Abstract
Conceptual Fluency (CF) and the related notion of metaphorical competence (MC) emerged in the mid-1980s as a pedagogical response to the research findings and insights that were crystallizing in the fledgling field at the time of cognitive linguistics, and specifically, of conceptual metaphor theory. Since then, a considerable amount of work has been conducted on these notions investigating their main premises, researching their efficacy as teaching-learning tools, and exploring their pedagogical implications. Over three decades later, this paper presents an overview of the relevant work and raises the questions and issues that these notions continue to raise.
Highlights
Research on the critical role that figurative language plays in culture and cognition started mushrooming in the cognitive sciences in the late 1970s (Pollio, Barlow, Fine, & Pollio, 1977, Ortony, 1979, Honeck & Hoffman, 1980, Lakoff & Johnson, 1980)
Conceptual Fluency (CF) and the related notion of metaphorical competence (MC) emerged in the mid-1980s as a pedagogical response to the research findings and insights that were crystallizing in the fledgling field at the time of cognitive linguistics, and of conceptual metaphor theory
An extensive research study by Norafkan (2013) investigated the effect of exposure to authentic and computer-based English language materials on learners’ MC and CF in Iranian L2 classrooms. She started by assuming that classroombased L2 learning using standard course books would allow for various degrees of linguistic and communicative competence to develop, but that this approach would not lead to conceptual fluency
Summary
Research on the critical role that figurative language plays in culture and cognition started mushrooming in the cognitive sciences in the late 1970s (Pollio, Barlow, Fine, & Pollio, 1977, Ortony, 1979, Honeck & Hoffman, 1980, Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) It led to a reassessment of literalist-based theories of semantics and of the role of syntax in the processing of language. The work showed, essentially, that figurative expressions in discourse were hardly exceptional or idiomatic; they were systematic and revelatory of the conceptual-semantic system guiding linguistic choices in ordinary forms of communication. The implications of this line of inquiry for second language acquisition (SLA) theories were instantly obvious. There areas particular interest to the present review include the validity of MC and CF, how to identify metaphorical content and, as a corollary, conceptual errors, and the actual teachability of MC
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