Metaphor in idiom acquisition. An empirical analysis across L1 and L2 varieties of English

Abstract

The teaching and learning of idioms have recently received attention in Cognitive Linguistics literature, most notably in Cognitive Semantics (cf. Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Gibbs, 1993, 1994; Kövecses & Szabó, 1999, 2001; Boers, 2011; Ruiz de Mendoza & Pérez-Hernández, 2011). Broadly, cognitive accounts argue that the meaning of most idioms is systematically motivated by underlying conceptual mechanisms such as metaphor and metonymy. The goal of this BA thesis is to explore idioms from a metaphoric perspective and to show how they are acquired and used across L1 and L2 varieties of English, highlighting the importance of metaphoric competence (MC) in the processes of teaching and learning. Particular attention will be paid to metaphorical idioms, comparing traditional and cognitive semantic approaches and tackling such issues as the development of metaphor interpretation and production skills in L1, the relationship between metaphor interpretation and production skills in L1 and L2, as well as the MC contribution to the understanding and interpretation of idioms and the problems involved in L1-L2 transfer. In addition, an empirical analysis will be provided examining parallelisms and divergences in the use of metaphorical idioms across L1 and L2 varieties of English. Ultimately, this study is intended to shed light into the active metaphorical thinking process that takes place in L1 to facilitate both the learning and use of metaphor-based idioms in L2