A Study of Language Metaphor and Emotional Expression from the Perspective of Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

Metaphors are a critical aspect of acquiring English. It is grounded in the conceptual system of English L1 users, so there might be a discrepancy between the comprehension and utilization of learners of English as L2, especially if the metaphors entail one aspect of pragmatics, emotion. This paper concentrates on the comprehension and utilization of emotion metaphors in L2 English learners, composing mainly of high school students. The participants must fill out a questionnaire containing seven questions examining the aspects mentioned above of emotion metaphors and metaphors. After analyzing the answers, comprehension can be categorized into two categoriesbasic and deep. By dividing the level of comprehension, a correlation can be drawn between the comprehension level and production of emotion metaphors, using MIP, an established method to identify whether there is a metaphorical expression or not in a discourse. This paper tests the less focused side of the metaphor study, trying to draw a primary conclusion on the relationship between comprehension and utilization of metaphors in hopes of allowing learners of English as L2 to understand more about the mechanism of metaphors and how they are applied to describe emotions.