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2013 (c) EJRE published by

International Association of Social Science Research - IASSR

European Journal of

Research on Education

ISSN: 2147-6284 European Journal of Research on Education, 2014, Special Issue: Contemporary Studies

in Education, 92-97

Using metaphors in language teaching and learning

Lulzime Kamberi a *

aState University of Tetovo, Ilindenska nn, Tetovo 200, FYROM

Abstract

Metaphor analysis has been used in literature, especially in poetry in the past. However, recently, in the past decades, it has been

used in second language acquisition as well. With the impact of Lakoff and Turner (1989), the meaning of metaphors has

changed their origin by becoming ‘unconscious and automatic’ as Lakoff and Turner state. This study is an investigation of

metaphors used in foreign language teaching and learning. Seeking to assess the value of metaphors in language teaching, this

paper reports initial results from a study into the effectiveness of metaphors in second/foreign language instruction in an English

Language Skills III course, conducted in the first semester of the year 2012, at the department of English Language and

Literature, at the Faculty of Languages Cultures and Communications (LCC) at South East European University. Applying

content analysis (Leedy & Ormord, 2005) to identify themes biases and meaning, the study investigated students’ attitudes

towards English language learning and teaching by using metaphors. Convenience sampling among students enrolled in the third

semester identified a non-random sample of students representing 60% of the possible cohort.

Keywords: Acquisition, attitudes, English, foerign langage, Macedonia

1. Introduction

All of us who have taken a literature course have become familiar with the term metaphor as defining a ‘notion

described by another notion’. When Shakespeare’s Romeo, for example, says that “Juliet is the sun”, we recognize

her character as positive and shiny. This metaphor, indicates that, for Romeo, she is as important as the sun, without

which, as we all know, there is no life. Removing the metaphor, Romeo could have said, “Juliet is my life”.

Metaphor analysis has traditionally been used in the study of literature, especially poetry. More recently, it has

been used in second language acquisition where, as Lakoff and Turner (1989) have explained, the nature of a

metaphor evolves to the point where it becomes an ‘unconscious and automatic’ alternative to the word it replaces.

Seeking to assess the value of metaphors in foreign language teaching and learning, this study has used

metaphors to elicit conceptions regarding English language teaching and learning, and conceptions about teachers of

English as a foreign language. The paper reports initial findings of the effectiveness second/foreign language

instruction using metaphors in an English Language Skills III course.

Using the approach described by Lackoff and Johnson (1980) in which metaphor is considered as integral to

the development of “thought and reason”, this paper examines the use of metaphors to gain insight into students’

preconceptions and perceptions regarding their language learning, language teachers, and the language itself.

* E-mail address: l.kamberi12@gmail.com

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2. Literature review

Approaches to metaphor depend on the focus of the study and their common study in literature tends to focus

on L1 poetry teaching in literature classes. This study, however, focuses on the effectiveness of metaphor use in

EFL/ESL teaching and learning.

In the Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics (2002), a metaphor is described as a ‘figure of

speech’ used to give a special effect (p 201). Furthermore, two types of figures of speech are mentioned: simile is

described as something compared to something else by using a function word such as ‘like’ or ‘as’. Metaphor uses

no function words, Instead, as previously noted, one notion is described by another notion’. However, as previously

indicated, this paper is based on Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) and Lakoff and Turner (1989) approach to metaphor

use and analysis in which metaphors are not special but rather ‘ordinary and commonplace’. Furthermore, they

claim that ‘human thought processes are metaphorical’ and we use metaphors all the time, everyday without even

noticing. They represent our cognitive processes and our way of understanding and interpreting the world.

Focusing on the use of ‘conceptual metaphors’ in ELT, Bailey (2003) has used metaphors to elicit concepts

regarding language teaching and learning. This paper expands on Bailey’s conceptual metaphors.

3. Background of the study

In an effort to help my students learn more easily and improve their language skills, but also to encourage critical

thinking and problem–solving while gathering feedback on the course, I introduced metaphors in language teaching

and learning.

The study was developed to examine the value of metaphors for tertiary students learning foreign languages by

gathering empirical evidence from the student evaluation of foreign-language learning courses. Further, it sought to

gather practical evidence for the value of reflective free-writing in language learning and critical thinking

development, a strategy identified as useful for teachers, researchers, policymakers and curriculum developers in

promoting learner autonomy.

3.1. Research questions

Based on my professional teaching experience and informed by the emerging findings in the literature review

above, the research questions addressed in this paper include:

1. To what extent can metaphors describe a student’s state of mind?

2. How useful are metaphors in providing course feedback?

3. Does the use of metaphor affect the development of students’ critical thinking skills?

4. What are students’ perceptions regarding metaphors in language teaching and learning?

4. The study

The study was conducted across one semester in the academic year 2011/2012. Acknowledging convenience

sampling, the subjects who participated in this study were attending the English Language Skills III (B2 according

to CEFR) course in the English language department of the Languages Cultures and Communication Faculty

(n=35).

4.1. The subjects

Participants ranged in age from 19 - 20 years. Females constituted 74% of the sample group (n=26) with the

remaining 17% being male (n=6). The gender of the remaining 3 students was not recorded. Furthermore, some

students have not responded to all metaphors and have left one or the other metaphor response empty. For example,

Using metaphors in language teaching and learning

94

one student has written a metaphor on the teachers and none on the subject, or major. Therefore, the number of

responses to the different variables varies across sections.

4.1.1. Instrumentation

Metaphors were written at regular intervals in the journals but in this study only those collected at the end of the

semester in the form of a survey have been included. The survey was subjected to a modified content analysis

(Fraenkel & Wallen, 2003), to identify themes and topics. Semi-structured interviews with volunteer students were

undertaken to substantiate the essential findings of the content analysis. More precisely, thematic content analyses

based on Neundorf (2002) have been made in order to “…measure psychological characteristics of individuals …”

(p.192).

4.1.1.1. Data Collection and analysis

Initially, students were given a short questionnaire with some sentence beginnings which they had to finish.

These sentences, once finished, became metaphors by which students described themselves as students, their

teachers, and their major, in this case English language and literature, at the end of the course. Subsequently,

metaphors were compared to identify themes and topics, followed by student interviews to substantiate the survey

results. Finally, frequency statistics were applied to analyze and inferences were made to report the results.

4.1.1.2. Research limitations

It must be argued that one of the limitations of this study is its relatively small sample size. A second limitation

derives from the gender imbalance generated, in this case, from the convenience sampling approach. The modified

content identified a range of positive and negative effects deriving from student surveys and interview responses in

response to metaphor usage which are explained in greater detail below. The quantitative results have been divided

into three categories based on the survey. These include: metaphors describing their teacher, metaphors describing

fellow students as learners, and metaphors describing their major study (English language).

5. Results

Further, metaphors, based on student responses have been divided into two sub-categories. The first group

includes positive metaphors and the second neutral metaphorsAll tables should be numbered with Arabic numerals.

Headings should be placed above tables, underlined and centred. Leave one line space between the heading and the

table. Only horizontal lines should be used within a table, to distinguish the column headings from the body of the

table. Tables must be embedded into the text and not supplied separately.

5.1. Metaphors describing teachers

According to the quantitative results, students were generally satisfied with the course, their teachers, and their

major. For example the majority of the respondents described their teacher using metaphors such as: water, flower,

leader, coach, sun, manager, bee, hairdresser, will, moon, sky, tidy, example, famous, and gardener (see table 1,

below).

Table 1. Metaphors describing teachers positively

Metaphor Number of occurrences

1. Water

2. Flower 3. Leader

4. Coach

5. Captain 6. Pilot

7. Wind

8. Sun

a. 3

b. 3 c. 1

d. 1

e. 1 f. 1

g. 1

h. 2

Lulzime Kamberi

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9. Milk

10. Bee

11. Gardener 12. Hair- dresser

13. Manager

14. Singer 15. Moon

16. Sky

17. Example 18. Will

Total

i. 1

j. 1

k. 1 l. 1

m. 1

n. 1 o. 1

p. 1

q. 1 r. 1

23

Several of the metaphors used to describe the teacher seemed to be too vague to be grouped as either positive or

negative. These include: bee, fox, and boss to describe their teachers and these are considered as neutral (n=3).

Furthermore, there were several students who had no response to describing teachers (n=6) and a few (n=3) who had

used no metaphors but adjectives, e.g. royal, famous and tidy.

5.1.1. Metaphors describing students

Based on their perceptions as university students, the majority of the participants in this study described

themselves as very positive and words like flowers, fish or stars are among the most frequently used. Table 2 below

lists these responses in detail.

Table 2. Metaphors describing students positively

Metaphor Number of occurrences

1. flower a. 7

2. star b. 3 3. fish c. 2

4. actor d. 1

5. baby e. 1 6. sailor f. 1

7. sparrow g. 1

8. song i. 1 9. player j. 1

10. passenger k. 1

11. lion l. 1 12.apple m. 1

13. plant n. 1

14. leaf o. 1 15. boat p. 1

Total 24

Even though the majority of the students described themselves positively (n=24), some used metaphors that could

be regarded as neutral (n=6). These included words such as: customer twice, client twice, robot, and follower once

each. Nevertheless, others did not write anything (n=5), while a few had used adjectives which are considered as

invalid data (n=3). Finally, there was one who had used a simile.

5.1.1.1. Metaphors describing students

Based on the survey responses, it seems that students who are studying English language seem to be very

contented with their choice. Most of the respondents seem to adore their major and are generally positive about the

bright future they hope it will bring to them. A summary of the responses and metaphors used to describe the

English language is given in table 3 below.

Using metaphors in language teaching and learning

96

Table 3. Metaphors describing English positively

Metaphor Number of

occurrences

1. Sky 2. River

3. Window

4. Treasure 5. Game that makes us feel good

6. moon-other languages stars

7. a flower that needs to be watered 8. air that is everywhere

9. device to go everywhere

10. window

11.international

12. black gold that everyone should have

13.land

Total 23

2 2

2

1 1

1

1 1

1

1

8

1

1

In spite of the fact that the majority (n=23) of the students have used metaphors to describe their subject

positively, two (n=2) were counted as neutral. These included ocean without end and rich grammar. Furthermore, as

in the other cases, a number of students (n=5) had used an adjective, while others had written no response (n= 5).

5.2 Semi-structured interviews

The student semi-structured interviews confirmed that students were generally satisfied with their courses,

teachers and selection of the English language major. Students believed that their teachers were responsible and

committed to their job so they merited the nature-related metaphors such as sun, flower, moon, sky, leaf.

Furthermore, regarding the neutral metaphors, they claimed that their peers maybe wanted to just joke and used

words like: fox, bee, boss, robot, etc. With regard to their English major, participants in this study stated that apart

from the English grammar (syntax and morphology) classes, they were fairly satisfied with their choice. Responding

to the structure of the study survey itself, the respondents interviewed reported that they were very motivated about

metaphors and metaphor usage.

6. Conclusions and recommendations

The students participating in this study showed that they were confident using various metaphors to explain their

ideas, perceptions and satisfaction levels, and to describe their feelings about their teachers, courses and personal

states of mind.

The metaphor strategy applied in this study provided useful feedback to the teacher in evaluating the course,

instruction, students’ feelings, and their major. Applying the strategy with a structured survey, students were

challenged and provoked to think critically and respond reflectively to the course evaluation. On the basis of both

survey results and interview responses including facial expressions and readiness to respond, the study tentatively

confirmed that metaphor is strongly motivating. However, the small sample size of this study and the ambiguity of

some of the metaphors suggest that there are several areas requiring further research. In particular, discourse

analysis of case studies over a longer period of time is suggested. Using and collecting metaphors on a daily basis as

a reflection of the lesson, focus groups after each week, month, etc. would give a deeper insight in assessing the

classes daily and over a long period of time while, at the same time, affirming the use of metaphor by students as an

effective and enjoyable learning strategy.

This paper confirms the significance of metaphor as a valuable tool for tertiary students learning foreign

languages. The study offers empirical evidence for the importance of metaphors as a useful tool in assessing foreign-

language learning courses and promoting critical thinking skills in language learning. Furthermore, this study

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provides practical evidence for the value of reflective free-writing in language and critical thinking development. On

this basis, it is recommended as a strategy for developing learner autonomy to be considered by teachers,

researchers, curriculum developers and policymakers.

References

Neundorf, K.A. (2002).The content analysis guidebook. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Lakoff, G. (992). The contemporary theory of metaphor. Retrieved from: http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~israel/lakoff-ConTheor Metaphor.pdf

Lakoff, G & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago University Press.

Lakoff, G & Turner, M. (1989). More than Cool Reason. A field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

Richards, C. J. & Schmidt, R. (2002). Dictionary of language teaching & Applied Linguistics.Longman Pearson Education Limited, Edinburg

Gate-Harlow.Essex CM 20 2JE, England.

Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2003). How to design and evaluate research in education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.