Figurative language in Business English

February 25th from 5h30 pm to 7h00 pm CET
with Teodora Iordăchescu Popescu,
Professor at “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia
Conference Chair  – CLIE 2017, Alba Iulia
The aim of the webinar is to introduce participants to the topic of figurative language used in the business field. Figurative language, in general, is rather pervasive in the various fields of knowledge pertaining to economy and economics and there is a permanent shift from the general language to the business one to designate new concepts or practices. In particular, metaphoric expressions have been used in the economic discourse since times immemorial, as they have clear communicative functions – to persuade buyers, to impress clients, etc.

After a brief presentation of conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and methods of identification (MIP, MIPUV), some figurative language common to the economic discourse will be tackled, including metaphor, metonymy, and hyperbole. An exemplification will be made from a business corpus in order to further investigate conceptual metaphors such as the economy is a machine versus the economy is an organism, organizations are instruments of domination, unemployment is an enemy. Participants will get a chance to do hands-on activities related to the figurative language used in business English.

Please join & share your experience!

Facilitator Giacomo Ferrari.

Register your attendance here.