Japanese Idiom Learning through Cognitive Linguistics Concept (Idioms Presentation)

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INTRODUCTION
Proficiency with Japanese idioms is essential for pupils as they greatly enhance effective verbal communication.Nevertheless, achieving proficiency in Japanese idioms cannot be deemed as successful since students are often compelled to commit every encountered idiom to memory.Memorizing every idiom by heart can be quite demanding for kids.
An effective approach to enhance the retention of idiomatic meaning is to elucidate the correlation between idiomatic meaning and lexical meaning (Sutedi, 2019).This approach has gained significant traction among cognitive linguists in Japan, experiencing a recent surge in popularity.Notable works in this field include Momiyama (1995Momiyama ( , 1997Momiyama ( , 1998Momiyama ( , 2002Momiyama ( , 2009Momiyama ( , 2010)), Lee (2010), and various other contributions.
In the field of linguistics, phrases in which certain words only have a literal meaning and lack any idiomatic meaning are classified as ordinary phrases.
Conversely, there are phrases where certain words only have an idiomatic meaning and lack any literal meaning.Additionally, there are phrases where certain words have both a literal meaning and an idiomatic meaning.(Sutedi, determined through lexical analysis.However, the second type is considerably challenging as the lexical meaning and idiomatic meaning are entirely unrelated.
Similarly, the third type follows the same pattern, making phrases or idioms of this nature regarded as intricate.which must be committed to memory.
An attempt to facilitate students' comprehension and retention of Japanese idioms is made by offering diverse illustrations that elucidate the connection between the literal meaning and idiomatic meaning of these expressions (Momiyama (1997), Sutedi, et al. (2016), Lee (2010), etc.).Undoubtedly, this will enhance comprehension and facilitate endeavors to offer support to individuals learning the Japanese language (Yamada & Kasihino, 1998).
These specialists employ three rhetorical devices, specifically metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche, to elucidate the correlation between lexical meaning and idiomatic meaning inside an idiom.These three figures of speech are commonly discussed in the field of cognitive linguistics, particularly when examining the connection between the fundamental meaning and the extended meaning in a polysemy.
The constraints of the three rhetorical devices employed in this study pertain to the viewpoints of Japanese scholars in cognitive linguistics, including Momiyama (1997Momiyama ( , 1998)), Sato (1998), Seto (1995Seto ( & 1997)), and other experts.A metaphor is a rhetorical device that draws a comparison between two entities, A and B, highlighting their similarities, whether they are tangible or abstract.
Metonymy is a rhetorical device that establishes a relationship between two entities, A and B, that are near one other in both physical and temporal dimensions.
Proximity in space can manifest as a connection between a possessor and the possessed, while closeness in time can manifest as a relationship of causality, means, and goals.Synecdoche is a rhetorical device where a specific relationship is used to symbolize a broader concept, or vice versa, when a more specific thing is used to communicate a general idea.For instance, the term "hana" is commonly employed to explicitly refer to eggs from domestic chickens, such as in the phrase "eating eggs."Conversely, the word "Sanyo" (a brand of water pump machine) is specifically utilized to designate water pump devices in a broad sense, as in the statement "my Sanyo is broken." Several research findings from cognitive linguistics hold potential for application in Japanese language instruction.As an illustration, Sutedi, et al. (2016) examined a specific Japanese idiom, specifically hana ga takai.This idiom is derived from the phrase '*high nose'.While this expression does not exist in Japanese lexically, it carries an idiomatic meaning of 'arrogant'.Essentially, this phrase or idiom possesses solely an idiomatic significance, devoid of any lexical significance.
The metonymic relationship between the lexical meaning (high-nosed) and the idiomatic meaning (arrogant) in the given idiom is the explanation for their connection.The accompanying visual representation serves to clarify the concept.
Japanese individuals typically demonstrate respect for others by performing a bow, known as "ojigi".During this bowing posture, the nose naturally assumes a lower position than normal, therefore exhibiting a drooping appearance.If he lacks respect for someone, he will refuse to bow, thereby keeping his nose elevated.
Essentially, a Japanese individual will demonstrate respect by lowering their nose, but failing to do so would involve keeping their nose elevated.Individuals who consistently display an elevated nasal posture are commonly associated with arrogance, thus giving rise to the moniker "hana ga takai," meaning "high nosed." The aforementioned actions might be viewed as a gesture of deference, where lowering the nose signifies showing respect, while elevating the nose signifies highlighting arrogance.The relationship between 'means' and 'goals' is within the domain of metonymy.If students inquire about the reason for using the lexical word "high-nosed" to convey the connotation of arrogance, the answer lies in its semantic equivalence.The answer lies in the approach and objective, which involves refraining from lowering the position of the nose, hence indicating a lack of desire to demonstrate respect for others (arrogance).This is an instance of metonymy.The reason for mentioning the nose is that Japanese individuals typically indicate themselves by pointing their index finger towards their nose, whereas Indonesians commonly point towards their chest.To clarify, the nose can be regarded as a symbol of Japanese identity, while the chest is seen as a symbol of Indonesian identity.
The research conducted by the aforementioned experts is solely focused on creating and enhancing readers' comprehension of research findings pertaining to idioms.There is a scarcity of study findings that have been implemented in the field of Japanese language instruction, particularly for those who are not native speakers.Hence, the author aims to utilize diverse findings from prior research on the interpretation of idioms to instruct Japanese to the author's students.
Assuming the student had sufficient comprehension of the figures of speech employed in cognitive linguistics to enhance the process of reinforcing the memory of a Japanese idiom's meaning.The primary aims of this research are: (1) to analyze the figures of speech present in Japanese idioms utilized as instructional materials; (2) to assess the impact of incorporating three figures of speech in connecting the lexical and idiomatic meanings on the learning outcomes of Japanese idioms; and (3) to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the group of students who received explanations employing the three figures of speech and the group of students who studied independently.

METHOD
The investigation identified a total of 27 figures of speech utilized as objects.
The correlation between lexical meaning and idiomatic meaning is evident through the three categories of figures of speech.A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine the correlation between the meanings in each figure of speech.The findings of the analysis conducted on the 27 idioms examined in this study are described in table 1.
Once the sort of figure of speech in each idiom was identified, experimental procedures were employed to teach fourth semester students about idioms.In this lecture, the instructor provides a detailed explanation of both the literal and figurative meanings of each idiom.Additionally, the presentation includes a comprehensive analysis with visual examples that highlight the various figures of speech associated with each idiom.
The experimental class received the treatment by being presented with 27 Japanese idioms in a tabular format.Each table included columns for the number, idiom, lexical meaning, and idiomatic meaning.The tables concluded with a figure of speech that described the relationship between the lexical meaning and the idiomatic meaning.The teacher elucidates the correlation between lexical meaning and idiomatic meaning in each idiom by categorizing the figure of speech as either metaphor, metonymy, or synecdoche.Regarding the control lesson, the instructor solely presented a compilation of idioms together with their idiomatic interpretations, subsequently elucidating them without explicitly referencing the specific figures of speech they encompassed.Students in this control class are granted autonomy to internalize information according to their own methods.
On April 11, 2022, a test was conducted in both classes.The test consisted of writing down the idiomatic meanings of the 27 idioms that had been previously covered.After a week, interviews were carried out with select experimental classrooms to assess if the introduction of figures of speech had an impact on reinforcing students' learning or not.Interviews were performed in certain control courses to investigate the methods by which students retained and learned idiomatic expressions.The outcomes of the two tests were examined using t-values.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The findings of the investigation into the correlation between the lexical and idiomatic meanings of these 27 idioms indicate that they all fall within three categories of rhetorical devices, specifically metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche.
There are a total of 12 idioms that metaphorically express relationships, another 12 that metonymically express relationships, and 2 that synecdochically express connections.The relationship between the lexical meaning and idiomatic meaning in Japanese idioms can be elucidated by employing these three figures of speech, which align with the principles of cognitive linguistics.
The test results from both the experimental class and control class were examined, verifying each student's response.The experimental class can process a maximum of 22 samples, while the control class can process up to 25 samples.
Subsequently, a t-test was conducted to determine the statistical significance of the test results for the two classes.The following data was collected from the results of statistical calculations.

Table 2 .
Result of statistic calculation on t-test