Cross-linguistic Influence of Image Schema and Family Resemblance in Chinese EFL Learners’ Acquisition of in and on

Abstract

Despite extensive research on conceptual transfer in L2 acquisition, Chinese EFL learners continue to struggle with ‘in’ and ‘on’. Moreover, methodological challenges persist, and to date, few studies have systematically examined the cross-linguistic influence of image schema and family resemblance on Chinese EFL learners' acquisition of ‘in’ and ‘on’. The present study addresses this gap by integrating a non-verbal task (picture-drawing, designed to elicit the categorisation of the containment and support image schemas) with verbal tasks (fill-in-the-blank and picturedescription) to capture the linguistic manifestation of these categorisation patterns in learners' use of ‘in’ and ‘on’. Fifty Chinese EFL learners completed an eight-item grammar test, with each item consisting of three tasks: fill-inthe-blank, picture-drawing, and picture-description. Two experimental items (car, boat) were designed to create conceptual mismatches, eliciting L1-specific categorisation patterns and predicted errors in the use of ‘in’ and ‘on’, while six control items targeted conceptual matches. The results reveal systematic error patterns reflecting the influence of mismatches in the containment and support image schemas, alongside high confidence in erroneous responses, which suggests limited awareness of these conceptual mismatches. These findings underscore the need for explicit instruction in cognitive restructuring of L2 spatial concepts through cognitive contrastive analysis rather than relying solely on semantic translation, and highlight the potential of visually grounded strategies, such as image schema diagrams and drawing-related tasks, to enhance learners' spatial reasoning and diagnostic assessment in authentic language use.