中国大学生英语习语隐喻意识的调查

An Investigation of Chinese College Students’Metaphorical Awareness of English Idioms

隐喻意识对非英语母语学生学习英语词汇有着积极作用。本文旨在研究中国英语学习者对隐喻性英语习语的理解程度及其隐喻意识的现状,主要进行了基于语料库的统计分析,得出了习语的使用频率情况。研究以LynnGrant得出的口语中常用隐喻性习语为蓝本调查中国英语学习者的使用情况,并找出其最常使用的隐喻性英语习语。结果显示,中国英语学习者的英语隐喻意识有待加强,而要提高其隐喻意识可以从其熟识的习语入手。

Metaphorical awareness has a positive influence on English vocabulary learning.To determine whether and how the English metaphorical idioms used and understood by Chinese learners,this study first investigated the frequency of these idioms.A corpus search was done in the Chinese Learner English Corpus(CLEC) based on a criterion of metaphorical idioms from Lynn Grant’s spoken idiom lists.Then the questionnaire research was conducted to assess Chinese university students’understanding of these frequently used idioms and their metaphorical awareness was evaluated.An analysis of the data from the questionnaire research indicates that the overall level of Chinese college students’metaphorical awareness of the basis of commonly used idioms is low.The finding also demonstrates that Chinese EFL learners’metaphorical awareness could be promoted from the idioms which they are familiar with.