Abstract:

In Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) [1] conceptual metaphors (CMs) are conceived of as cognitive mechanisms that allow us to establish mental associations between two areas of experience (for example, the metaphor LIFE IS A JOURNEY allows us to establish connections between the domain of LIFE and that of JOURNEYS, so that the former can be understood in terms of the latter). These connections can be made explicit in language with a variety of expressions like She’s at a crossroads and needs to make up her mind [1], but as mental associations, CMs can also be manifested in other modes of expression, like pictures, sounds, gestures, and so forth [2]. Moreover, CMs can also be perceived as more novel (creative) or conventional, depending the users’ background knowledge and context of use [3].

In the last decade, a bulk of studies grounded in CMT has shown different degrees of effectiveness of CMs in teaching vocabulary in ESL contexts, especially in fostering vocabulary retention [4-6]. However, to the best of our knowledge, most efforts have been made on the linguistic side of metaphors, while little attention has been paid to the effects of other modes of expression. Moreover, the novelty-conventionality dimension has not been addressed yet in this context.

This paper addresses different kinds of CMs (in terms of modality and degree of conventionality) and assesses their efficacy in the retention of a series of linguistic expressions related to the topic of social networking in the EFL classroom. Two approaches to deal with different kinds of linguistic and visual metaphorical elements were devised and implemented on a group of secondary education EFL students (N=24). Vocabulary retention was measured via a pre-test and a post-test that were administered before and after instruction. Qualitative data about the participants’ perception on each approach were also gathered with the help of a questionnaire provided at the end of the process. Overall, our results highlight degree of efficacy of different groups of linguistic and visual metaphorical elements, and call for further research over a broader set of types of students (academic/educational contexts) and levels of English.

References:
[1] G. Lakoff and M. Johnson, Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1980.
[2] C. Forceville, and E. Urios-Aparisi (Eds.), Multimodal Metaphor. Berlin-New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009.
[3] B. F. Bowdle and D. Gentner “The career of metaphor,” Psychological Review vol. 112, no. 1, pp. 193-216.
[4] F. Boers and S. Lindstromberg (Eds.), Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Teaching Vocabulary and Phraseology, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2008.
[5] J. Littlemore, Applying Cognitive Linguistics to Second Language Learning and Teaching. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
[6] F. Boers, “Cognitive Linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary: Assessment and integration,” Language Teaching, vol. 46, no. 2, 208-224, 2013.

Keywords:

EFL, secondary education, metaphor, vocabulary, retention, social networking.