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1、-Conceptual Metaphor and English Vocabulary TeachingAbstract：Conceptual metaphors are seen in language in our everyday lives. Metaphor plays an indispensable role in vocabulary teachingThe feasibility of the application of this theory to vocabulary teaching is discussed，which is based on the analysi
2、s of the theoretical foundation and the metaphorical property of vocabularyThen some suggestions are supplied to help teachers improve vocabulary teaching strategiesKey words：metaphor；conceptual metaphor；vocabulary teachingI. IntroductionIncognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, or cognitive met
3、aphor, refers to the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another, for e*ample, understanding quantity in terms of directionality (e.g. prices are rising). A conceptual domain can be any coherent organization of human e*perience. The regularity with which different languages
4、employ the same metaphors, which often appear to be perceptually based, has led to the hypothesis that the mapping between conceptual domains corresponds to neural mappings in the brain.Conceptual metaphors are seen in language in our everyday lives. Conceptual metaphors shape not just our municatio
5、n, but also shape the way we think and act. In George Lakoff and Mark Johnsons work, Metaphors We Live By (1980), we see how everyday language is filled with metaphors we may not always notice. An e*ample of one of the monly used conceptual metaphors is argument is war. This metaphor shapes our lang
6、uage in the way we view argument as war or as a battle to be won. It is not unmon to hear someone say He won that argument or I attacked every weak point in his argument. The very way argument is thought of is shaped by this metaphor of arguments being war and battles that must be won. Argument can
7、be seen in many other ways other than a battle, but we use this concept to shape the way we think of argument and the way we go about arguing.Conceptual metaphors are used very often to understand theories and models. A conceptual metaphor uses one idea and links it to another to better understand s
8、omething. For e*ample, the conceptual metaphor of viewing munication as a conduit is one large theory e*plained with a metaphor. So not only is our everyday munication shaped by the language of conceptual metaphors, but so is the very way we understand scholarly theories. These metaphors are prevale
9、nt in munication and we do not just use them in language; we actually perceive and act in accordance with the metaphors.II. The importance of conceptual metaphors in Englishvocabulary teachingConceptual metaphor renders a new angle for teaching and learning in that it providesus the mechanism for ch
10、anging our modes of representing the world in thought andlanguage. As a teaching device, it has been proved effective in that understanding ametaphor involves active mental participation to link target and source domains andfurther stimulates learners creativity and imagination to find similarities
11、between thetwo domains.As Danesi (1993) states, generally speaking, learners of foreign language can achievethe high verbal fluency but lack the ability to think in the conceptual image schema ofthe target language, in other words, they speak in linguistic structures of the targetlanguage but think
12、in conceptual structures of the native language. Now that theresearch on the contemporary views on cognitive linguistics has shown that metaphor isthe basic attribute shared by language and cognition, it is indispensable to cultivatemetaphorical petence in foreign language teaching and learning.Teac
13、hing and learning English by means of conceptual metaphors involves thechanges in cognitive structures of native language and English language, which furtherinvolve not only prehension but also creation. The latter is much more importantbecause it directly connects with ones municative capacities an
14、d it is the effectivemanifestation of ones metaphorical petence. Thus, it is urgent to encouragestudents to wake up their dormant imagination and creation deliberately and to learn toutilize metaphor to structure their thought and language and to foster their metaphoricalpetence in learning English.
15、 Though this will require strategies and knowledge, theawareness is of great value.To cultivate metaphorical petence, students should integrate metaphoricalthinking into the four aspects of English study: listening, speaking, reading and writing.However, vocabulary study is the basis of English list
16、ening, speaking, reading andwriting. So it is vital for us to work out how conceptual metaphor theory can be appliedto vocabulary study and how students can gradually form the habit of thinkingmetaphorically and acquire their metaphorical petence.III. The applications of conceptual metaphors in English vocabulary teachingA good mand of vocabulary is the basis of foreign language acquisition for the reason that if students cannot keep enough vocabulary i
