Understanding metaphors in poetic texts: towards a determination of interpretative operations in secondary school students’ engagement with imagery

Abstract

Metaphorical language plays an important role in literature education. Though it is not exclusive to poetic language it seems to have more prominence in literature than in other texts and an awareness of imagery can often be observed with experienced readers. However, so far little is known about how competences in the field of metaphor and figurative language develop. This article presents a think-aloud-study with students of different years in secondary education who all read the same poem. On the basis of this study and previous research we can distinguish criteria which allow for the determination of difficulty in poetic metaphor. We also develop a coding system and characterise interpretative operations. Results show that development of competences is certainly linked to cognitive development but probably also much influenced by other factors including classroom practices. The article also discusses methodological issues and draws conclusions for future research.