An Empirical Study Of Cognitive Approach To English Idiom Learning And Teaching In High School

English idioms are pervasive and constitute a large part of our everyday linguistic repertoire. The competence to use a wide range of idioms accurately and appropriately in context is regarded as one of the distinguishing marks of a native-like command of language.For quite a long time, many language teachers hold the traditional view that idioms are randomly-used expressions, arbitrary and non-compositional. Therefore, Idioms have always been relegated to the sidelines of language teaching and English learners are usually left with memorizing idioms as chunks. Contrary to traditional non-compositional view, cognitive linguists suggest that idioms are compositional in nature and their meanings are predictable from their components in most cases because most of the idioms have systematic conceptual motivation. This actually opens a new leaf for English idiom teaching.Based on the cognitive models of Image Schema, Conceptual Metaphor and Metonymy, as well as Conventional Knowledge in Cognitive Linguistics, the researcher conducted a two-month experimental study in high school, endeavoring to answer the following three major questions:(1) Is the incorporation of cognitive models (conceptual metaphor and image schema, conceptual metonymy, as well as conventional knowledge) in English idiom teaching more effective than the conventional teaching method in facilitating students’perception and retention (both short-term and long-term) of idioms?(2) Does the context help promote idiom comprehension? Will the modes of idiom presentation have an effect on idiom processing both in zero context and context situation?(3) Will there be any change in their attitude and strategy use after the incorporation of cognitive models of conceptual metaphor and image schema, conceptual metonymy as well as conventional knowledge?The results of this study confirm that the incorporation of cognitive models in idiom teaching does motivate and facilitate students’ learning and retention (both short-term and long term) of English idioms; and although the relationship between the context and the processing of idioms is still obscure and needs further studies, this research reveals that the modes of presentation do have an effect on English idiom processing and the application of cognitive models can help improve students’ perception and comprehension of English idioms in both zero context and context situation.