Acquiring Metaphorical Expressions in a Second Language: Performance by Chinese Learners of English

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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 learners 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.

Reviews

A much needed addition to the scarce literature of metaphorical expression acquisition and use by second language (L2) learners ... an invaluable resource for young researchers who may not be acquainted with know-how of empirical research and the area of metaphorical expression acquisition and processing, for academics who wish to expand their interests in metaphor research, and certainly for second language teachers who can now have a better understanding of the challenges learners may face while acquiring metaphorical expressions in an L2 and suggestions of how they can overcome them. * Journal of Pragmatics *
This book constitutes a very important contribution to the literature on metaphoric competence and the acquisition of metaphorical language by second language learners. It has a very strong up-to-date theoretical and empirical grounding as well as findings from the author's own research. A must-read for metaphor scholars! * Jeannette Littlemore, Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Birmingham, UK *
This book provides a thoughtful presentation of how second language (L2) learners acquire and process metaphoric expressions. It is a one-of-a-kind book grounded in state-of-the-art theoretical and methodological approaches. This is the first book that critically examines the acquisition of metaphoric competence by L2 learners and bilinguals. * Roberto R. Heredia, Regents Professor, Texas A&M International University, USA *

Author Bio

Chris Mengying Xia is a Researcher in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, UK.