A Research on Mongolian Students

【Abstract】This article examines metaphor about language teacher created by 24 Mongolian university students. The research aims to present the varied metaphors held about teachers， to investigate whether metaphors produced by language learner in the Inner Mongolian educational context can fit into the four philosophical perspectives on education outlined by Oxford et al. （1998）. The result showed that the metaphors corresponded to three out of the four educational paradigms. Pedagogical implications of the research findings are discussed.

【Key words】metaphor analysis; language teachers; Mongolian students

【作者簡介】姜梦茹，内蒙古师范大学外国语学院。

I. Introduction

The present study conducts analysis of metaphors about language teachers generated by Inner Mongolia Normal University （IMNU） students. It adopts a typology of metaphors on education and teachers developed by Oxford et al. （1998）.

Oxford et al. （1998） identified 14 distinct metaphors for teachers and organize them within four-part typology： social order， cultural transmission， learner-centered growth and social reform. In the dimension of social order， teacher is often viewed as technician to mold learners for the needs of society. As for the perspective of cultural transmission， teacher is often seen as gatekeeper who initiates learners into the world of knowledge. In the viewpoint of learner-centered growth， teacher is regarded as a gardener to facilitate the growth of learner. Social reform stresses the aspect of interaction between individual and society and the full actualization of each persons ability.

II. Method

2.1 Participants， instrument and data collection

Participants in this study were twenty four fifth-year students who were in the same class at IMNU. They were English major of 5 years and all the respondents were Mongolian students. Printed forms with an incomplete sentence written in English “A language teacher is like...” were distributed in class at the end of semester of the academic year 2018/2019.

2.2 Data analysis

The data were analyzed by content analysis technique. The analysis of the metaphors developed by Mongolian students were carried out in three stages： metaphor listing， classifying， and category development. All the metaphors were examined in terms of subject source， and the relationship between subject and source. A total of 24 data were evaluated and 16 valid metaphor were obtained.

III. Results and Discussion

The qualitative analysis of the metaphors generated by the participants showed that the students has positive perceptions of language teacher. Table 1 shows a summary of the metaphors created by the respondents. The majority of the metaphors  belong to Cultural Transmission， followed by Learner-Centered Growth and Social order. No metaphors generated suited the dimensions of Social Reform. The result showed that the metaphors corresponded to three out of the four educational paradigms outlined by Oxford et al. （1998）.

In this research， it was aimed to investigate the Mongolian university students perception of language teachers through metaphor analysis. A total of 16 metaphors were specified in the categories of cultural transmission， learner-centered growth and social order. The language teachers should not only pay attention to the usage of the language， but also stress the use of language. The findings generated by participants in the dimension of social order reveal that the language class is mainly teacher-dominated. It is better to create a friendly class environment and give students ample chances to express their point of view. It is also vital for language teachers to inspire students willingness to communicate， to cultivate their motivation to learn foreign language and to reduce their language anxiety during the learning process.

References：

[1]Cameron， L.， & Low， G. Metaphor[J]. Language Teaching，1999， 33：77-96.