Pedagogical Implications of Conceptual M

Conceptual metaphors are pervasive in economic discourse, acting as cognitive bridges that shape readers' understanding of complex trade activities. However, systematic analyses of their patterns in authentic journalistic texts, particularly from a pedagogical perspective, remain limited. This study addresses this gap by investigating the conceptual metaphors in CNN trade news and exploring their implications for English language teaching, especially in the context of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this study employed a corpus-based approach. A specialized DIY corpus was compiled, consisting of 100 CNN trade news articles totaling 32,446 tokens. Key corpus tools were utilized for corpus compilation, automatic semantic domain annotation, and analysis of keywords and collocational patterns. The analysis of the semantic domains revealed four predominant source domains structuring the discourse: WAR, JOURNEY, HUMAN, and UP-DOWN, corresponding to the conceptual metaphors TRADE IS WAR, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IS A JOURNEY, THE ECONOMY IS A HUMAN BODY, and QUANTITATIVE CHANGE IS VERTICAL MOVEMENT. The findings confirm that CNN trade news employs metaphors grounded in universal human experiences to conceptualize abstract economic processes, highlighting that explicit instruction of these metaphors can facilitate learners' comprehension of specialized economic texts and enhance vocabulary acquisition.