The effect of gender and language proficiency on the metaphor use in the writing of TEFL students

Nazila Fattahi,Musa Nushi

doi:10.1186/s40862-021-00126-1

Nazila Fattahi, Musa Nushi

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-021-00126-1

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Abstract

The ubiquitous nature of metaphor in everyday life and its significance in second language learning has triggered plethoric research on the relationship between metaphor and language learning. To contribute to the still growing literature, the current study explore the effect of learner variables, namely gender and proficiency, on metaphor use in TEFL students’ writing. To achieve that objective, 27 intermediate and 23 upper-intermediate Iranian TEFL students were asked to write on an IELTS Writing Task 2 topic. Fifty essays were analyzed for metaphor use through Metaphor Identification Procedure (Pragglejaz Group in Metaphor Symb 22(1):1–39, 2007) and Vehicle Identification Procedure (Cameron in Metaphor in educational discourse, Continuum, London, 2003). The data analyzed through t-test and multiple regression analysis revealed the advantage of upper-intermediate students over intermediate students concerning metaphor use in their writing. Gender, on the other hand, did not play an influential role in the students’ metaphor use. The findings of this research and the implications they might have for the field of English language teaching will be discussed.

Highlights

Metaphor was traditionally considered as a decorative and fanciful language use and not really pervasive in common speech
To enrich the literature on metaphor use by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, especially Iranian Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) students, the present study investigates the effect of two learner variables, namely gender and language proficiency, on the metaphor use by Iranian TEFL students in their writing
Staring with the question of whether gender has an effect on the students’ metaphor use, the mean and standard deviation of the two groups of participants, displayed in Table 2, revealed that the male students used more metaphors (M = 76.2, SD = 14.4) in their writing compared with the female participants (M = 70.7, SD = 18.4)

Summary

Introduction

Metaphor was traditionally considered as a decorative and fanciful language use and not really pervasive in common speech. The rationale for using metaphors can be attributed to the fact that it is easier for speakers to think about the abstract concepts in terms of more concrete concepts, probably because understanding abstract concepts are facilitated by concrete ones (Kövecses, 2002). From this perspective, metaphor is no longer looked at as a figure of speech present only in specific genres such as literature but one which is used by native speakers in everyday language effortlessly. He believes this difficulty stems from the fact that metaphor is used in many different, but related senses and definitions differ to show

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