Creative Education
2011. Vol.2, No.4, 354-362
Copyright © 2011 SciRes. DOI:10.4236/ce.2011.24050
Cognitive Linguistics—Inspired Empirical Study of Chinese
EFL Teaching
Youmei Gao
Department of Translation, School of English Studies, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Tianjin, China.
Received July 23rd, 2011; revised August 28th, 2011; accepted September 4th, 2011.
Aiming to verify how and why insightfulness of the CL-inspired approach can facilitate L2 or FL learners in the
process of learning English as a second or a foreign language, an empirical study of Chinese EFL learners has
been carried out in the authentic Chinese EFL classroom on the campus of Tianjin Foreign Studies University.
After the classroom treatment, the EG outperformed the CG by 21.7% based on the results from the delayed
posttest in Experiment 1; by 6.73% in Experiment 2; by 6.61% in Experiment 3; by 21.7% in Experiment 4. The
study has concluded that through awakening students’ metaphoric awareness and analyzing features of the im-
age schematic structure, the CL-inspired approach benefits L2 or FL learners in the process of learning English
as a foreign language with respect to lexical and grammatical competence, metaphorical and pragmatic or socio-
linguist competence, including semantic comprehension in reading, writing and translation, particularly in terms
of long-term re tention of memory.
Keywords: Cognitive Linguistic Appr oach, Chinese EFL Teaching
Introduction
The cognitive framework has been recently reported to be
able to help L2 or FL learners acquire the target materials in an
effective manner and achieve long-term retention in memory.
Experimental evidence (e.g. Kövecses & Szabó, 1996; Boers,
2000a, 2000b) and theoretical contributions (e.g. Boers, 1999,
Boers & Demecheleer, 2004; Lazar, 1996; Littlemore, 2001a)
suggest that the cognitive framework can indeed assist L2 or FL
learners to acquire figurative expressions in an effective manner
and achieve long-term retention in memory. Nevertheless, how
it works in the authentic Chinese university EFL classrooms
remains as a not or at least not fully touched upon area until
very recently.
It has been noted that on the first hand linguists with the
background of generative linguistics proposed “learnability”
instead of “teachability”, on the other hand, the problematic
issue of how to present the way of linguistic input for the L2 or
FL learner to become a successful learner has not been resolved
yet (Liu, 2010). The more puzzling situation is that despite the
fact that the significance of lexical learning is fully agreed in
the foreign language world, yet the desirable proposal for how
the lexis can be better acquired, particularly in terms of ad-
vanced usage such as metaphors, set phrases, idioms and prov-
erbs is still not available (Gao, 2010).
Literature Review
Putting Cognitive Linguistics and applied linguistics together,
in a narrow sense, referring to applying Cognitive Linguistics
theory to L2 or FL acquisition, is a newly-emerged research
area; nevertheless, scholars domestically and internationally
have achieved significant progress in this field. Sophia Skou-
faki (2008) states, in his “Conceptual metaphoric meaning clues
in two idiom presentation methods” (pp. 133-158), that meta-
phoric studies of idioms in L2 or FL acquisition started with an
empirical study by Kövecses, Zoltán & Szabó (1996), which
focuses on whether memory of lexes can be enhanced with
explanation of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT). Lynne Ca-
meron & Graham Low (1999) propose a framework for meta-
phor studies in their book Researching and Applying Me- ta-
phor, thus introducing metaphor studies into applied linguistic
research area. Frank Boers & Murielle Demecheleer (1998) put
forward, in their “A cognitive semantic approach to teaching
prepositions”, which examines possible ways in which cogni-
tive semantic analyses of prepositions could be used to antici-
pate comprehension problems, and facilitate comprehension of
unfamiliar figurative senses. According to them, the figurative
senses of a preposition are extended from its spatial senses
through conceptual metaphors, thus in a pedagogical context it
may be useful to draw learners’ attention to those aspects of a
preposition’s spatial sense that are especially relevant for its
metaphorization processes (pp. 197-204). Boers F. (2000) con-
ducted an empirical experiment and concludes that the meta-
phorical themes or source domains facilitate retention of unfa-
miliar figurative expressions, thus, he proposes that classroom
activities should be focused on enhancing FL learners’ meta-
phorical awareness for facilitating their vocabulary acquisition
(pp. 553-571). Boers & Lindstromberg (2000) edited a book
entitled Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Teaching Vocabu-
lary and Phraseology, which includes a number of empirical
studies of application of the CL theories to L2 instruction,
such as Beréndi, Márta (pp. 65-100) Csábi, Szilvia and Köve-
cses, Zoltán’s (pp. 65-100) empirical study of CMs and me-
tonymies in vocabulary teaching; Condon, Nora’s (pp. 133-
158) study of CL pedagogy in learning phrasal verbs, etc.
Littlemore (2001).
Moreover, Jeannette Littlemore (2001) explores L2 acquisi-
tion in her empirical study of the cognitive style and the use of
communication strategy, which provides suggestive implication
for the research in this area. In her “Metaphoric Competence,
Second Language Learning, and Communicative Language
Ability”, Littlemore & Low (2006) argues that the metaphoric
competence can contribute centrally to grammatical, textual,
illocutionary, sociolinguistic, and strategic competence. She

Y. M. GAO 355
also maintains that metaphor is highly relevant to L2 learning,
teaching and testing, from the earliest to the most advanced
stages of learning.
Additionally, there is no denying that Frank Boers has made
important contributions to this field. Boers (1998: pp. 197-204),
advocates that conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) is efficient
in teaching English prepositions. According to him, how a cog-
nitive semantic analysis of a preposition can be used to antici-
pate comprehension problems about an area of perennial diffi-
culty for learners and to facilitate greater comprehension of
unfamiliar uses.
When it comes to CL application in the field of applied lin-
guistics (AL), the following achievements have been made in
China. Gao (2010) in her book: Applying Cognitive Linguistics
to L2 Acquisition speculates on the effectiveness of cognitive
linguistics-inspired methodology in the process of L2 or FL
acquisition. In her paper “Comparative Research on Preferences
of Learning Style”, she (2001) argues that “individuals all have
basic capacity to learn and to teach, nevertheless, they are not
all able to learn and teach effectively in the same exactly way”,
she (1996) discusses the cognitive context and its significance
in text reading. Gao (2011) notes that multidimensional ap-
proach to the “non-arbitrary nature” of linguistic sign provides
the desirable answer to the nature of language, which can not be
answered from the view of “arbitrariness” of language, essen-
tially challenging the “autonomy” theory of syntax structure
and bears great potential to L2 or FL teaching and research; Li
(2004) has conducted a comprehensive study of applying the
CMs (conceptual metaphors) and the IMS (image schemas) in
English learning. In his book Applied Cognitive Linguistics, Li
provides an intensive discussion on the effect of the CMs and
IMs on EFL teaching and learning, which is very encouraging;
Liang (2000) has explored Enlightenments of the Cognitive
Linguistics on English Vocabulary Teaching, which is very
suggestive; Wang, Yin & Li, Hong (2004) in A Survey of Cog-
nitive Linguistics speculate on the application of metaphor to
FL teaching at three levels and put forward the view of “com-
bining three into one”, which refers to competence of language,
communication, and metaphoric thinking; In his “Cognitive
linguistic view of language and principles for FL teaching”, Liu
(2010) points out differences and inadequacies in pedagogy
resulting from the view of language acquisition, since principle
of language teaching lies in the attitude towards the process of
language a cquisition.
Briefly, scholars in the West and in China have achieved sig-
nificant results in the field of the foreign language teaching and
research, shifting their traditional views of language compe-
tence to cognitive approaches to the motivation of language.
Nevertheless, how these strategies work in the authentic Chi-
nese university EFL classrooms in terms of advanced usage of
English lexis remains as a not fully touched upon until very
recently. Motivated under the situation mentioned above, an
empirical study of Chinese EFL learners has been carried out in
the authentic Chinese EFL classroom on the campus of Tianjin
Foreign Studies University, with an aim to verify the validness
of the proposed cognitive-inspired approach to L2 of FL acqui-
sition, thus bridging the gap between the cognitive linguistic
researches and applied linguistic studies.
Rational of Present Research
The present study contends that the major advantage of the
CL methodology is that it reveals the hidden relationships that
run among many metaphorical and metonymic expressions,
idioms and proverbs, and verb-particle constructions as well.
The evidence experimentally tested throws light on the sys-
tematicity and the re-occurring conceptual metaphors and im-
age schemas that have an impact on the way we act, think and
express our inner thoughts. That’s why it can help L2 or FL
learners categorize metaphorical sense of words or linguistic
expressions under certain conceptual domains and organize
linguistic realizations of CMs and IMs according to the cogni-
tive mechanisms. This study also contends that awareness that
EFL need not be learned entirely via a long and daunting road
of blind memorization must be an encouraging thought to
learners who recognize that large segments of the target lan-
guage actually make sense. This encouragement can lead to
positive affect, which is obviously beneficial to longer-term
learning behavior (Arnold, 1999; also refer to the survey by the
current research in the assessment of the approaches used for
this present study). The CL-inspired approach adopted in the
present study has been proposed based on the insightfulness of
the CL theories, i.e. conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) and the
image schema theory (IMT), which is supported with the dual
coding theory (DCT) and the trace theory of memory, The fun-
damental basis for the proposed CL-inspired approach (Figure 1)
can be presented in the following framework.
CL-Inspired Approach
Conceptual
Metaphor
Theory (CMT)
Dual
Coding Theory
Image
Schema
Theory
Figure 1.
The fundamental basis for CL-inspired approach.

Y. M. GAO 356
Methodology: An Empirical Study of Chinese
EFL Learners
The Objective
This study essentially makes an attempt to verify what con-
tribution cognitive linguistics (CL) could make to the develop-
ment of applied linguistics (AL), thus bridging the gap between
the CL theory and its application to the field of the AL, focus-
ing on the primary research question, that is, in which way and
to what extent the CL-inspired approach benefits EFL learners
in the process of learning English as a L2 or a FL. The major
hypothesis is that the CL-inspired pedagogy facilitates L2 or
FL acquisition in terms of advanced usage of vocabulary, in-
cluding metaphorical sense of words, verb-particle structures,
idioms and proverbs with respect to comprehension and reten-
tion of memory, thus enhancing metaphorical competence, pra-
gmatic or socio-linguistic competence, and positive affect.
To verify effectiveness of the CL-inspired approach on the
L2 or FL acquisition and to measure the long-term, mid-term
and short-term recall of the target materials, a series of the four
classroom experiments followed by a series of delayed and
immediate posttests and pretests will be conducted, which is
designed and implemented by th e prese nt researcher.
Methods and Approaches
To verify the primary hypothesis related to the question men-
tioned, a series of four classroom experiments were carried out
with four categories of target materials: lexical metaphors for
Experiment 1; verb-particle constructions for Experiment 2; idi-
oms for Experiment 3; proverbs for Experiment 4.
During the whole process of the classroom experiments, four
handouts were presented: Handout 1 contained 20 items of lexi-
cal metaphors for Experiment 1; Handout 2, 20 items of ver-
bal-particle (VP) constructions for Experiment 2; Handout 3, 20
items of idioms for Experiment 3; Handout 4, 20 items of
proverbs for Experiment 4.
For each of the experiments, three kinds of the test were
conducted: the pretest was designed for measurement of lexical
competence on the part of L2 or FL learners before the experi-
mental treatment, the immediate posttest for short-term recall,
and the one-week delayed posttest for middle-term retention.
After four week’s teaching and learning, the final comprehen-
sive test was conducted to test the comprehensive effect. Six
months later, the follow-up with TAPs included was carried out
to confirm the long-term retention.
The procedures for each of the experiments were the same,
which consisted of the pretest (the test before learning) of 15
minutes, the immediate posttest (the test immediately after
learning) of 15 minutes, and the one-week delayed posttest (the
test after learning for one week) of 15 minutes. The teaching
materials used in each of the experiments were the same for
both the CC and the EC. The only difference between the CC
and the EC was that the two different approaches were adopted
in the process of teaching and learning.
For the CC, the targeted materials were listed at random, and
no information was provided regarding the metaphorical nature
or schematic feature. The teaching treatment for this group was
mainly by GT-method, the traditional grammar and translation
teaching approach. The conceptual metaphor theory and the
image schema theory were not involved.
For the EC, the cognitive linguistics-inspired approach was
adopted, in which the non-arbitrary nature of the target materi-
als was explored, including the schematic features and concep-
tual mapping models between the underlying CMs and the IMs
and the target materials grouped around their underlying sche-
matic features and CMs on the handouts and the blackboard.
Illustrations representing the major schematic feature and the
major mappings of CM (e.g. from concrete domain to abstract
domain,) were provided with the expressions targeted.
As an extra task, for the EG, the students were asked to iden-
tify common themes or conceptual metaphors (CMs) behind the
linguistic expressions listed. The CM was provided with exam-
ples such as TIME is MONEY and THEORIES are BUILD-
INGS or ARGUMENT is A WAR.
The interaction between students and their instructor in-
cluded guided discussion, questions and answers, reading, writ-
ing, defining, paraphrasing as well as translation in the process
of experiments for information on various aspects of raising
CM and IM awareness.
After classroom treatment, the immediate posttest and the de-
layed posttest were conducted, with Minitab one-way ANOVA
to check if there is any significant difference statistically found
between the two classes.
Participants
The 57 student participants all came from the four natural
parallel classes of third year English majors from the Transla-
tion Department, School of English Studies, Tianjin Foreign
Studies University. They were aged at 19 - 22 and all of them
had passed the National English Major Level 4 Test (EMT-4),
and their proficiency in English can be leveled as advanced
EFL learners.
To make the comparative experiments valid, the participants
were divided into two experimental teaching classes: Class 1 as
an Experimental Class (EC), consisting of 28 students, to be
taught via the proposed CL-inspired approach; Class 2 as Con-
trol Class (CC), consisting of 29 students, to be taught via
GT-method.
According to the questionnaire and informal interview before
the classroom experiments, the participants from the two
classes were eager to learn and very willing to be involved in
the experiment. All of them registered in the course offered for
juniors by the current researcher. There would be no problem
for the present researcher to be in touch with them for the
feedback related to the experiments.
Materials
The materials used for experimental treatment were mainly
chosen from Conceptual Metaphor Home Page http://cogsci.
berkeley.edu/lakoff and from the book by Milada Broukal
(1995) Idioms for Everyday Use by Houghton Mifflin Com-
pany; the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms for Students
of English (2002); the monographs by Lakoff (1980) Meta-
phors We Live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press;
Lakoff and Johnson (1987) Women, Fire, and Dangerous
Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press; Langaker R. W. (1987) Founda-
tions of Cognitive Grammar: Theoretical Prerequisites (Volume
I) Stanford: Stanford University Press；and the idioms and
proverbs used in Gibbs, R.’s (1992) What Do Idioms Really
Mean? Journal of Memory and Language, 31, 485-506; and Li,
Fuyin’s (2004) Applied Cognitive Linguistics, Beijing: China
Wenshi Publishing, altogether including 20 lexical metaphors;
20 verb-particle structures; 20 English idioms, and 20 English
proverbs.

Y. M. GAO 357
Collecting and Analyzing Data
Date Collection
The data used in this study were mainly collected from the
two tests of the linguistic proficiency; the three tests of the four
classroom experiments; and one final comprehension test to
measure the comprehensive achievements of the participants
treated with different methods and approaches, which was
conducted at the end of the four experiments and one follow-up
survey with TAPs included, carried out six months after the
experiments.
The proficiency tests were required to evaluate the partici-
pants’ proficiency in English before the experiments, with an
aim to certify that the two classes are at the same level of lan-
guage fluency, the one of which is the EMT-4, conducted on
December 19, 2008, which was administered by the Chinese
National Educational Committee; and the other one is the
DEICT, conducted on May 19, 2009, which was designed and
carried out before the classroom experiments by the current
researcher; the three tests for each of the four classroom ex-
periments, i.e. pretest, immediate posttests, delayed posttests,
which were designed to measure the effect of the method and
the approach adopted in the experiment, implemented during
the classroom experiments. To be more specific, the pretests of
the four classroom experiments were designed to test the stu-
dents’ vocabulary competence and identify whether or not they
had learned the target materials before the classroom teaching,
the contents for these tests cover the materials to be targeted
during the classroom teaching, including 20 items of lexical
metaphors for Experiment 1; 20 items of verbal-particle (VP)
constructions for Experiment 2; 20 items of idioms for Experi-
ment 3; 20 items of proverbs for Experiment 4 ; the immediate
posttests were designed to measure the effect of the method and
the approach adopted in the experiment in terms of the
short-term memory, and the contents for these tests cover the
same materials used for the pretests described above; the de-
layed posttests were designed to measure the effect of the
method and the approach adopted in the experiment in terms of
the mid-term memory, and the test material involved what they
had learned within the 60 minutes of the experimental teaching;
The final comprehensive test was designed to measure the
comprehensive achievements on the part of the participants in
terms of the middle-term retention, conducted at the end of the
four classroom experiments, the contents of which cover all the
materials targeted in the four classroom teaching with respect to
comprehension and retention, metaphorical competence, prag-
matic or socio-linguistic competence and positive affect. The
results of the final test could be essential evidence for either
supporting or not supporting the primary hypothesis formulated
in the beginning of the present study; the follow-up survey with
think-aloud protocols included is designed to confirm the effec-
tiveness of the CL-inspired approach on L2 or FL acquisition in
terms of the long-term retention. The follow-up survey, con-
ducted six months after the classroom experiments, covers the
similar materials used for the final comprehension test, i.e. all
the materials targeted in the four classroom experiments. The
questionnaires were also used in the form of think-aloud proto-
col to get the comprehensive feedback of the experimental
treatment.
All the data collected from the tests above, including: (a) the
two proficiency tests; (b) the four pretests, the four immedi-
ate-posttests and the four delayed-posttests; (c) the one final
comprehensive test; (d) the one follow-up test, with TAPs in-
cluded, were analyzed with Minitab 15 One-way ANOVA within
a prescriptive statistical framework. The detailed analysis was
presented in 5.2.
Data Analysis
Minitab One-Way ANOVA versus Class: Proficiency Test
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
Proficiency test shows that the EMT-4 versus Class yields
p(=0.804) > .05, with a mean score of 70.071% for the EC and
69.621% for the CC, and the DEICT versus Class yields p
(=0.600), with a mean score of 74.679% for the EC and
75.793% for the CC (See Table 1).
Minitab One-Way ANOVA versus Class: Four Classroom
Experiments
One-Way ANOVA for Exp 1
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
experiment 1 (Exp 1) of the four classroom experiments yields
p(=0.389) > .05, with a mean score of 15.179% for the EC and
15.724% for the CC in the pretest; the immediate posttest yields
at p(=0.005) < .05, with a mean score of 54.26% for the EC and
73.79% for the CC; the delayed posttest yields at p(=0.000)
< .05, with a mean score of 64.46% for the EC and 42. 76% for
the CC (See Table 2).
One-Way ANOVA versus Class for Exp 2
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
Exp 2 yields p(=0.292) > .05, with a mean score of 18.089% for
the EC and 17.336% for the CC in the pretest; the immediate
posttest yields p(=0.196) > .05, with a mean score of 74.64 for
the EC and 69.66 for the CC; the delayed posttest yields p(=
0.038) < .05, with a mean score of 65.18% for the EC and
58.45% for the CC (See Table 3).
One-Way ANOVA versus Class for Exp 3
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
Exp 3 yields p(=0.723) > .0.5, with a mean score of 18.393%
for the EC and 18.147% for the CC in the pretest; the immedi-
ate posttest yields p(=0.022) < .05, with a mean score of 85.85%
for the EC and 79.48% for the CC; the delayed posttest yields
p(= 0.017) < .05, with a mean score of 82.41% for the EC and
75.80% for the CC ( See Table 4).
One-Way ANOVA versus Class for Exp 4
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
Exp 4 yields p(=0.341) > .05, with a mean score of 14.948% for
the EC and 14.259% for the CC in the pretest; the immediate
Table 1.
Means and P value for the proficiency test.
Class Number EMT-4 (m) DEICT (m) EMT-4 (p value) DEICT (p value)
EC 28 70.071 74.679
CC 29 69.62 75.79
0.804 0.600

Y. M. GAO 358
Table 2.
Means and p value of Exp 1.
EC (m) CC (m) p val ue
Pretest 15.179 15.724 0.389
Imm.-posttest 54.26 73.79 0.005
Delayed postte st 64.46 42.76 0.000
Table 3.
Means and p value of Exp 2.
EC (m) CC (m) p value
Pretest 18.089 17.336 0.292
Imm.-posttest 74.64 69.66 0.196
2-week posttest 65.18 58.45 0.038
Table 4.
Means and p value of Exp 3.
EC (m) CC (m) p value
Pretest 18.393 18.147 0.723
Imm.-posttest 85.85 79.48 0.022
3-week posttest 82.41 75.80 0.017
posttest yields p(=0.000) < .05, with a mean score of 89.214%
for the EC and 82.310% for the CC; and the delayed posttest
yields p(=0.000) < .05, with a mean score of 64.46% for the EC
and 42.76% for the CC (See Table 5).
One-Way ANOVA versus Class: The Final Comprehensive
Test
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
the final comprehensive test shows that Part 1 (lexical metaphor
competence) yields p(=0.002) < .05, with a mean score of
8.535% for the EC and 7.827% for the CC ; Part 2 (grammati-
cal competence) yields p(=0.021) < .05, with a mean score of
5.304% for the EC, and 4.138% for the CC; Part 3(semantic
competence) yields p(=0.014) < .05, with a mean score of
27.679% for the EC, and 25.966% for the CC; Part 4 (prag-
matic competence) yields p(=0.015) < .05, with a mean score of
22.464% for the EC, and 20.103% for the CC; Part 5 ( transla-
tion competence) yields p(=0.031) < .05, with a mean score of
16.946% for the EC, and 15.914% for the CC. Totally, signifi-
cant difference has been found at p value (=0.016) < 0.5, with
the mean score of 80.928% for the EG, and 73.948% for the
CG (See Table 6).
One-Way ANOVA versus Class: The Follow-up Survey
The outcome of Minitab One-way ANOVA versus Class for
the follow-up survey shows that Part 1 (lexical metaphor com-
petence) yields p(=0.000) < .05, with a mean score of 8.39% for
the EC and 4.13% for the CC; Part 2 (grammatical competence)
yields p(=0.047) < .05, with a mean score of 9.03% for the EC,
and 8.65% for the CC; Part 3 (semantic competence) yields p
(=0.000) < .05, with a mean score of 23.50% for the EC, and
18.03% for the CC; Part 4 (pragmatic competence) yields p
(=0.000) < .05, with a mean score of 24.85% for the EC, and
15.31% for the CC; Part 5 (translation competence) yields p
(=0.011) < .05, with a mean score of 16.37% for the EC, and
12.60% for the CC. Totally, significant difference has been
found at p value (=0.011) < 0.5, with the mean score of
82.160% for the EG, and 58.737% for the CG (See Table 7).
Results and Discussion
Proficiency Test
Based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus Class for
language proficiency tests, EMT-4 yields p(=0.804) > .05, with
the mean score of 70.071 percent for EC and 69.621 for CC,
and DICT versus Class yields p(=0.600) > .05, with the mean
score of 74.679 percent for EC and 75.793 percent for CC.
The results suggest that the participants from the two classes
are at the same level in terms of their EFL fluency, thus, they
are comparable in the present study.
It follows that if there is any difference between the two
classes after the experimental teaching, it should be attributed
to the effects of the methods or approaches adopted in teaching
and learning.
Three Tests of the Four Classroom Experiments
Experiment 1 (EXP1)
Based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus Class for
Table 5.
Means and p value of Exp 4.
EC (m) CC (m) p va lue
Pretest 14.948 14.259 0.341
Imm.-posttest 89.214 82.310 0.000
Delayed posttest 64.46 42.76 0.000
Table 6.
Means and p value of t he final test.
EC (m) CC (m) p value
Part-1 8.535 7.827 0.002
Part-2 5.304 4.138 0.021
Part-3 27.679 25.966 0.014
Part-4 22.464 20.103 0.015
Part-5 16.946 15.914 0.031
Total 80.92 73.94 0.016
Table 7.
Means and p value of the follow-up survey.
EC (m) CC (m) p value
Part-1 8.39 4.13 0.000
Part-2 9.03 8.65 0.047
Part-3 23.50 18.03 0.000
Part-4 24.85 15.31 0.000
Part-5 16.37 12.60 0.011
Total 82.16 58.73 0.011

Y. M. GAO 359
EXP1, the results from the pretest show no significant differ-
ence statistically found between the two classes, suggesting that
the participants were at the same level in terms of their lexical
metaphor competence, thus if any difference was found after
teaching, the methods or approaches adopted in the experiment
should take effect.
Surprisingly, the mean score of the EC from the immediate
posttest is lower than that of the CG by 19.53 percent, unwill-
ingly suggesting that there is no superiority at all for the
CL-inspired approach adopted in term of short-term recall.
Interestingly, when it comes to the results of the delayed
posttest, the mean score of the EC is higher than that of the CC
by 21.7 percent, with the p value showing significant difference
found between the two classes. That is, the EC are forgetting
less than the CC, willingly suggesting that CL-inspired ap-
proach works much better than the traditional GT-method in
terms of middle term retention.
An informal oral interview after class found out that unde-
sirable short-term recall of the EC might be caused by lack of
warming-up activities and limited time for the new approach
adopted in the experiment. Considering that both EFL learners
and the instructor were trained with the traditional teaching
method before the experiments, it might take a while for them
to get used to the newly proposed approach. In this case, the
CL-inspired approach failed to work in the way as expected,
particularly for the short - term recall of the targe t materials.
Regarding the fact that the mean score of the EC is lower
than that of the CG by 19.53 percent from the immediate post-
test, this study holds that given extra-variables, such as style of
teaching, time spent for the classroom input also play roles in
the process of learning based on the information from the in-
formal interview of the participants.
Putting all the facts into consideration, conclusion can be
made that in terms of lexical metaphoric competence, the supe-
riority of the CL-inspired approach is still available since sig-
nificant difference has been found statistically between the two
classes with respect to the middle term recall. In another word,
the CL-inspired approach works better than the traditional
GT-method unless the treatment is affected with extra-variables,
such as style of teaching, time spent for the classroom input.
Experiment 2 (EXP2)
Based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus Class for
EXP2, the results from the three tests show that there is no
significant difference found between the two classes from the
pretest, suggesting that the participants were at the same level
in terms of their VP construction competence, thus if any dif-
ference found after teaching, t he methods or approaches adopted
in the experiment should take effect.
Unwillingly, no significant difference statistically found be-
tween the two groups from immediate-posttest, but, with the
mean score of the EC higher than that of the CC by 4.98 per-
cent, suggesting that the CL-inspired approach works a little
better despite the fact that there is no significant difference
found statistically;
It is more encouraging that statistically significant difference
found between the two classes from the delayed posttest, with
the mean score of the EC higher than that of the CC by 6.73
percent, suggesting that the proposed CL-inspired approach
shows its superiority over the traditional GT-method in terms of
middle-term retention.
Referring both the p value and the mean score for each of the
two classes, it has been found that the difference between the
two classes is increasing in favor of the EC since with the
p(=0.196) > .05 in the immediate posttest, the participants from
the EC outperformed the CC by 0.75 percent and with the
p(=0.038) < .05 in the delayed posttest, the participants from
the EC outperformed the CC by 6.73 percent.
It follows that the CL-inspired approach works in the poten-
tial manner facilitating learners in the process of leaning Eng-
lish as L2 or FL in terms of the VP constructions with respect
to comprehension and retention of memory.
Experiment 3 (EXP3)
Based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus Class for
EXP3, the results from the three tests show that there is no
significant difference found between the two classes from the
pretest, suggesting that the participants were at the same level
in terms of their idiomatic competence, thus if any difference
was found after teaching, the methods or approaches adopted in
the experiment should take effect.
Encouragingly, significant difference has been statistically
found between the two classes from both the immediate posttest
and the delayed posttest, with p(=0.022) > .05 in the immediate
posttest and with the p(=0.017) < .05 in the delayed posttest, a
mean score of EC higher than that of CC by 6.37 percent in the
immediate posttest and by 6.61 percent in the delayed posttest,
suggesting that the EC are forgetting less than the CC.
It follows that the CL-inspired approach shows its superiority
over the GT-method in a dominant way not only in terms of
middle-term retention, but also short-term recall as well in the
process of learning advanced usage of vocabulary in terms of
idiomatic expressions with respect to comprehension and reten-
tion of memory.
Experiment 4 (EXP4)
Based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus Class for
EXP4, the results from the three tests show that there was no
significant difference found between the two classes from the
pretest, suggesting that the participants are at the same level in
terms of their proverbial expression competence; thus if any
difference was found after teaching, the methods or approaches
adopted in the experiment should take effect.
Desirably, significant difference has been statistically found
between the two classes from both the immediate posttest and
the delayed posttest, with p(=0.000) > .05 in the immediate
posttest and with the p(=0.000) < .05 in the delayed posttest, a
mean score of EC higher than that of CC by 6.90 percent in the
immediate posttest and by 21.7 percent in the delayed posttest,
suggesting that the EC are forgetting less than the CC.
It follows that the CL-inspired approach shows its superiority
over the GT-method in a very dominant way not only in terms
of middle-term retention, but also short-term recall as well in
the process of learning advanced usage of vocabulary in terms
of proverbial expressions with respect to comprehension and
retention of memory.
Final Comprehensive Test
Based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus Class for the
final comprehensive test, the results from the final comprehen-
sive test can be presented as below:
Part 1: significant difference has been found between the two
groups in terms of grammatical competence, with p value
(=0.002) < .05, a mean of 8.535 percent for the EC and of 7.827
percent for the CC; Part 2: significant difference has been found
between the two groups in terms of metaphorical competence,
with p value (=0.021) < .05, a mean of 5.304 percent for the EC;
of 4.138 percent for the CC; Part 3: significant difference has
been found between the two groups in terms of semantic com-

Y. M. GAO 360
petence, with p value (=0.014) < .05, a mean of 27.679 percent
for the EC; of 25.966 for the CC; Part 4: significant difference
has been found between the two groups in terms of pragmatic
competence, with p value (=0.015) < .05, a mean of 22.464
percent for the EC; of 20.163 for the CC; Part 5: significant
difference has been found between the two groups in terms of
translation competence, with p value (=0.031) < .05, a mean of
16.946 percent for the EC; of 15.914 for the CC; Totally, the
participants treated with the CL-inspired approach outper-
formed those taught with GT-method, with p value (=0.016), a
mean score of EC higher than that of CC by 6.332 percent.
Evidently, the primary hypothesis of present study has been
verified with the results from the final comprehensive test,
which is conducted at the end of the classroom experiments.
Follow-up Survey and Think-Al oud Protocols
As described in 5.1, the follow-up survey with think-aloud
protocols included are designed to confirm the effectiveness of
the CL-inspired approach on L2 or FL acquisition in terms of
the long-term retention. The results from the test and think-
aloud protocols can be presented as below:
Part 1: significant difference has been found between the two
classes in terms of lexical competence, with p value (=0.000)
< .05, a mean of 8.39 percent for the EC; of 4.13 percent for the
CC; Part 2: significant difference has been found between the
two classes in terms of grammatical competence, with p value
(=0.047) < .05, a mean of 9.03 percent for the EC; of 8.65 per-
cent for the CC; Part 3: significant difference has been found
between the two g classes in terms of semantic comprehension
competence, with p value (=0.000) < .05, a mean of 23.50 per-
cent for the EC; of 18.03 percent for the CC; Part 4: significant
difference has been found between the two classes in terms of
pragmatic competence, with p value (=0.000) < .05, a mean of
24.85 percent for the EC; of 15.31 percent for the CC; Part 5:
significant difference has been found between the two classes
in terms of translation competence, with p value (=0.011) < .05,
a mean of 16.37 percent for the EC of 12.60 percent for the CC;
Totally, significant difference statically found totally, with p
(=0.011) < .05, a mean of 82.16 percent for the EC; 58.73 per-
cent for the CC in terms of long-term retention, suggesting that
the participants treated with the CL-inspired approach outper-
formed those taught with GT-method with p value (=0.011), a
mean score of EC higher than that of CC by 23.43 percent.
It follows that the effectiveness of the CL-inspired approach
in the process of EFL acquisition has been confirmed with re-
spect to the short-term recall, middle-term retention, and the
long-term retention of memory.
To sum up, based on the Minitab one-way ANOVA versus
Class, the EC, treated with the CL-inspired approach, outper-
formed the CC, taught with the GT-method, by 21.7 percent in
EXP1; 6.73 percent in EXP2; 6.61 percent in EXP3; 21.7 per-
cent in EXP4, 6.98 percent in the final, and 23.43 percent in the
follow-up based on the mean score of classroom experiment
delayed posttests and the total results of the final comprehen-
sive test as well as the follow-up test. Evidently, the primary
hypothesis formulated in the beginning of the present study has
been experimentally and statistically verified with the empirical
evidence from the four experiments, the final, and the fol-
low-up, i.e. the CL-inspired pedagogy facilitates L2 or FL ac-
quisition in terms of advanced usage of vocabulary such as
lexical metaphors, verb-particle constructions, idioms and prov-
erbs with respect to comprehension and retention of memory.
If we explore the reason why, the following factors can be
put into consideration:
In the first place, the CL-inspired approach is mainly based
on the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) and the image
schema theory (IMT), supported with DCT and the trace theory
of memory, thus, the conceptual metaphor (CM) and the image
schema (IM) play an essential role in this approach.
Essentially, recognition of CMs and image schematic fea-
tures benefits learners in understanding target materials in gen-
eral and recognizing persuasive rhetoric in particular. The abil-
ity to identify the source domains behind the linguistic forms
also helps students recognize the links between the form and
the meaning. In other words, metaphor and image schematic
analysis uncovers the underlying relationship between the origi-
nal or literary meanings and metaphorical or figurative mean-
ings of the target materials, thus, enhancing their comprehen-
sion, retention and pragmatic or socio-cultural competence.
In CL theory, the CM is conceived of as a belief structure,
which is defined as understanding one conceptual domain in
terms of another conceptual domain. For instance, we talk, un-
derstand and construe the concept TIME in terms of MONEY;
IDEA in terms of FOOD; ECONOMY in terms of BUILDING;
RELATIONSHIP in terms of JOURNEY; and many others. In
CMT , there is a cross-domain ma pping from the concrete source
domain (e.g. MONEY) to the abstract target domains (e.g.
TIME), formulated as a CM: TIME IS MONEY.
Accordingly, a cluster of linguistic expressions may be pro-
duced under this CM, such as waste time, use up time, run out
of time, save time, spend time, gave time, budget for time, invest
time, no time left, devote time, etc. If we analyze these expres-
sions in a reversal way, all of them are organized under and
relatable to a single conceptual metaphor: TIME IS MONEY
(Gao, 2010: p. 112).
If language learners can be made aware of the metaphoric
nature of many lexical expressions and verbal particle construc-
tions by referring to their literal (or original) senses, take dead
metaphors for example, this kind of metaphor can be resusci-
tated by associating the idiomatic expressions with a more vivid
or concrete scene. The results from Experiment 1 of present
study have confirmed this beneficial affect.
Secondly, the effectiveness of the CL-inspired approach on
EFL acquisition gets empirical support from the DCT proposed
by Pavio (1965, 1972, 1977), and the Trace theory of memory.
DCT attempts to explain cognition, comprehension and
memory in te rms of two systems: one is the verbal system spe-
cialized for dealing with language, and the other is the non-
verbal system (called the imagery system) for representing and
processing world knowledge about objects and events. Accord-
ing to this theory, information is stored in two codes, the verbal
information in the verbal system, and the imagery information
in the imagery system (Paivio, 1969, 1981, 1986, 1991; Gee et
al., 1999). The central implication of DCT is the concreteness
effect on memory: concrete words are easier to recall due to the
way they are coded .
This study holds that DCT can provide supports for the hy-
pothesis that the proposed CL-inspired pedagogy facilitates L2
or FL acquisition in that it assumes that information stored
mentally in two codes should be better comprehended and re-
membered than information stored only in one code, i.e. the
dual coding evidently enhances the trace of memory, resultantly,
the students treated with the CL-approach forget less than those
treated with the GT-method.
Thirdly, identifying the metaphoric and schematic features
underlying the lexical metaphors, verb-particle phrases, idioms
and proverbs can facilitate comprehension and enhance reten-
tion, since once the underlying metaphor and image schemas

Y. M. GAO 361
(e.g., the CONTAINER-schema) are activated, they will start to
function as metaphors and image schemas and all superior
functions of metaphors and image schemas in memory and
learning will start to work. What is most i mportant to this study
is that IMs represent the essential glue that binds embodied
experience, thought, and language, thus, they have a potential
value in facilitating comprehension and long term retention of
memory.
According to Linder’s (1983) explanation that both the verb
and the particle not only contributes semantically to the
verb-particle construction, but also provide reasons for some of
the syntactic and semantic limitations and constraints found in
the usage of patterns of the complete constructions. As illus-
trated above, the spatial words contained expressions are ar-
ranged surrounding their basic conceptions with schematic pic-
tures. The level of specificity at which the semantics of phrasal
verbs is motivated might facilitate dual coding in the learners’
mind with precise, rich images (Boers, 2004).
The following examples are quoted from Johnson (1987: p.
34), which further illustrated how a single image schema, as a
recurring organizing structure, can help us understand and
structure different kinds of experiences and reason about them.
They are instances of metaphorical projections of the CON-
TAINER schema in our understanding of abstract states. The
sentences in (1 - 3) show the case in point:
1) Tell me a story again, but leave out the minor details.
(STORY EVENT AS CONTAINER)
2) I give up; I’m getting out of the race. (RACE EVENT AS
CONTAINER)
3) Whenever I’m in trouble, she alway s bails me out. (STATE
AS CONTAINER)
As noted, the abstract states are interpreted as spatially
bounded entities or locations. The power of image schemas lies
in the fact that we can metaphorically extend them from the
physical to the nonphysical so as to structure and order our
experience in abstract domains.
From the result of this experiment, we can draw the conclu-
sion that a combination with DUAL CODING THEORY and
IMAGE SCHEMA can facilitate L2 learners’ vocabulary ex-
pansion effectively.
Moreover, identifying certain schematic features of VP con-
struction can facilitate dual coding because of our experience
with objects INSIDE and OUTSIDE. This boundedness of en-
tity allows for CONTAINRER-schema transformation to give
rise to a rotated sense, thus enhancing comprehension and re-
tention of memory.
Take the sentence “John went out of the room” for example.
This typical OUT movement based CONTAINER-schema can
represent an enormous number of orientation possibilities. e.g.,
(1-17):
1) Mary got out of the car; 2) Spot jumped out of his pen; 3)
He squeezed out some toothpaste; 4) Tear out that cartoon and
save it; 5) Get out of bed; 6) Jo hn went out of the room; 7 ) Pump
out the air; 8) Let out your anger; 9) Pick out the best theory; 10)
Drown out the music; 11) Barry weaselled out of the contract; 12)
Pour out the beans; 13) Roll out the red carpet; 14) Send out the
troops; 15) Hand out the information; 16) Write out your ideas;
17) The train started out for Chicago.
Fourthly, making the learners aware of the concrete domain
in metaphorical mapping and recognize the schematic feature of
the target materials enhance their comprehension and retention
according to the DCT since CM and IM can help the L2 or FL
learners to form image easily.
For instance, the abstract concepts like being out of rage can
be illustrated by drawing a picture to show the students the
scene of an uncontrollable fire, and the concepts like running
out of steam can be illustrated by drawing a picture of box to
show the students the feature of Container-image schema. The
advantage of this technique is that it evokes imagery of con-
creteness to facilitate vocabulary learning (e.g., Sokmen, 1997).
This effect, in turn, can be explained by reference to the dual
coding hypothesis (e.g., Clark & Paivio, 1991), which main-
tains that concrete items are actually stored twice, verbally as
well as non-verbally (i.e., as an image). That is, if teachers sys-
tematically draw the attention of language learners to the source
domains of linguistic metaphors and of vocabulary involving
metaphor, then the learners’ depth of knowledge for that lan-
guage, and their ability to retain it can improve systematically
(e.g, Boers, 2000, quoted from Littlemore, 2006).
Last but not least, an awareness that language need not be
learned entirely via a long and daunting road of blind memori-
zation has been proven to be an encouraging thought to learners
who recognize that large amount of the target language actually
“make sense” under the CL approach, i.e. through metaphor-
image-schematic feature analysis. This encouragement has been
paid off, considering the fact that the students treated with the
CL-approach have been more involved in the experiments and
even after the experiments in terms of class activities and in-
formal interview and response to the follow up survey based on
the observation of the present researcher. There is no doubt that
such positive affect will be definitely beneficial to longer-term
learning behavior.
Conclusion and Implications
The CL-inspired approach proposed in this study is mainly
based on the insightfulness of the CL theories, i.e. conceptual
metaphor theory (CMT) and the image schema theory (IMT),
which is strongly supported with the dual coding theory (DCT)
and the trace theory of memory. The major hypothesis of this
approach is that through awakening students’ metaphoric aw-
areness and analyzing features of the image schematic structure,
the language learners can benift in the process of learning Eng-
lish as a L2 or FL with respect to the advanced usage of vo-
cabulary in terms of lexical metaphors, VP constructions, idi-
oms and proverbs with respect to comprehension and retention
of memory, thus enhancing their metaphorical comprehension,
pragmatic or socio-linguistic competence, and positive affect.
The superiority of this approach has been experimentally and
statistically verified with the empirical evidence from a series
of classroom teaching experiments carried out on the campus of
Tianjin Foreign Studies University.
Theoretically, the proposed cognitive-inspired approach pro-
vides empirical evidence for the insightfulness of cognitive
linguistics and significant implications practically for the L2 or
FL teaching and research, thus bridging the gap between the
cognitive lingu i stic researches and applied linguistic studies.
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