Researching Metaphors

This collection advocates for a more holistic picture of metaphor, extending the field’s focus beyond the cognitive paradigm and conventional metaphorical concepts to illustrate the possibilities afforded by the study of living metaphors. The volume brings together a diverse range of researchers in the discipline towards critically examining the presuppositions of the cognitive approach. The book shines a light on living metaphors – creative interpretations of conflictual meaning specific to a text or communicative act with their own unique functions – to throw into relief long-held tenets in existing metaphor research. Chapters reflect on the notion that creative metaphors spring from independent sources, not merely from metaphorical concepts, and the subsequent implications for our understanding of the relationship between linguistic forms and conceptual structures and the role of creative metaphors in organizing thought and action. Taken together, the book offers a complementary vision of languages and figures which integrates disparate lines of study within the cognitive paradigm with alternative perspectives for a more comprehensive portrait of metaphors. This book will be of interest to students and scholars interested in the study of metaphor, including such disciplines as theoretical linguistics, cognitive linguistics, semantics, literary studies, and philosophy of language.

This book demonstrates how metaphor needs to be researched using multiple methods of investigation.

This collection advocates for a more holistic picture of metaphor, extending the field’s focus beyond the cognitive paradigm and conventional metaphorical concepts to illustrate the possibilities afforded by the study of living metaphors. The volume brings together a diverse range of researchers in the discipline towards critically examining the presuppositions of the cognitive approach. The book shines a light on living metaphors – creative interpretations of conflictual meaning specific to a text or communicative act with their own unique functions – to throw into relief long-held tenets in existing metaphor research. Chapters reflect on the notion that creative metaphors spring from independent sources, not merely from metaphorical concepts, and the subsequent implications for our understanding of the relationship between linguistic forms and conceptual structures and the role of creative metaphors in organizing thought and action. Taken together, the book offers a complementary vision of languages and figures which integrates disparate lines of study within the cognitive paradigm with alternative perspectives for a more comprehensive portrait of metaphors. This book will be of interest to students and scholars interested in the study of metaphor, including such disciplines as theoretical linguistics, cognitive linguistics, semantics, literary studies, and philosophy of language.

It has become increasingly clear that metaphor needs to be explored in terms of the social and discourse context in which it is used, especially where the aim is to address real-world problems. The notion of 'real world' metaphor research has been developed to describe this important area of investigation. This book starts by describing the nature and scope of real world metaphor research and then illustrates, through 17 detailed, mainly empirically-based studies, the different areas it can apply to, and different methodologies that can be employed. Research problems are explored in areas such as artificial intelligence, language teaching and learning, reconciliation dialogue, university lecture discourse, poetry and wine description. Methods include corpus analysis, experimentation, discourse analysis, cross-cultural analysis and genre analysis. In each case the empirical studies refer back to Gibbs's opening overview of real-world research. The result is an invaluable and cross-referenced collection of papers addressing real-world problems.

The 'real-world' commitment of cognitive linguistics is demonstrated by increasingly extensive collaboration between researchers and industry partners. Yet, there has been little critical reflection on the lessons learnt from these collaborative efforts. Beginning researchers may benefit from in-depth discussion of how various practical realities inform, constrain, or otherwise shape important methodological and/or analytic decisions. This Element reflects on long-term collaborative work between a metaphor researcher and psychotherapists, offering practical advice on navigating the latent realities of this type of research. The three foundational components of psychotherapy – the therapist, the client, and the interactional setting itself – are discussed in turn, covering issues like ethically engaging therapists in research design and data analysis, dealing with underexplored variabilities in client responses, and managing the inherent tension between spontaneity and control in an interactional setting like psychotherapy. Some thoughts on how the lessons are transferable to other research contexts are offered.

Researching Language and Health explores key topics in illness and healthcare contexts through multiple linguistic lenses. This book highlights key themes, guides readers through the design stages of research and the ethical considerations specific to linguistic health research, and brings methods and methodologies to life by demonstrating how these can be applied to specific issues in context. Covering a wide range of health conditions, healthcare contexts, and data types, with an emphasis on those most accessible to students and new researchers, the authors foreground the ‘so what?’ of research and the impact that linguistic studies can have. Both a guide to key elements of the research process and a holistic view of research projects that have been successful, insightful, and impactful in different contexts, this is an essential text for advanced students and researchers in healthcare communication and applied linguistics.

Metaphors for, in and of Education Research draws on a variety of philosophical, theoretical and methodological approaches exploring metaphors as instruments for describing, understanding and inspiring education research. Key themes addressed by authors in this collection include: how metaphors provide new understandings of the philosophical assumptions underlying education research; how metaphors provide new perspectives on methodological issues in education research; and how metaphors evoke cognitive, affective and volitional responses to the experience of conducting or participating in education research. The book includes chapters written by academics with experience in various education sectors including middle, high school and tertiary education. Areas of academic expertise include doctoral study, literacy and learning, special education, educational partnerships and leadership, and applied linguistics.

This collection focuses on Chinese learners with original data sets using innovative research methods. It investigates Chinese learners' learning and language skills, perceptions and particularly the processes of reciprocal intercultural adaptations in a wide international context of Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the UK.