EXPLORING THE USE OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN THE EFL CLASSROOM: A CASE STUDY IN A GROUP OF SPANISH EFL STUDENTS

In the last decade, a bulk of studies grounded in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) [1] has shown different degrees of effectiveness of conceptual metaphors (CMs) in teaching vocabulary in English as a Second Language (ESL) contexts, especially in fostering vocabulary retention [2-4]. However, to the best of our knowledge, most efforts have been made on the linguistic side of metaphors, while little attention has been paid to the effects of other modes of expression [5] (e.g. pictures). Moreover, metaphors also have a novelty-conventionality dimension [6] that has not been addressed yet in this context. This paper addresses different kinds of CMs (in terms of modality and degree of conventionality) and assesses their efficacy in the retention of a series of linguistic expressions related to the topic of social networking in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Two approaches to deal with different kinds of linguistic and visual metaphorical elements were devised and implemented on a group of secondary education EFL students (N=24). Vocabulary retention was measured via a pre-test and a post-test that were administered before and after instruction. Qualitative data about the participants' perception on each approach were also gathered with the help of a questionnaire provided at the end of the process. Overall, our results highlight degree of efficacy of different groups of linguistic and visual metaphorical elements, and call for further research over a broader set of types of students (academic/educational contexts) and levels of English.