A previous version of this paper titled Teaching emotion metaphor to young learners with authentic literature was presented at the Korea Association of Teachers of English 2005 International Conference.

The slides from the presentation are available here.

Download the Oral Langauge Assessment form.

Discuss emotion metaphor acquisition with other teachers at the Tips for Teachers message board.

What is metaphor?

• The Topic ("X") is treated as if it were to some extent (but not completely) the Vehicle ("Y.") (Low 1999: 223) The Topic and Vehicle do not need to be mentioned explicitly: the features and connotations of the Vehicle may be simply transferred to the Topic.
• conceptual metaphor: ANGER IS A HEATED LIQUID IN A CONTAINER
• example: "Sophie is a volcano, ready to explode." (When Sophie Gets)
• Topic: Sophie’s anger
• Vehicle: volcano
• Conditions that must be present to identify a metaphor:

• The Topic is stated explicitly or is visible within the context.
• The Vehicle domain is familiar to the producer and the audience.
• The producer refers to the Topic domain in Vehicle terms.
• The producer intends for the utterance to be interpreted metaphorically.
• There is a high level of potential incongruity between the Topic and the Vehicle.
• The form of the utterance is not negative.
• Certain syntactic forms are typically used. (Cameron 1999)

• A number of different expressions can each be used to reflect a particular aspect of the mapping of the Vehicle on the Topic. (Gibbs 1999)
• conceptual metaphor ANGER IS A DANGEROUS ANIMAL:
"I turn into a giant dragon that destroys everything in its path." (Angry Dragon)
"A wild and dangerous gleam shone in Danny’s eyes." (Danny, the Angry Lion)
"The sky and I are two howling prowling scowling wolverines." (Rain Romp)
"I shout with a mighty roar. I mostly want to frown and growl and stomp upon the floor." (The Way I Feel)
"Don’t you see that Mr. Blair / Has started looking like a bear?" (Lunch Boxes)
"Sometimes I feel like a lion roaring mad." (Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse)
• Vehicles are chosen for their connotations and associations. These may or may not cross cultures and languages.
• Many metaphors are driven by an embodied motivation. These are natural and non-arbitrary. We may have recurring bodily experiences that create an experiential gestalt or image schema for the Vehicle. (Gibbs 1999)

• Emotion metaphor is the mapping of the attributes of a known concrete object (Vehicle) onto a complex and abstract emotion (Topic.)
• "Metaphor plays a significant role in the way we conceptualize and experience various emotion concepts." (Song 2004)
• The complex experience of strong emotions can be perplexing and difficult to express. Emotion metaphors can provide conceptual access to this emotional complexity and can give us a rational way to express and examine powerful emotions. Metaphor can be used as a technique to reduce the complexity of the emotions and reduce them to a manageable form. (Marrero 2002)

• "Children under the age of 8 years have a limited repertoire of labels to describe emotion." (Aldridge 1997: 1221)
• Emotion categories and the qualities and connotations of elements that may be used as a Vehicle can vary between languages, but some conceptual metaphors cross languages.
• "Conceptual understanding of emotion can develop in young children well in advance of semantic understanding." (Aldridge 1997: 1223)
• To understand metaphor, the child must first access the literal meaning of the language, then apply qualities of the Vehicle to the Topic. With repeated exposure, familiar metaphors can be processed directly.
• "Metaphors allow us to define what we have difficulty handling ‘conceptually’ by comparing what we are trying to comprehend…to something we understand to a greater degree." (Marrero 2002: 40)
• Knowledge of a concrete domain of experience helps speakers to better structure their understanding of more abstract concepts. (Gibbs 1999)
• "Awareness of conceptual metaphors behind metaphorical expressions can facilitate retention of those unfamiliar metaphorical expressions." (Song 2004)
• Metaphor "accelerates the development of knowledge, since it allows us to transfer our understanding though links between different domains. Without these linkages, each domain would require that we acquire information from some "point zero," even when there is overlap in the knowledge that applies to these domains." (Marrero 2002: 41)
• It is important to teach students that they have control over their emotions, and to "walk away from an approach to emotion that perceives it as following inevitable, inalterable developmental processes beyond our influence." (Marrero 2002: 38)
• Language learners need to be exposed in formal ways to the conceptual systems of the language. "Metaphorical competence is as teachable as grammatical or communicative competence." (Song 2004)
• "A child who has the language to express anger, fear, or distress is not only less likely to act out, but is also empowered toward solving problems and relieving discomfort. In addition, those who can verbalize their feelings are less likely to somatize them — express them through the development of somatic or bodily symptoms (like headaches or stomachaches.)" (Rovenger 2000:40)

• We need to teach production and reception. Production allows students to express themselves in appropriate ways and build positive social interactions and relationships. Skill in metaphor reception allows learners to identify the motivations and intent of their interlocutors as well as to draw inferences necessary to comprehend reading passages.
• Research in metaphor typically uses metaphors created by the researcher, which may not be typical of the kinds of metaphor used in authentic speech or literature. (Todd 1999: 249)
• Naturally occurring metaphors can be studied in the context where they appear; however, this creates a difficulty in generalizing from one text to another, or across writers.
• A corpus of children’s literature can be analyzed to determine the frequency of occurrence and acceptability of metaphor types, chosen Vehicles, and different expressions used to evoke specific Vehicles.
• Metaphors should be presented to learners in a linguistic and visual context to support comprehension. Shaffer (2004) found that Korean university students retained metaphors best when they were presented using images.
• Help learners to develop their own metaphors to talk about their emotions and extend the metaphor to help them manage their emotions. ("Let's put that tiger inside you into her cage.")

Anger
 

• Bang, Molly. 1999. When Sophie Gets Angry— Really, Really Angry... New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0-5901-8979-4 Lexile: BR
• Berenstain, Stan and Jan Berenstain. 1992. Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Grownups. New York: Random House. ISBN: 0-679-83000-6 Lexile: AD580L
• Bottner, Barbara. 1992. Bootsie Barker Bites. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 0-399-22125-5 Lexile: 530L
• Ehrlich, Fred. 1991. Lunch Boxes. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN: 0-670-83860-8
• Everitt, Betsy. 1992. Mean Soup.San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN: 0-1525-3146-7 Lexile: 310L
• Hood, Susan. 1999. I am Mad! Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press. ISBN: 0-7613-2061-X Lexile: BR
• Kurtz, Jane. 2002. Rain Romp: Stomping Away a Grouchy Day. Singapore: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0-06-029805-7
• Lachner, Dorothea. 1997. Andrew’s Angry Words. Gossau Zürich, Switzerland: Nord-Süd Verlag AG/North-South Books. ISBN: 1-55858-769-1
• Lachner, Dorothea. 2000. Danny, the Angry Lion. Gossau Zürich, Switzerland: Nord-Süd Verlag AG/North-South Books. ISBN: 0-7358-1386-8
• O’Neill, Alexis. 2002. The Recess Queen. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0-439-20637-5 Lexile: AD450L
• Robberecht, Thierry. 2004. Angry Dragon. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN: 0-6184-7430-7
• Sendak, Maurice. 1976. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 0-06025492-0 Lexile: AD740L
• Vail, Rachel. 2002. Sometimes I’m Bombaloo. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0-439-08755-4

• Allen, Constance. 1996. Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad. New York: Golden Books. ISBN: 0-307-00125-3
• Arnold, Tedd. 2002. More Parts. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0-8037-1417-3 Lexile: NP
• Cain, Janan. 2000. The Way I Feel. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 1-884734-71-5 Lexile: NP
• Curtis, Jamie Lee. 1998. Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day. New York: Joanna Cotler Books. ISBN: 0-06-024560-3 Lexile: AD250L
• Modesitt, Jeanne. 1992. Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse: A Book About Feelings. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0-590-44835-8
• Wood, Audrey. 1982. Quick as a Cricket. Singapore: Child’s Play. ISBN: 0-85953-151-1. Lexile: 240L
• Frame, Jeron Ashford.2003. Yesterday I Had the Blues. Berkeley, California: Tricycle Press. ISBN: 1-58246-084-1 Lexile: AD630L

Reading Lists
 

• Asperger Syndrome Partners & Individuals Resources, Encouragement & Support. 2005. Social Skills; Feelings & Emotions. Bend, Oregon: A.S.P.I.R.E.S. Retrieved September 20, 2005 from http://www.aspires-relationships.com/books_social_skills.htm
• Byler, A. M. 2005.  Annotated Peace Resource List: Books and Videos for All Ages Orrville, OH: Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church, USA. Retrieved June 28, 2005 from http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/biglist/index.html
• bonniecarrine. Listmania! Helping children with social/emotional/behavioral problems. Seattle, Washington:Amazon.com Retrieved September 20, 2005 from http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/JCXN34FHGGYL/ref=cm_mpemr_lm/
• Paperbacks for Educators. Grades K?5 Books. Retrieved September 20, 2005 from http://www.any-book-in-print.com/_grades_k5/_categories_k5.htm

• Clandfield, L. 2003. Metaphor Lessons for Teachers of English. Macmillam Publishing. Retrieved September 21, 2005 from http://www.onestopenglish.com/english_grammar/metaphor.htm
• Byler,  A. M. 2003. Conflict and YOUth. Orrville, OH: Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church, USA. Retrieved September 21, 2005 from http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/conflictyouth/quiz.html

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