Cognitive View on Metaphor and Polysemy Learning

Language is a product of human cognition. It is of great importance and necessity to study the role of metaphor in foreign language learning and teaching. The paper is intended as a trial to develop a metaphorical cognitive approach to aid the learner of English as a foreign language, especially in polysemy learning since it has been a big problem in foreign language learning area. Metaphor plays a positive role and produces better results than the traditional approach in vocabulary learning. The metaphor approach is a powerful strategy in vocabulary comprehension, retention, and production. Teachers and researchers must shoulder the responsibility to carry out close examinations of linguistic metaphors instantiating the underlying conceptual metaphors by analyzing and establishing corpora to better established metaphor systems.

Bolinger, D. (1980). Language—The loaded weapon: The use and abuse of language today. London: Routledge Press.

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. New York: Cambridge University Press.