Developing conceptual metaphor–based tasks in the teaching and learning of idiomatic expressions

AbstractGiven the positive effect of teaching idiomatic expressions using the conceptual metaphor (CM) view, and the many benefits of using language tasks in English as a second or foreign language context, this article aims to help teachers design and develop tasks on the basis of CM and task‐based language teaching (TBLT). In this study, a series of tasks was designed around idiomatic expressions derived from the CM ANGER IS A HEATED FLUID IN A CONTAINER using the three‐phase TBLT framework: pretask, main task, and posttask. The pretask phase is meant to introduce the target anger expressions to learners, the main task phase to give learners the opportunity to use these expressions, and the posttask phase to raise learners’ consciousness about these expressions. The objective of these tasks is to promote interaction among learners and as such facilitate negotiation of meaning and form, leading to the learning of the anger expressions in a natural manner. The tasks were designed in such a way that teachers can easily create and implement them in actual classroom settings, especially in those Asian countries where teacher‐centric teaching style is still prevalent.