Le metafore concettuali in un approccio comunicativo nell’apprendimento delle lingue straniere

Abstract

Metaphors are figures of the speech where a word or phrase denoting a thing or a concept is used in place of another thing or concept. They have been used for millennia in literature and rhetorical speech. In 1980 the Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson approaches metaphors from a different point of view, i.e. metaphors were seen as a system related to human thoughts and actions. Metaphors are pervasive in everyday life, not only in literature and rhetoric. Everyday language is filled with metaphors that often go unnoticed, and most of our conceptual system is metaphorical in nature. In this paper we will focus on the importance of conceptual metaphors in teaching and learning a second or a foreign language according to a communicative approach, focusing the intercultural communication perspective.

Keywords

• Conceptual metaphor. Intercultural communication. Language learning and teaching. Second/foreign language acquisition