A Contrastive Study On Conceptual Metaphors In Chinese And American Teacher Talk

The booming of online courses provides platforms for distance learning and meanwhile presents learners with new challenges in understanding teacher talk in different languages,especially in terms of conceptual metaphors.As a ubiquitous phenomenon,conceptual metaphor has been highlight in linguistic study and metaphor study in teacher talk has gradually aroused scholars’ interest.Nevertheless,confronted with the status quo of the changes in teaching modes,online learners need to draw their attention to the cognition behind conceptual metaphors in teacher talk,especially when it comes to teacher talk from different linguistic and cultural background.Based on conceptual metaphor theory by Lakoff and conceptual blending theory by Fauconnier,this study conducted from a contrastive perspective analyzes 1754 conceptual metaphors used by Chinese and American teachers in structural,ontological and orientational metaphors and their subtypes to reveal the situation of conceptual metaphors,the similarities and differences on linguistic and cognitive levels,and factors behind the situation in Chinese and American teacher talk in college academic writing online courses.The study adopts quantative and qualitative analyses as research methods.The linguistic material for this study derives from two online courses concerning college academic writing delievered by Peking University and Duke University respectively on COURSERA platform.Basically,MIP by Pragglejaz Group is employed to identify metaphors.The types and frequency of conceptual metaphors are counted,the proportion and percentage difference of each type used by Chinese and American teachers are calculated and conceptual blending models are used to analyze the similarities and differences on the cognitive level.The factors that influence the situation of conceptual metaphors are further discussed.The major findings of the study are as follows: as for the situation,conceptual metaphors are common in Chinese and American teacher talk.The respective proportion of structural,ontological and orientational metaphor in two teacher talk is similar,and ontological metaphor takes the largest proportion;The density of metaphors in American teacher talk is higher than that in Chinese teacher talk;Subtypes of conceptual metaphors share similarities in metaphor vehicles and mapping system and subtypes of metaphors in Chinese teacher talk are more diverse.The similarities and differences in subtypes mainly include: the main subtypes used by Chinese and American teachers are SEEING,JOURNEY,MONEY,WAR,CONTAINER,BUILDING,MOVING OBJECT and ENTITY metaphors;The subtypes with large percentage difference include JOURNEY,SEEING,WAR,CONTAINER and MOVING OBJECT metaphors.On the cognitive level,conceptual blending models reflect that Chinese and American teachers have different interpretation and emphasis on academic writing.The factors that best explain the situation of conceptual metaphors include discourse meaning,context,especially gender,academic background and personal interest,and cultural cognition.Contrastive study on conceptual metaphors contributes to learners’ comprehension of teacher talk.Implications of the study shed light on taking advantage of metaphors in teaching and learning.Limitations and suggestions are stated for future researches.