1 Chinese transfer did influence learners' English metaphor comprehension in various ways. This may serve as evidence for metaphor transfer theory and bring some enlightenment on second language teaching and learning.