Is the English Knowledge of Iranian English Literature Students Metaphorically Colorful?

Color terms are usually used to depict the colors of objects in the real world and represent some metaphorical conceptualizations. English, as a language with a long history, is abundant in color terms which are used metaphorically. This paper aimed to scrutinize the metaphorical competence of 39 BA students of English Literature at University of Isfahan from both genders. To test their knowledge with a direct focus on their knowledge of color metaphors, the researcher-made test, contrived especially to evaluate both their recognition and production of metaphorical knowledge, was used. The collected answer sheets were checked and rated objectively item by item by one rater, and points of every participant were counted. Results showed that surprisingly the metaphors with the term ‘color’ is the easiest, and in spite of their being infrequent in English and Persian the metaphors with the words ‘silver’ and ‘rose’ are the second and third easiest groups of metaphors. In contrast, the terms ‘black’ and ‘white’ although being frequent in the two languages, the metaphorical use of them was more difficult for Iranian learners. Additionally, the metaphorical use of the terms ‘blue’ and ‘red’ is unbelievably more difficult despite they are highly frequent colors in the immediate environment. Findings also showed that recognition questions were easier than the production ones.

Keywords:

Color metaphors , Iranian BA students , Metaphorical competence , Recognition and production