摘要：AbstractThis paper aimed to investigate the possible relationship between Iranian EFL learners’ metaphoric competence (MC) and their language proficiency. MC here is generally defined as the ability to comprehend and use metaphors in a given language as used in natural discourse. As a practical issue, and in the hope of laying the groundwork for a better understanding and addressing MC in the EFL classroom, the metaphorical competence of 60 male and female Iranian EFL students was assessed; and the scores on OPT were used to evaluate their general English language proficiency. The scores obtained from MC test and those of OPT were processed by SPSS 16.0 to measure the correlation between these variables. The results revealed that, the participants’ language proficiency is positively correlated with their MC. It can be concluded that participants with higher language proficiency will be more metaphorically competent as well.
关键词：Metaphor;Metaphoric competence;Language proficiency;Figurative language
