Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access

Abstract

A Pilot Study into Metaphor Interpretation and Cross-Linguistic Influence of Food Terminology in Japanese Adult Learners of English (As a Foreign Language)

James Broxholme

This is a pilot study into metaphor interpretation and cross-linguistic influence of food terminology in Japanese adult learners of English. The research investigated if Japanese adult learners of English think differently to native English speakers and if different features of language affect cognition. The study used the domain of food as a theme to conduct cross-sectional experiments on 16 Japanese speaking adult subjects and 16 native English speaking adult subjects with similar variables. The experiments conducted within the research paper established a number of findings that suggest that language can affect cognition and identified several differences in the way the two subjects groups think about food. The results also highlighted the need for figurative speech, metaphor interpretation and cross-linguistic influence teaching materials to be incorporated into upper intermediate and advanced level adult learners of English curriculums to improve language competence

Published Date: 2025-01-16;