Metaphors of English Learning

Metaphor research in the contemporary world has its foot mainly in two disciplines: cognitive science and linguistic science. In the field of cognitive psychology alone, there are a number of theoretical frameworks, among which are salience imbalance theory (Ortony, 1979), domains-interaction theory (Tourangeau & Sternberg, 1981), structure-mapping theory (Gentner, 1989), and conceptual metaphor theory (Gibbs, 1994; Lakoff, 1987; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). In linguistic science, the theories that attempt to provide explanations on metaphor include speech act theory (Searle, 1979) and relevance theory (Sperber & Wilson, 1985/1986). This essay focuses on conceptual metaphor theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The paper elaborates the theoretical framework before it applies the theory to the metaphor underlying the accounts of English learning experience told by teachers and trainees in China’s commercial English learning organizations. The analysis aims to reveal a) the primary metaphor underlying the accounts, b) its systematic structure and the various subordinated metaphors that it entails and c) the motivations behind the use of the metaphors.