2. Can people be cold and warm?
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Ana M. Piquer-Píriz
Abstract
The understanding and production of figurative language in childhood has been the subject of a great deal of research. Most of the research literature on this topic has concentrated on the L1 but the insights gained can also be relevant to the process of learning a foreign language. This chapter reports on a study carried out with young learners of EFL in order to test their understanding of the semantic extensions of the lexemes cold and warm when referring to personality at ages 6, 8 and 10. This area of metaphorical language seems to be particularly problematic for children, and yet the figurative uses of adjectives such as ‘warm’, ‘cool’ and ‘cold’ are conventional in English. As such, these uses will need to be grasped by EFL learners. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the role played by the children’s understanding of the two domains involved (temperatures and personality) and some of the possible implications for the teaching of these lexemes and their semantic extensions in the EFL classroom.
Abstract
The understanding and production of figurative language in childhood has been the subject of a great deal of research. Most of the research literature on this topic has concentrated on the L1 but the insights gained can also be relevant to the process of learning a foreign language. This chapter reports on a study carried out with young learners of EFL in order to test their understanding of the semantic extensions of the lexemes cold and warm when referring to personality at ages 6, 8 and 10. This area of metaphorical language seems to be particularly problematic for children, and yet the figurative uses of adjectives such as ‘warm’, ‘cool’ and ‘cold’ are conventional in English. As such, these uses will need to be grasped by EFL learners. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the role played by the children’s understanding of the two domains involved (temperatures and personality) and some of the possible implications for the teaching of these lexemes and their semantic extensions in the EFL classroom.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors’ introduction vii
- 1. The wonderful, chaotic, creative, heroic, challenging world of Researching and Applying Metaphor 1
-
1. Metaphor and language learning
- 2. Can people be cold and warm? 21
- 3. Grasping the point 35
- 4. “Drugs, traffic, and many other dirty interests” 63
- 5. The gaps to be filled 81
- 6. A cross-cultural study of metaphoric understanding 105
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2. Capturing and analysing metaphors
- 7. Love, metaphor and responsibility 125
- 8. A critical look at the desktop metaphor 30 years on 145
- 9. Pragglejaz in practice 165
- 10. Mapping principles for conceptual metaphors 185
- 11. Systematicity in metaphor and the use of invariant mappings 209
- 12. Attitude, style and context 245
- 13. A genre approach to imagery in winespeak 265
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3. The function of metaphor in discourse
- 14. Wot no similes? 291
- 15. Metaphor marking and metaphor typological and functional ranges in business periodicals 309
- 16. Critical analysis of creative metaphors in political speeches 321
- 17. Metaphor in physical-and-speech action expressions 333
- 18. The evaluative properties of metaphors 357
- Index of names 375
- Index of terms 381
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors’ introduction vii
- 1. The wonderful, chaotic, creative, heroic, challenging world of Researching and Applying Metaphor 1
-
1. Metaphor and language learning
- 2. Can people be cold and warm? 21
- 3. Grasping the point 35
- 4. “Drugs, traffic, and many other dirty interests” 63
- 5. The gaps to be filled 81
- 6. A cross-cultural study of metaphoric understanding 105
-
2. Capturing and analysing metaphors
- 7. Love, metaphor and responsibility 125
- 8. A critical look at the desktop metaphor 30 years on 145
- 9. Pragglejaz in practice 165
- 10. Mapping principles for conceptual metaphors 185
- 11. Systematicity in metaphor and the use of invariant mappings 209
- 12. Attitude, style and context 245
- 13. A genre approach to imagery in winespeak 265
-
3. The function of metaphor in discourse
- 14. Wot no similes? 291
- 15. Metaphor marking and metaphor typological and functional ranges in business periodicals 309
- 16. Critical analysis of creative metaphors in political speeches 321
- 17. Metaphor in physical-and-speech action expressions 333
- 18. The evaluative properties of metaphors 357
- Index of names 375
- Index of terms 381
