Turkish EFL learners' interpretation of metaphors: A study on conceptual socialization

Kökcü, Ş. and Ortaçtepe Hart, D. (2022) Turkish EFL learners' interpretation of metaphors: A study on conceptual socialization. International Review of Pragmatics, 14(1), pp. 95-114. (doi: 10.1163/18773109-01401004)

Abstract

This study investigated Turkish EFL learners’ conceptual socialization in terms of their interpretation of English metaphors in three categories; a) conceptually and linguistically similar, b) conceptually similar, linguistically different, and c) conceptually and linguistically different metaphors. Data were collected through sentence level and situation-based tests. Learners’ responses were analyzed by comparing them to the native English speakers’ (NES s). Findings indicated that Turkish EFL learners could only benefit from the situational information when the metaphors were either conceptually or linguistically similar, and their performance differed very much from NES s in terms of correct interpretation of the metaphors. These results underline EFL learners’ lack of exposure to target culture and interaction with native speakers and thus the importance of non-native English speaking teachers (NNEST s) in EFL contexts as the most valuable source of the target language conceptual system.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ortactepe Hart, Dr Deniz
• Authors: Kökcü, Ş., and Ortaçtepe Hart, D.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: International Review of Pragmatics
• Publisher: Brill
• ISSN: 1877-3095
• ISSN (Online): 1877-3109
• Published Online: 22 February 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © Brill 2022
• First Published: First published in International Review of Pragmatics 14(1):95-114
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy