The aim of this paper is to analyse the reasoning and symbolisations used by sixth grade Moroccan students in solving a task based on figurative patterns. Our analysis aims at identifying the systems of actions elaborated by the students to give the general expression of the sequence, according to their perceptions of the sequence of its patterns.…

Idiomatic expressions like "hit the road" or "turn the tables" are known to be problematic for L2 learners, but research indicates that learning L2 idiomatic language is important. Relatively few studies, most of them focusing on English idioms, have investigated how L2 idioms are actually acquired and how this process is…

Mathematical memes are an Internet phenomenon with an epistemic potential noteworthy for the teaching and learning of mathematics. The aim of this paper is to conceptualize this phenomenon on an empirical base, elucidating its educational potential. To pursue this goal, a two-year ethnographic research study has been conducted in a selection of…

The purpose of this study was to understand graduate and post-graduate EFL teachers' epistemological beliefs based on the standardized English language and their beliefs on the NEST/NNEST dichotomy. In order to gain a deeper understanding two different group of teachers were formed consisting of graduate and post-graduate level of education. The…

One of the core tenets of cognitive metaphor theory is the claim that metaphors ground abstract knowledge in concrete, first-hand experience. In this paper, I argue that this grounding hypothesis contains some problematic conceptual ambiguities and, under many reasonable interpretations, empirical difficulties. I present evidence that there are…

Career agency is a vaguely defined concept that is usually explained in terms of cultivating self-reliance, while it is at the same time being critiqued as a difficult to reach goal as a result of societal pressures. Instead of viewing agency through the lens of these opposing viewpoints, focused on people either being self-reliant or determined…

This paper applied a social semiotic lens toward investigating the metonymic representations repeatedly displayed on the Instagram official account and the Instagram blog. The main source of data were 90 photos gathered from ten "Weekend Hashtag Projects" (WHPs), a weekly photo challenge organized by the Instagram team. The multimodal…

The present study aimed to evaluate the use of metaphors by preservice science teachers on the subject of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the study, a phenomenology method was employed in the scope of a qualitative research model. The study group was composed of 189 preservice teachers who were employed in various science fields (e.g.,…

An older woman seeking a sexual relationship with a younger man has often in the past been described as a "paramour" or "illicit inamorata" but in today's lexicon, we are increasingly utilizing the term "Cougar." The usual mental image of the cougar is commonly of an animal ready to pounce, seeking its prey, on the…

Purpose: Teaching social science might benefit from using students' metaphorical understanding. Metaphors help people to better understand abstract concepts by breaking them down into more familiar ones. This essay attempts to approximate students' metaphors of politics to improve social science education's efforts in shaping politically mature…

Picture books, as both sophisticated aesthetic objects and literary texts, provide the ideal site for critically examining how values and ideology are transmitted to children. How the child reader might be affected by the process of reading a picture book--that is, how he or she might be moved emotionally and potentially gain new insights about…

The field of education is rich with metaphors that reveal one's perspective on the nature of teaching and learning--ideas are "covered," students "absorb" information, teachers offer writing "clinics." Each of these metaphors indicate nuanced ideas about what schooling is and is for--to be checked off? Taken in…

Recent research indicates that using multimodal learning experiences can be effective in teaching mathematics. Using a social semiotic lens within a participationist framework, this paper reports on a professional learning collaboration with a primary school teacher designed to explore the use of metaphors and modalities in mathematics…

The purpose of this study is to investigate metaphors developed by social studies teacher candidates about the European Union. 185 second, third and fourth year social studies teacher candidates participated in the study. This study was designed as a phenomenological study and mataphor analysis was conducted. At the end of the study, the students…

When "The Myth of Sisyphus" describes those who live in the "rarefied air of the absurd" (p. 86), Camus uses the word fidelity. This signals a recognition of both defeat and the demand for struggle. This suggests a humility. Education can be said to have this characteristic; it is constantly in service to the new and yet…