Abstract:

The presentation aims at disclosing the importance of the discourse of social advertising in Lithuanian language teaching and learning. Advertisements have been investigated from the perspective of conceptual metaphors theory, which, in the latter years, is more and more recognized as an important issue in language education. The key idea of the theorists declares that the metaphors exist not only in a language but also in human thinking, i.e. in his conceptual system while the concept is perceived as a unit of thinking containing information about various objects and phenomena The presentation reveals the specifics of the social advertising alongside with a detailed conception of a conceptual metaphor and a concept itself..

In the first part of the investigation metaphoric expressions of the concept of VIOLENCE have been analyzed It was observed that most often the VIOLENCE is perceived as a TOOL FOR FIGHTING, EDUCATIONAL MEASURE, MYSTERY, LIVING CREATURE and THREAT. VIOLENCE in social advertisements is presented as a hostile force demonstrated against a weaker human being. Violence hurts, kills, destroys and takes away the joy of life. It was discovered that the concept of VIOLENCE is actualized not only through the verbal expressions but also through the images: a metaphor can be revealed through a non-verbal element used in advertising. An image and a word belong to the different sign systems, however, they are inter-related and can supplement and expand each other. The concept of VIOLENCE identified in social advertising reveal the attitude and perception of this phenomenon by Lithuanians. In the second part of the presentation, the questionnaire, related to the recognition and ability to use the metaphoric expressions have been presented. The investigation summarizes the importance of the Conceptual metaphor theory to Lithuanian language teaching and learning practices.

Keywords:

Language teaching, language learning, Conceptual metaphor theory, concept of violence.