| Metaphor is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also the way of thinking and cognition. When people have the ability to reflect concepts or decode concepts following the organizations of conceptual metaphors, they will possess metaphoric competence. In the process of foreign language learning, the lack of metaphoric competence will lead L2 learners to have a conceptual error. For example, lots of Chinese college students use English words and structures to convey Chinese concepts in speaking and writing, which sounds fluent but not natural. In recent years, more and more scholars pay special attention to metaphoric competence.The notion of metaphoric competence was firstly put forward by Gardner and Winner in 1978. Some fruitful results have been gotten in the field of ESL learning and teaching, from the theoretical research on the definition of metaphoric competence and the role of metaphoric competence in SLA to the empirical studies on cultivation of students’ metaphoric competence and factors influencing metaphoric competence. However, few western researchers have carried out studies on the correlation between creativity and metaphoric competence. The subjects of these studies are all native speakers. In China, the related studies are even fewer.Taking all those into account, the present study aims to gain the whole picture of Chinese non-English majors’ metaphoric competence and creativity and to investigate the relationship between non-English majors’ metaphoric competence and creativity. Therefore, this study will examine the following questions:(1) Which level has Chinese non-English majors’ metaphoric competence reached in terms of ability to find meaning in metaphor, fluency of metaphor interpretation and originality of metaphor production?(2) Which level has Chinese non-English majors’ creativity reached in terms of fluency, originality and flexibility?(3)Does any correlation exist between the non-English majors’ metaphoric competence and their creativity? If the correlation exists, how do they correlate with each other?The current study chose 111 sophomores of non-English majors in Lanzhou Jiaotong University as the subjects. The subjects are chosen from Class A, Class B, and Class C, who represents the high proficient group, the medium group and the lower group respectively.Questionnaires and interview are adopted as the research instruments to evaluate students’ MC and creativity. All the relevant data are calculated by SPSS 23.0.Through the data analyses, three major findings are made:(1) Chinese non-English majors’ metaphoric competence is at a low level. In respect of non-English majors from the three groups, it is found that there appears significant difference in overall metaphoric competence on the grounds of different language proficiency. Thehigher students’ language level is, the higher metaphoric competence is, and vice versa. As for the three aspects of metaphoric competence, the means for non-English majors’ metaphoric competence trend downwards from ability to find meaning of metaphor to fluency of metaphor interpretation. Substantially, non-English majors are relatively capable of finding meaning in metaphor, but there is a significant difference between Class A and Class C in ability to find meaning in metaphor. In addition, they fail to acquire abilities of originality of metaphor production and fluency of metaphor interpretation. Non-English majors are very poor at fluency of metaphor interpretation. There is no significant difference in fluency of metaphor interpretation among three classes. Non-English majors are also weak in originality of metaphor production. Compared with originality of metaphor production in Class A and Class B, Class C perform prominently in originality of metaphor production. No significant differences occur in originality of metaphor production between Class A and Class C.(2) The level of non-English majors’ creativity is low. In terms of overall creativity from three classes, there is a decrease on non-English majors’ overall creativity from Class C to Class A. In the light of three aspects of creativity from three classes, it is found that Class C have relatively good performance in fluency, flexibility, and originality, while Class A are very weak in those aspects. There exists significant difference between Class A and Class C in fluency and flexibility. As for non-English majors’ originality, compared with Class A, it is found that Class C perform prominently in producing unusual and novel ideas. In addition, in the light of two parts of creativity, significant differences exist in the verbal part between Class A and Class B, as well as in the figural part between Class A and Class C. In other words, significant differences occur in language competence between Class A and Class B;and there exists significant difference between Class A and Class C in flexibility.(3) There are slightly positive correlations between non-English majors’ metaphoric competence and creativity. With regards to the three aspects of metaphoric competence,creativity is positively related to the two aspects of metaphoric competence, namely originality of metaphor production and fluency of metaphor interpretation. But ability to find meaning in metaphor doesn’t correlate with creativity.The study shows that language proficiency has an effect on learners’ metaphoric competence. But language levels mainly affect learners’ ability to find meaning in metaphor.Originality of metaphor production and fluency of metaphor interpretation are related to creativity. The higher students’ creativity is, the higher the abilities to produce metaphors originally and interpret metaphor fluently possess. In addition, it can also find that students with high language proficiency are very weak in creativity. Though language level can to some extent make up the deficiency of their metaphoric competence, it isn’t beneficial to improving the target language proficiency in the long run.The results not only enrich the research of metaphoric competence and creativity, but also offer the pedagogical implication for English teaching, especially for improving learners’ language proficiency. Primarily, in language teaching, L2 teachers and learners should be aware of the wide use of metaphor in any language. Thus, sufficient attention should be paid to the metaphors in foreign language learning. And L2 teachers should spend lots of time cultivating students’ metaphoric competence. Besides, The results obtained in the present study reveal that non-English majors’ metaphoric competence is lower and far from satisfactory. Therefore, the cultivation of metaphoric competence should be included in English teaching. L2 teachers should compile materials and develop instructional methods to foster L2 students’ metaphoric competence. Teachers should use different instructional methods towards students with different language levels. For students with high language level, teachers can cultivate students’ metaphoric competence with help of their creativity; for students with low language level, teachers can enhance the understanding of metaphors through the medium of language. In the process of metaphoric competence cultivation, L2 learners should strengthen the abilities in originality of metaphor production and fluency of metaphor interpretation, so as to improve learners’ language proficiency. |
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