An Experimental Study On The Application Of Conceptual Metonymy Theory To English Vocabulary Teaching In A Senior High School

Vocabulary has been considered as the foundation of English teaching and learning.Through out the EFL teaching history,there are diverse approaches of vocabulary teaching.However,how to teach vocabulary effectively is still a heated debate in foreign language teaching.With the development of the studies of cognitive linguistics and conceptual metonymy,applying conceptual metonymy to EFL teaching has become an important research trend.Based on the analysis of current situation of vocabulary teaching in C hina,the present study attempts to further verify the effects of the application of conceptual metonymy to English vocabulary teaching.Based on the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metonymy Theory,perspective salience and contiguity,Idealized Cognitive Model,the study addresses the following two research questions:1.Can the application of conceptual metonymy to vocabulary teaching facilitate senior high school students' comprehension of the metonymic meanings of English vocabulary?2.Can the application of conceptual metonymy to vocabulary teaching facilitate senior high school students' retention of the metonymic meanings of English vocabulary?An experimental research of five weeks has been implemented in a senior high school to find out the answer to the above questions.Two classes of Senior Grade O ne,a total number of 80 students whose ages range from 15 to 16,were randomly selected as the participants of the present research.Among them,40 students(22 males and 18 females)were selected as the control class(CC),in which the traditional vocabulary teaching method was adopted,whereas another 40 students(19 males and 23 females)were selected as the experimental class(EC),in which conceptual metonymy was applied in the teaching of vocabulary.All of the participants were engaged in the pre-test,vocabulary comprehension post test,and vocabulary retention post test.The results of the tests were quantitatively analyzed by applying SPSS 17.0.Also,independent sample T-test and paired sample T-test are applied respectively.Subsequently,the discussion was illustrated in light of the relevant theoretical frameworks.The empirical data indicated that applying conceptual metonymy to English vocabulary teaching can indeed facilitate senior high school students' comprehension and retention of the metonymic meanings of English vocabulary.The findings of the present study imply that it is feasible to promote the application of conceptual metonymy to English vocabulary teaching in senior high school.Foreign language teachers are suggested to elaborate the metonymic meanings of vocabulary to boost the learners' lexical competence,namely the ability of applying words precisely and appropriately and retrieving words quickly and proficiently,which results in the development of students ' comprehensive language competence.