Conceptual and sociocultural differences in metaphor processing in the L2.

In line with Danesi (2008), we assume that well developed multilingualism goes hand in hand with an adequate integration of conceptual differences between the different languages. This includes the ability to use different conceptual contents and varied sources of knowledge when interpreting expressions in the foreign language (cf. Trim 2012). Despite the growing body of theoretical approaches, empirical studies on the concrete functioning of these mechanisms are lacking. This is even more the case for the study of taboo expressions in the foreign language, related to the fact that some taboo topics are not dealt with in foreign language learning or are avoided when speaking with non-natives. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze how learners of Spanish as L2 processed taboo metaphors with a particular focus on the importance of the sources of knowledge they mobilize to interpret the metaphorical taboo expressions, and on the influence of the conceptual difference between the L1 and the foreign language. In order to investigate these effects, two groups of participants at B2-level in Spanish and with a different L1 (French and German) carried out a comprehension test containing taboo expressions from the sexual domain. These were presented in three different settings: a. isolated expressions, b. expressions in a linguistic context and c. expressions requiring socio-cultural knowledge in order to be interpreted correctly. The selection of these expressions was based on Pizarro’s (2014) MadSex corpus. Results show that the existence of conceptual differences did not directly affect metaphoric taboo expression comprehension, which suggests that learners used general embodied experiences underlying the metaphoric taboo expressions in order to guess their figurative meaning. On this basis conclusions and avenues for further research will be formulated