The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners
Metaphor is so pervasive in language use that we hardly come across a language situation that does not utilise metaphors. Previous studies revealed that EFL learners face certain difficulties in identifying and understanding metaphors in English comprehension texts in the academic setting. Sin...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2023
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22680/1/Gema_23_3_9.pdf |
| _version_ | 1796933650719178752 |
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| author | Al-Mashhadani, Omar Ahmed Badr Ravichandran Vengadasamy, |
| author_facet | Al-Mashhadani, Omar Ahmed Badr Ravichandran Vengadasamy, |
| author_sort | Al-Mashhadani, Omar Ahmed Badr |
| collection | UKM |
| description | Metaphor is so pervasive in language use that we hardly come across a language situation that does
not utilise metaphors. Previous studies revealed that EFL learners face certain difficulties in
identifying and understanding metaphors in English comprehension texts in the academic setting.
Since the true nature and magnitude of this problem have not been studied thoroughly yet among
Iraqi EFL learners, this paper aims to find out their ability to comprehend metaphors in academic
reading. The analysis is based on Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The
researcher conducted several reading sessions for 30 Iraqi EFL university learners to collect data
for the study. The reading sessions included the use of six comprehension texts, selected from the
learners’ textbook specified for the reading comprehension class. Through the use of a
questionnaire, students were required to explain how they selected and understood metaphors. The
participants’ responses were varied; therefore, they were schemed into four categories: successful
understanding, misunderstanding, non-understanding, and literal understanding. The findings
revealed that students who understood metaphorical (successful understanding) expressions
scored the highest percentage followed by misunderstanding, non-understanding, and literal
understanding respectively. The findings also showed that there are social, cultural, linguistic and
semantic factors, as well as personal views, that influence the metaphor identification and
comprehension abilities among the subjects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T04:50:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | ukm.eprints-22680 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T04:50:29Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ukm.eprints-226802023-12-18T05:30:32Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22680/ The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners Al-Mashhadani, Omar Ahmed Badr Ravichandran Vengadasamy, Metaphor is so pervasive in language use that we hardly come across a language situation that does not utilise metaphors. Previous studies revealed that EFL learners face certain difficulties in identifying and understanding metaphors in English comprehension texts in the academic setting. Since the true nature and magnitude of this problem have not been studied thoroughly yet among Iraqi EFL learners, this paper aims to find out their ability to comprehend metaphors in academic reading. The analysis is based on Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The researcher conducted several reading sessions for 30 Iraqi EFL university learners to collect data for the study. The reading sessions included the use of six comprehension texts, selected from the learners’ textbook specified for the reading comprehension class. Through the use of a questionnaire, students were required to explain how they selected and understood metaphors. The participants’ responses were varied; therefore, they were schemed into four categories: successful understanding, misunderstanding, non-understanding, and literal understanding. The findings revealed that students who understood metaphorical (successful understanding) expressions scored the highest percentage followed by misunderstanding, non-understanding, and literal understanding respectively. The findings also showed that there are social, cultural, linguistic and semantic factors, as well as personal views, that influence the metaphor identification and comprehension abilities among the subjects. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023-08 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22680/1/Gema_23_3_9.pdf Al-Mashhadani, Omar Ahmed Badr and Ravichandran Vengadasamy, (2023) The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners. GEMA ; Online Journal of Language Studies, 23 (3). pp. 159-174. ISSN 1675-8021 https://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/1615 |
| spellingShingle | Al-Mashhadani, Omar Ahmed Badr Ravichandran Vengadasamy, The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners |
| title | The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners |
| title_full | The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners |
| title_fullStr | The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners |
| title_full_unstemmed | The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners |
| title_short | The comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by Iraqi EFL learners |
| title_sort | comprehension of metaphorical expressions in academic texts by iraqi efl learners |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22680/1/Gema_23_3_9.pdf |
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