Acquiring metaphorical expressions in a second language performance by chinese learners of english

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Includes bibliographical references and index.

List of figures -- List of tables -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Metaphorical expressions: A historical review -- 3. Metaphorical expressions under cross-linguistic influence -- 4. Processing metaphorical expressions by native speakers and learners -- 5. Placing metaphorical expressions in a bilingual mental lexicon -- 6. Methodologies in second language metaphor research -- 7. Two experiments on the acquisition of metaphorical expressions -- 8. Acquiring and teaching metaphorical expressions in a second language -- Bibliography -- Appendix 1: Instruction and sentences used in the acceptability judgment task -- Appendix 2: Instruction, sentences and questions used in the self-paced reading task -- Appendix 3: Lexical property scores for the critical lexical items -- Index.

"Conventional metaphorical expressions are widely used by native speakers in everyday language and have received extensive attention in theoretical semantics and cognitive linguistics. However, how a second language learner can acquire those expressions is left largely unknown. Researchers and language learners face the question: if one has acquired the literal meaning of a word, can they automatically derive the metaphorical meaning? This book provides the answer by placing the question of acquisition of metaphorical expressions in the framework of bilingual lexicon. Assessing whether metaphorical expressions are taken for granted by second language learners, it explores how the metaphorical meaning(s) of a word should be connected in a learner's mental lexicon, and how the cross-linguistic availability of a metaphorical expression could affect the outcome of acquisition of that expression. The book also provides a detailed comparison between metaphorical expressions and other figurative language from both the theoretical and experimental perspectives."--Bloomsbury publishing.

Also issued in print.

Electronic reproduction. London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. Available via World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement.