First Advisor

Jeanette S. DeCarrico

Date of Publication

1991

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Department

Applied Linguistics

Language

English

Subjects

Vocabulary -- Study and teaching, Metaphor -- Study and teaching, English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers

DOI

10.15760/etd.6091

Physical Description

1 online resource (150 p.)

Abstract

This thesis addresses the problem of teaching and learning vocabulary in English as a Second Language (ESL), and proposes that a vocabulary based on the process of metaphoric extension could be taught directly. Despite the fact that an inadequate vocabulary is one of the main obstacles for intermediate-level ESL students, both ESL teachers and applied linguists have emphasized other aspects of English more than the study of vocabulary teaching and learning. Consequently, ESL students have few strategies for learning vocabulary other than reliance on the dictionary, and the predominant strategy for teachers is to present words rather unsystematically in the reading curriculum. In an effort to overcome this inadequacy, current vocabulary research is identifying central patterns of word usage, including lexical phrases and other 'chunks', core words, and semantic fields. One central pattern of usage that has not yet been researched is metaphoric extension. Since the so-called 'dead' metaphors produced by that process are lexical items expressing either literal or conventional meaning, they are also candidates for direct teaching.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26176

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