圖像中的萬語千言: 美式英語母語者與台灣英語學習者對於行銷圖像隱喻的解讀

Abstract

中文摘要

在隱喻方面的研究可說是淵遠流長。隱喻不僅僅是在人類溝通中的一種修辭方法，更常常出現在廣告業者銷售商品的宣傳中。儘管在消費者的研究領域裡已有眾多探討隱喻的文獻，然而只有些許學者從事圖像隱喻的研究。再者，研究第二語言學習者對於行銷隱喻的解讀也是非常不足。 因此，本研究目的在於探討母語使用者以及非母語使用者如何解讀行銷圖像隱喻。在本研究中探討了三個研究問題。第一，英語母語者和非英語母語者對於行銷圖像隱喻的解讀表現如何？第二，有什麼可能的因素影響對於行銷圖像隱喻的解讀？以及第三，英語母語者和非母語者對於本研究中廣告的個人觀感以及針對廣告所要傳達的訊息有什麼反應？本研究的設計以及資料分析方法皆是參考Forceville (1996)。本研究以問卷的方式在台灣以及美國兩的收取資料，而問卷中有著四個平面廣告圖像搭配不同的問題。研究者邀請了一位美國籍人士以研究助理的身分參與了本研究中的一些過程，包括了選取合適的廣告、聯繫美國的研究參與者、在美國當地收取資料、以及擔任第二位資料分析者。本研究的四十位參與者皆是就讀英語教學研究所的碩士班研究生。其中二十位美國籍的研究生隸屬於美國的德州大學聖安東尼奧分校，而另外二十位非母語的研究生分別來自於台灣的三所大學。 研究結果顯示，美國的英語母語者對於行銷圖像隱喻的解讀有著較佳的表現。這也意味著美國的英語母語者對於本研究中四個廣告裡的行銷圖像隱喻有較好的洞察力。同時，我們也在設法尋找可能影響解讀圖像隱喻的因子。從情境、社會、以及個人的觀點為根基，我們重新檢視了這四個廣告以及其解讀的過程。而從參與者對於廣告的觀感分析裡，儘管英語母語者以及非母語者來自不同的文化背景，他們對於同一個廣告存有類似的想法。同時我們也發現來自相同文化背景的研究參與者對於相同的廣告的有著迥然不同的觀點。本研究在最後探討了一些在英語教學實務上的應用以及啟發，並對於未來的研究提出實質上的建議。

English Abstract

The studies of metaphor endure a great history of research. Metaphors are not only a form of figure of speech in human communication, but also a sales pitch often employed by advertisers. There has already been a plethora of studies on advertising metaphors in consumer research; however, little research has explored advertising metaphors in pictorial form. Meanwhile, there is only a small body of research done to ascertain how second language learners perceive advertising metaphors. This study, therefore, aims to explore how native and non-native English speakers interpret advertising pictorial metaphors. I intend to answer three research questions: (1) How do the native and non-native speakers of English interpret advertising pictorial metaphors? (2) What factors that determine the success of pictorial metaphor interpretations? and (3) How do the native and non-native speakers of English perceive the advertisements with and without considering advertiser’s intention? I follow the research design and adopt the coding scheme of pictorial metaphors from Forceville (1996). A questionnaire containing four advertisements and question items is administered to collect data in American and Taiwan. In this study, a research assistant who is an American is invited to provide assistance in selecting advertisements, contacting American participants, collecting data in the United States, and being a second rater. The non-native data is collected from 20 TESOL graduate students enrolled in three different universities in Taiwan, and the native data is gleaned from another 20 TESOL graduates at the University of Texas in San Antonio, U. S. A. Based on the results, the English native speakers from the United States have more success in identifying pictorial metaphors than their counterparts. In other words, the American participants seemed to be more attuned to the pictorial metaphors in the present study. Meanwhile, we also manage to account for the participants’ performances in interpreting metaphors by seeking possible factors. By considering contextual, societal, and individual factors, we re-examine the four advertisements and the metaphor interpretation process. As for participants’ views towards the advertisements, in some advertisements, the participants hold similar perspectives despite they belong to disparate cultural backgrounds. Moreover, even for participants who belong to the same group, their viewpoints can differ tremendously. Some pedagogical implications towards teaching English in EFL context and suggestions to improve future research are discussed in the final chapter.