Metaphors of English as a foreign language

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the conceptual metaphors of students on English as a foreign language. Participants are students of English (n=80) at Amasya University preparatory classes. Students’ metaphors are collected via metaphor elicitation sheets with the prompt “English is like ... because ...” and analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings reveal a variety of underlying conceptualizations that reflect different individual mappings across conceptual domains such as PRODUCT, INNOVATION, INSTRUMENT, HARDSHIP, NEED, OBLIGATION and JOURNEY. The results show that students generally have positive views on English as a foreign language, and they consider it as a necessity in their lives. The study is significant in the sense that it emphasizes the use of metaphor as an efficient cognitive tool to better grasp students’ beliefs of their foreign language. Additionally, it provides an opportunity for the teachers to better understand how language students perceive English as a foreign language. Keywords: Foreign language teaching, English, metaphor