Contrastive Study Of English-Chinese Metaphors And Its Uses In English Language Teaching

As a frontier field of scientific study, English-Chinese contrastive linguistics plays an increasingly important role in English study as a foreign language in China. Metaphor is an important element and phenomenon of a language, and has been studied from various aspects. Considering of the ignorance of metaphor study in English teaching, the writer attempts to make a contrastive study of English and Chinese metaphors. This paper is essentially the elaboration of using contrastive way in metaphor study and its uses in foreign language teaching. It consists of six chapters.Chapter One presents various definitions of metaphor in China and abroad, and makes brief comments on them. It reviews the history of metaphor study. Recent years have seen a growing attention on metaphor, as well as its use in language application. Experts have made various definitions of metaphor during a long time of study. There are Aristotle, Goalty, Lackoff and Halliday in western countries, and in China, scholars worth mentioning include Lu Shuxiang, Chang Zonglin and Hu Zhuanglin.Chapter Two introduces various metaphor theories. This chapter explains and comments metaphor theories put forward by famous linguists, and their role in helping language users to recognize usage, expression and essence of metaphor. These theories are: Denomination Theory, Comparison Theory, Interaction Theory, T G View on Metaphor, Pragmatic Interpretation of Metaphor and Cognitive Interpretation on metaphor.Chapter Three explores characteristics of metaphor according to its expression and essence. As a language phenomenon, metaphor has its own regulation of formation and characteristics of expression. This chapter divides these characteristics into ten categories: Generative, Systematic, Dependent on Tacit Understanding, Contradictory, Temporary and Ambiguity, Various in Degree, Choosing of Semantic Reflection, Unsymmetrical, Endless and Restoration.Chapter Four makes a brief introduction to English-Chinese contrastive linguistics. In this chapter, the name of contrastive linguistics is studied, emphasizing differences between contrastive and comparative. And then it discusses origin and development of contrastive linguistics, and its situation in China. Classification, aims, scopes, and methods of contrastive linguistics are also studied in this chapter.Chapter Five elaborates the classification of metaphor with different standards,and differences and similarities of metaphor in English and Chinese. By some typical examples, this chapter intends to show that metaphor is a global phenomenon in each language and performs differently in different languages. Being basic elements of metaphor, tenor and vehicle are taken as essential elements making metaphor perform differently from one language to another. Theories discussed in Chapter Two are also considered in metaphor classification as its different performances in English and Chinese.Chapter Six discusses situation of English teaching in China. Models of second language acquisition and hypothesis of input are used in this chapter. Assembling theories with practice, this chapter makes metaphor study and contrastive linguistics useful in our teaching and learning.