Metafory w dyskursie edukacyjnym (na marginesie książki Lynne Cameron)

Abstract

The paper focuses on the history of metaphor in linguistic studies of the past half-century. Metaphor as a way of thinking and explaining reality has become a subject of careful research especially in the spheres of cognitive science and education. It is also considered in educational linguistics, a relatively new branch developed both in Poland (e.g. T. Rittel) and abroad (e.g. B. Spolsky). One of the latest achievements joining linguistic and educational aspects of metaphor is Metaphor in Educational Discourse by Lynn Cameron. The contents of the book is thoroughly discussed in the paper. Metaphor in discourse in perspective of applied linguistics, theoretical foundations of speaking, thinking, and learning, studying metaphor in classroom discourse are some of the main issues. Results of analyses let Cameron state that metaphor is common in colloquial speech and it is difficult to be separated from other ways of language use (like comparing, allusion or ambigousness). Such conventionalized metaphors serve mainly understanding notions and pupils faces them most often in classroom discourse. Forms of metaphors strongly influence processing them, which requires also taking sociocultural elements of (e.g. educational) context into account. Metaphor - in Cameron’s opinion - “is at once both true and false, bqth disjunctive and connecting, ordinary and yet surprising”. Therefore it continues to intrigue many research workers.