Some implications for developing learners’ figurative language competence across modalities: Metaphor, metonymy and blending in the picture modality

Abstract

The paper argues for developing learners’ figurative language competence across modalities. Specifically, focusing on the picture modality, the article attempts to show the importance of figurative thinking in the new media age multimodal communication. The sample analysis of pictures and images representing the recent issue of the EU crisis addresses the significance of three conceptual phenomena, namely, metaphor, metonymy, and blending, in the conceptualization of such a highly abstract phenomenon. In general, it is argued that language users almost invariably turn to figurative language resources to conceptualize abstract phenomena that cannot be conceptualized by means of literal language. Hence, developing learners’ figurative language competence seems to be of critical importance in foreign language instruction. The article also argues that picture modality is a reasonable starting point for the development of learners’ figurative language competence as it is our sense of vision that plays the most fundamental role in conceptualizing the reality.