SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF SPATIAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE WRITINGS: INSIGHTS FROM NATIVE AND LEARNER LANGUAGE CORPORA.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF SPATIAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE WRITINGS: INSIGHTS FROM NATIVE AND LEARNER LANGUAGE CORPORA. PDF Author: Lingxia Jin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
.First outlined by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) continues to thrive (e.g. Lakoff & Johnson 1992, Lakoff, 1993, 1999, 2008), by first challenging the traditional view on metaphor as a matter of language and something extraordinary and poetic. CMT claims that metaphor is pervasive and essential in language and thought. Furthermore, metaphor is considered as the locus for abstract reasoning in this theory. Since its proposal, CMT has triggered plethoric research. However, few empirical studies have examined metaphors in second language (L2) acquisition and the importance of metaphor has not been fully recognized as an indispensable dimension in second language teaching and learning (Littlemore, 2009; Littlemore & Low, 2006b). However, metaphors present a hurdle for L2 learners (Danesi, 1992); L2 learners misinterpret metaphors for cultural reasons (Littlemore, 2003); teaching conceptual metaphor as a learning strategy facilitate language learning (Littlemore & Low, 2006a; Li, 2009). Thus, the current study investigates metaphor in learner language in light of CMT via a corpus-based approach. The study particularly examines how L2 learners of Chinese and English express vertical spatial metaphors in L2 English and L2 Chinese writings and how they differ from learners' target languages and learners' native languages. The findings reveal that L2 language development is a dynamic process and four key factors are found to interplay in learners' acquisition of conceptual metaphors: frequency of the metaphor, L2 proficiency, topic familiarity, and linguistic factors. In particular, the frequency of the metaphor as reflected in the target language has the most important impact on learners' acquisition of conceptual metaphors, overriding the factor whether a metaphor is shared in L1 and L2 or not; secondly, L2 proficiency influences how learners are affected by their first languages: learners with lower proficiency are more affected; thirdly, learners acquire the metaphors associated with a familiar topic; finally, L2 learners are constrained by the main semantic unit in the metaphorical expressions. Overall, the study demonstrates that figurative language development is a dynamic process: learners' metaphoric competence demonstrates a developmental pattern, in particular, a pendulum effect and it eventually emerges over L2 proficiency.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF SPATIAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE WRITINGS: INSIGHTS FROM NATIVE AND LEARNER LANGUAGE CORPORA.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OF SPATIAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH AND CHINESE WRITINGS: INSIGHTS FROM NATIVE AND LEARNER LANGUAGE CORPORA. PDF Author: Lingxia Jin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
.First outlined by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) continues to thrive (e.g. Lakoff & Johnson 1992, Lakoff, 1993, 1999, 2008), by first challenging the traditional view on metaphor as a matter of language and something extraordinary and poetic. CMT claims that metaphor is pervasive and essential in language and thought. Furthermore, metaphor is considered as the locus for abstract reasoning in this theory. Since its proposal, CMT has triggered plethoric research. However, few empirical studies have examined metaphors in second language (L2) acquisition and the importance of metaphor has not been fully recognized as an indispensable dimension in second language teaching and learning (Littlemore, 2009; Littlemore & Low, 2006b). However, metaphors present a hurdle for L2 learners (Danesi, 1992); L2 learners misinterpret metaphors for cultural reasons (Littlemore, 2003); teaching conceptual metaphor as a learning strategy facilitate language learning (Littlemore & Low, 2006a; Li, 2009). Thus, the current study investigates metaphor in learner language in light of CMT via a corpus-based approach. The study particularly examines how L2 learners of Chinese and English express vertical spatial metaphors in L2 English and L2 Chinese writings and how they differ from learners' target languages and learners' native languages. The findings reveal that L2 language development is a dynamic process and four key factors are found to interplay in learners' acquisition of conceptual metaphors: frequency of the metaphor, L2 proficiency, topic familiarity, and linguistic factors. In particular, the frequency of the metaphor as reflected in the target language has the most important impact on learners' acquisition of conceptual metaphors, overriding the factor whether a metaphor is shared in L1 and L2 or not; secondly, L2 proficiency influences how learners are affected by their first languages: learners with lower proficiency are more affected; thirdly, learners acquire the metaphors associated with a familiar topic; finally, L2 learners are constrained by the main semantic unit in the metaphorical expressions. Overall, the study demonstrates that figurative language development is a dynamic process: learners' metaphoric competence demonstrates a developmental pattern, in particular, a pendulum effect and it eventually emerges over L2 proficiency.

The Moral Metaphor System

The Moral Metaphor System PDF Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019286632X
Category : Chinese language
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
This book investigates moral metaphors in English and Chinese, applying conceptual metaphor theory to a comparative study of the linguistic manifestation of the moral metaphor system rooted in the domains of bodily and physical experience. Ning Yu sheds light on the metaphorical nature of moral cognition and how it is systematically manifested in language, and explores the potential commonalities that define moral cognition in general, as well as the differences that characterize distinct cultures. The work investigates moral cognition at the cultural level as reflected in language, based on linguistic evidence from both English and Chinese and, to a limited extent, multimodal evidence from the corresponding cultures. The moral metaphor system is taken to consist of three major subsystems, referred to as physical, visual, and spatial. These subsystems are clusters of conceptual metaphors, whose source concepts are from domains of embodied experiences in the physical world, and which are formulated in contrastive categories with bipolar values for the target concepts of moral and immoral. The study is characterized by two keywords: system and systematicity: The former refers to the fact that metaphors (conceptual and linguistic) are connected within networks, and the latter to the need for those metaphors to be studied in such networks.

Observing Writing

Observing Writing PDF Author: Eva Lindgren
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004392521
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Observing Writing shows how keystroke logging and handwriting logging provide windows onto the complex world of text production. This book contributes to the development of research questions, technical innovation, and user applications for writing observation tools.

Acquiring Metaphorical Expressions in a Second Language

Acquiring Metaphorical Expressions in a Second Language PDF Author: Chris Mengying Xia
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781350071827
Category : Figures of speech
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"Conventional metaphorical expressions are widely used by native speakers in everyday language and have received extensive attention in theoretical semantics and cognitive linguistics. However, how a second language learner can acquire those expressions is left largely unknown. Researchers and language learners face the question: if one has acquired the literal meaning of a word, can they automatically derive the metaphorical meaning? This book provides the answer by placing the question of acquisition of metaphorical expressions in the framework of bilingual lexicon. Assessing whether metaphorical expressions are taken for granted by second language learners, it explores how the metaphorical meaning(s) of a word should be connected in a learner's mental lexicon, and how the cross-linguistic availability of a metaphorical expression could affect the outcome of acquisition of that expression. The book also provides a detailed comparison between metaphorical expressions and other figurative language from both the theoretical and experimental perspectives."--Bloomsbury publishing.

Spatial Demonstratives in English and Chinese

Spatial Demonstratives in English and Chinese PDF Author: Yi’an Wu
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027295190
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
As a subject of universal appeal, spatial demonstratives have been studied extensively from a variety of disciplines. What marks the present study as distinct is that it is an English-Chinese comparative study set in a cognitive-linguistic framework and that the methodology features a parallel corpora-based, discourse analysis approach. The framework illuminates the nature of the demonstratives’ basic and extended meaning and use, the connections between them, and the mechanisms that govern and constrain their trends of extension. The corpora place the English and Chinese demonstratives in comparable discourse contexts and processes, providing an “ecological” environment for the observation of how their behavior fits into the respective structural and discourse systems of the two languages. The study also illuminates important issues such as the subjectivity of language, language as a representational system and a vehicle of communication, the interface between form and function, and the role of context in discourse comprehension.

Parallel Corpora and Pedagogy

Parallel Corpora and Pedagogy PDF Author: Brody Bluemel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The past several years have witnessed the continued advancement of corpora in linguistic research and language pedagogy. More recently, scholars have begun to explore the application of specialized corpora, such as parallel corpora. The application of parallel corpora in foreign language pedagogy remains relatively underexplored despite their apparent potential. The unique bilingual aligned structure of parallel corpus texts suggests their specific value in aiding students in writing and reading comprehension. These two aspects of language development are also key struggles for many second language learners of Chinese, as the complex nature of Chinese orthography makes the task of written language acquisition especially challenging. The current study capitalizes on the unique features of parallel corpora in the creation of a new parallel corpus language-learning tool to assist learners in the development of Chinese language writing and reading comprehension. This parallel corpus presents learners with texts in four formats: Chinese characters, Chinese characters + tone marks, pinyin, and English. The study then specifically addresses three primary issues: 1) if and how the parallel corpus aids learner development, 2) how both the students and instructor implement it, and 3) student opinion of the corpus tool. The application of the corpus takes place in two beginning-level high school Chinese classrooms that were both exposed to the same treatment. The study takes place over a three-month period, and analyzes participant assignments, exams, learning logs, a final questionnaire, screen-recordings of corpus use, and an instructor autoethnography through the Sociocultural Theoretical (SCT) framework to observe the affects of the implementation of the parallel corpus. An overall positive learning outcome is observed, with participants experiencing marked development when approaching learning tasks conceptually and using the parallel corpus as directed. The study not only demonstrates how a parallel corpus can promote the linguistic and conceptual development of learners, but also provides insight into how such technology can more effectively be incorporated and adapted in foreign language pedagogy. The results further inform the methodological practices of parallel corpus development and pedagogy by providing an innovative new approach to corpus design, application, and theoretical analysis.

Patterns and Meanings of Intensifiers in Chinese Learner Corpora

Patterns and Meanings of Intensifiers in Chinese Learner Corpora PDF Author: Chunyan Wang
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315473712
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
Intensification plays a major role in spoken and written interaction, enabling the writer or speaker to express different levels of commitment. This book explores the patterns and meanings of intensifiers in Chinese learner English by ways of comparison with native English. The study is conducted within the theoretical framework of Firthian contextual theory of meaning, Sinclairian model of Extended Units of Meaning (EUM) and Hunston's pattern grammar. The method of contrastive inter-language analysis (CIA) is adopted and the intensifier collocations in learner English and native English are explored by means of quantitative and qualitative analyses of corpora data. This book is the first attempt to investigate the patterning and meaning features of intensifiers systematically with the corpora data in Chinese learner English. Readers will obtain a relatively complete picture of how Chinese learners use intensifiers to realize their attitudinal meanings.

Tense and Aspect in Second Language Acquisition

Tense and Aspect in Second Language Acquisition PDF Author: Jingying Li
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783928969802
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Perception and Metaphor

Perception and Metaphor PDF Author: Qin Xiugui
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000406490
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Cognitive linguists believe that metaphors are prevalent in human thought, while metaphorical structures are reflected at the linguistic level. Therefore, analysing extensive language data can aid in revealing the metaphorical mappings of embodied experience with the senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and temperature. This volume seeks to discover the similarities and differences between the metaphorical systems of the English and Chinese languages. Adopting a comparative view, the authors examine the semantic extensions of perception words in English and Chinese, in order to reveal the metaphorical scope of each sense and the metaphorical system behind it. They argue that the metaphorical systems of the senses not only help us understand and use conventionalised metaphorical expressions but also allow us to create novel expressions. The findings also unveil how abstract concepts are constructed via cognitive mechanisms, such as image schema and metaphor. This title is a useful reference for scholars and students who are interested in cognitive linguistics, comparative linguistics, and the philosophy of language.

Space in Languages of China

Space in Languages of China PDF Author: Dan Xu
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402083211
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Space has long been a popular topic in linguistic research. Numerous books on the subject have been published over the past decade. However, none of these books were based on linguistic data from Chinese and expressions of space in Chinese have been largely neglected in past research. In this volume, not only Mandarin Chinese (the standard language) is investigated; several other dialects, as well as a minority language of China and Chinese Sign Language are studied. Cross-linguistic, synchronic and diachronic approaches are used to investigate phenomena related to space. The authors of this book present different points of view on the expression of space in language and related theoretical issues. As the contributing scholars argue, Chinese shares many common features with other languages, but also presents some particular properties. Space is a topic that is both classical and modern, of enduring interest. These studies of space give insight into not only general linguistics but also other domains such as anthropology and psychology.