Effects Of Explicit Instruction Of Conceptual Metaphor On College Efl Learners' Reading Comprehension

The thesis is focused on the effects of explicit instruction of conceptual metaphor on the development of Chinese university EFL learners'English reading comprehension. It briefly discussed the conceptual metaphor theory firstly. After reviewing the literature and analyzing the possibility of explicit instruction of conceptual metaphor, the author designed a teaching experiment of the explicit instruction of conceptual metaphor, two reading comprehension tests and a questionnaire. The aims of the research is to investigate whether explicit instruction of conceptual metaphor can facilitate the development of Chinese EFL learners'reading comprehension ability and whether explicit instruction of conceptual metaphor can be accepted by Chinese EFL learners. The reading materials used in the reading comprehension tests are about economy. The subjects of this study were 70 sophomores majoring in English from two classes in Hunan Institute of Science and Technology (HNIST), one class being supposed to be experimental group (EG), another being control group (CG), and the experiment teaching time last four months. Data collection was conducted by two teachers and data analyses were carried out by EXCEL and SPSS (Version 13.0).Analysis of the data manifested the following results:1) After the teaching experiment, there was a significant difference in reading comprehension proficiency between EG and CG, and the students' English reading proficiency had improved by explicit instruction of CM. 2) Students were willing to accept the new teaching method. They felt that they were interested in the teaching material and inspired by it.The findings in this study had significant pedagogical implications for English reading teaching. It informed us of not only the new teaching approach and material but also the attitudes of students towards them. Explicit instruction of conceptual metaphor exerted a great influence on the reading comprehension of EFL learners. Therefore, English teachers in college are supposed to take it into consideration to help students improve their reading comprehension ability.