Research On The Metaphorical Meaning Of Taste Words In Teaching Chinese As A Foreign Language

Taste words are a unique cluster of Chinese vocabulary,reflecting Chinese food culture and Chinese thinking.There is still much room for further studies on the metaphorical meanings of taste words and their research on teaching Chinese as a foreign language.From my own teaching practice at Lao Soochow University,I explored various methods on how to teach the metaphorical meaning of taste words,and have put forward some teaching suggestions.The introduction mainly introduces the reason,significance and previous research of the topic.The first chapter explains the concept of metaphor from the perspective of cognitive linguistics,In chapter two,five basic taste words "sweet,sour,bitter,spicy,and salty" are selected as research objects,and their original meaning,metaphorical meaning,and grammatical function are analyzed from diachronic and synchronic approaches.It is considered that the word "bitter" has the strongest word-forming ability and the richest metaphorical meaning.The third chapter explores causes of the errors of learners' use of metaphorical meanings of taste words in combination with the HSK Dynamic Composition Corpus and questionnaires.It is believed that causes of the errors of learners are mainly the negative transfer of mother tongue,target language and culture.Based on the research illustrated in the first three chapters,the fourth chapter develops teaching techniques,designed for Chinese learners at different levels specifically.The fifth chapter proposes teaching suggestions on the metaphorical meaning of taste words in teaching Chinese as a foreign language from the perspective of teachers,students and textbooks.Teachers needs to learn the existing research results and implement it in their teaching methods,especially when teach students from diverse cultures.Students should expand their thinking and actively cultivate their metaphorical competence.The compilation of textbooks should be added with the topic of taste words according to the needs of teaching.