Comparative analysis of Syrian refugee students’ and Turkish students’ metaphorical perceptions of English learning

Abstract

Problem Durumu Statement of The Problem Metaphors have been described in many different ways in different studies. Metaphors is broadly defined as “any comparison that cannot be taken literally” (Bartel, 1983). According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980) “The essence of metaphors is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another”. The value of a metaphorical conceptualization is that it transfers characteristics of what is known to what is less known in a way that promotes understanding (Ortony, 1993). Traditionally metaphors have been viewed as figures of speech that embellish the speaker’s language. More recently, psychologists and linguists began recognizing metaphors as an “important tool of cognition and communications” (Ortony & Fainsilber, 1989) that reflects “images of social phenomenon” (Morgan, 1983) through “mapping two often incompatible domains into one another” (Kramsch, 2003). In other words, metaphor could be viewed as a cognitive means for people to filter reality through their own mental images of real world phenomena (Nikita ve Furuoka, 2008). Educational researchers are frequently asking questions about how better to understand educational theory and practice. Therefore, through the years, they have employed a variety of both quantitative and qualitative tools to understand the perceptions about education. Metaphors are one of these tools that is commonly used to reveal the students’ or teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about curricula, concepts or the changing paradigm in education system. English is a compulsory course at the first and second semester of all departments in Yuzuncu Yil University. Yuzuncu Yil University, which hosts many foreign students that are generally from the Middle East countries is situated in the eastern part of Turkey and border to Iran. With the rise of conflicts in Syria and the Law on Foreigners and International Protection which gives the Syrian refugees the equal rights to health and education, the number of refugees in Turkey has reached to 2,5 million (Emin, 2016). Yuzuncu Yil University hosts 301 Syrian refugee students who have enrolled to Yuzuncu Yil University to continue their higher education since 2013 with the rise of the conflicts in their country. English is taught as a foreign language in Turkey and as the medium of instruction in Yuzuncu Yil is Turkish, Syrian refugee students have to learn both Turkish and English as foreign languages. It is observed that Syrian students display a positive attitude towards English courses comparing to other compulsory courses. According to Horwitz (1987), studying learner beliefs about language learning is important not only because such beliefs may influence students’ expectations for and commitment to their language learning, but also because such beliefs may be more susceptible to change than cognitive style variables or affective variables such as attitudes and motivation. As a research instrument in educational studies, metaphors provide several important and unique qualities. In the field of education, most studies employ metaphor or metaphor analysis as a research tool to describe the philosophy of education, shifts in education policies and the curriculum theory. To this end, in this study, metaphor is used as a research tool to depict the students beliefs and attitudes about English language learning. By revealing the learning experiences they have encountered by metaphor conceptualization the study aims to make a comparison between Syrian Refugee students’ and Turkish students’ perception of English language learning. Araştırma Yöntemi In this qualitative study, metaphor analysis was employed to reveal the students’ beliefs and learning experiences of English. The participants were 60 Syrian refugee students and 60 Turkish students at Yuzuncu Yil University in 2nd semester of the academic year 2016/2017. Photocopied forms with an incomplete sentence written in Turkish “Learning English is like…, because..” were distributed to the students.The students were asked to concentrate on only one metaphor to describe learning English. The resemblance between the metaphor topic (learning English) and the metaphor vehicle (the required response) was emphasized through the use of the word “like”. The resemblance was expected to be clarified through the use of the word “because”. By doing this, participants implicit beliefs were expected to be explicit. The analysis of the data followed the methodology of metaphor analysis. Metaphor analysis is essentially a qualitative research methodology related to content analysis, but it also allows researchers to apply a quantitative procedures on categorical data, resulting from the uncovering of the meanings and reasoning beneath those consciously set forth by the participants in each metaphorical relationship (Moser, 2000). The analysis of the metaphors consisted of the following stages: (1) naming/labelling, (2) sorting, (3)metaphor compilation &categorization, (4) inter-rater reliability. For the reliability of the study, a lecturer was asked to categorize all metaphors into specified conceptual themes again by using compilation of metaphors list and conceptual categories list. The formula (Reliability= Agreement/Agreement +Disagreement X100) formed by Miles and Huberman (1994) was used to estimate the inter-coder reliability rate. Beklenen/GeçiciSonuçlar Expected Results: By analysing the metaphorical conceptualization of English language learning, the students’ attitudes and the experiences of language learning are aimed to be revealed. In this way, by revealing the possible problems, students encountered during language learning process, the precautions can be taken to foster their learning. The second expected result is about the Syrian refugees students’ observed positive attitudes towards English. In this study, the observed positive attitude together with its reasons are expected to be revealed and transferred to language instruction. Furthermore, the cultural motivation of Turkish and Arabic students behind the use of metaphors are also going to be explored.