Metaphor Interpretation of a Short Story Used in a Classroom: “the Bird and the Cage”
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Abstract
According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), metaphor is a figure of speech which refers to something else that is not literally true. It is something abstract which is difficult for students to understand. This study of metaphor interpretation of a short story used in a classroom aimed to look closely at the 32 of 2nd year English major students’ strategies of metaphor interpretation of English and study the relation of cultural background between Thai and English enhancing them to work out the interpretation. The metaphors in this study were words, phrases, and expressions in the story “the Bird and the Cage” by Paulo Coelho (2010).
The results showed the strategies taken by the students to work out the metaphorical meanings corresponded to several theories : denotative meanings, contextual clues, imagination with miming, and cultural experiences of both Thai and English. Cultural background allowed the students to link the differences between their native language and English to enhance deeper understanding of metaphors. It is important for a teacher of English to teach students to understand the similarities and differences of culture of both languages, so they can apply this kind of figurative language to daily communication creatively and effectively.
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