Instructors Perspective towards the Significance of Metaphor and Metonymy Through Literary Texts in Teaching Persian to Non-Persian Speakers

This article aims to determine the importance of metaphor and metonymy as indices in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers by applying a survey method through literary texts. A questionnaire containing eight items of metonymy and six items of metaphor in three levels of language proficiency was prepared to achieve this goal. Using a non-random available and judgmental method the questionnaire was sent to 94 Iranian instructors, experts in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers, and also acquainted with Persian literature. The data were analyzed with SPSS, calculating one-way Chi-square, Friedman, and Mann-Whitney statistical methods. Part of the achieved results suggests that the sample population considers all the indices relevant to metonymy and metaphor as ‘insignificant’ for both beginner and intermediate levels. This result challenges the belief that metonymy, due to high frequency, is a type of ‘norm’ in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers. The sample population also considers the index of ordinary metaphors as ‘insignificance’. However, those instructors lacking the experience of teaching literature emphasized the significance of these indices. On one hand, this approach reveals the effectiveness of experience in teaching literature when encountering literary metaphors; on the other hand, it indicates removing the border between language pedagogy and teaching literature in case of metaphor is a technique of creating literariness.
Extended Abstract:
To benefit the many advantages of figurative language in language teaching, the obstacles to its use must be removed by exploring the processes of applying its examples. Therefore, language instructors and programmers can increasingly take advantage of literary texts and equip the language learners with the ability to understand and produce them. This is very important in the case of Persian language. Since figurative language is pervasive among Persian speakers and the language has a significant amount of classic and contemporary literary sources that can play a role in planning for learning Persian as the second or foreign language. However, applying literature in teaching Persian requires two elements: first, selecting the types of literary metaphors and metonymies, and then clarifying how far they are from the norms.
Hence, using survey and scaling methods, the present study assigns the importance and number of metonymy metaphoric indices in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers through literary texts.
To achieve this goal, the authors have provided a questionnaire with eight literary genres at three levels of language proficiency. The questionnaire was sent non-randomly to 94 Iranian teachers, all experts in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers. They also had the experience of teaching in Iran and other countries, in group and private classes. The teachers were categorized in two groups: the experts in Persian literature (with university degrees at all level of their educations); and those who were educated in linguistics, teaching Persian to non-Persian learners, etc., and studied Persian literature in at least one level of their education.
To verify the questionnaire's reliability, the initial monitoring sample, consisted of 30 participants. The data was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. The obtained figures illustrate acceptable validity of the questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 22, calculating one-way Chi-square, applying Friedman and Mann-Whitney statistical test.
The results show that the relevant indices for beginner and intermediate levels consider metaphor and metonymy as insignificant components. In case of teaching Persian to non-Persian learners, this result challenges the idea that metaphor belongs to the norms due to the high frequency.
Moreover, since the literary metaphors are one of the most effective techniques of creating literary ?????, their understanding requires more mental effort by the learners.
To benefit the figurative language, the learners have to dominate the norms of the language. Beyond the norms, they have to recognize the new meanings of the vocabularies in the target language. That is why familiarity with literary metaphors demands learner’s double mental efforts.
Furthermore, the index of conceit metaphors is also considered insignificant by the sample population. However, the instructors who were inexperienced in teaching literature emphasized the importance of the indicator.
This approach suggests the effectiveness of teaching literature and specifically metaphors. It also demonstrates that removing the borders between the two areas of language education and teaching literature through metaphors is one of the techniques of creating literariness.
Since this study has been conducted consulting experts in teaching Persian, we suggest that the instructors and text-book developers consider the present study results.
In order to achieve more accurate results, we also suggest that they provide lessons based on two introduced figures of speeches, metonymy and metaphor. In this way, the effect of teaching figurative language at the three levels of proficiency, in a larger scale, can be studied and examined.