Metaphorical conceptual formations in contemporary English educational discourse (based on ted-talks video lectures)

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Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsyubynskyi State Pedagogical University

Metaphorical conceptual formations in contemporary English educational discourse (based on ted-talks video lectures)

Mosiichuk A.V.

candidate of science (philology)

associate professor

Shubovych I.I.

master of philology

Abstract

The paper examines metaphorical conceptual formations in contemporary English educational discourse from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The paper claims that conceptual metaphors may be indicative of different types of teacher-student interaction, in particular teacher- or student-centered learning. The results of the research show that in contemporary English educational discourse, TEACHING is metaphorically associated with TRAVELLING, PLAYING, ACTING, and COOKING, whereby the focus is on both, the students and instructor, as characteristic of the student-centered approach.

Key words: Conceptual Metaphor Theory, conceptual metaphor, educational discourse

Аннотация

teacher student pedagogical metaphor

В статье анализируются метафорические концептуальные образования в современном англоязычном педагогическом дискурсе с точки зрения теории концептуальной метафоры. Предполагается, что концептуальные метафоры могут указывать на разные типы взаимодействия между учителем и студентами, а именно, учитель- или студент-центрированное обучение. Результаты исследования выявили, что в современном англоязычном педагогическом дискурсе ОБУЧЕНИЕ метафорически ассоциируется с такими концептами, как ПУТЕШЕСТВИЕ, ИГРА/СПОРТ, АКТЁРСКАЯ ИГРА и КУЛИНАРИЯ, в ходе осуществления которых в фокусе находятся и учитель, и ученик, что свидетельствует про студент-центрированный подход в обучении.

Ключевые слова: теория концептуальной метафоры, концептуальная метафора, педагогический дискурс

Introduction

Linguistic studies of educational discourse are growing in popularity due to the changing nature of teacher-student interaction in the modern world whereby the traditional role of the teacher as the sole leader in the classroom environment is substituted by shared responsibility of instructors and learners [6, p. 35]. In this regard, the analysis of the linguistic organization of educational discourse from the linguocognitive perspective is instrumental in understanding the nature of educational interaction in addition to having applied linguistic implications, in particular how the communication of the instructor and the learner may affect positive student outcomes. The present study aims to reveal conceptual metaphors based on fragments of contemporary educational discourse in an attempt to shed light on the specifics of conceptualization of teacher-student interaction in the modern English-speaking community.

Literature Overview. The existing body of linguistic research on educational discourse has mostly focused on the definition of the term and delineation of the participants of pedagogical interaction [6] as well as a description of the distinctive features of classroom discourse [2] and its possible violations [3]. The exploration of metaphor in educational discourse has been conducted from both a theoretical perspective with a focus on metaphorical modelling of basic concepts in educational literature [1; 4] and from the applied linguistic standpoint [5].

The objective of the paper is to reveal metaphorical conceptual models underlying teaching and learning based on English educational discourse by employing Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The hypothesis of the present study is that conceptual metaphors allow characterizing teacher-student interaction as a teacher- or student-centered depending on the metaphorical schemes involved.

The research material and methods. The research material is represented by fragments of videolectures taken from the Internet-resource “TED-talks”, which offers a variety of resources on educational topics, including teaching, parenting, upbringing, etc. The methodology of the research encompasses general scientific methods, such as induction, deduction, analysis, and synthesis, as well as specialized methods of linguistic analysis, in particular, the methods of conceptual analysis, discourse analysis, and interpretative-contextual analysis. The present study employs integrative methodology, which allows determining metaphorical conceptual models embodied in the semantics of the lexical units referring to teaching and learning. It incorporates two stages: 1) the analysis of the lexemes, which disclose conceptual implications indicative of TEACHING/LEARNING concepts; 2) analogical mapping of the conceptual implications of the concepts of the source domain of the conceptual metaphor onto those of the target domain with the aim of revealing metaphorical conceptual models characteristic of contemporary English educational discourse [9, p. 116].

Results and Discussion. In the present study, educational discourse is interpreted as a type of interaction, which occurs within educational space, being determined by the status and role of the participants of communication whereby the teacher and the student are regarded as either the addresser or the addressee of the communicative act [2, p. 65]. In educational discourse, as a category of institutional discourse, the addresser usually belongs to a learning institution and has expert knowledge of the subject [6, p. 45; 10, p. 25]. In this regard, educational discourse can be defined as a type of communication between teachers and students realized in educational institutions of different kinds. The addresser as the subject of educational discourse frequently initiates interaction and knows how to establish contact with the addressee or between addressees in order to communicate certain information to them. The addressee, or the object of educational discourse, is either a participant or a group of participants who the interaction is aimed at.

Educational discourse has several distinctive features: there are participants of communication whose social status is clearly delineated in the community (teacher, tutor, academic advisor, student, pupil, etc.); it is realized in a place that makes the given discourse educational (school, university, etc.); it has informally fixed values (e.g., education means success, a poor mark is associated with slow academic progress); it is characterized by definite strategies aiming at the object; it can be realized in the form of a dialogue or a monologue [2, p. 65]. The present research goes a step further in its explanation of educational discourse claiming that the latter is not necessarily limited to the classroom (classroom discourse) or learning institution because communication on educational topics can occur anytime and anywhere. The results of the study indicate that the fragments of TED-talks video lectures delivered by professionals in the sphere of education abound in conceptual metaphorical models. The class of metaphors, which is under analysis in this research, is LEARNING/TEACHING metaphors which are interpreted from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, where these abstract concepts can be presented in terms of other (usually more concrete) [8]. The group of conceptual metaphors based on humans' experience with physical objects, their own bodies, in particular, offering “ways of viewing events, activities, emotions, ideas, etc., as entities and substances” is known as ontological metaphors [8, p. 25]. In this regard, TEACHING/LEARNING is understood in terms of the PROCESS while TEACHER/LEARNER can be SUBJECT/OBJECT, depending on the situation. This metaphor is further delineated in terms of a set of structural metaphors. In this regard, the concepts LEARNING and TEACHING can be metaphorically presented as structured activities that are easier to explicate and understand [8, p. 25]. The first group of structural metaphors distinguished in the present study is TEACHING / LEARNING IS TRAVELLING. A good example of this conceptual metaphor can be found in the following fragment of a TED video-lecture on teaching: Students never know what is going to be next in this long but full of discoveries journey (TED).

The concept LEARNING in the target domain of the conceptual metaphor is represented here by the lexical unit students and is interpreted in terms of the concept TRAVELLING verbalized by a word- combination long but full of discoveries journey, which constitutes the source domain of the conceptual metaphor. The contextual-interpretive analysis allows deducing the meaning of the analyzed fragment: learning is regarded as a long journey full of discoveries (e.g., new knowledge, experience, etc.). Based on G. Lakoff and M. Johnson's classification [8], the analyzed metaphor can be referred to the class of structural metaphors.

One more example belonging to this class is the following: Children are different now. That is why pedagogues have to know what it means nowadays “teacher-student” interaction. You shouldfeel yourself like old experienced captains, who are looking for new harbors for their vessels, which look different from ones you owned twenty years ago (TED). The given example actualizes the metaphorical conceptual model LEARNING IS TRAVELLING whereby TEACHERS (pedagogues) are understood as CAPTAINS (old experienced captains) and STUDENTS (children) as VESSELS. Hence, it can be concluded that in this example, teacher-student interaction is interpreted as the relationship between the leader (subject) guiding the student (object). Similar to the captain who steers its vessel on the sea, the teacher guides his/her student towards a harbor that can be associated with new methods, materials, knowledge, experience, etc.

The next group of metaphorical formations can be grouped around the conceptual metaphor LEARNING IS SPORT/GAME. Consider the following example: Today learners perceive the English language not as a whole undivided system, they rather stick for the rule of Wschodnioeuropejskie Czasopismo Naukowe four domains: reading, listening, writing, speaking, due to which the communicative competence is formed. They play with them and always know what their trump card is and what course leads to failure. And our mission is to help find a balance on the level of each leaner. In the given abstract, the lexical units learners, the English language, reading, listening, writing, speaking allow identifying the concept LEARNING, which constitutes the target domain of the conceptual metaphor while the lexical units play, failure actualize the conceptual features of the concept GAME. Notably, the lexical units trump card, course verbalize the conceptual features of CARD GAME, which constitutes the source domain. By projecting the conceptual features of the source domain onto those of the target domain we arrive at the conceptual metaphor LEARNING ENGLISH IS A CARD GAME where PLAYERS (students) play (learn) based on certain rules knowing what their trump card, or strong point, is. The analysis of this conceptual metaphor allows interpreting the status of the learner as that of a subject and the role of the teacher as that of an assistant (help find a balance).

Another group of metaphorical formations is united by the common source domain ART. The following fragment of educational discourse can illustrate LEARNING IS ART metaphor: They (students) want to get not only fluently pronounced information, they want to feel teacher's presence at the classroom, your emotions, desire to teach them and interest in them. To some extent they are spectators and you are actors, who want them to attend your show one more time with no less interest (TED talks). In the example above, the lexical units spectators, show allow identifying the concept THEATRE (ART), which constitutes the source domain, revealing the conceptual metaphor TEACHING IS ACTING where TEACHER IS AN ACTOR, STUDENT IS A SPECTATOR, and CLASSROOM IS A SHOW (THEATRE). The roles of the student and the teacher in this context can be determined as an object and subject respectively.

A group of metaphorical formations analyzed in English educational discourse testify to the LEARNING IS COOKING metaphor. Consider the following fragment of a TED video-lecture: Raise your hand who enjoys eating flavorless food... Surely, nobody. The same is with learning. ... my work experience was like learning how to add, combine, interchange and avoid different means of learning, methods, strategies and all this contemporary educational stuff. For you to be more understandable it was like a cooking show - a lot of small watchers, who were divided into three groups: the first one - they understand my recipes and sometimes did very good; the second one - they just liked watching me. At least they have to do something at school; the third one - my recipies were really complicated for them... .With time Ifound the way out - we have to cook together andfirst of all we have to add love to each dish. Only in this case these small gourmets will be satisfied with the process and you with the result (TED).

(East European Scientific Journal) #1(53), 2020

The example above allows revealing a conceptual structural metaphor LEARNING IS COOKING, whereby the conceptual implications from the source domain COOKING are transferred to the target domain LEARNING. The process of cooking is part of everyone's routine, that is why explaining the abstract process of learning in terms of cooking is much more understandable. It coherently structures the relations between the participants as a set of conceptual metaphors: TEACHER IS COOK, STUDENTS ARE GOURMETS, who taste EDUCATIONAL STAFF as FOOD/DISHES. Hence, an instructor has to employ various methods and strategies, or RECIPIES, in teaching students, what is more, ideally, teachers and students have to “cook” together to make the interaction in the classroom (COOKING SHOW) more interesting and effective. Thus, the analysis of this structural metaphor indicates that a teacher is a subject who chooses and offers educational resources for students as the object of the educational process.

Conclusions. In summary, the analysis of the outlined conceptual metaphors allowed us to conclude that in the contemporary English-speaking community, TEACHING/LEARNING is viewed as a process, which has participants (SUBJECT/OBJECT) interacting with one another whose positions are not fixed. Notably, the linguocognitive analysis of the above conceptual metaphors points at the status of the learner as that of a subject / object whereby the role of the teacher is usually that of a guide or assistant who is always ready to help, offer necessary materials, etc. Overall, the conceptual metaphors identified in the present study testify to the changing role of the student in the academic environment who is no longer viewed as a passive object that can be manipulated but rather as an active participant and contributor to the pedagogical process. Further studies in this direction could aim at revealing other types of conceptual metaphors in contemporary English educational discourse and determining their role in the conceptualization of learning and upbringing in the modern English speaking community.

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