Previous studies have proved great explanatory power of the principle of Cognitive Reference Point (CRP) in the analysis of discourses. Less attention is focused on the principle itself. This study explores the relationship between the cognitive reference point and the target body by analyzing a few news cartoons. Findings show that the mapping process of reference point and target body is achieved either in the same field, in the same domain or in different dominions.

Abstract-Within the framework of conceptual transfer, this study makes an error analysis on 52 classifiers of grade A based on the writing part of HSK advance.The identified systematic features are analyzed in terms of their collocation with nouns and discussed from a lexical conceptual transfer perspective. Three error types are summarized and systematic lexical conceptual transfer is revealed. For Chinese as a second language (CSL for short) learners, if there is no overt linguistic categorization in their first language, conceptual transfer means to obtain conceptual knowledge of classifiers as well as to build up conceptualization models. These findings have largely testified thesis of conceptual transfer in SLA and provided pedagogical significance in CSL teaching.

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This article examines the classifier effect on categorization among advanced Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners. More specifically, it aims to answer this question: Is non-classifier language speakers’ categorization of objects influenced by the acquisition of the Chinese classifier system? Design/methodology/approach, data and analysis: Native Chinese speakers, advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants were asked to rate the relatedness of drawing pairs based on either classifier or taxonomy/theme; advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants were then asked to immediately recall two lists of nouns, one associated with three taxonomic categories and the other with three classifiers. Repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to examine the major effect between drawing relations (classifier related, taxonomically/thematically related and unrelated) and participant groups. Two measures of NCR (number of correct recall) and RR (ratio of repetition) were calculated and analysed to examine effective memory retrieval as well as subjective clustering. Findings/conclusions: Results showed that preferences for classifier-based and taxonomy/theme -based categorizations differed between advanced CSL learners and non-CSL participants. CSL learners’ knowledge of the classifier system also facilitated their performance in recalling and clustering objects. The findings revealed that concepts in bilingual minds may be language-specific and an alternative interpretation of the real world is internalized by learning a new language. Originality: Unlike previous studies, this article extended the examination of the cognitive consequences of classifiers to late bilinguals whose second language (L2) proficiency was formally assessed. Significance/implications: This study contributes empirical data supporting the importance of nonverbal behavioural evidence in the study of bilingual cognition. The degree and nature of the restructuring of real-world referents as a consequence of acquiring Chinese classifiers is of pedagogical value to second-language acquisition (SLA).

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