Understanding discipline-specific texts in English is a basic requirement for science students, who must develop their content knowledge and language skills. Particularly, interesting is the fact that the language of ...Understanding discipline-specific texts in English is a basic requirement for science students, who must develop their content knowledge and language skills. Particularly, interesting is the fact that the language of science is characterized by the use of figurative language, which appeals to the common knowledge of the world, mainly to explain, clarify, and describe intricate concepts. Metaphors are helpful for lexicalizing new concepts and meanings or extending the meanings of pre-existing words. The analysis of tropes as a means to improve foreign language learners＇ reading competence is a rather novel teaching practice in ESP （English for Specific Purposes）, implemented at the University of Rio Cuarto, Argentina. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explain the theoretical basis for teaching and developing metaphorical competence in ESP classes as a means of providing an intellectually stimulating alternative approach, and to present some teaching ideas and activities designed to familiarize students with the use of metaphorical language in scientific discourse in order to enhance their reading competence.展开更多
文摘Understanding discipline-specific texts in English is a basic requirement for science students, who must develop their content knowledge and language skills. Particularly, interesting is the fact that the language of science is characterized by the use of figurative language, which appeals to the common knowledge of the world, mainly to explain, clarify, and describe intricate concepts. Metaphors are helpful for lexicalizing new concepts and meanings or extending the meanings of pre-existing words. The analysis of tropes as a means to improve foreign language learners＇ reading competence is a rather novel teaching practice in ESP （English for Specific Purposes）, implemented at the University of Rio Cuarto, Argentina. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explain the theoretical basis for teaching and developing metaphorical competence in ESP classes as a means of providing an intellectually stimulating alternative approach, and to present some teaching ideas and activities designed to familiarize students with the use of metaphorical language in scientific discourse in order to enhance their reading competence.
