The Study On Locative Words In Teaching Chinese As A Second Language From The Perspective Of Metaphor

Locative words are a special and closed group of words in modern Chinese system of word classes, and the noumenon of this group of words is controversial. Due to their intricate semantic features and grammatical function, and high frequency of use and wide scope of application, locative words are both a vital and difficult part in teaching Chinese as a second language. Locative words are not merely employed to express the spatial concepts in people’s cognition, but are often taken as metaphors of time, quantity, range, status, position, relation and other concepts. However, foreign students can only acquire the spatial meanings of these words, but could hardly get hold of their metaphorical imports, even make aberrations and errors.The thesis describes and analyzes the spatial meanings and metaphorical imports of 14 typical locative words from the perspective of cognitive metaphor. And in the light of the reality of teaching Chinese as a second language, and based on the error analysis theory, the thesis generalizes and analyzes the aberrations and errors in the linguistic materials of HSK dynamic composition corpus and previous research from word-formation, grammar and pragmatics. The author of the thesis has found that the main reasons for the aberrations and errors include the negative transfer of native language and target language knowledge, learning and communication strategies, teachers’ teaching methods and the impact of teaching material compilation, etc. Based on above-mentioned analysis, the author proposes some specific suggestions for teaching locative words in teaching Chinese as a second language, mainly in two aspects of teaching design and teaching methods, in the hope of offering effective practical basis for Chinese locative words teaching and improving teaching efficiency and students’ language acquisition.