The Effect of Metonymy and Metaphor Awareness‐Raising on the Acquisition of Focal Differences in Verb Constructions

Abstract This study examines the relative effects of a metonymy/metaphor awareness‐raising approach and a non‐metonymy/metaphor awareness‐raising approach on the development of Japanese EFL participants' rhetorical skills, particularly in understanding and applying focus shifts in prepositional and double object constructions involving give‐type and buy & make‐type verbs. The metonymy/metaphor awareness‐raising approach incorporated animated illustrations that highlighted cause–effect relationships based on contingency in form‐meaning mappings and spatial distance metaphors. In contrast, the non‐metonymy/metaphor group learned verb constructions without these conceptual frameworks, relying only on listed example sentences and explanations. The results demonstrated that the metonymy/metaphor awareness‐raising approach significantly enhanced participants' ability to acquire, consolidate, and retain focus shifts in prepositional and double object constructions over an extended period. The study identified two key factors contributing to this effectiveness: causal relationships and spatial distance metaphors. By conceptualizing grammatical structures through these frameworks, participants improved their understanding of verb constructions. Additionally, visualizations and animations clarified meaning differences and reinforced memory retention, highlighting the benefits of conceptually grounded instruction in second language acquisition.