Abstract
     
Metaphor in sports reports is prevailing. It not only works as a figure of speech, but also functions like a stimulative in second language learning. Without the knowledge of sports metaphors, English language learners would encounter difficulties in understanding the metaphoric meanings of some phrases or even the whole reports. However, little is known about Chinese English learners’ sports metaphoric competence. This study aims to investigate non-English majors’ metaphoric competence in sports reports and explore the affecting factors.
Altogether 10 typical sentences in the metaphoric competence test paper were chosen from 12 pieces of 2014 World Cup reports. These reports were mainly from Reuters and BBC News. Besides this test, subjects were required to report on their gender, major of study, CET-4 reading score and frequency of reading sports reports. Among the 30 male and 20 female subjects, 10 of them were from Physics Department, 20 were from Mechanics Department, and the other 20 were from the School of Liberal Arts in University. Taking their scores of CET-4 reading part as a means of measuring their English reading proficiency, we can see the relationship between sports metaphoric competence and English proficiency. According to subjects’ metaphoric competence and reading frequency, the relationship between the two can also be found out.
Results show that: 1) non-English majors’ sports metaphoric competence is relatively low; 2) the war metaphors in sports reports are comparatively easy to learn; 3) sports metaphoric competence and English reading proficiency take on a positive correlation; 4) Only a few students who read sports reports regularly score high in sports metaphoric competence test. It was agreed that non-English majors’ metaphoric competence is related with their English proficiency and reading frequency.
      This study has investigated the correlation between sports metaphoric competence and English proficiency and the relationship between sports metaphoric competence and reading habits. This study tries to give suggestions on the improvement of metaphor competence in second language learning and teaching.

Keywords：sports metaphoric competence；non-English majors；English proficiency; reading frequency
 
摘要

隐喻在体育新闻报道中很常见。隐喻不仅是一种修辞，而且在语言学习中发挥至关重要的作用。如若忽视对隐喻的学习，语言学习者在阅读目的语新闻报道时会遇到一定的困难。但国内相关研究凤毛麟角。本课题以体育新闻报道为范围，以非英语专业学生为对象进行研究，旨在了解非英语专业学生的体育隐喻识别能力，及其相关影响因素。
研究的具体问题如下：（1）非英语专业学生的体育隐喻能力如何；（2）哪类体育隐喻更容易被识别；（3）学生的体育隐喻能力与其英语阅读水平的关系如何；（4）学生的体育隐喻能力与其阅读体育新闻报道频率的关系如何。
本研究通过对研究对象进行隐喻测试的方式展开。共有50名非英语专业的大学二三年级的学生作为调查对象，其中女性20名，男性30名。10人来自物理系，20人来自机械学院，其余20人来自人文学院。本测试从12篇路透社和BBC关于2014年世界杯的新闻报道中选取了十个含有隐喻用法的典型句子来测试其体育隐喻能力，根据调查对象参加英语四级考试的阅读成绩评定其英语阅读水平。
依据对问卷的调查结果的统计与分析，主要有以下发现：（1）非英语专业学生的隐喻识别能力参差不齐，但总体水平较低；（2）体育报道中的战争隐喻相对容易被识别；（3）体育隐喻识别能力与英语水平呈正相关；（4）调查对象中定期阅读体育新闻报道的极少，而少数几个阅读新闻报道频率高的学生的隐喻识别能力较强。
本研究主要通过问卷调查和测试的方式来分析体育隐喻识别能力与英语阅读水平和阅读频率的关系，试图提出在第二语言学习与教学中隐喻能力的培养的建议，进而为语言教学提供新思路。

关键词：体育隐喻识别能力；非英语专业；英语水平；阅读频率