Dark by Yu Ren Dong

¶ … dark" by Yu Ren Dong (2004) illustrates one of the greatest challenges of language acquisition for any English Language Learner (ELL) -- understanding when a native English speaker is using a metaphor or if the native speaker means his or her words in a concrete and literal fashion. "I have often found that even graduate [ELL] students have a limited understanding of metaphorical language" in English (Dong 2004: 29). Context is critical for understanding what is meant metaphorically and what is meant literally. This requires that the speaker has some exposure to the accepted norms of American culture that native speakers take for granted. "Learners who grow up in the mainstream American culture, immersed in oral language and schooling, acquire cultural and linguistic competence in metaphorical language. However, L2 learners are asked in their adolescence to acquire a new language for which they have no cultural references or natural oral immersion" (Dong 2004:30).

Even a highly fluent ELL student may not understand the significance of 'bread' as a metaphor in English, particularly if he or she comes from a nation where bread is not consumed as a staple. "Give us this day our daily bread," seems like an inexplicable statement. To reinforce this idea, Dong once asked a classroom of ELL teachers to spend an entire day without using metaphors or colloquialisms, and they found it almost impossible (Dong 2004: 30).

It is critical that teachers do not merely assume that ELL students will naturally and intuitively acquire connotative meanings in language. Increased vocabulary and even high levels of intelligence do not necessarily guarantee metaphoric language acquisition, and it is incumbent upon teachers to make use of learning techniques like scaffolding and creating dramatized situations to reinforce metaphorical usage in English. Teachers should also have a sensitivity to the student's own culture in terms of how metaphors create implied meanings -- in Chinese culture, for example, arguing is considered a negative thing in contrast to the West, which made it difficult for Chinese ELL students to understand the phrase "her criticism was right on target" is meant in a good way, because of the violent nature of the metaphor (Dong 2004: 31).

One way to get a sense of the student's own referential framework of metaphors is to assign short creative writing assignments where metaphors are created by the students in English. This helps the teacher see what sort of cultural orientation and emotions the students have about certain words in English, as a point of contrast with the teacher's own native fluency. Also, it helps illustrate if the students understand the concept of metaphors, encourages metaphorical thinking in the acquired language, and also helps the students reveal their own cultural assumptions and values.