Metaphors as narrative tools in english for specific purposes: insights from biology students

Abstract

Metaphors play an essential role in shaping understanding and meaning representations, especially in the context of ESP where students encounter technical and domain-specific language. This study investigates the role of metaphors as narrative tools in scientific acquisition, focusing on university students pursuing a biology degree. This study builds on theoretical frameworks and insights from existing research to explore the effectiveness of conceptual metaphors in explaining and understanding domain-specific knowledge. To this aim, we investigate the comprehension of metaphorical language in first-year science and biology English reading texts using diagnostic assessments. The study involves a two-phase testing process: in the first phase, students are required to define and explain discipline-specific vocabulary and expressions. In the second phase, the same terms and expressions are presented in metaphorical contexts, such as “plasma membrane as a gatekeeper,” “DNA as a recipe book.” The results reveal significant improvements in student performance in the second test, where discipline-specific vocabulary is presented in metaphorical contexts. This suggests that metaphors not only facilitat the comprehension of technical terms but also help bridge the gap between language acquisition and technical mastery, enhancing the overall quality of their explanations.