Cognitive-linguistic approaches to teaching vocabulary as a way to enhance learners’ intercultural awareness

This talk will deal with cognitive-linguistic (CL) perspectives on cross-linguistic differences and their implications for L2 learners. More specifically, we will show how language elements such as metaphors and figurative idioms are actually culturally motivated, and how these cultural properties carry a special mnemonic potential that can be unlocked by the teacher or the material developer. For instance, the semantics of many idioms can be traced back to their historical, cultural or etymological origins, and relating an idiom with its origin can actually stimulate cognitive engagement and thus better learning. Finally, we will discuss how interventions that are inspired by CL in instructed FL learning do not only promote insightful FL vocabulary learning but also serve as catalysts to intercultural awareness.