In:Elicited Metaphor Analysis in Educational Discourse
Edited by Wan Wan and Graham Low
[Metaphor in Language, Cognition, and Communication 3] 2015
► pp. 119–138
Retrospective Metaphor Interviews as an additional layer in elicited metaphor investigations
Bridging conceptualizations and practice
Published online: 2 July 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/milcc.3.05arm
https://doi.org/10.1075/milcc.3.05arm
Metaphor-elicitation protocols can provide data that allow researchers a window onto a participant’s conceptualizations on a particular target. These insights can be immensely useful for investigations of academic language and literacy learning. However, such studies can be greatly enhanced when the conceptualization data can be tied to actual learner practice. Through continued researcher-participant discussion and examination of concrete examples – an extension of the standard stem-prompt completion approach – researchers can simultaneously ensure a richer data set through triangulation and also provide a built-in metaphor check. This chapter describes one such extension technique, called a Retrospective Metaphor Interview (RMI). A sample protocol and insights from two implementations of RMIs are provided to demonstrate the potential utility of this extension technique.
References (33)
Armstrong, S.L. (2007). Beginning the literacy transition: Postsecondary students’ conceptualizations of academic writing in developmental literacy contexts. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati.
. (2008). Using metaphor analysis to uncover learners’ conceptualizations of academic literacies in postsecondary developmental contexts. International Journal of Learning, 15(9), 211–218.
Armstrong, S.L., Davis, H., & Paulson, E.J. (2011). The subjectivity problem: Improving triangulation approaches in metaphor analysis studies. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 10(2), 151–163.
Bowman, M.A. (1998–1999). Metaphors we teach by: Understanding ourselves as teachers and learners. OTEI Class Action, 1(4), n.p.
Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (1999). Bridges to learning: Metaphors of teaching, learning, and language. In G.D. Low & L. Cameron (Eds.), Researching and applying metaphor (pp. 149–176). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Davis, H.S. (2009). Student and teacher conceptualizations of reading: A metaphor analysis study of scripted reading interventions in secondary classrooms. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati.
Gass, S.M., & Mackey, A. (2000). Stimulated recall methodology in second language research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gay, L.R., & Airasian, P. (2003). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Glynn, S., Law, M., & Doster, E.C. (1998). Making text meaningful: The role of analogies. In C. Hynd (Ed.), Learning from text across conceptual domains (pp. 193–208). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Goodman, Y.M., & Marek, A.M. (1996). Retrospective miscue analysis: Revaluing readers and reading. Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owen Publishers.
Goodman, Y.M., Watson, D.J., & Burke, C.L. (2005). Reading miscue inventory: From evaluation to instruction (2nd ed.). Katonah, NY: Richard C. Owen Publishers.
Goswami, U. (2001). Analogical reasoning in children. In D. Gentner, K. Holyoak, & B.N. Kokinov (Eds.), The analogical mind: Perspectives from cognitive science (pp. 437–470). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Guerrero, M.C.M. de, & Villamil, O.S. (2002). Metaphorical conceptualizations of ESL teaching and learning. Language Teaching Research, 6(2), 95–120.
Jin, L., & Cortazzi, M. (2011). More than a journey: ‘Learning’ in the metaphors of Chinese students and teachers. In L. Jin & M. Cortazzi (Eds.), Researching Chinese learners: Skills, perceptions and intercultural adaptations (pp. 67–92). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
. (2005). Metaphor in culture. Universality and variation. Cambridge, UK & New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980/2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Lavelle, E., & Zuercher, N. (2001). The writing approaches of university students. Higher Education, 42(3), 373–391.
Low, G.D. (2003). Validating metaphoric models in applied linguistics. Metaphor and Symbol, 18(4), 239–254.
Paulson, E.J., & Armstrong, S.L. (2011). Mountains and pit bulls: Students’ metaphors for college reading and writing. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 54(7), 494–503.
Paulson, E.J., & Mason-Egan, P. (2007). Retrospective miscue analysis for struggling postsecondary readers. Journal of Developmental Education, 31(2), 2–4, 6, 8, 10, 12–13.
Ritchie, D. (2003). “Argument is war” – Or is it a game of chess? Multiple meanings in the analysis of implicit metaphors. Metaphor and Symbol, 18(2), 125–146.
Schraw, G., & Bruning, R. (1996). Readers’ implicit models of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(3), 290–305.
. (1999). How implicit models of reading affect motivation to read and reading engagement. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3(3), 281–302.
Theurer, J.L. (2002). The power of retrospective miscue analysis: One preservice teacher’s journey as she reconsiders the reading process. The Reading Matrix, 2(1), n.p.
Tobin, L. (1989). Bridging gaps: Analyzing our students’ metaphors for composing. College Composition and Communication, 40(4), 444–458.
Todd, Z., & Harrison, S.J. (2008). Metaphor analysis. In S.N. Hesse-Biber & P. Leavy (Eds.), Handbook of emergent methods (pp. 479–493). New York: Guilford Press.
Tomlinson, B. (1988). Tuning, tying, and training texts: Metaphors for revision. College Composition and Communication, 5(1), 58–81.
Wan, W. (2011). An examination of the validity of metaphor analysis studies: Problems with metaphor elicitation techniques. Metaphor and the Social World, 1(2), 262–288.
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Naghavian, Mohammad
Gao, Fei & Dennis Tay
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.