An exploration of CFL learners’ metaphor use in second language writing: Effects of genre and topicAn exploration of CFL learners’ metaphor use in second language writing: Effects of genre and topic

Abstract: This article investigates the effects of genre and topic on the metaphors used by Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners’ writing. Using Conceptual Metaphor Theory as the theoretical framework, our study analyzed 900 essays, which include three genres (argumentative essays, narrative essays, and letter writing) and six topics, extracted from the HSK Dynamic Essay Corpus. The results show that both genre and topic influence the use of metaphors by CFL learners, but their effects manifest in different ways. Genre influences the frequency of metaphor due to differences in pragmatic purposes. Specifically, we found that argumentative essays and narrative essays exhibit a notably higher frequency of metaphor use than letter writing. Argumentative essays have a higher frequency than narrative essays. Topic not only affects the frequency of metaphor use but also influences the selection and frequency of classic source domains. Additionally, differences in metaphor frequency across topics are more pronounced in genres with higher metaphor frequency (argumentative essays and narrative essays) and insignificant in a genre with the lowest metaphor frequency (letter writing). Our findings contribute to the further development of conceptual metaphor theory, as well as to the teaching of genre and metaphor in Chinese L2 writing.

摘要： 本文考察体裁和话题对汉语二语（CFL）学习者写作中隐喻使用的影响。研究以概念隐喻理论为框架，分析了从 HSK 动态作文语料库中抽取的 900 篇作文，涵盖三种体裁（议论文、记叙文和书信）和六个话题。结果表明，体裁和话题都会影响 CFL 学习者的隐喻使用，但影响方式不同。体裁因语用目的不同而影响隐喻频率：议论文和记叙文的隐喻使用频率明显高于书信，议论文又高于记叙文。话题不仅影响隐喻频率，还影响典型源域的选择及其使用频率。此外，在隐喻频率较高的体裁（议论文和记叙文）中，不同话题之间的隐喻频率差异更为明显；而在隐喻频率最低的体裁（书信）中，这种差异并不显著。本研究有助于推动概念隐喻理论的发展，也可为汉语二语写作中的体裁教学和隐喻教学提供参考。