The expression of emotions by second language learners: Metaphor as a linguistic vehicle

Abstract

This article explores the metaphors used by second language learners to express their emotions and emotional states. In a first experiment, two groups of French students wrote 300-word essays. The non-literal aspects of these texts and provide an account of the metaphors produced to vehicle emotions were studied. In a second experiment, French students with various proficiency levels in English picked and answered a series of questions about daily life in pairs, so as to recreate aspects of naturally-occurring conversations. The questions inquired about the emotions experienced by participants in previous, real situations, as well as their potential reactions and feelings in a set of hypo-thetical events. Some questions presented fictive scenarios (How would you feel if...) while others used images and videos designed to prompt different emotions (stress, happiness, tenderness, etc.). The learners' answers were analyzed using a similar method to MIPVU. Our analyses show that L2 learners resort to metaphors with an explanatory function exclusively when used to describe emotions; whereas they produced a wider range of metaphors (e.g. with ornamental or humorous functions) when dealing with other topics. The language of emotions   and thus, the metaphors for emotions   might be marked.