Unveiling Pre-service Language Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Teachers of English through Metaphors

Abstract

The present research aimed at conducting an analysis of metaphors Turkish pre-service language teachers generated about English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. This study also examined whether and how the metaphors created by teacher candidates at different phases of their education demonstrated variation. The data gathered from 94 participants were analyzed using the taxonomy of metaphors developed by Oxford and her colleagues (1998). The analysis revealed a gradual decline in participants’ views of teacher as a professional responsible for social order and cultural transmission as they became more acculturated into the profession. The few occurrences of learner-centered metaphors and the predominance of teacher-centered metaphors in the initial years were replaced with more learner-centered metaphors. The results supported the initial assumption about the impact of class level differences on prospective teachers’ thinking about teaching and learning. The transformation in participants’ perception is indicative of how their professional identity is perpetually constructed and reconstructed during teacher preparation.