Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-j7cmm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-07T23:41:59.085Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

FIGURATIVE THINKING AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2008

Claire Kramsch
Claire Kramsch
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

FIGURATIVE THINKING AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING. Jeannette Littlemore and Graham Low. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Pp. xvii + 239. $80.00 cloth.

This volume contributes to SLA research by exploring how language teachers and textbook writers might systematize the acquisition of figurative thinking (i.e., the ability to use and critically reflect on the use of such figures of speech and thought as metaphors, metonymies, similes, and proverbs). The work builds on the momentum gained by research on play and creativity in SLA as well as on the renewed interest in linguistic relativity and insights from cognitive linguistics regarding the relationship of language, mind, and culture. Despite its title, the volume deals exclusively with the teaching of English.

Information

Type
BOOK NOTICES
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 30 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 122 - 123
Copyright
© 2008 Cambridge University Press

This volume contributes to SLA research by exploring how language teachers and textbook writers might systematize the acquisition of figurative thinking (i.e., the ability to use and critically reflect on the use of such figures of speech and thought as metaphors, metonymies, similes, and proverbs). The work builds on the momentum gained by research on play and creativity in SLA as well as on the renewed interest in linguistic relativity and insights from cognitive linguistics regarding the relationship of language, mind, and culture. Despite its title, the volume deals exclusively with the teaching of English.

The volume has two parts. In Part 1 (chapters 1–4) the authors discuss the major concepts used: metaphor, metonymy, and the relationship between linguistic and conceptual metaphor. Littlemore and Low review the psychological processes at work in figurative thinking (e.g., noticing, associative fluency, schema activation, analogical reasoning, and image formation). Part 2 (chapters 5–9) explores how each of the five major components of Bachman's model of language competence might be enhanced by figurative thinking: (a) sociolinguistic competence, defined as sensitivity to dialect, register, and the ability to interpret cultural references and idioms; (b) illocutionary competence, defined as the ability to express ideas, get things done, facilitate performance, and play with language; (c) textual competence, defined as the ability to appreciate the overall conceptual and rhetorical structure of oral or written discourse; (d) lexico-grammatical competence; and (e) strategic competence or compensation strategies (i.e., word coinage, creative transfer, and circumlocution).

This volume is both inspiring and controversial. It is inspiring because it deals with those features of the language that are fun and creative: Metaphors, idioms, and proverbs, once part of the development of literary sensitivity, can now be taught as powerful ways of participating in daily conversations and understanding the concepts behind the words. It is controversial because, despite the authors' caveats, conceptual metaphors, once systematized and displayed for learning in textbooks and lesson plans, can reinforce cultural stereotypes and make learners believe that, indeed, COMMUNICATION IS TRANSFER, THINKING IS A LINEAR JOURNEY, and THE BODY IS A CONTAINER FOR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS. Recommended reading!