Abstract
Earlier research brings evidence that metaphors facilitate our understanding of the world. In this study we explore Bachelor students’ popular science articles on molecular biology with the aim to determine the frequency and nature of metaphorical concepts used in the articles. For this purpose, a comparative metaphor analysis of students’ texts was conducted. The results show that only few students (5 out of 47) use metaphorical concepts when writing about complex molecular biological mechanisms to non-specialist readers. We discuss that the use of metaphors not only reflect, but may also support, the writer’s subject understanding, especially when metaphorical concepts are created by the writer herself. We suggest that the invention of metaphorical concepts when explaining subject-matter to a layman could be a way for students to improve their subject understanding.
Highlights
IntroductionThe ability to communicate subject-matter, with experts in the field and with persons with a different educational background, is one of the highest valued skills in working life
This research makes the background to the present study, where we further explore science students’ use of metaphorical concepts in their writing
The popular science texts analysed in this study were written in a course context where students perform their Bachelor’s project in either of the majors Biology or Molecular biology at Lund University
Summary
The ability to communicate subject-matter, with experts in the field and with persons with a different educational background, is one of the highest valued skills in working life. This was confirmed in a survey among science alumni from Lund University (Pelger, 2010). Only little effort is made to let science students practice and improve the communication of their subject with non-specialists (Nilsson, 2012; Pelger, 2011; Pelger & Santesson, 2012). Students’ ability to communicate and explain subject-matter to a wider audience may vary largely.
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