Abstract
ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that students use metaphors when asked to explain digestive processes and nutritional uptake. In this paper, we describe the results of a study designed to gain a deeper understanding of how metaphors and anthropomorphisms are used by students when describing such processes. We applied analyses based on the systemic-functional grammar framework to 123 student responses to a question about nutrition on a Swedish national test in biology in order to identify, describe and analyse how students use metaphors and to understand the linguistic structure of those metaphors. We also considered how the metaphors are linked to metaphor systems and anthropomorphisms, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the role of metaphors in this area. The results of our analyses provide important insights into how students understand digestion and nutrition and could provide the basis for improved teaching materials and methods for these important topics.
Highlights
In Sweden and many other countries, teaching about the human body, for instance, the digestive organs, starts in elementary school and continues throughout school education (Swedish National Agency of Education, 2018)
The metaphors were expressed through all functional roles of the clause, though many metaphors were expressed either through material processes or as first participants, or through a combination of the two, often leading to descriptions of food digestion and nutrient uptake in terms of units being moved through active actions
Our analyses have shown that metaphors are used to a significant degree in the student responses
Summary
In Sweden and many other countries, teaching about the human body, for instance, the digestive organs, starts in elementary school and continues throughout school education (Swedish National Agency of Education, 2018). It is important that children know how different nutrients are absorbed and distributed throughout the body, not least in order to be able to navigate health information in different media, and develop critical thinking in this area (Wiblom et al, 2020). Several studies focusing on different age groups have characterised children’s knowledge of the functions of the digestive system, for example, Teixeira (2000) (ages 4–10 years), Reiss et al (2002) (ages 7 or 15), and Garcia-Barros et al (2011) (ages 3–7 years).
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