FITORREMEDIACIÓN COMO ALTERNATIVA DE TRATAMIENTO A LOS PASIVOS

First, studies have shown not only that metaphor is prevalent in a variety of academic contexts, but also that it presents special challenges for L2 learners. Examining three university lectures, Low, Littlemore, and Koester (2008) found that metaphorically-used lexical items accounted for 10-13% of the total lecture. However, they also observed a large number of non- recurrent, “one-off” metaphors and idioms used throughout the lecture. These metaphors, along

with cultural references from the lectures, were not elaborated, developed, or explained, potentially causing problems for non-native listeners (Low et al., 2008, p. 450). Likewise, although they originally speculated that idioms might occur much less frequently in academic speech than in general conversation or in certain disciplines compared with others, Simpson and Mendis (2003) found that idioms actually occur with some frequency in a variety of academic settings and disciplines (pp. 426-427). However, like Low et al. (2008), Simpson and Mendis (2003) also found that more than half the idioms occurred only once, suggesting that learners need to learn an extensive number of idioms to converse fluently in their second language (p. 425). These two studies demonstrate the importance for students who take classes in a second language to comprehend and interpret metaphor, figurative language, and idioms due to their prevalence in academic settings and also why these expressions may potentially cause difficulty for L2 students.

Secondly, as we saw above, metaphorical language can be particularly difficult for students to understand and interpret. Students can use a number of techniques when confronting difficult metaphors, including referencing an equivalent metaphor in their L1, using the literal meaning of the words to guess the figurative meaning, and guessing the meaning from context; however, all these techniques can still result in misunderstanding and misinterpretation

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(Littlemore, 2001c, p. 335). For example, examining words and expressions from university lecturers that were perceived as problematic by international students, Littlemore (2001c) noted that over 80% of the difficult language students encountered in lectures was metaphorical (p. 337). Furthermore, even when students understood the individual words, they still experienced difficulties in comprehending the overall meaning of metaphorical expressions (ibid). Indeed, a later study by Littlemore (2003) found that students often misinterpreted evaluative metaphors used by university lecturers if they conflicted with their own value systems and cultural background. That is, even when students understand the more “factual content” of a

metaphorical expression, they are less likely to correctly interpret their lecturer’s evaluative stance toward a topic if it does not reflect their own value system (ibid). A similar study by Littlemore, Chen, Koester, and Barnden (2011) found that metaphor accounted for around 20% – 60% of the words in four different university lectures that international students studying at a British university found difficult to understand (p. 417). In addition, they found not only that 41% of lexically familiar items that were problematic for the students contained metaphor, but also that almost half of the students’ explanations of the metaphors from the lectures were at least partially inaccurate (Littlemore et al., 2011).

Similarly, metonymy comprehension can also be challenging for L2 learners. In addition to cross-linguistic and cross-cultural issues, metonymic motivations can be unpredictable, and just like with metaphor, the same metonymically used word can have different meanings in different contexts (Littlemore, 2015, p. 149). Littlemore (2015) gives the example of “weather,” which can mean both ‘appearing to be affected by the weather,’ as in “Those rich leather uppers

have a warm weathered look,” and the exact opposite, as in “Major changes have been

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employ a number of strategies when confronted with metonymy, such as activating a metonymy type, noticing the active zone/profile discrepancy, and using contextual clues, students can still misinterpret these expressions (Littlemore, 2015, p. 149). Indeed, research by Littlemore,

Arizono, and May showed that when confronted with metonymy in their L2, students commonly misinterpreted the expressions due to “over-specification,” “under-specification,” focusing on the wrong part of the ICM, misinterpreting contextual clues or syntax, or interpreting metonymy as if it were metaphor (cited in Littlemore, 2015, p. 149). As metonymy tends to be ignored in the language classroom (Littlemore, 2015, p. 148) and misunderstandings of metonymy can occur in academic contexts among researchers from different disciplines (Littlemore, 2015, p. 7), learning how to understand and use metonymy in academic contexts would be beneficial for language learners.

In summary, combined with the research above on the pervasiveness of metaphor in language and its significant role in cognition and communication (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), the considerable linguistic, cultural, and cognitive challenges it presents for language learners, and its prevalence in academic lectures, teaching students how to interpret and use metaphorical and metonymic language must be a priority for the L2 classroom. Littlemore (2003) acknowledges that interpreting lecturers’ metaphors is extremely challenging for students, as they must reflect on their own value system as well as that of their lecturer while attending to details to make sure they have fully understood the lecturers’ views; however, metaphoric competence is an essential component of communicative competence (Littlemore & Low, 2006a, 2006b). Therefore, students need to learn how to deal with metaphor in their L2. In addition, as metonymy poses similar challenges and can result in similar misunderstandings for L2 learners, incorporating

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direct metonymy instruction into the language classroom might also be beneficial for learners studying in an academic context.