Many vocabulary items that foreign language learners encounter involve figurative extensions of meaning. To understand figurative speech, learners often need to employ figurative thinking. This book examines figurative thinking, considers its contribution to language ability, and explores the implications for language teaching and learning.

Springer Book Archives

About the Author
JEANNETTE LITTLEMORE is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Birmingham, UK. She has published widely on the teaching and learning of figurative language.

GRAHAM D. LOW is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of York, UK. He is particularly interested in how figurative language is used in written discourse.

Reviews

'This ground-breaking book presents a lucid and persuasive argument for the centrality of figurative thinking in language learning and communicative competence. Contributing to both theory and practice, Jeannette Littlemore and Graham Low help shift language teaching and learning away from a dull emphasis on the transactional. The book is a major addition to a current paradigm shift in language teaching and applied linguistic theory, helping to bring the creative and playful centre stage, and making the task of language learning more fulfilling and rewarding in the process.' - Professor Guy Cook, The Open University, UK

Book Information
ISBN 9781349544998
Author J. Littlemore
Format Paperback
Page Count 239
Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan