Metaphorical Competence Cultivation

Metaphor has been studied for over two thousand years. Numerous scholars have rendered incisive analyses to this kind of utterance phenomenon. Traditionally, metaphor was confined to the field of Rhetoric, and it was only treated as a decorative and additional part of the language. Based on the contemporary view of metaphor, it is generally accepted by most specialists that metaphor is regarded as means of cognition, a matter of thought, and a way of language development. And metaphoric competence is an important indication of the mastery of a language.Therefore, if we can explore the function of metaphor and its construction on Second Language Acquisition, it will bring about the practical sense and applicable value to SLA. Based on this theory, the thesis mainly deals with the importance of the cultivation of metaphoric competence in English teaching and the way through which the competence is cultivated. It stresses that the cultivation of metaphoric competence is a feasible way to improve learners'language ability and also help them to achieve the conceptual fluency.