| List of Abbreviations | 第1-5页 |
| List of Tables | 第5-6页 |
| Table of Contents | 第6-9页 |
| Abstract | 第9-11页 |
| 摘要 | 第11-13页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第13-18页 |
| ·The Background of the Research | 第13-14页 |
| ·Research Objectives | 第14-15页 |
| ·Significance of the Research | 第15-16页 |
| ·Methodology and Data Collection | 第16-17页 |
| ·Organization of the Thesis | 第17-18页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第18-27页 |
| ·Definitions of Key Terms | 第18-19页 |
| ·Metaphor | 第18页 |
| ·Frequency | 第18-19页 |
| ·The View of UBL on Metaphor | 第19-22页 |
| ·The Theory of UBL | 第19-22页 |
| ·The Network/Exemplar Model | 第20-21页 |
| ·The View of UBL on SLA | 第21-22页 |
| ·The View of UBL on Metaphor | 第22页 |
| ·Frequency and Metaphor | 第22-25页 |
| ·Relevant Studies on Frequency Abroad and at Home | 第22-23页 |
| ·The Explanation of Metaphor Motivated by Frequency Effects from the Usage-based Model | 第23-24页 |
| ·Previous Studies of the Effect of Frequency on Metaphor Abroad and at Home | 第24-25页 |
| ·Summary | 第25-27页 |
| Chapter Three Experiment 1 | 第27-38页 |
| ·Experiment Design | 第27-31页 |
| ·Research Question and Hypothesis | 第27-28页 |
| ·Participants | 第28页 |
| ·Research Instruments | 第28-30页 |
| ·Research Procedures and Data Collection | 第30页 |
| ·Data Analysis | 第30-31页 |
| ·Results | 第31-35页 |
| ·Differences in the Acceptability of Metaphorical Sentences with Low and High Frequency | 第31-34页 |
| ·The Results for EP, Q1, Q2, Q3, and the Acceptability of Frequent and Infrequent Metaphors: a Correlation Analysis | 第34-35页 |
| ·Discussions | 第35-38页 |
| ·Discussions of the Results of Difference in Acceptability for Frequent and Infrequent Mtaphors | 第35-36页 |
| ·Discussions of the Correlation Analysis | 第36-38页 |
| Chapter Four Experiment 2 | 第38-49页 |
| ·Experiment Design | 第38-40页 |
| ·Research Question and Hypothesis | 第38-39页 |
| ·Participants | 第39页 |
| ·Research Instruments | 第39页 |
| ·Research Procedures and Data Collection | 第39-40页 |
| ·Data Analysis | 第40页 |
| ·Results | 第40-45页 |
| ·Differences in the CT of Frequent and Infrequent Metaphorical Sentences | 第40-43页 |
| ·The Results for EP, Q1, Q2, Q3, and CT of Frequent and Infrequent Metaphors: a Correlation Analysis | 第43-45页 |
| ·Discussions | 第45-49页 |
| ·Discussions of the Results of Difference in CT for Frequent and Infrequent Metaphors | 第45-46页 |
| ·Discussions of the Correlation Analysis | 第46-49页 |
| Chapter Five Experimen 3 | 第49-57页 |
| ·Experiment Design | 第49-51页 |
| ·Research Question and Hypothesis | 第49页 |
| ·Participants | 第49页 |
| ·Research Instruments | 第49-50页 |
| ·Research Procedures and Data Collection | 第50页 |
| ·Data Analysis | 第50-51页 |
| ·Results | 第51-54页 |
| ·Differences in the Number of Production Tokens (PTs) for Low and High Frequency | 第51-53页 |
| ·The Results for EP, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Productivity of Frequent and Infrequent Metaphors: a Correlation Analysis | 第53-54页 |
| ·Discussions | 第54-57页 |
| ·Discussions of the Results of Difference in Acceptability for Frequent and Infrequent Metaphors | 第54-56页 |
| ·Discussions of the Correlation Analysis | 第56-57页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusions and Implications | 第57-63页 |
| ·Major Findings | 第57-59页 |
| ·Implications of the Study for Metaphor Research and Metaphor Instruction in SLA | 第59-61页 |
| ·Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research | 第61-63页 |
| Notes | 第63-64页 |
| Bibliography | 第64-70页 |
| Appendixes | 第70-78页 |
| Appendix Ⅰ | 第70-73页 |
| Appendix Ⅱ | 第73-75页 |
| Appendix Ⅲ | 第75-76页 |
| Appendix IV | 第76-78页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第78-80页 |
| Publications | 第80页 |
