认知隐喻词汇教学

.zConceptualMetaphorandEnglishVocabularyTeachingAbstract：Conceptualmetaphorsareseeninlanguageinoureverydaylives.Metaphorplaysanindispensableroleinvocabularyteaching．Thefeasibilityoftheapplicationofthistheorytovocabularyteachingisdiscussed，whichisbasedontheanalysisofthetheoreticalfoundationandthemetaphoricalpropertyofvocabulary．Thensomesuggestionsaresuppliedtohelpteachersimprovevocabularyteachingstrategies．Keywords：metaphor；conceptualmetaphor；vocabularyteachingI.IntroductionIncognitivelinguistics,conceptualmetaphor,orcognitivemetaphor,referstotheunderstandingofoneidea,orconceptualdomain,intermsofanother,fore*ample,understandingquantityintermsofdirectionality(e.g."pricesarerising").Aconceptualdomaincanbeanycoherentorganizationofhumane*perience.Theregularitywithwhichdifferentlanguagesemploythesamemetaphors,whichoftenappeartobeperceptuallybased,hasledtothehypothesisthatthemappingbetweenconceptualdomainscorrespondstoneuralmappingsinthebrain.Conceptualmetaphorsareseeninlanguageinoureverydaylives.Conceptualmetaphorsshapenotjustourmunication,butalsoshapethewaywethinkandact.InGeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnson’swork,MetaphorsWeLiveBy(1980),weseehoweverydaylanguageisfilledwithmetaphorswemaynotalwaysnotice.Ane*ampleofoneofthemonlyusedconceptualmetaphorsis"argumentiswar".Thismetaphorshapesourlanguageinthewayweviewargumentaswarorasabattletobewon.Itisnotunmontohearsomeonesay"Hewonthatargument"or"Iattackedeveryweakpointinhisargument".Theverywayargumentisthoughtofisshapedbythismetaphorofargumentsbeingwarandbattlesthatmustbewon.Argumentcanbeseeninmanyotherwaysotherthanabattle,butweusethisconcepttoshapethewaywethinkofargumentandthewaywegoaboutarguing.Conceptualmetaphorsareusedveryoftentounderstandtheoriesandmodels.Aconceptualmetaphorusesoneideaandlinksittoanothertobetterunderstandsomething.Fore*ample,theconceptualmetaphorofviewingmunicationasaconduitisonelargetheorye*plainedwithametaphor.Sonotonlyisoureverydaymunicationshapedbythelanguageofconceptualmetaphors,butsoistheverywayweunderstandscholarlytheories.Thesemetaphorsareprevalentinmunicationandwedonotjustusetheminlanguage;weactuallyperceiveandactinaccordancewiththemetaphors.II.TheimportanceofconceptualmetaphorsinEnglishvocabularyteachingConceptualmetaphorrendersanewangleforteachingandlearninginthatitprovidesusthemechanismforchangingourmodesofrepresentingtheworldinthoughtandlanguage.Asateachingdevice,ithasbeenprovedeffectiveinthatunderstandingametaphorinvolvesactivementalparticipationtolinktargetandsourcedomainsandfurtherstimulateslearners’creativityandimaginationtofindsimilaritiesbetweenthetwodomains.AsDanesi(1993)states,generallyspeaking,learnersofforeignlanguagecanachievethehighverbalfluencybutlacktheabilitytothinkintheconceptualimageschemaofthetargetlanguage,inotherwords,theyspeakinlinguisticstructuresofthetargetlanguagebutthinkinconceptualstructuresofthenativelanguage.Nowthattheresearchonthecontemporaryviewsoncognitivelinguisticshasshownthatmetaphoristhebasicattributesharedbylanguageandcognition,itisindispensabletocultivatemetaphoricalpetenceinforeignlanguageteachingandlearning.TeachingandlearningEnglishbymeansofconceptualmetaphorsinvolvesthechangesincognitivestructuresofnativelanguageandEnglishlanguage,whichfurtherinvolvenotonlyprehensionbutalsocreation.Thelatterismuchmoreimportantbecauseitdirectlyconnectswithone’smunicativecapacitiesanditistheeffectivemanifestationofone’smetaphoricalpetence.Thus,itisurgenttoencouragestudentstowakeuptheirdormantimaginationandcreationdeliberatelyandtolearntoutilizemetaphortostructuretheirthoughtandlanguageandtofostertheirmetaphoricalpetenceinlearningEnglish.Thoughthiswillrequirestrategiesandknowledge,theawarenessisofgreatvalue.Tocultivatemetaphoricalpetence,studentsshouldintegratemetaphoricalthinkingintothefouraspectsofEnglishstudy:listening,speaking,readingandwriting.However,vocabularystudyisthebasisofEnglishlistening,speaking,readingandwriting.Soitisvitalforustoworkouthowconceptualmetaphortheorycanbeappliedtovocabularystudyandhowstudentscangraduallyformthehabitofthinkingmetaphoricallyandacquiretheirmetaphoricalpetence.III.TheapplicationsofconceptualmetaphorsinEnglishvocabularyteachingAgoodmandofvocabularyisthebasisofforeignlanguageacquisitionforthereasonthatifstudentscannotkeepenoughvocabularyinmind,itwillhinderfurtherstudysuchasreading,writingandlistening.DuringscoresofyearsofEnglishteachinginChina,vocabularyacquisitionhasproventobeaheadachetobothteachersandstudents.EvenadvancedstudentsareawareofthefactthatknowingtherightwordstillhamperstheiraccuracyandfluencyinusingEnglish.Theyoftenbelievethat“thewidely-usedandmostfamiliarmeaningistheonlymeaningofaword〞(争艳，汤，2003：77).Andeveniftheyrefertothedictionaryforaword,theychoosetheitemwithoutconsideringtheconte*t,thushinderingreadingprehensionandwriting.Oncemetaphorizationisadmittedandusedwidely,itislikelytobeeanewitemofthiswordandthiswordislikelytobeethepolysemy.Everydayvocabularyhasthefeaturethatthemorefrequentlysomewordisused,themoreitemsithas,someofwhichresultfromborrowingormetaphorization.Soitcanbesaidthatmetaphorizationgivesrisetothechangeinlanguageand“themetaphorsoftheformergenerationbecametheconventionalrepresentationofthelattergeneration〞(胡壮麟,1997).Withflyingoftime,metaphoricalwordsbeethepolysemies.Generallyspeaking,metaphorizationrelatestwodomainsortwoconcepts,thusproducingonenewitemoftheword.Inotherwords,wordmeaningscanbee*pandedbymeansoflinguisticmetaphorizationrootedinthetransferencefromoneconceptualdomaintoanother.Thetransferenceofdifferentconceptualdomainscreatesdifferentconte*tsinwhichthephenomenonofpolysemyhappens.1.PolysemyJustasLakoff(1980)pointsoutthat70%oftheeverydaylanguageisderivedfrommetaphoricalconcepts,mostpolysemiesareguidedbymetaphoricalconcepts.Consequently,invocabularyteaching,iftheteachere*plainsmetaphoricalconnectionsbetweenthedifferentmeaningsofthesameword,studentsmaygetabetterunderstandingofthewordandstoreitinthelong-termmemory.ItismonthatinEnglishthesamepolysemydiffersinmeaningduetodifferentpartsofspeech,whichseldomappearsinChinese.TaketheEnglishwordboardfore*ample.Themeaningofboardise*pandedbasedonitsoriginalmeaningoflongthinflatpieceofcutwood.Thewordboardwiththemeaningoflongthinflatpieceofcutwoodcanradiatemoremeaningsfromtheviewpointofitsspecificpurposes.Whentheteachere*plainsthewordboard,heorshecanguidestudentstobrainstormwhatpurposesitcanbeusedfor.Itmaybeusedforsleeping,writing,games,ships,furniture,etc.Asforwriting,theboardmaybeusedforblackboardandnoticeboard;asforgames,itmaybeusedforchessboard.Whenitisusedforthefurniture,itmaybethetable-likefurnituresuchasdressing-boardorsideboard.Asisknown,peoplecontrollingthepanysitaroundthetableanddiscussandetoanagreementwheneverthereissomethingimportanttodecideinthepany.Thusfromboardasthetable-likefurniture,itcanbeinferredthattheboardbeesasymbolofthepowerofthepanyandboardisunderstoodasmitteeorcouncilorpeoplewhocontrolthepany.Inaship,boardmeansdeck.Whenonegetsonaship,onefirstgetsonthedeck,thatis,getonboard.Meanwhileboardcanbeusedasverb,meaninggetonaship,evengetonatrainorplane,fore*ample,FlightB213forParisisnowboarding.Asforsleeping,boardmeansbed-boardthatisnecessaryforthebedthatisnecessaryforsleepingsothat,toane*tent,boardmeansprovidingacmodationandmeals,atthesametime,boardasaverbhasthesamemeaning,fore*ample,Sheusuallyboardsstudentsduringthecollegeterm.Inall,understandingandmemorizingpolysemieshaveproventobeareallytoughjobtostudents;however,conceptualmetaphortheoryrendersstudentsanewwayofcross-domainmappingtoanalyzepolysemiesandfurtherprehendandmemorizethem.Polysemyisactuallylinguisticrealizationsofconceptualmetaphorization.Inotherwords,firstlyonedomainisconceptuallymetaphorizedtoanother,andthenonesenseofawordismetaphorizedtoanother.Here,whattheteachershoulddoisfirsthelpstudentsawareofthepervasivee*istenceofconceptualmetaphorsinEnglishandthencreateopportunitiesforstudentstopracticeanalyzingpolysemiesintermsofconceptualmetaphors.2.IdiomIdiomsaretraditionallyviewedasaspecialsetofthelargercategoryofwords(CarterandMcCarthy,1988:19).Theyareassumedtobeamatteroflanguagealoneandhavearbitrarymeanings.Inotherwords,linguisticmeaningsofidiomsareindependentofhumanconceptualsystemandconventionalknowledgethatpeopleshare.Therefore,mostidiomsarelikelytobetaughtformulaicallyaschunksoflanguageandtobedigestedasawholeinclassroom.Mechanicalmemorizingisviewedasawidelyusedmethodtolearnidiomsbutwiththeunpleasantresultthatidiomsaredifficulttounderstandandeasytoforgetinthatstudentsneglectthattherearecognitiveconceptsorconceptualmetaphorsunderlyingidioms.Bynature,mostidiomsaremetaphoricale*pressionsorconventionalmetaphors.Withincognitivelinguistics,thepossibilitye*iststhattheyarenotarbitrary,butmotivated.Thatis,theydoariseautomaticallybyproductiverules,buttheyfitoneormorepatternspresentintheconceptualsystem(Lakoff,1993).Therefore,Learningidiomsbymeansofconceptualmetaphorsiseffectivebecauseconceptualmetaphorsbringtwodomainsofknowledgeintocorrespondences.Thesourcedomainistypicallyemployedtoprovideunderstandingaboutthetarget.Itisvitalthatstudentsbeawareoftheassociationbetweentwodomainsinvolvedinidiomsinordertomakesenseofidiomaticusage.Inunderstandingtheidiom,studentsaremotivatedtofigureoutitsmetaphoricalmeaning,withtherelatedconceptualmetaphorinmind,bymappingtheknowledgeofthesourcedomainontothatofthetarget.Anidiomlikespinningone’swheel(Lakoff,1992)eswithaconventionalmetalimagethatofthewheelsofacarstuckinsomesubstanceeitherinmud,sand,snow,oronice,sothatthecarcannotmovewhenthemotorisengagedandthewheelsturn.Partofourknowledgeabouttheimageisthatalotofenergyisbeingusedupinspinningthewheelswithoutanyprogressbeingmade,thatthesituationwillnotreadilychangeofitsownaccord,thatitwilltakealotofeffortonthepartoftheoccupantstogetthevehiclemovingagainandthattheycouldn’tgoonwiththejourney.ThemetaphorLOVEISJOURNEYappliestothisknowledgeabouttheimage.Itmapsthisknowledgeontoknowledgeaboutloverelationships:Alotofenergyisbeingspentwithoutanyprogresstowardfulfillingmongoals,thesituationwillnotchangeofitsownaccord;itwilltakealotofeffortonthepartoftheloverstomakemoreprogress,andsoon.Inshort,whenidiomshaveassociatedconventionalimages,itismonforanindependentlymotivatedconceptualmetaphortomapthatknowledgefromthesourceandthetargetdomain.Inbrief,conceptualmetaphorprovidesidiomswiththebackgroundknowledgethroughwhichwhatcanbeunderstoodaboutidiomsisnotonlytheirmeaningsbutalsotheirrelatedconte*ts.Asabridgeofonedomaintoanother,conceptualmetaphorenablesstudentstounderstandidiomsintermsoftheconceptthatprovidesusenoughroomtoinfer.Generallyspeaking,idiomsarefeaturedbytheculturesothatifstudentsaremotivatedtolearnEnglishidiomsbymeansofconceptualmetaphor,theycangraduallydeveloptheirabilitiesofnative-likeselectionandnative-likefluency(Schmitt&Michael,2002:129),thatis,theycanuseidiomsinaproperplaceatpropertimelikeanEnglishnative.3.CulturalImplicationsinVocabularyInteachingvocabulary,theteachercanadoptatop-downteachingwayofbiningthecross-domain-mappingoperatingmechanismofconceptualmetaphorwithcognitiveassociationofsemanticmeaningsofvocabulary.Fore*ample,ine*plainingtheconceptANGER,theteachercanfirstinformstudentsthatANGERhasthesamemetaphoricalmodelinEnglish,Chinese,Japanese,etc.ANGERISHEAT,Koveces(1986)pointsout,whichisbasedonthefeaturesofphysicalstructuresofhumanbodywhenoneisirritated,hebreathesrapidly,feelingthatthereisaflowofairupfromthelungs;moreover,whenheisangry,thetemperatureisgoingupwiththeincreaseinbloodpressure.Andthenthisconceptualmetaphorfallsintotwosub-categories:oneisANGERISFIREbothinEnglishandinChinese;theotherisdifferentinEnglish,ANGERISAHOTFLUIDINACONTAINERandinChinese,ANGERISAHOTGASINACONTAINER.Here,ANGERasthetargetdomainisconceptualizedintermsofthedifferentsourcedomainssuchasFIRE,AHOTLIQUIDandAHOTGASrespectivelythroughcognitiveassociationsothatassociatede*pressionsofFIRE,AHOTLIQUIDandAHOTGASareappliedtotheconceptANGER.Eachconceptualmetaphorgovernsaseriesoflinguisticmetaphoricale*pressions.LakoffandJohnsonclaimthatthemostfundamentalvaluesinacultureare“coherentwiththemetaphoricstructureofthemostfundamentalconceptsintheculture〞(1980:22).Allinall,metaphorsarenotonlythephenomenonoflanguageandthinkingbutalsothatofculture.Thecreationofmetaphoricalthinkingisrestrainedbythecognitiverulesand,toalargere*tent,culturalfactorsaswell.Therefore,teachingandlearningvocabularybymeansofconceptualmetaphorsmaycontributetoabetterunderstandingoftheculturalmodelsofthenative,e.g.Chineseandtargetlanguage,e.g.English.Conversely,theawarenessofteachingandlearningvocabularywithculturalfactorsintoaccountmayfacilitatetheprehensionofmetaphorsandthememorizationofvocabularyandhelpstudentsinthinkinginthetargetlanguage.SinceLakoffhasonlyintroducedafewconceptualmetaphorsandsinceheisunlikelytoprovideallconceptualmetaphorsinEnglishlanguage,whatismoreimportantinteachingandlearningvocabularybymeansofconceptualmetaphorsiscultivatingstudentstothinkmetaphoricallyratherthanonlygraspingafewwordsore*pressionsormetaphors.Thereforeatfirsttheteachershoulddothejobofsummarizingconceptualmetaphorsforstudentsandhelpingtrainthemtothinkmetaphoricallythroughrepeatedpractice.Moreover,studentsshouldbeencouragedtosumupconceptualmetaphorsbythemselvesandalsoparethemwiththecounterpartsinChineseculture,inordertocultivatethemtouseEnglishwordsande*pressionsidiomaticallyandthinkconsciouslyinEnglish.IV.ConclusionConceptualmetaphortheoryreallyplaysasignificantroleinforeignlanguageteachingandlearning,particularlyinvocabularyteachingandlearning.Therearesomeimplications.Firstofall,bye*plainingtostudentstheconnectionsbetweendifferentmeaningsofthesamewordorbetweenwordsofthesamethematicgroupbasedonitscognitivemechanismofcross-domainmapping,studentsmaygetabettermemorizationandunderstandingofvocabulary,especiallypolysemysuchasverbphrases,preposition,etc.Secondly,teachingandlearningidiomsbymeansofconceptualmetaphorassiststudentsingraduallydevelopingtheirabilitiesofnative-likeselectionandnative-likefluencyinusingEnglishinthatconceptualmetaphorprovidesidiomswiththebackgroundknowledgethroughwhichwhatcanbeunderstoodaboutidiomsisnotonlytheirmeaningsbutalsotheirrelatedconte*ts.Thirdly,conceptualmetaphorsshowthecognitiveprocessofacultureinperceivingandinterpretingofconceptssothataparisonandcontrastbetweenconceptualmetaphorsinEnglishandChineseculturescontributestostudents’awarenessofculturalfactorsinEnglishvocabularyandtheirunderstandingoftheinnercognitivemechanismofEnglishpeople.Theseapproachesfacilitatestudentstolookattheworldinthesamewayasnativespeakersdoanddeveloptheirmetaphoricalpetencewhichcanenablethemtolearnhowtomakeassociationsandtousetheirimaginationsintheprocessoflearningvocabularyandmakethem