Analysis of the Use of Metaphor in the Context of Engineering
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37467/gka-revedu.v1.625Keywords:
Metaphor Use in Engineering, Academic and Professional Communication, Learning Technical LanguageAbstract
Previous studies on metaphor use (Cameron and Low 1999; Cortazzi and Jin 1999; Littlemore and Low 2006; Low 1999) claim that the pedagogic practice of metaphor in the classroom could serve to develop the comprehension and communicative skills of EFL learners. Nevertheless, the use of metaphor by technical second language learners has received little attention so far (Littlemore 2009). In this paper, the metaphorical content of the responses that a group of 4th year Spanish engineering undergraduates gave out when asked to briefly describe visual images of engineering structures have been analysed. Currently, the academic syllabuses for engineering students in most Spanish universities lack any reference to metaphor use either in Spanish or English.
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