An Empirical Study On The Application Of Conceptual Metaphor Theory In English Phrasal Verb Teaching In High School

As a basic element for English learning,vocabulary is of great importance to language learners.English phrasal verbs are an indispensable part of vocabulary.However,because of their special composition(verb+particle),it is hard for language learners to understand their meanings.In addition,there are a lot of problems with traditional ways of teaching phrasal verbs.For example,students get to know phrasal verbs' meanings mostly by rote memorization while ignoring the cognitive motivations behind them.As a consequence,students may lose their interest in phrasal verb learning.Recent decades witnessed studies on vocabulary teaching from a cognitive perspective whose purpose is to help language learners to understand and memorize phrasal verbs in an easier way.However,few studies focused on high school students.The present study,therefore,represents an attempt to apply conceptual metaphor theory to phrasal verb's teaching in a senior high school.More specifically,it is intended to address the following questions:(1)Does the use of conceptual metaphor theory in vocabulary teaching facilitate EFL learners' retention of English phrasal verbs(v.+ up/down)in both short and long term effects?(2)Does the use of conceptual metaphor theory in vocabulary teaching facilitate EFL learners' inference of metaphorical meanings of English phrasal verbs(v.+ up/down)?(3)Can the use of conceptual metaphor theory raise students' interest in learning English phrasal verbs(v.+ up/down)?96 subjects participated an 8-week teaching program.They are two parallel classes of grade one in a senior high school in Tianshui.The experimental class(N=48)is taught targeted phrasal verbs through conceptual metaphor instruction,whereas the control class(N=48)is taught the same targeted words by a traditional teaching method.The teaching program lasted for 8 weeks.Proficiency test,phrasal verbs tests were employed to measure the participants' English proficiency and their achievements in phrasal verb learning.According to the analysis based on the results of the experiment,3 conclusions are drawn in this study as follows:(1)Compared with control class,experimental class has a better performance on retention of phrasal verbs in both short and long term.(2)Compared with control class,experimental class has a better performance on inferringmetaphorical meanings of phrasal verbs.(3)Compared with control class,experimental class shows greater interest in learning phrasal verbs.This research reveals that conceptual metaphor theory contributes a lot to students learning on phrasal verbs and it yields positive effects.It helps students to understand and memorize phrasal verbs in an easier way and it makes students more interested in learning phrasal verbs.Therefore,it offers an effective way for senior high school students to learn phrasal verbs.