论文总字数：31543字

摘 要

概念隐喻是人类的认知机制。人们通过简单的具体的概念理解复杂的抽象的概念。从某种意义上来说,概念隐喻又是一种语言法则。传统的词汇教学方法效果差强人意,概念隐喻自身的优势有利于弥补传统词汇教学的缺陷。文章简要地介绍了概念隐喻理论,讨论了将概念隐喻应用于一词多义、介词、俚语、以及词语搭配教学的可行性并探讨了在实际教学中如何运用概念隐喻进行词汇教学的对策。这些策略的应用将会很大地提高学生的词汇学习效率。

关键词: 概念隐喻理论; 英语词汇教学; 可行性; 对策

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 Conceptual Metaphor Theory 2

2.2 Studies on Applying Conceptual Metaphor to Vocabulary Teaching 3

3. The Feasibility of Using Conceptual Metaphor in English Vocabulary Teaching 4

3.1 Metaphorical Analysis of Polysemy 4

3.2 Metaphorical Analysis of Prepositions 5

3.3 Metaphorical Analysis of Idioms and Proverbs 6

3.4 Metaphorical Analysis of Word Connections 7

4. Strategies of Using Conceptual Metaphor in Vocabulary Teaching 8

4.1 Developing the Ways of Metaphor Thinking 8

4.2 Realizing the Cultural Features of Metaphor Phenomenon 9

4.3 Understanding the Metaphorical Vocabulary in Cognitive Contexts 10

4.4 Deepening Understanding by Association 10

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

As is known to all, listening, speaking, reading and writing are four major parts of English teaching and learning. The mastery of vocabulary has a great impact on the acquisition of the four skills. According to Wilkins, D.A.(1972: 18), without grammar, one cannot express many things; without words, one cannot express any thing. A successful EFL learner must grasp vocabulary well. If one fails to obtain certain amount of English vocabulary well, one must have difficulty in understanding others, expressing his ideas clearly, reading stories or newspapers and writing good compositions. It can be obviously drawn that English vocabulary plays a very important part in acquiring English.

However, grasping the great amount of vocabulary is a big headache and burden for many students because of the complexity and the large amount of vocabulary. Besides, the current situation of English vocabulary teaching is not pleasant. The typical procedures of teaching a new word is like this: read the new word first and then ask students to read after teachers; present its Chinese meanings and its parts of speech; and finally introduce its relevant phrases and expressions. In this situation, both teachers and students work like robots. Students receive new words very passively and reluctantly. And even if students can memorize many words, they have difficulty in using it in actual communication because they are lack of real understanding of the words. Now such awkward situation can be improved if conceptual theory is used in English vocabulary teaching.

According to Richards(1965), conceptual metaphor is very dynamic and pervasive in our daily language. Since the theory is put forward and established, many scholars in applied linguistic and SLA field are attracted. They are in complete agreement that conceptual metaphor can be helpful for English language teaching and learning. Some scholars lessened their research scope to vocabulary teaching and explored its application to teaching polysemy, prepositions, idioms and word connections and so on. In their empirical studies, for example, Lazar (1996), even demonstrated specific teaching techniques based on conceptual metaphor theory.

This paper tries to make a brief analysis on vocabulary teaching from the perspective of

conceptual metaphor. It first reviews the conceptual metaphor theory and relevant studies in this area. Then it analyzes the feasibility of using conceptual metaphor in English vocabulary teaching. Based on the feasibility analysis, and according to the author’s own teaching experience together with several scholars’ theories, four main English vocabulary teaching strategies of using conceptual metaphor theory are put forward.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Two excellent cognitive linguists Lakoff and Johnson launched a revolution on metaphor study in 1980. The book called Metaphors We Live by made a stir in the linguistic world. Metaphor has been studied by researchers in a completely new and different angle. Some cognitive linguists maintains that metaphors can facilitate our understanding of one conceptual domain. That is, we try to understand an abstract and complex conceptual domain like “life” or “theories” or “ideas”, through expressions which are related to another more specific and simple conceptual domain like “journey”, “building” or “food”(Lakoff amp; Johnson 1980).

Lakoff and Johnson (1980:3) argue that “metaphors are pervasive in everyday life, not only in language, but also in thought and action”.

There are two main domains existing in conceptual metaphor, that is, source domain and target domain. Source domain usually refers to the conceptual domain where we can draw metaphorical expressions, whereas target domain refers to the conceptual domain that we aim to understand.

If learners want to know a conceptual metaphor, learners need to know the corresponding set of mappings. They exist between constituent elements of the source domain and the target domain. Typically conceptual metaphor uses a more abstract concept as its target and a more concrete concept as its source. The core of the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor is cross-domain mapping system. The mapping system is cognitive in nature.

According to the current theories, conceptual metaphor can be divided into three types: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor and ontological metaphor.

Structural metaphor refers to cases “where one concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another. It is a conventional type of metaphor” (Lakoff, 1980:14). That is to say, structural metaphor often employs a concept from source domain to construct a concept from target domain.

Different from structural metaphor, orientational metaphor is not to structure one concept by using another concept. Instead it is to construct a whole system of concepts by using another concept. We intend to call them “orientational” metaphors because most of the metaphors have some relations with spatial orientation: UP-DOWN, IN-OUT, FRONT-BACK, ON-OFF, DEEP-SHALLOW(Gu Yueguo, 2007:134-138).

Ontological metaphor usually aims to conceptualize the abstract, hard-defined and shapeless concepts(like ideas, feelings, mental activities, event, and others) by associating the concrete and tangible things. The formed conceptual metaphors are defined as ontological metaphors( ontological conceptual metaphors) (Gu Yueguo, 2007: 60-61) .

The two typical features of conceptual metaphor are universality and systematicity. These two features make using conceptual metaphor theory in English vocabulary teaching possible and easy for students to learn and grasp more vocabulary.

2.2 Studies on Applying Conceptual Metaphor to Vocabulary Teaching

In the beginning, people only regarded that metaphor was used as a rhetorical approach. Later, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) promoted that metaphor can be studied from a more cognitive perspective. Conceptual metaphor is a cognitive manifestation of human beings’ mental mechanism. When it comes to its application to foreign language teaching and learning, there are many relevant researches done. And many scholars have changed their research direction and did many researches on the significance that conceptual metaphor has on vocabulary teaching.

Among the many researches on applying conceptual metaphor theory to English vocabulary teaching abroad, scholars like Hoffman (1983), Danesi (1986), Gibbs and O"Brien (1990), Holme (1991), Kweldju (2005) all made their special contribution to the development of the research on how conceptual metaphor facilitates English vocabulary teaching.

Among the many researches on applying conceptual metaphor theory to English vocabulary teaching in China, the innovative theory was introduced into China in 1992. It was marked by a translated excerpt from Metaphor We Live by (Lakoff amp;Johnson, 1980) published by Liu Ningsheng(1992). Since 2000, with its special and obvious advantages, conceptual metaphor theory has captured lots of Chinese scholars’ attention. It brought us a new way to enhance English teaching and learning. Scholars like Cai Longquan(2003), Shu Dingfang(2000) made many researches on the effectiveness of applying conceptual metaphor to English Vocabulary Teaching. Their study findings, in some way, indeed greatly facilitate English vocabulary teaching.

However, the practical ways of how to use conceptual metaphor theory in English vocabulary teaching are studied less. Due to this, according to the author’s own teaching experience and several scholars’ researches, the author conclude four teaching strategies and hope it can be helpful for teachers to improve their teaching efficiency and for students to improve their learning efficiency and application level in vocabulary.

3. The Feasibility of Using Conceptual Metaphor in English Vocabulary Teaching

Conceptual metaphor theory indeed brings us a new and novel approach to English vocabulary teaching. Many learned and creative researchers and teachers have been trying their best to apply this theory to English vocabulary teaching in real class for the past twenty years. The author tries to illustrate the feasibility of using conceptual metaphor in vocabulary teaching by analyzing polysemy, prepositions, idioms and proverbs and word connections from the perspective of conceptual metaphor.

3.1 Metaphorical Analysis of Polysemy

Polysemy is defined as the existence of several related meanings in a single word. Polysemy exists everywhere and can be very easily found in English vocabulary. If we look up in any prestigious English dictionaries, we can seldom find a word with only one single meaning. When we refer to everyday words, countless meanings can be found.

According to official statistics, metaphorical meanings take up 70% of word meanings in total. When researchers try to find the source meaning of a word, they sort out the linguistic features of polysemy and finally summarize that metaphor has a decisive impact on the development of polysemy.

According to Cai Longquan(2004), metaphor is the foundation of polysemy. However, current vocabulary teaching just pay attention to simple separate explanations of different meanings of a single word, but the inherent links of the different meanings of a single word are ignored. So teachers need to grasp the links between the different meanings and apply conceptual metaphor theory into vocabulary teaching purposefully and meanwhile help students establish an explicit semantic network in their mind.

Take teaching this word “beyond” as an example. First, teachers should let students understand its basic meaning, that is “某物在某地或者另一物的另一面”and then instruct students transfer its physical meanings into its metaphorical meanings, and thus get a thematic group:“除……以外”、“晚于，在……以后”、“超出，非……所能及”and so on. By understanding this, the following relevant expressions can be understood by students more easily.

1) He had nothing beyond his state pension.除了政府给的养老金，他一无所有。

2) It won’t go on beyond noon.这个不会持续到午后。

3) The clock and the bike are beyond repair.这个钟以及这辆车都不能再修理了。

From the examples above, teachers can conclude that conceptual metaphor has a great impact on polysemy development. If teachers can help students analyze the inherent links between distinct meanings, connect seemingly irrelevant meanings into a thematic group by imagination and ultimately guide them to infer the metaphorical meanings using the principles of metaphorical thinking, it can greatly facilitate students’ acquisition of polysemy.

3.2 Metaphorical Analysis of Prepositions

According to Oxford dictionary, preposition refers to a word or group of words, such as in, from, to, out of and on behalf of, used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method. However, these prepositions are indeed very important in the formation of abundant phrases because of their metaphorical meanings.

Taking prepositions “up and down” for example, “up” always connotes the positive assessment of emotional state or quality, and “down” always connotes the negative meanings. From the metaphorical perspective, good is up; bad is down. That is to say, happiness and health mean “up”, sorrow and disease mean “down”. Based on this, why in English we use “up and down” to express happy and unhappy meanings can be explained. For examples:

4) Nothing to worry about, everybody brightens up.没什么好担心的了，大家都开心。

5) When he is told the news, he lit up.当他听到这个消息时，他变得喜悦了。

6) I’m feeling down.我感觉不开心。

7) They are down with the failure.他们因为失败而情绪低落。

To sum up, it can be inferred that in a similar way, many other prepositions can also be motivated by conceptual metaphors. So when teaching prepositions, if the metaphorical meanings can be understood by learners, then they can understand the prepositional phrases effortlessly. During the process of teaching prepositions, teachers can explain the metaphorical meanings so students can enlarge the preposition-related phrases.

3.3 Metaphorical Analysis of Idioms and Proverbs

Idiom is defined as a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words. For instance, “rain cats and dogs” is an idiom meaning to rain very heavily. The actual meaning of the idiom is quite different from its literal meaning. It indeed makes English more interesting and entertaining. It is widely acknowledged that a skillful and proper use of idioms and proverbs by foreign language learners indicates a high degree of mastery of the language. However, due to the cultural barriers, some idiomatic expressions and culturally loaded proverbs are sometimes extremely difficult for foreign language learners to understand and use appropriately. Most EFL students are used to learning them by the way of rote.

Researchers conclude that many idioms and proverbs are also motivated by conceptual metaphors. Therefore idioms and proverbs can also be learned by the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor.

Take the metaphor “ANGER IS HEAT” for instance. When people are extremely angry, it is very possible for them to feel the increasing of their body temperature. There are idioms like “Anger made his blood boil”, “Everybody got all steamed up”, “I blew my top” , “ All flipped their lids” and “Both of them hit the ceiling”. It is not easy for students to understand these idioms at first. But if they probe the essence underneath the metaphor “ANGER IS HEAT”, it is very likely for them to understand anger in terms of heat by associating the features of anger with the features of heat. This way, they will not get puzzled and be capable of acquiring these idioms effortlessly. According to some researchers and their experiments, there are also many other idioms motivated by lots of different conceptual metaphors.

During actual vocabulary teaching process, students may find it hard to grasp the many complicated conceptual metaphors consciously. So it is language teachers’ obligation to collect as many idioms as possible for each conceptual metaphor and then teach them to students systematically.

3.4 Metaphorical Analysis of Word Connections

Word connection is a combination of words which is very common in English language. For instance, “run out”, “make a difference” and “crash into” are all word connections in English language. If we look up any authorized English-Chinese dictionary, great amount of word connections enlarging English vocabulary cannot be ignored. To some extent, word connections ought to be attached the same importance as idioms and individual words because it has made actual contributions to enlarging English vocabulary.

Take the structural metaphor “THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS” for example. As we all know, a building has its own structures and properties. When we describe a building, we will often think of words like foundation, support, room, build, collapse, and rebuild and so on. Some examples are as follows:

8) His theory has little foundation.

9)The medical report supports his judgment that she is innocent.

10)A reasonable frame must be rebuilt for that theory.

11)There is no room for the theory to be corrected.

From the examples, it can be seen that people use a familiar and specific concept to structure an unfamiliar and abstract one. Here, it would be very safe for students to use words ( foundation, support, rebuilt, etc.) from one domain (BUILDINGS) to talk about another domain (THEORIES) which is more abstract and hard-defined. And we can see that vocabulary can be obtained and grasped in a semantic network of all contexts. So in teaching vocabulary and word connection, teachers should help students learn to take advantage of this metaphor, and be adept at finding the inherent metaphorical similarities of the two vocabularies and ultimately grasp the vocabulary in a deep sense.

To sum up, to develop and form the habit of learning vocabulary from metaphorical perspective is of great benefit to students. Undoubtedly a good mastery of metaphorical models or conceptual metaphors can greatly make the process of acquiring vocabulary simpler. In other words, if learners learn words or expressions in a systematic semantic group ,it will be much easier for them than to learn them separately. Lazar (1996) points out that students should be motivated and encouraged to classify vocabulary into systematic semantic groups according to conceptual metaphors, and thus enhancing their ability and skills in acquiring more vocabulary.

4. Strategies of Using Conceptual Metaphor in Vocabulary Teaching

As is known to all, most English words have not only one single meaning, and more often than not they have their own connotations and denotations. Enlarging the ‘width’ and ‘depth’ of vocabulary is an important task of vocabulary teaching.

According to the author’s own teaching experience and many scholars’ theories, conceptual metaphor can be introduced into vocabulary teaching through four aspects.

4.1 Developing the Ways of Metaphor Thinking

Metaphor, as a thinking code, is a very common phenomenon among different languages and different cultures. Pitemin (2007) holds that, teachers should incorporate metaphorical teaching as an integral part in English vocabulary teaching. The metaphor used in the language is only on the surface level. What actually works is the conceptual metaphor in our concept system. As a result, teachers can benefit from the research results of conceptual metaphor, imbue the conceptual metaphor into the students, analyze and explain various metaphor phenomena, and inspire the learners’ thinking about the metaphor view.

Because of many metaphorical meanings of basic vocabulary, teachers need to mention these meanings more often. Take “surf” as an example, it’s hard for people to associate the surfing sport with surfing the Internet. However, as “surf the net” came into being, the metaphorical meaning of surf were enriched and acknowledged by people, thus creatively manifesting the freedom, novelty of the internet. The features above of the Internet are manifested by the word surf .For another example, the adjective ‘atomic’ was used in the aspect of atom, now it is transformed into other aspects ,like atomic efforts(great efforts),atomic blonde(extremely charming blonde).

There is a conceptual metaphor about ‘time is money’, so there are phrases like waste time, have time to give somebody, spend time ,cost somebody some time, run out of time. Some similar sayings in Chinese can also be found.

In a word, only by training students’ metaphor thinking, can they think about the language phenomenon metaphorically. Only in this way, students can form their meaning network in their mind and thus enhancing students’ metaphoric competence.

4.2 Realizing the Cultural Features of Metaphor Phenomenon

As the basic materials of language, vocabulary not only covers the thinking mode, but also the culture and values. So teachers should learn to think as people who speak English do, compare the cross-cultural difference of metaphorical meanings of vocabulary and thus strengthen students’ awareness of comparison in order to grasp the vocabulary correctly.

For example,“水火不容”“拦路虎”in Chinese have their counterparts “oil and water” “a lion in the way”. Examples like these are very easily seen in our language. There are also many different expressions but have the same meaning like “drink like a fish” in English and ”牛饮” in Chinese. Obviously the existence of the difference lies in the different living environment and thus having different expressions (Hou Yisong, 2011: 116) .

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