Abstract: The article discusses a methodological model developed and tested in EFL classrooms. It aims at metaphoric competence development at the B1-B2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). For the purposes of the study the presented metaphoric competence is defined as identification and use of metaphorical expressions, exponents of conceptual metaphors developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The underlying hypothesis views the development of metaphoric competence at levels B1-B2 of CEFR as a prerequisite for the development of communicative competence. The model comprises the following stages: recognition, acquisition and production of metaphoric words/ phrases, exponents of conceptual metaphors, explained in comparative and contrastive terms. The principle underlying the development of the model is that presenting historical facts, realities, fictions, etymology and analogies between the native language and the target language expands vocabulary and allows for associations, expectations and educated guesses when mastering a target language. The model emphasises on vocabulary learning, but, as metaphoric competence is pervasive in language, it is not limited to it.
Keywords: foreign language teaching, vocabulary learning, communicative competence, metaphorical competence, conceptual metaphors, metaphorical words/phrases
Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 8, April 2013, http://rhetoric.bg/, ISSN 1314-4464