This paper presents an analysis and comparison of the projection of Chinese "shen" and English "deep" from the spatial domain to other domains of time, sense, emotion, behavior, and society from a cognitive perspective by using the comparative and contrastive method, explaining the universality and differences of SHEN and DEEP…

Studies on predicative metaphors like "The rumor flew through the office" have not received due attention until recently. Through a behavioural experiment, this study investigates the cognitive mechanisms as well as the effects of familiarity on Chinese EFL learners' comprehension of English predicative metaphors, adopting a two factors…

Learning idioms has always been difficult for L2 learners of English. Drawing on a cognitive linguistic perspective of idiom learning, this paper reports on an empirical study that investigated the effects of incorporating the knowledge of conceptual metaphor and metonymy in L2 classroom instruction of English idioms. The study confirmed the…

Pronunciation is an essential aspect in the teaching of the English language, especially those aspects of pronunciation such as stress and vowel quality as they are crucial elements to ensure intelligibility in communication. The general objective of this study is to investigate whether the theoretical-practical instruction on pronunciation has a…

This paper provides an overview of the theories on the organization and development of L1 mental lexicon and the representation mode of bilingual mental lexicon. It analyzes the structure and characteristics of Chinese EFL learners and their problems in English vocabulary acquisition. On the basis of this, it suggests that English vocabulary…

In China, English as a foreign language (EFL) learning mainly occurs in the classroom, and the resultant lack of practice using English in authentic settings makes it quite difficult for many Chinese learners to learn English words. They may often feel that English words are "difficult to learn and easy to forget." As such, how to…

This study addressed the potential methodological issues effect of attentional condition on subsequent vocabulary development from a different perspective, which addressed several potential methodological issues of previous research that have been based on psycholinguistic notion of second language learner as a limited capacity processor. The…

The purpose of this paper is to compare the efficiency of the core schema-based instruction (SBI) in learning English prepositions between two groups that were placed depending on learners' level of English proficiency. The SBI in the present study refers to a way of teaching in which the schematic core meaning of a given lexical item is provided.…

This study investigated English teachers' use of learners' L1 (Arabic) in college classrooms in Kuwait. The purpose of the study was three-fold: (1) to describe the functions for which L1 was employed by the teachers, (2) to explore the affective, sociolinguistic, and psycholinguistic factors that may have led teachers to use L1 in L2 teaching,…

Idioms have long been regarded as problematic for L2 learners due to the arbitrariness of their meanings and forms. Traditional methods of teaching idioms focus on rote learning and memorization. Recent developments in cognitive linguistics research have considered idioms as analyzable expressions which are motivated by conceptual metaphors and…

To improve vocabulary learning and teaching in ELT settings, two questionnaires are designed and directed to more than 100 students and teachers in one of China's key universities. The findings suggest that an enhanced awareness of cultural difference, metaphorical competence, and learners' autonomy in vocabulary acquisition will effectively…

Metonymy is an important means for people to know the world and enrich the language; and it is a way of thinking used widely in people's daily life. This paper illustrates firstly the cognitive nature of metonymy in terms of its definition, classification and contiguity notion. Based on this, the author then studies the meaning extension and…

Considering the difficulties in understanding the global meaning of texts, this paper intends to give some suggestions on how to help students reach a deeper understanding of texts in intensive reading classroom within the framework of schema theory. The purpose of this paper is expressed in three ways. The first is to give a brief overview of…

Based on a paper given at the Fourth Annual Conference of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), held in London December 30, 1970 to January 2, 1971. (VM)