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"Learning French Is Like Trying to Skate": Constructing Identity through Metaphor.
- Source :
-
Canadian Modern Language Review . Feb2021, Vol. 77 Issue 1, p46-68. 23p. 1 Color Photograph, 2 Diagrams, 1 Chart. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- This study explores the identities that Grade 8 early French immersion students construct as learners of French within school-based communities of practice. It suggests a model by which metaphors on language learning can be considered a form of narrative used to both elicit and analyze metacognitive representations of their socially situated identities as language learners. As part of a larger study regarding French immersion students' investment in French, 31 participants constructed 85 similes concerning learning and speaking/writing in French. These were grouped into seven conceptual metaphors: perseverance, challenging physical and cognitive limitations, the experience of embodied change, transformation of self, embodied discomfort, falling short, and affect. Samples of student discourse demonstrate how the co-construction of metaphor created interpretive space for the development of their identities within their school-based communities of practice. Finally, the pedagogical relevance of metaphor to developing students' investment in learning French is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00084506
- Volume :
- 77
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Canadian Modern Language Review
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 151975529
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr-2020-0002