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CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS AS DIDACTIC TOOLS

LAS METÁFORAS CONCEPTUALES COMO HERRAMIENTAS DIDÁCTICAS

Katarzyna Karska, PhD

Medical University of Lublin, Poland

Proceso editorial
Recibido: 19/05/2020
Aceptado: 18/01/2021
Publicado: 19/01/2021
Contacto
Katarzyna Karska
[email protected]

c ó m o citar este trabajo | h o w t o cite this p a p e r

Karska, K. (2020). Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools. Revista de Educación de la Univer-

sidad de Granada, 27: 307-329.

ISSN 0214-0489
Revista de Educación de la Universidad de Granada 2020 Vol. 27 307
 Karska, K.

CONCEPTUAL LAS METÁFORAS CONCEPTUALES

METAPHORS AS COMO HERRAMIENTAS
DIDÁCTICAS
DIDACTIC TOOLS
Resumen
El objetivo del artículo es mostrar diferen-
Abstract tes aplicaciones de las metáforas concep-
The aim of the paper is to show different tuales (MC) en el contexto de la enseñanza
applications of conceptual metaphors (CM) y el aprendizaje de idiomas. Las metáforas
in the context of language teaching and demuestran ser herramientas útiles para
learning. Metaphors prove to be useful tools mejorar y facilitar el proceso didáctico. El
enhancing and facilitating the didactic pro- documento presenta el concepto de CM y
cess. The paper presents the concept of CM sus dominios y asignaciones en las áreas
and its domains and mappings in the areas de aula de segundo idioma que es como una
of second language classroom that is as a herramienta para una mejor comprensión y
tool for better comprehension and produc- producción de un idioma extranjero. La apli-
tion of a foreign language. The application of cación de CM demuestra ser especialmente
CM proves especially effective in the teach- efectiva en los procesos de enseñanza invo-
ing processes involved in the development lucrados en el desarrollo de habilidades per-
of perceptive skills of reading and listening. ceptivas de lectura y escucha. Su potencial
Its potential is visible not only in raising stu- es visible no solo para aumentar la concien-
dents’ intercultural awareness but also in cia intercultural de los estudiantes sino tam-
teaching integrated skills. Additionally, met- bién para enseñar habilidades integradas.
aphors have a positive impact on language of Además, las metáforas tienen un impacto
argumentation, stating, defending and mak- positivo en el lenguaje de la argumentación,
ing hypothesis. The paper focuses on idioms, enunciando, defendiendo y haciendo hipóte-
phrasal verbs, polysemous expressions and sis. El documento se centra en expresiones
vocabulary as the areas where CM can en- idiomáticas, verbos (frasales), expresiones
hance production and reception of new lexi- polisémicas y vocabulario, como las áreas
cal items in particular. donde C M puede mejorar la producción y
recepción de nuevos elementos léxicos en
Keywords: conceptual metaphors; didactic tools; particular.
language classroom; phrasal verbs; polysemous
expressions; idioms; new lexical items Palabras clave: metáforas conceptuales; herra-
mientas didácticas; aula de idiomas; verbos (fra-
sales); expresiones polisémicas; modismos; nue-
vos elementos léxicos.

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

INTRODUCTION TO CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR

THEORY (CMT)
As Lakoff and Johnson (1980/2008) claimed in their remarkable book and confirmed
in later works, many aspects of human life cannot be automatically understood in
terms of the naturally emergent dimensions of our experience e.g. human emotions,
abstract concepts, mental activity, time, work, human institutions, social practices,
etc. The problems with understanding occur even in confronting physical objects
that have no inherent boundaries or orientations, and this is where conceptual met-
aphors apply. Lakoff and Johnson have liberated the metaphor from the constraints
of literary studies and gave it a new life in the form of more than a mere stylistic
device. The conceptual metaphor, understood as a way of thinking, is pervasive in
every-day language. It helps us structure our thoughts, especially when they are
related to complex and abstract concepts, by drawing similarities between the fa-
miliar and the unfamiliar. Lakoff and Johnson (2008, p.177) claim that though most
of abstract concepts can be “(...) experienced directly, none of them can be fully com-
prehended on their own terms. Instead, we must understand them in terms of other
entities and experiences.”

MODEL OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR THEORY

In a conceptual metaphor theory there are two domains matched on the basis of
their perceived similarity. They are labelled the source and the target domain and
belong to concrete and abstract concepts respectively. The abilities of human mind
make it possible to perceive patterns and similarities between the two domains im-
mediately and therefore human mind can instantly create metaphorical mappings.
These cross-domain mappings (i.e. correspondences existing between these two
domains) result from mapping cognitive models or schemas from the source do-
main to the target domain.

The model of Conceptual Metaphor is represented as follows:

Figure 1. Conceptual Metaphor Model (mine after Lakoff and Johnson, 1980)

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 Karska, K.

CMT and language acquisition

As it has been observed, language is a tool that can be applied not only in oral com-
munication as well as in expressing and sharing our experiences with other lan-
guage users, but also it helps us in “(...) making sense of the world around us and
categorizing concepts we encounter (Rudzka-Ostyn, 2003 in Thom, 2007, p. 10)”.

Conceptual Metaphors are pervasive and ubiquitous and can be used in a variety
of environments ranging from literature, formal and informal types of spoken dis-
course, different kinds of written discourse such as media, newspaper articles and
books, and also classroom environment and language acquisition setting (Filipczuk,
2015). Boers (2004, p. 236) claims that in the theory and practice of language teach-
ing and learning metaphor has been perceived as “(...) a challenging device to com-
prehend, store and reproduce figurative language.”

In this context, metaphor can also commonly be used for the purposes of empathy,
memorization, familiarization, vocabulary recall and retention, lexical item organi-
zation, breaking cross-linguistic and cross-cultural obstacles, explanation, compre-
hension, retention, vocabulary learning, interpretation, awareness raising, contextu-
alization as well as languaging (Swain, 2006, p. 98) that is “(...) the process of making
meaning and shaping the knowledge and experience through language (...).”

Both students and teachers find conceptual metaphors useful tools in the processes
of acquiring new knowledge for similarity of patterns and images and associations,
universality of human thought, conventionality and fixed enhancements, introduc-
tion of the new in terms of the old and known, options for a greater textual creativity
and the expansion of the perception of the world.

As Low stated in The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (2008, p. 212):
“Metaphor makes things exciting and understandable and, as such, has been applied
to education since time immemorial.”

Practical applications of CMT in foreign language learning

Vocabulary items are basic parts of English and therefore they enable successful
communication. It has been stated that (Murcia and Rosensweig 1979, p. 242): “A
person who has learned maximum number of vocabulary but minimum number of
structures is more favourable than a person who is opposite to this case (…).”

The employment of metaphors in vocabulary learning helps us establish connections

between two concepts belonging to different areas. Metaphors can also be used to
illustrate the process of changing words’ meanings and students can use L2 more

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

creatively and autonomously if they are acquainted with the use of CMT. Through
metaphors students can draw the meaning on the basis of word parts and memo-
rize them thanks to rhyming pairs, associations, first/last letter method, acronyms,
key word method, flashcards, notes, and using new lexis in a meaningful sentence.
Therefore, Conceptual Metaphors have been used for teaching and learning of new
lexical items and polysemy, idioms and idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs.
Additionally, metaphors can be applied in classroom instructions and explanation of
educational concepts because they help teachers and learners (Low 2008, p. 213):
• find a salient, memorable label for an otherwise difficult concept;
• clarify a concept which is diffuse, abstract, or generally complex
• extend thought; or
• locate problems with a particular conceptualization and then bring about some
sort of change.

Another interesting observation made by Low (2008) is that any language user, pre-
sumably a learner or a teacher does not need to apply metaphoric, complex, figu-
rative figures of speech in order to convey metaphors and conceptual metaphors
in particular. Metaphors allow the teacher to communicate with a student whose
knowledge of the underlying theory is scarce, visualize abstract concepts, create
inferences and make predictions, motivate the learner, and finally aid the teacher
with suitable tools to adjust the learning environment and context to individual need
of a student.

Conceptual Metaphor and polysemous vocabulary items

Teaching vocabulary through metaphors is particularly useful in the case of pol-
ysemous vocabulary items. Polysemy indicates that one word has many different
meanings which are based on metaphorical usage of target language. Polysemy is
also a categorization phenomenon containing a prototype and its extended mean-
ings. The original word usually derives from a concrete prototypical experience. As
Pérez (Pérez 2016, p. 5) observes:

One of the main tenets of Cognitive Linguistics is that the figurative meanings of
polysemous words are not arbitrary, but motivated by people’s recurring bodily ex-
periences in the real world. This principle has changed the understanding of the phe-
nomenon of polysemy, since, as Lakoff and his followers argue, the different senses
of a polysemous word are not the result of arbitrary historical development, but can
be traced to an underlying conceptual metaphor (...).

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 Karska, K.

Teachers should first focus on the original, prototypical meaning and then through
metaphors, introduce the sub-meanings. It is important to remember that polyse-
mous expressions base on metaphorical usage of L2 as well as that polysemy like
metaphors has a prototype and its extended meanings.

By way of illustration, let us have a closer look at the polysemy of the word HEAD. As
the prototypical meaning of head suggests, it is the uppermost part of the body. Yet,
some other meanings both in English, Spanish and Polish prove to be rather distant
from the prototype. Some of them are elaborations based on the perceived similarity
between head as the uppermost part of human body, and head as the uppermost
part of different objects, flowers, tress, etc. Others, are more abstract metaphorical
extensions derived from the functional similarity between head as the most import-
ant part of human body and head as the most important part of family, organisation,
company, etc. Another group of meanings also rely on metonymic extension from
head as a body part into head as the intellectual function and capacities that reside
within it (container for content metonymy). This group can also be related to the
container metaphor, i.e. head is a container for thoughts, intellect, etc.

Figure 2. The head of planning and organization. Cartoonist: Schley, Karsten https://pl.pinterest.com/
pin/308707749436090394/

In the table below, we reproduce a number of examples of meanings which vary

from the prototypical meaning of head. These extensions are clearly motivated and
present in the three analysed languages: English, Spanish, and Polish.

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

Table 1. Polysemy of HEAD in English, Spanish and Polish (examples are mine)

Meaning Examples of use

1. English the chief person his first season as a head coach,

of a group, family, grandfather was always considered the
organisation, state, head of our family, head of state
the manager

Spanish un jefe, un líder aguilar es la cabeza de la organización

mafiosa, cabeza de la familia, cabeza de
la Iglesia

Polish szef, osoba głowa rodziny, głowa kościoła, głowa

przewodnicząca państwa
czemuś

2. English top or the highest part the layer of white bubbles on top of beer

Spanish principio o parte las cabezas de una viga, las de un puente.

extrema de una cosa

Polish górna, zaokraglona główka od szpilki, główka od zapałki

część czegoś

3. English Talent Harriet has a (good) head for figures.

I’m no head, but I am sure you made a

mistake in your addition

Spanish juicio, talento y Pedro es hombre de buena cabeza

capacidad
no tener cabeza para algo

Polish umysł, talent, człowiek Tęga głowa, mieć głowę na karku

oceniany ze względu
na jego umysłowość

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 Karska, K.

Meaning Examples of use

4. English other: the head of the queue /

a head of lettuce,

the chack cliffs around Beachy Head/

the side of a coin /

the main part of a phrase,

the top part of a spot containing pus/

a black head

Spanish otros: cabeza de ajo

cabeza de agua

Polish inne: głowa cukru - the head of sugar

głowa kapusty - the head of a cabbage

głowa łóżka/ wezgłowie - the head of the

bed, bedside, head

głowa - włosy, uczesanie - coiffure

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

Meaning Examples of use

5. English idioms: Big head - hangover

Per head - per person

A head - a headache

The head - the toilet (nautically)

A head - a member of the drug culture;

a hippie or a person who drops out of
mainstream society because of drug use.
(From the 1960s and 1970s

A cool head - The ability to remain calm

and rational during stressful situations

Spanish modismos: calentar la cabeza a alguien - to give hope

to sb, let sb wait in vain

cuando entré en casa, vi que todas las

cosas estaban cabeza abajo - everything
was upside down

de pies a cabeza - whole

ser cabeza de turco - be a scape goat

tener la cabeza en su sitio - have the head

in the right place/ be sensible

mantener la cabeza fría - to stay cool

tener la cabeza llena de pajaros - be

dreaming

Polish idiomy: mieć głowę na karku - be sensible, have a

head for sth

woda sodowa uderzyła komuś do głowy -

success went to sb’s head

od stóp do głów - whole

nagłówek - the heading in a newspaper

z głową w chmurach - be dreaming

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 Karska, K.

Conceptual Metaphor and idioms and idiomatic expressions

Idioms are those metaphorical expressions which have been greatly convention-
alised to the extent that native speakers of a language no longer perceive their
figurative nature; in this way they are similar to dead metaphors and darkened
compounds (reference). Students may experience difficulties while learning new
vocabulary items and idiomatic expressions in particular as the figurative language
cannot be interpreted literally. Simpson and Mendis (2003, p. 423) defined idioms as:
“(...) a group of words that occur in a more or less fixed phrase whose overall mean-
ing cannot be predicted by analyzing the meaning of its constituent parts.”

Kövecses (2002/2010, p. 233) claims that:

many, or perhaps most, idioms are products of our conceptual system and not simply
a matter of language (i.e., a matter of the lexicon). An idiom is not just an expression
that has a meaning that is somehow special in relation to the meanings of its consti-
tuting parts, but it arises from our more general knowledge of the world embodied in
our conceptual system. In other words, idioms (or, at least, the majority of them) are
conceptual, and not linguistic, in nature.

Gaining control over metaphors may aid learners’ comprehension of new, figura-
tive expressions and help them manage idioms in the target language. It has been
observed that instructions basing on CMT and used for idiom learning foster en-
gagement, motivation and production (KÖmür and Çimen, 2009). Moreover, idioms
when presented in connection to the underlying metaphor prove to facilitate greater
retention and comprehension rates and after-task cloze and comprehension prove
higher learning effectiveness. Following there are some examples of how idioms
can be broken down into conceptual metaphor:

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

Table 2. List of idioms taught during the study (after KÖmür and Çimen 2009, p. 207)

Other idiomatic expressions present in a number of languages pertain to the cat-

egory of conceptual metaphors (including, e.g. the container metaphor). They are
commonly used in English and Spanish, and it has been observed that even speak-
ers of distant languages and geographically distant cultures have these in common,
so they can draw comparison and find a reference point (Kövecses, 2001). Consider
the following examples:

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 Karska, K.

A. Time is money/ el tiempo es dinero

Figure 3. Time is money

• You’re wasting my time./ Pierdes mi tiempo.

• This gadget will save you hours/ Esto te ahorrará horas.
• I’ve invested a lot of time in this project./ Invertí muchas horas en el proyecto.
• I don’t have the time to give you./ Gracias por el tiempo que me donaste.
B. Love is a journey / amor es un viaje
Figure 4. Love is a journey

• Look how far we’ve come. / Mira lo lejos que hemos llegado
• We’re at a crossroads./No sé a dónde se dirige esta relación.
• We’ll just have to go our separate ways/ Hemos decidido seguir distintas vías.
• I don’t think is relationship is going anywhere. / No creo que la relación vaya a
ninguna parte
• We’re just spinning our wheels/ Nuestra relación no se mueve.

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C. Argument is war
Figure 5. Argument is war

• He attacked every weak point in my argument.

• I’ve never won an argument with him.
• If you use that strategy, he’ll wipe you out
• His criticisms were right on target.
• He shot down all my arguments.
• Your claims are indefensible.
• I demolished his argument.
D. Being/ eating at home is a container
The speaker puts ideas (objects) into words (containers) and sends them (along a
conduit) to a bearer who takes the idea/objects out of the word/containers. Reddy
(1979) documents this with more than a hundred types of expressions in English,
which he estimates account for at least 70 percent of the expressions we use for
talking about language. Here are some examples:
• 1. Would you like to go out for lunch?
• 2. I don’t think we should be going out tonight
• 3. Johnson would invite Scott out to dinner
E. Difficulties are containers
• How do you get out of this situation?
• He could be in a lot of trouble
• He’s already up to his neck in the nation’s troubles
• Well, I think we’re in a mess
• I try not to get myself into too much trouble
F. The conduit metaphor
• It’s hard to get that idea across to him.

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 Karska, K.

• I gave you that idea.

• Your reasons came through to us.
• It’s difficult to put my ideas into words.
• When you have a good idea, try to capture it immediately in words.
• Try to pack more thought into fewer words.
• You can’t simply stuff ideas into a sentence any old way.
• The meaning is right there in the words.
• Don’t force your meanings into the wrong words.
• His words carry little meaning.
• The introduction has a great deal of thought content.
• Your words seem hollow.
• The sentence is without meaning.
• The idea is buried in terribly dense paragraphs.
G. UP and DOWN metaphors; HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN
I’m feeling up. That boosted my spirits. My spirits rose. you’re in high spirits. Think-
ing about her always gives me a lift. I’m feeling down. I’m depressed. He’s really low
these days. I fell into a depression. My spirits sank.
• physical basis: Drooping Posture typically goes along with sadness and depres-
sion, erect posture with a positive emotional state.
H. Conscious is up; unconscious is down
• Wake up Wake up. I’m up already. He rises early in the morning. He fell asleep.
He dropped off to sleep. He’s under hypnosis. He’s under hypnosis. He sank into
a coma.
• Physical basis: Humans and most other mammals sleep lying down and stand
up when they awaken.
I. Health and life are up and sickness and death are down
• He’s at the peak of health. Lazarus rose from the dead. He’s in top shape. As to
his health, he’s way up there. He fell ill. He’s sinking fast. He came down with
the flu. His health is declining. He dropped dead.
• Physical basis: Serious illness forces us to lie down physically. When you’re
dead, you are physically down.
J. Having control or force is up and being subject to control or force is down
• I have control over her. I am on top of the situation. He’s in a superior position.
He’s at the height of his power. He’s in the high command. He’s in the upper
echelon. His power rose. He ranks above me in strength. He is under my control.
He fell from power. His Power is on the decline. He is my social interior. He is
low man on the totem pole.
• Physical basis- Physical size typically correlates with physical strength, and the
victor in a fight is typically on top.

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K. More is up; less is down

• The number of books printed each year keeps going up. His draft number is
high. My income rose last year. The amount of artistic activity in this state has
gone down in the past year. The number of errors he made is incredibly low.
His income fell last year. He is underage. If you’re 100 hot, turn the heat down.
• Physical basis: If you add more of a substance or of physical objects to a con-
tainer or pile, the level goes up.
L. Foreseeable future events are up (and ahead)
• All upcoming events are listed in the paper. What’s coming up this week? I’m
afraid of what’s up ahead of us. What’s up?
• Physical basis: Normally our eyes look in the direction in which we typically
move (ahead, forward). As an object approaches a person (or the person ap-
proaches the object), the object appears larger. Since the ground is perceived
as being fixed, the top of the object appears to be moving upward in the per-
son’s field of vision.
M.High status is up; low status is down
• He has a lofty position. She’ll rise to the top. He’s at the peak of his career. He’s
climbing the ladder. He has little upward mobility. He’s at the bottom of the so-
cial hierarchy. She fell in status.
• Social and physical basis: Status is correlated with (social) power and (physical)
power is up.
N. Good is up; bad is down
• Things are looking up. We hit a peak last year, but it’s been downhill ever since.
Things are at an all-time low. He does high-quality work.
• Physical basis for personal well-being: Happiness, health, life, and control--the
things that principally characterize what is good for a person--all are up.
O. Virtue is up; depravity is down
• He is high-minded. She has high standards. She is up right. She is an up-stand-
ing citizen. That was a low trick. Don’t be underhanded. I wouldn’t stoop to that.
That would be beneath me. He fell into the abyss of depravity. That was a low-
down thing to do.
• Physical and social basis: GOOD IS UP for a person (physical basis), together
with SOCIETY IS A PERSON (in the version where you are not identifying with
your society). To be virtuous is to act in accordance with the standards set by
the society/person to maintain its well-being. VIRTUE IS UP because virtuous
actions correlate with social well-being from the society/person’s point of view.
Since socially based metaphors are part of the culture, it’s the society/person’s
point of view that counts.

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 Karska, K.

P. Rational is up; emotional is down

• The discussion fell to the emotional level, but I raised it back up to the rational
plane. We put our feelings aside and had a high-level intellectual discussion of
the matter. He couldn’t rise above his emotions.
• Physical and cultural basis: In our culture people view themselves as being
in control over animals, plants, and their physical environment, and it is their
unique ability to reason that places human beings above other animals and
gives them this control. CONTROL IS UP thus provides a basis for MAN IS UP
and therefore RATIONAL IS UP.

Phrasal verbs and conceptual metaphors

Phrasal verbs constitute the most frequent multi-word units in English and therefore
they are common and highly productive. It is clear that they belong to the category
of vocabulary units in English language. Therefore, as noted by Thom (2017, p.4):
“Instead of simply being additive to language learning, explicit vocabulary (including
phrasal verbs - comment mine) teaching is central to the development of language
competence.”

On average learners will encounter one phrasal verb in every 150 words in English
(Thom 2017). In the case of conversational registers the ratio is even higher. As
Gardner and Davis (2007, p. 340) wrote, phrasal verbs are: “very common and highly
productive in the English language as a whole.”

Phrasal verbs are independent constructions and their constituent elements func-
tion differently when on their own and when inside a phrasal verb. Both prepositions
and adverbs can be combined with the verb and then they are referred to as par-
ticles. Their original function changes as well which is confusing both to students
and teachers. Their meaning ranges from literal and transparent, to idiomatic, arbi-
trary, random or unpredictable. Since the ways in which native speakers of English
perceive and refer to the world is stemmed by semantic patterns and motivated by
embedded cognitive structures they inherently possess, therefore, phrasal verbs are
not transparent to other language learners of English.

Interestingly phrasal verbs can also be referred to as multi-word verb constructions

(Thom, 2017), and they may contain multiple parts of speech forming three optional
syntactic combos; either verb + preposition (as in take over, fill in), verb + adverb (as
in take away), or verb + adverb + preposition (as in come up with, get out of).

In view of such a variety of combinations, possible interpretations and applications

of phrasal verbs can be confusing both for teachers and students, and therefore for

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simplicity phrasal verbs are frequently referred to as verb + preposition construc-

tion. The complexity of phrasal verbs becomes transparent when we realize that the
prepositions or adverbs function differently when in a phrasal verb; they lose their
original function.

Once again, conceptual metaphor proves useful for disentangling the intricacies of
meaning and usage of phrasal verbs. Conceptual metaphors, are often structured on
the basis of image schemas, i.e. the schematic representations of the world that we
gain through repetitive embodied experience. Image schemas provide a sui generis
framework for understanding other aspects of the world, no matter how distant
from the embodied experience deriving from the physical configurations of mate-
rial objects in space. Thus, image schemas provide the familiar knowledge for the
source domain which is transplanted onto the source domain of the more abstract,
e.g. temporal, social, emotional concepts.

Examples of Phrasal verb PICK UP

As discussed in the Cambridge Dictionary, PICK UP alone has 24 different mean-
ings. Clearly presenting such a diversity of meaning, and applications may cause
confusion among learners of English as L2. Below, I present a number of examples
including phrasal verb and a variety of its meanings with the verb PICK UP after
Thom (2007, p. 6)
1. He leads a group to a city park to pick up trash (to lift or take off the ground)
2. Cell phone towers aare able to pick up a caller’s location on a 911 call. (to detect)
3. He was trying to get a cab to go pick up his daughter (to take in a car)
4. Republicans failed to pick up a single seat in the chamber (to take, to win)
5. momentum is starting to pick up (to increase)
6. You need to pick up where you left off (to resume)
7. Showing them pictures can help then to pick up the language (to learn, to acquire)

As seen in the examples above, the meaning of the phrasal verb ranges from liter-
al and transparent (in sentence 1) to more idiomatic ones in other sentences. The
phenomenon of a shift of phrasal verb meaning from literal to arbitrary and obscure
one is common not only in the case of PICK UP, as it has been observed each of the
100 most frequently used phrasal verbs in English convey on average 5.6 distinct
meanings (Gardner and Davis 2007).

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 Karska, K.

Container metaphor phrasal verbs

Due to such a variety of meanings and consequently great difficulty in comprehen-
sion and memorisation of phrasal verbs, Conceptual Metaphor becomes a useful
tool in the context of language acquisition. If we group concepts and meanings ac-
cording to the CM the phrasal verbs belong to, they become easier to understand,
memorize and apply. Here there are some examples of the applications of one of
the most common CM domains, already presented above in the case of idiomatic
expressions, that is the CONTAINER.

Students are introduced to the intricacies of phrasal verbs through conceptual met-
aphors:
• CONSCIOUSNESS IS A CONTAINER: knock out, pass out
• EXISTENCE IS A CONTAINER: put out, die out, wipe out, fade out
• FOCUS IS A CONTAINER: look out, watch out, check out
• DIFFICULTIES ARE CONTAINERS: get out , be in, be up, get oneself into
• BODIES & MINDS ARE CONTAINERS: pour out, squeeze out, reach out
• USABILITY IS A CONTAINER: wear out, wash out, rust out
• SETS & GROUPS ARE CONTAINERS: kick out, pick out, come out, force out
• SITUATIONS ARE CONTAINERS: get out, crawl out
• MOUTH IS A CONTAINER: stuck out, deal out, speak out, cry out, yell out
• NON-EXISTENCE/ INVISIBILITY IS A CONTAINER: leak out, figure out, turn out,
point out, come out
We frequently perceive human body as a container for emotions. Examples showing
the productivity of this metaphor exist both in English and Spanish.
• English: It just started really boiling inside of me
• Spanish: Aún podía sentir las brasas de su ira (still smoldering)
• English: She erupted/ She ‘s on a short fuse
• Spanish: Pedro tiene poca mecha / Estoy a punto de estallar

Phrasal Verb particle visualization

In order to aid students with the comprehension of phrasal verbs, conceptual meta-
phors employing trajector and landmark configurations can be used. These rely on
our natural interpretation of the world and organize the context by employing the
foreground and the background as reference points (Thom, 2007). Thom noted that
“When we apply the concept of trajector and landmark to phrasal verbs, we think
of the subject in focus as the trajector, and the landmark is the conceptualized as a
type of container, path, group or surface.”

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

The above mentioned trajector and landmark can be used to represent metaphors in
a pictorial form (Rudzka-Ostyn 2003). For the purpose of the article the central and
extended meanings of OUT are taken into consideration. The following pictures (after
Rudzka-Ostyn 2003) represent the prototypical meaning of OUT basing on its spa-
tial-orientation. Such application of metaphor and trajector - landmark spatial-ori-
entation in various contexts, helps the learners build their comprehension of phrasal
verbs rooted in conceptual container metaphors.

Central meaning of OUT

Figure 6. Image schema OUT - central meaning

By the time you wore it out, it would be out of fashion anyhow.

The wave had washed out the road in some places.

The lock on the patio door had rusted out long ago.

OUT as in leaving a group

Figure 7. Image schema OUT - leaving a group

In this case we may presume that we deal we sets and groups e.g.:

I was kicked out of the team.

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 Karska, K.

She may be pick out from the crown.

John was forced out of the club.

OUT as in leaving a body

Figure 8. Image schema OUT - leaving the body

In this case we rely on the BODIES AND MINDS ARE CONTAINERS

metaphor. I couldn’t get his question out of my mind.

He poured out his heart, sharing his story.

She’s going to squeeze the life out of him.

I reached out to greet him.

I wonder if Ed is out of his mind.

He decided to hear her out anyway.

CONCLUSIONS
As stated above, conceptual metaphors prove to be useful tools in facilitating learn-
ing figurative expressions from the target language such as idioms, phrasal verbs
and vocabulary items and polysemy in particular. Many authors have proved (Thom,
2007; KÖmür and Çimen, 2009; Pérez 2016) that classroom instruction based on
metaphor rely on the interactive properties between the source and the target do-
mains and give students a rationale to ponder upon why the phrases mean what
they mean, so the learning gain is more visible. Therefore, metaphor-based class-
room instructions foster learners’ engagement, motivation and productivity whereas
lexical items grouped under metaphorical categories are easier to learn and retain.
Moreover, metaphors enhance cross linguistic awareness and competence, learn-

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 Conceptual Metaphors as Didactic Tools

ers’ autonomy and critical thinking. Additionally, it has been observed that atypical
and novel metaphor production is perceived as acceptable and correct and conse-
quently metaphor awareness fosters the productive language learning.

Through metaphors learners are able to enter an area of a new language with a fully
formed awareness of the metaphorical mind, figurative mind.

Regrettably, though it is clear that applying conceptual metaphor has a strong po-
tential to facilitate teaching and learning new lexical items, the majority of available
materials treat them only very marginally. Their didactic potential would be particu-
larly effective in teaching/ learning of the following:
• Acquisition and production of new vocabulary and polysemous expressions
• Comprehension of phrasal verbs and idioms
• Clarification/ familiarization
• Memorization and retention
• Intercultural awareness, empathy and understanding
• Learner’s engagement, motivation and productivity
• Crosslinguisting awareness and competence
• Productive language learning

In view of the universal nature of metaphors regardless of the culture, education,

and experiences of the language user, they undoubtedly they may serve as use-
ful tools in the language classroom. That is why, it can be claimed based both on
research and teaching experience, that conceptual metaphor theory should be in-
cluded in course books as an important device boosting the effectiveness of the
teaching/learning process.

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