| From Translation to Conceptual Understanding: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Conceptual Metaphor Awareness in EFL Idiom Comprehension, Production, and Retention |
| کد مقاله : 1024-IRANFHSCONF |
| نویسندگان |
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وحید شهیدی پور * دانشگاه مفید، دپارتمان زبان انگلیسی |
| چکیده مقاله |
| Idiomatic competence remains one of the most persistent challenges for EFL learners. In Iranian universities, English majors must complete a compulsory idioms course but frequently report that translation-based instruction promotes rote memorization rather than genuine understanding or long-term retention. Grounded in Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this mixed-methods quasi-experimental study compared Conceptual Metaphor Awareness (CMA) instruction with conventional translation-based (CTB) teaching in terms of learners’ idiom comprehension, production, and retention. Sixty intermediate Iranian EFL university students were divided into two classes (n = 30 per group) and randomly assigned to one of the treatment conditions. Over twelve 45-minute sessions, both groups studied identical idioms from English Idioms in Use: Advanced (McCarthy & O’Dell, 2017). The CTB group received L1–L2 translation and memorization tasks, while the CMA group engaged in metaphor mapping, visualization, categorization, and communicative practice. Pretests and posttests measured comprehension (multiple-choice) and production (fill-in-the-blank), followed by delayed posttests eight weeks later. Two perception questionnaires complemented the quantitative data. Independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVAs revealed that CMA learners significantly outperformed CTB learners in both immediate comprehension and production. Retention analyses further indicated stronger long-term maintenance, particularly for production. Qualitative reflections and perception data, using a MANOVA and thematic analysis, corroborated these results, highlighting higher conceptual understanding, visual support, and engagement under CMA. These findings suggest that CMA promotes deeper semantic processing and more durable productive knowledge than translation-based instruction, offering practical implications for idiom pedagogy in EFL contexts. |
| کلیدواژه ها |
| conceptual metaphor awareness, idiom learning, figurative language, cognitive linguistics, language retention, EFL pedagogy |
| وضعیت: پذیرفته شده |
