What does image schema facilitate in English L2 vocabulary processing?


 This study aims to examine the effectiveness of image-schema-oriented visual aids to cohesively process the
 semantic information of English (L2) phrasal verbs (PVs), leading to the proper understanding of their senses. As previous studies
 suggested the advantage of image-schema-based L2 vocabulary learning, our study hypothesizes that image-schema-oriented visual aids
 in a multimedia environment can develop the motivated semantic networks of L2 PVs, leading to their successful processing and
 comprehension. To verify the hypothesis, we administered two empirical studies to Japanese undergraduates learning with
 image-schema-oriented visual aids. Although they were administered in different settings, both studies showed that the
 participants could obtain significant learning gains, especially figurative meanings. This finding suggests that the use of
 image-schema-oriented aids could successfully process semantic information of L2 PVs enough to develop a motivated semantic
 network and reconfirm the significance of image schema in terms of enhancing learners’ metaphoric competence.