| In the 1980s, Lakoff and Johnson advanced the Conceptual Metaphor Theory in their publication Metaphors We Live By, which marked the real beginning of the cognitive study of metaphor. In the following decades, researchers have applied the conceptual metaphor theory into EFL teaching and learning. Danesi (1994) pointed out that in EFL learners'writings, despite the verbal fluency, they lacked the conceptual appropriateness that characterized the corresponding discourses of the native speaker. Inspired by that, this paper studies the levels of the students'metaphorical competence and their writing proficiency, and the correlation between those two, and how cultivation of metaphorical competence affects the five aspects of writing: content, organization, vocabulary, language use, mechanics.This paper is composed of six chapters. Chapter one concerns the background, the significance and the aim of the research. Chapter two makes a literature review on the former studies on metaphor, and the teaching in EFL writing. Based on the literature review, this study takes a further step.Chapter three is the theoretical framework of the study. This chapter makes an introduction to the conceptual metaphor theory and metaphorical competence, and in particular, the working mechanism and classification of conceptual metaphor. Based on them, the cultivation of metaphorical competence is conducted.Chapter four deals with the research design, consisting of the pre-test, the cultivation of MC, and the post-test. Two classes of non-English majors in Northwest Normal University are chosen as the Experimental Class and the Control Class respectively. XY Test and Metaphorical Competence Receptive Test and Metaphorical Competence Productive Test are taken as the instruments to test the subjects'metaphorical competence in both the pre-test and the post-test. Subjects are required to write two compositions in given time in the pre-test and the post-test. To rate their compositions, criteria advanced by Jacobs et al. are taken. Three experienced English teachers in NWNU are invited to rate the compositions. In the cultivation of the EC's MC, working mechanism and classification of conceptual metaphor are made use of. The cultivation is conducted from the level of word, to group and then to clause and sentence. After 15-week cultivation, a post-test is taken. An interview is conducted to probe the level of the students'metaphorical competence, the EC's attitude towards metaphor, and their feedback about the effects of cultivation of metaphorical competence, especially on writing proficiency.This research shows: 1) The MC of students is rather low. Out of 114 points, the mean is only 46.73. Specifically, for MC-RT, out of 60, the mean is 31.59, and for MC-PT, out of 42, the mean is 11.92, and for XYT, out of 12, the mean is 3.22. Their MC-PT is lower than MC-RT, which results in the low proficiency of writing. The mean of their writing is marked"from poor to fair". Among content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics, content and vocabulary are their weaknesses. 2) The correlation between MC and writing proficiency indicates that they are positively correlated. Among the correlation between XYT, MC-RT, MC-PT and the five aspects of writing, the correlation between MC-RT and the five aspects of writing is the lowest. 3) The cultivation of EC's MC shows it facilitates writing proficiency, the means in the pre-test and the post-test are 66.97 and 71.29. Paired Sample Test shows there is statistically significant difference between their writing proficiency in the pre-test and the post-test. The improvement is manifested in the aspects of content and vocabulary, the weaknesses of the students'writing. Comparison between students'writings in the pre-test and the post-test, in combination with the results of the interview confirms this finding. The research is of theoretical and pedagogical significance: in both teaching and learning EFL writing, conceptual metaphor should be employed. |
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