An Empirical Study On The Application Of Conceptual Metaphor Theory In Senior High School English Reading Teaching

Through reviewing and summarizing the research status and research results of English reading teaching for China in recent years, the author finds that:there are many research works and articles on the application of conceptual metaphor theory in English teaching, but mainly concentrate on college English teaching; there are some about high school English teaching, but they mainly concentrate on the vocabulary teaching and are seldom involved in reading teaching. It is well known that reading teaching is a core of high school English teaching and plays an important role in English teaching. Meanwhile, the author thinks that since the concept of metaphor is a way of thinking of human and a cognitive tool, it will play its proper role in reading. If high school English teachers can give students effective guidance on the conceptual metaphors, we will be able to improve the students’ cognitive metaphor ability, thus improving the students’ reading comprehension ability, and it will certainly promote high school English reading teaching.Due to the above reasons, this empirical research focuses on the application of the conceptual metaphor theory in English reading teaching in senior high school, and the subjects of the research are 100 students from two classes of science in a senior high school in Jurong city and the controlled trials lasts for three months. One of the classes is used as the experimental class with uses of the conceptual metaphor theory in English reading teaching while the other is used as controlled class with uses of traditional English teaching mode. Through the statistics and analyses of the test before and after the research, the results of questionnaire and interview, the author draws the following conclusions:1. Conceptual metaphor theory can be applied in senior high school English reading teaching process; 2. Conceptual metaphor theory has an obvious promoting effect in senior high school English reading teaching:(1) at the lexical level, it can help the students learn words systematically; (2) at the textual level, it can help the students understand the deep meanings of sentences and grasp the macrostructure of the passages; 3. If the conceptual metaphor theory is applied to senior high school English teaching, not only the speed and level of students’ English reading but also the level and efficiency of teachers’ teaching will be improved.