The Use of German prepositions by Chinese German learners in the context of conceptual metaphor theory - a case study of um and in in comparison with native German speakers and German learners of other first languages

Abstract

In this article, Chinese German learners’ use of the prepositions um and in is analyzed in the context of conceptual metaphor theory using the CDLK corpus and Falko corpus. The study reveals that the error rate of the preposition in is significantly higher than that of the preposition um, which is ultimately due to the differences in cultural and conceptual systems between Germany and China. Chinese German learners use the spatial and temporal meanings of the prepositions more frequently, while they use the metaphorical meanings less frequently. Furthermore, there is no clear correlation between the learning time of Chinese German learners and the number of errors. The conclusions of this study could provide insights for improvements in teaching.

Keywords

• German prepositions
• Chinese German learners
• conceptual metaphor theory
• metaphorical meanings