Idiomatic Similes in English and Vietnamese: A Contrastive Analysis

Simile is deemed to be the simplest, yet frequently used in both English and Vietnamese discourse, which has become an essential and enduring part of daily speech as well as literature. A proper understanding of similes in both languages is a bridge to effective communication in the target language when learners have a chance to access extra-linguistic aspects and apply them to develop their linguistic competence considerably. However, due to its close relation with metaphor, in-depth research on simile itself has been somewhat limited and neglected. This paper is devoted to the exploration of similarities and differences between the use of idiomatic similes in English and Vietnamese. Based on the grounds of this contrastive analysis, some recommendations for teaching and learning similes within EFL context will be proposed and discussed.