Metaphors for educators: A cultural cognitive approach

Abstract

Cognitive Linguistics maintains that metaphor is one of the basic ways of thinking and the cognitive tool for talking about and understanding abstract concepts. The present research focuses on metaphors for educators and attempts to uncover the underlying cognitive mechanism for the metaphorical construe or conceptions of educators. This research is committed to the investigation of the cognitive function of metaphors and attempts to explore and explain the cross-cultural variation and universality between metaphors for educators in Chinese and English through cultural models and cognitive models. This research not only broadens the research perspectives of conceptual metaphor, but also enriches the contents of cross-cultural metaphorical research.