چکیده:
The purpose of the study reported in this article was to explore images and metaphors English learners have in mind for vocabulary learning. First, 350 learners in seven cities in Iran with considerable experience of English learning were asked to compare vocabulary learning to concrete objects and activities. Their 130 analogies were reviewed and analyzed multiple times to identify fitting labels and assign inclusive categories. The five most frequent themes which emerged from the analysis were FOOD & DRINK, COLLECTING, JOURNEY, PUZZLE/PROBLEM, and MUSIC. Based on a scrutiny of the metaphorical themes and the images which gave rise to them, some salient practical and theoretical points with implications for teaching language and vocabulary are tentatively discussed.
خلاصه ماشینی:
ir Abstract The purpose of the study reported in this article was to explore images and metaphors English learners have in mind for vocabulary learning.
Based on a scrutiny of the metaphorical themes and the images which gave rise to them, some salient practical and theoretical points with implications for teaching language and vocabulary are tentatively discussed.
At the level of naïve theories of learners, images and metaphors, as ―blueprints of thinking‖, are claimed to have a powerful influence on the learning process and the perception and mental restructuring of the instructional input (Martinez, Sauleda Huber, 2001).
Accordingly, the images, metaphors and analogies language learners may have formed and carry in mind as part of their belief systems can have a significant role in shaping their learning trajectories, the study decisions they make and the learning strategies they adopt.
341) urge researcher to pursue metaphor analysis in the context of foreign language learning and teaching as ―an excellent heuristic for bringing implicit assumptions to awareness, encouraging reflection, finding contradictions, and ultimately fostering change in educational beliefs and practice.
It was in consideration of these implications and upshots that this study attempted to investigate the images and metaphors of language learners on English vocabulary learning as a contribution to the larger agenda of language learners' beliefs and schemata exploration.
The Investigative Procedures To obtain the initial data, this study elicited images and metaphors about English vocabulary and its learning in a foreign context from available and cooperating learners with at least one year's serious language learning experience.