Summary: | We analyzed, through the use of a corpus, the metaphorical language that is used to express emotions in French and Spanish, both in a quantitative (metaphorical density of the speech) and qualitative (types of the metaphorical schemas indeed used by the speakers) way. Based on the results of our work, emotions expression in native language (French/Spanish) is highly metaphorical, and notably concerning the conceptual schemas up/down and inside/outside, shared by the two languages. We were also interested in understanding how metaphorical language was represented in foreign language speech (Spanish-speaking French learners). We observed that, even if the conceptual schemas used are identical, speech in foreign language is characterized by an ‘over-literality’ phenomenon. We also offer a series of pedagogical suggestions for the teaching of metaphorical expression in foreign language class, notably by presenting a pedagogical progression based on three dimensions (metalinguistic, conceptual and linguistic).
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