A Study Of Semantic Network Learning Of English Prepositions Above And Over By Chinese EFL Learners

English prepositions are notoriously difficult for foreign learners including Chinese EFL learners. Though many linguists have put forward interpretations and solutions to the problems of English preposition learning for foreign learners, there are still some questions regarding the proper use of English prepositions for foreign learners which need to be further explored.This study is carried out on the basis of principled polysemy network from the cognitive linguistic perspective and attempts to resolve the semantic problems encountered by Chinese learners which are caused by the polysemy characteristic of English prepositions. More specifically, it is a qualitative and quantitative research on the English prepositions above and over by Chinese EFL learners with an aim to answer the following research questions:1. What are the primary senses in the principled polysemy networks of above and over for Chinese EFL learners? And how do Chinese EFL learners classify the distinct senses of above and over in the principled polysemy networks into the primary sense, the intermediate sense and the peripheral?2. Are there any differences in the classification of the semantic members of the two words across different proficiency levels for Chinese EFL learners?3. Do the primary senses of prepositions influence English preposition learning for Chinese EFL learners?To answer the above questions, the present study investigates 187 subjects at different proficiency levels (48 for lower intermediate,105 for upper-intermediate, and 34 for advanced). All the subjects are tested by the classification task for English prepositions semantic members of above and over and the sentence-completion task. The statistic instrument of this research is SPSS. Following are the main findings in this research.1. The primary sense in the principled polysemy networks of above and over for Chinese EFL learners is [higher than], which is the same with the analysis of Evans but different from the analysis of Lakoff who has claimed that the primary sense of above is [higher than] and the primary sense of over is [beyond-across]; and the classification of the distinct senses in the polysemy network of above by Chinese EFL learners is that a), [higher than] is the primary sense, b). [too good or too honest to do] is the peripheral, and c). the rest semantic members in the principled polysemy networks are the intermediate; as for the classification of the distinct senses in the principled polysemy network of over by Chinese EFL learners is that a). [higher than] is the primary sense, b). [by means of], [focus] and [preference] are the peripherals, c). the rest of distinct senses in the principled polysemy network of over are the intermediate ones.2. The classification for the distinct senses in the more complex principled polysemy network of over by lower-intermediate Chinese EFL learners significantly differ from the intermediate and the advance learners, while the classification for the distinct senses in the relatively simple principled polysemy network of above across the groups is much similar across different proficiency groups.3. The primary senses do have influence on learning English prepositions for Chinese EFL learners. a). The overlaps between the primary senses of the given English prepositions and other English prepositions would cause negative influence on learning English prepositions and use, whereas b). differences between the primary senses of English prepositions and their Chinese equivalences may exert negative effects on learning English prepositions and use for Chinese EFL learners.This study is an empirical research on learning English prepositions for Chinese EFL learners and attempts to offer some practical suggestions on English preposition learning and teaching.