A study of cross-cultural variations of metaphor aptness and their implications in foreign language teaching

Zahra Eskandari and Hooshang Khoshsima

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 193-215

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate cross-cultural variations of metaphor aptness and their implications in foreign language teaching. Two groups of English and Persian native speakers were selected for this study. Three tests were administered. In each item of test one, participants produced a parallel relation for a given relation. In each item of test two, participants made judgment on the acceptability of a metaphor. In test three, participants made judgment on the acceptability of parallel relations. The results indicated that degree of aptness of a metaphor had a significant positive correlation with the number of corresponding parallel relations for that metaphor. Furthermore, degrees of aptness of some metaphors were different for English and Persian native speakers. It is suggested that cultural dimensions of the concepts that are involved in parallel relations in the base and target of a metaphor could affect degree of aptness of that metaphor.

Keywords: cross-cultural variations; metaphor aptness; structure-mapping. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijklea:v:14:y:2021:i:3:p:193-215

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