Metaphorical Awareness: A New Horizon in Vocabulary Retention by Asian EFL Learners

The present study investigates the impact of English metaphorical awareness on the vocabulary retention by 60 intermediate EFL learners in Iran. Participants in this study were all English as a Foreign language (EFL) learners placed in the intermediate level of both genders ranging from 16 to 20 years of age at Qeshm language institute, Kerman, Iran. An Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was administered to homogenize the participants and divided them into two intact experimental and control groups. The experimental group was exposed to and performed on 20 minutes English metaphorical awareness tasks of Pictorial Idioms, Poems, and Matching in sixteen 90-minute sessions. The controllgroup received the vocabulary exercises in New Cutting Edge (3rd Edition) (Cunningham, Moor & Eales 2007) in turn The experimental group outperformed the controlgroup in this study. In an independent sample t-Test, and a high effect size (Cohn’s d=2.84) supported the positive impact of metaphorical awareness on EFL learners vocabulary retention.