Beyond “elicit and run” metaphor research
Why conversations within and between levels of participants matter
Gwen Hart | Buena Vista University, English Department
This chapter argues that facilitating conversations within and between different levels of participants (e.g., students and teachers) is an important new direction for metaphor research. To illustrate the usefulness of conversations within/between levels, this chapter describes a conversation-based study of the elicited writing metaphors of 140 U.S. university students and their teachers. Students and teachers reported increased rapport with each other, gained new insights into their own and others’ writing processes, and often revised their own views of writing or teaching as a result. The hope is that this chapter will spark additional metaphor research using conversation as a tool for communication and negotiation among participants.
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