HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF BANKING FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH NEWS ARTICLES: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION STUDY AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF BANKING Student: PHẠM LÊ THUỲ DIỄM Class: DH36AV04 Batch: K36 (2020 – 2024) Student number: 030436200028 Supervisor: NGUYỄN HỒNG OANH, M.A Ho Chi Minh City, 28th February, 2024 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to the individuals who have supported me during my four- year academic journey. Their guidance, advice, and encouragement have been invaluable to the completion of this thesis. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Nguyen Hong Oanh for her unwavering support and insightful guidance throughout every stage of my graduation thesis.
Her wisdom, knowledge, and sense of humor have been a constant source of inspiration. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Le Thi Thuy Nhung, the Head of the English Linguistics Division, for her invaluable assistance and constructive suggestions at the outset of my research journey. I am also grateful to the Faculty of Foreign Language for their administrative support, particularly to Ms.
Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, whose assistance has been indispensable throughout the entire process. To my college friends, thank you for your endless support and enthusiasm for my academic endeavors. Special thanks to my dormitory sisters for providing me with both intellectual nourishment and much-needed laughter during challenging times. Finally, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my beloved parents for their unconditional love.
Their encouragement has been my guiding light, and I am forever thankful for their presence in my life. i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, the undersigned Phạm Lê Thuỳ Diễm hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. To the best of my knowledge this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgement has been made. Student Phạm Lê Thuỳ Diễm ii ABSTRACT This research explores structural metaphors in business discourse through the lens of Conceptual Metaphor Theory.
Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the study examines a self-compiled corpus of 45 articles from The Guardian, The Economist, The New York Times, The Independence, and the Wall Street Journal published online in 2020. These news articles were written by different journalists, focusing on business issues in general. Analysis reveals 318 metaphorical expressions organized into seven structural metaphors: (i) ECONOMY IS A WAR, (ii) ECONOMY IS A BUILDING, (iii) ECONOMY IS A MACHINE, (iv) ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY, (v) ECONOMY IS A PLANT, (vi) ECONOMY IS A GAME/SPORT, and (vii) ECONOMY IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON. Among these, the WAR domain prevails in quantity, reflecting its significance in the business register.
Furthermore, the study delineates the usage and meaning of these metaphors through analogical mappings, juxtaposing properties of the source and target domains. The findings offer implications for embedding structural metaphors in translation courses within the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh University of Banking. Keywords: conceptual metaphor, structural metaphor, business English, news, translation iii ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Full word CMT Conceptual Metaphor Theory MIP Metaphor Identification Procedure SD Source Domain TD Target Domain SL Source Language TL Target Language CM Conceptual Metaphor L1 First Language L2 Second Language iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP.
iv LIST OF TABLES. Background of the Study. Scope of the Study. Significance of the Study.
The Structure of the Thesis. Conceptual Metaphor Theory .2 Classification of Conceptual Metaphors. Cross-domain mapping. Metaphor in English news articles.
General overview of news articles. The role of conceptual metaphors in business news articles. Conceptual source domains in business news articles. The Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP).
Cognitive approaches to metaphor translation. Overview of translation. Data Collection Procedures. Validity and Reliability.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Types of different structural metaphors denoting ECONOMY. ECONOMY IS A WAR. ECONOMY IS A BUILDING.
ECONOMY IS A MACHINE. ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY. ECONOMY IS A PLANT. ECONOMY IS A GAME/A SPORT.
ECONOMY IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON .2 Metaphorical mapping process of difference structural metaphors in English business news articles. The mapping process in ECONOMY IS A WAR. The mapping process in ECONOMY IS A BUILDING. The mapping process in ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY.
The mapping process in ECONOMY IS A PLANT. The mapping process in ECONOMY IS A GAME / A SPORT. The mapping process in ECONOMY IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON. Summary of major findings.
Suggestion for further research. 73 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 2. The mapping of conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY. The cross-domain mapping of ARGUMENT IS WAR.
The main steps of MIP. Distribution of types of structural metaphors. Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A WAR. Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A BUILDING.
Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A MACHINE. Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY. Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A PLANT. Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A GAME/A SPORT.
Metaphorical expressions' analysis of the conceptual model ECONOMY IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON. Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A WAR. Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A BUILDING. Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A MACHINE.
Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A JOURNEY. Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A PLANT. Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A GAME/ A SPORT 56 Table 4. Metaphorical mapping process of ECONOMY IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON.
Background of the Study The exploration of metaphor has consistently been a focal point in linguistic research. According to traditional linguists, metaphors have been exclusively employed in literature for aesthetic, expressive, and ornamental purposes. This view dates back to the era of Aristotle, who first recognized the role of metaphors in poetry (Zhu, 2022). In 1980, Lakoff and Johnson put forward the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) with the publication of their renowned work Metaphor We live by.
They argued that the metaphor is a rhetorical device and a cognitive mechanism that facilitates understanding abstract concepts via more familiar and concrete entities. Therefore, metaphors are omnipresent in everyday language and are essential in shaping how humans perceive and react to the world (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003). Since then, the scope of research has expanded to various fields beyond the confines of poems or novels. In particular, many scholars have increasingly emphasized employing conceptual metaphors in the news language (Jawad & Noori, 2021; Nuzulia & Firmonasari, 2023; Ying, 2023; Alaoui & Jalid, 2023).
The utilization of metaphors in news media represents a strategic choice to influence how readers perceive and interpret information. As Lakoff & Johnson said (2003), conceptual metaphors can highlight some aspects while simultaneously hiding other aspects in news media. Additionally, metaphors in journalistic articles generally produce a "creative impact by juxtaposing unrelated domains, potentially conveying a subjective experience unique to a specific culture" (Alaoui & Jalid, 2023, p. What is more, metaphors are valuable means by which the news can be more readily accessible to lay readers since they assist in familiarizing non-expert readers with complex and abstract concepts in the process of sharing knowledge (Thibodeau et al.
Furthermore, news translation has recently garnered significant attention from scholars, who have been particularly interested in the challenges in translating this genre. Translating news differs from literature, as news aims to communicate factual information rather than create artistic imagery through language use (Zheng, 2019). Shafia (2021) claimed that news translators must be concerned with metaphors' pervasiveness and roles to avoid misunderstanding or misinterpretation, as metaphors 1 may be seen as mere aesthetic features rather than integral parts of the news messages. Moreover, Newmark (1988) emphasized that finding the TL equivalent expression is not always possible because of cultural and linguistic differences between the SL and TL.
This problem is no exception to news translation. Among the five translation methods suggested by Newmark (1988), communicative translation is an appropriate option for handling the translation of news articles featuring lexical and grammatical characteristics since they are closely affiliated with information transmission (Wu, 2017). Communicative translation generates cultural words and functional terms through explanations and compromises the original grammatical structure to make the translation easy for the target reader to read to. In the same vein, news translators also adopt faithful translation to transfer cultural terms and grammatical structures into the TL while attempting to be faithful to the intentions and the text-realization of the SL writers (Rizkiana, 2015).
It is essential for translators to have a thorough understanding of the cultural aspects of both the source and target texts. In this respect, gaining insights into conceptual metaphors can help translators bridge the knowledge gaps of culture between TL and SL since it facilitates a deeper understanding of how metaphorical expressions are culturally embedded across languages (Alshunnag, 2016). Moreover, a single individual generally performs both the responsibilities of a translator and a journalist, contributing to the overall news production process, even if the person is a non-professional translator (Bielsa, 2007). Generally speaking, the process of converting L2 news content into L1, technically, involves journalists receiving input from a local L2 news station, reading the L1 information, analyzing it, and then recoding it.
In this process, if translators cannot comprehend L2 conceptual metaphors, they will find it impossible to elaborate and articulate L1 content effectively. Türker (2015) has demonstrated that translators are capable of interpreting L2 metaphors based on their conceptual knowledge, which reflects their familiarity and experience with the source and target domains of the L1 and L2 conceptual metaphors, respectively. Through translation courses, the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Ho Chi Minh University of Banking aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to become proficient translators, both in English and Vietnamese. The curriculum 2 emphasizes the development of essential translation techniques, including cultural awareness, text analysis, text coding and decoding process, and ultimately, interpretation.
However, introducing conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) into translation courses for students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages to enhance translation skills has yet to be investigated. The existing literature indicates that CMT provides a fresh perspective on sparking students' interest in text analysis, cultural awareness, and the coding, decoding, and recoding processes involved in translation practices. Therefore, the undergraduate thesis “AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH NEWS ARTICLES: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION STUDY AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF BANKING” aims to raise awareness and advance the understanding of conceptual metaphor theory within Ho Chi Minh University of Banking's context. Research Gaps In Vietnam, the emergence of cognitive linguistics has sparked local scholars to delve into conceptual metaphors in various discourse genres.
Current studies have primarily focused on exploring conceptual metaphors based on the corpus of poems, idioms, and songs in Vietnamese language or in contrastive analysis with English. Phan and Luong (2014) analyzed conceptual metaphors used to denote images of lovers in English and Vietnamese poems and songs. Vu (2022) explored the conceptual domain of marriage and family in modern prose. In addition, Phan and Trinh (2023) uncovered metaphorical expressions that highlight the significance of love in human life, drawing from English and Vietnamese poetry and guided by conceptual metaphor theory.
As a result, the majority of research conducted by Vietnamese linguists and researchers focuses on the significance of CM as a means of beautifying literary texts. No research has been conducted to date that examines conceptual metaphors in the context of the Faculty of Foreign Language at Ho Chi Minh University of Banking. Hence, this study offers an excellent opportunity to conduct further research and enrich the empirical evidence. It will make a humble contribution to the curriculum of business English courses, in general, and those for business translation, in particular.