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The influence of cultural universality and specificity on EFL learners' comprehension of metaphor and metonymy
Author(s) -
Chen Yichen,
Lai Hueiling
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.712
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1473-4192
pISSN - 0802-6106
DOI - 10.1111/ijal.12021
Subject(s) - metonymy , psychology , comprehension , conceptual metaphor , metaphor and metonymy , metaphor , linguistics , universality (dynamical systems) , literal and figurative language , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
EFL learners may face different degrees of difficulty in transferring figurative expressions between L 1 and L 2 due to cultural similarities and differences embedded in languages. This study explores the influence of universality and specificity of culture on EFL learners' comprehension of metaphor and metonymy. Twenty eight T aiwanese EFL learners were asked to translate 12 E nglish sentences into C hinese. Findings indicate that the participants performed the best when E nglish and C hinese shared the same conceptual metaphors, and performed the worst when conceptual metaphors were distinct. The findings both support and qualify the interlanguage continuum of L 2 acquisition. Suggestions to integrate conceptual metaphors and metonymies so as to effectively raise EFL learners' awareness of abstract concepts are made for future empirical research.