An Investigation Of Conceptual Metaphors In Nigerian ESL University Students' Essays

Since the emergence of the influential publication of Lakoff and Johnson's(1980)Metaphors We Live By,there has been a steady flow of intellectual works and researches on the universal application and interpretation of metaphors in different domains of human life.Literature review on metaphors shows that metaphor studies in pedagogical context;especially in second language situation regarding students' essays has not been critically examined.In fact,there is no any attention given to English Second Language(ESL)learners' metaphorical expressions particularly in the Nigerian academic circle.Thus,this study investigates on the Nigerian ESL university students' conceptual metaphors in English essays with the main objective of finding out the conceptual metaphors the students have in their essays and drawing attention to the implications of the research findings for improvement in teaching and learning process of ESL in the country's university education system.In handling the investigation,Lakoff & Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor Theory(CMT)and Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory(SCT)are employed as theoretical frameworks,while Oxford et al.'s(1998)Four Educational Philosophical Perspectives is used as a metaphor classification model.The data of this study were sourced via the use of tests and questionnaires which were administered as research instruments through a purposive sampling technique to four hundred and eighty(480)students in Federal University Kashere(FUK)and Gombe State University(GSU)in Gombe State,Nigeria.The data collected are analyzed using simple percentages to answer the research questions raised.The research analysis reveals that a total number of 68 distinct conceptual metaphor groups are employed in the Nigerian ESL university students' essays among which 25(37.9%)are on teachers,24(36.4%)are on students,while 17(25.8 %)are on the importance of studying English Language.The study also finds out that there are conceptual metaphor and numerical differences among the research respondents based on their gender,school,level of study and areas of specialization.Furthermore,the investigation establishes that the conceptual metaphors written by the Nigerian ESL university students indicate that the teachers are dictating the learning process and the academic life of the students,the students are dogmatically initiated into the cultural practices by the teachers,and there is asymmetrical relationship between the teachers and the students,which downplay the students' academic creativity,jeopardize student-centered growth,and render social reformation to be ineffective.The research therefore recommends that similar studies should be carried out to cover other Nigerian universities,and some other multilingual African countries,so as to have a wider and clearer picture of students' conceptual metaphors on their teachers,the students,and the importance of studying English language,and such research should be replicated in oral discourses.Furthermore,the research suggests the application of mixed methods,and experimental research approaches on the students' conceptual metaphor in Nigeria.The research equally recommends for more attention to be paid on student-generated metaphors and on the expansion of the scope of the research variables to include age and other socioeconomic factors that might influence the students' conceptual metaphor production.