scholarly journals On the comprehension of metonymical expressions by Arabic-speaking EFL learners: A cognitive linguistic approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-61
Author(s):  
Aseel Zibin ◽  
Abdel Rahman Mitib Altakhaineh ◽  
Elham T. Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Comprehension Task ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Direct Exposure ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Comprehension Process ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Arabic Speaking

AbstractThis study aims to examine the comprehension of L2 metonymies by Arabic-speaking EFL learners and to investigate the extent to which the participants’ L1 conceptual and linguistic knowledge of metonymies can affect the processing of L2 metonymies. A comprehension task was administered to elicit data, and the results showed that the participants encountered various degrees of difficulty comprehending different types of metonymies. Though metonymy has been regarded as a universal cognitive device, numerous factors can collaborate to hinder its comprehension process. The researchers argued that the non-conventionality of conceptual metonymies, the non-compositional nature of metonymy processing, the lack of direct exposure to metonymy as a cognitive referential device in L2, and the differences between L1 and L2 possibly contributed to the participants’ faulty answers on the administered test. The study concluded with a set of pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research studies.

scholarly journals Collocational Differences Between L1 and L2: Implications for EFL Learners and Teachers

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Private Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
L1 And L2

Collocations are one of the areas that produce problems for learners of English as a foreign language. Iranian learners of English are by no means an exception. Teaching experience at schools, private language centers, and universities in Iran suggests that a significant part of EFL learners’ problems with producing the language, especially at lower levels of proficiency, can be traced back to the areas where there is a difference between source- and target-language word partners. As an example, whereas people in English make mistakes, Iranians do mistakes when speaking Farsi (Iran’s official language, also called Persian) or Azari (a Turkic language spoken mainly in the north west of Iran). Accordingly, many beginning EFL learners in Iran are tempted to produce the latter incorrect form rather than its acceptable counterpart in English. This is a comparative study of Farsi (Persian) and English collocations with respect to lexis and grammar. The results of the study, with 76 participants who sat a 60-item Farsi (Persian)- English test of collocations, indicated that learners are most likely to face great obstacles in cases where they negatively transfer their linguistic knowledge of the L1 to an L2 context. The findings of this study have some immediate implications for both language learners and teachers of EFL/ESL, as well as for writers of materials.

scholarly journals Teaching English Idioms to Chinese EFL Learners: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Yi Guo
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
College Level ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Made In ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

Learning idioms has always been difficult for L2 learners of English. Drawing on a cognitive linguistic perspective of idiom learning, this paper reports on an empirical study that investigated the effects of incorporating the knowledge of conceptual metaphor and metonymy in L2 classroom instruction of English idioms. The study confirmed the efficacy of applying the conceptual metaphor- and metonymy-based ways of teaching to Chinese college-level EFL learners. It further revealed the different degrees of teaching effect towards different types of metaphoric idioms. While no significant progress was made in learning orientationally and ontologically metaphoric idioms, students benefited more from the conceptual metaphor-based method in learning structurally metaphoric idioms. These findings serve to enrich L2 idiom pedagogy and provide EFL learners with strategies other than “rote memorization” in the process of idiom learning.

An Empirical Study of Chinese EFL Classroom Teaching: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youmei Gao ◽  
Yun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
Learning English

AbstractAn empirical study of Chinese EFL learners has been carried out in the authentic Chinese EFL classroom on the campus of Tianjin Foreign Studies University, with an aim to verify how and why the cognitive linguistic approach can facilitate L2 or FL learners in the process of learning English as a second or a foreign language. The statistical analysis of the data showed that the EC outperformed the CC both on lexical and grammatical proficiency and on their metaphorical and pragmatic or sociolinguist competence after the classroom treatment. The study has concluded that using CMs and IMs as the motivator and organizer in the process of learning English as a foreign language, the cognitive approach benefits L2 or FL learners with respect to comprehension and retention of memory.

A comparative study of animation versus static effects in the spatial concept-based metaphor awareness-raising approach on EFL learners’ cognitive processing of request strategies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
MASAHIRO TAKIMOTO
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Social Variables ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Spatial Concept ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Static Version ◽  
Request Strategies ◽  
Linguistic Approach ◽  
And Control ◽  
Linguistic Approaches

abstract This study evaluates the relative effects of two cognitive linguistic approaches – using animated versus static scenes in an illustration based on the spatial concept-oriented metaphor – and a non-cognitive linguistic approach on the Japanese EFL learners’ processing of request strategies with degrees of politeness. The cognitive linguistic approach consisted of applying the metaphor politeness is distance in the teaching of different degrees of politeness. It involved a spatial concept projection through which participants could understand degrees of politeness in terms of the spatially visualized concepts of near–far and high–low relationships associated with three social variables – closeness, power, and speaker difficulty – in either animated or static illustration. In contrast, the non-cognitive linguistic approach involved rote learning of target English polite requests in a list. The results demonstrated that the static version of the cognitive linguistic approach enabled participants to process degrees of politeness and perform as well as those who underwent the animated version. Moreover, the animation effects did not appear to have had a major impact on the overall performance of groups subjected to both cognitive language approaches. The results also showed that the cognitive linguistic approach groups outperformed the non-cognitive linguistic approach and control groups.

scholarly journals Arab EFL Learners’ Perspectives on L1 Influence: Factors and Constraints

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Elham Salem Al-makatrah
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Influence Factors ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Arabic Speaking

This paper aims at examining the factors that cause L1 influence from the perspectives of adult native-Arabic speaking learners of English. It also reports on the possible constraints on L1 influence and further delves into the role of Psychotypology. Despite the recognition of the importance of L2 learners’ perspectives regarding the influence of their L1 and the factors contribute to such influence; this topic is an understudied area in the context of native-Arabic speaking learners of English. A semi-structured interview and a rewrite test were conducted with 40 undergraduate students at a public university, Jordan, where they were classified into two groups of 20 students each: beginner group and advanced group. The findings indicate that there are various causes of L1 influence including the peculiarity and complexity of some L2 structures/features as well as L1 –L2 structural differences. Learners’ psychotypological assessment of what is a similar, different, marked and unmarked structure across L1 and L2 is one of the restrictions on L1 influence. Moreover, Learners’ psychotypological assessment also varies depending on the learners’ L2 proficiency levels. The findings of this study can provide important insights into the research that considers various factors of the overall process of second language acquisition.

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