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Part of
How Metaphors Guide, Teach and Popularize Science
Edited by Anke Beger and Thomas H. Smith
[Figurative Thought and Language 6] 2020
► pp. 73–110

Chapter 3
Coordinating metaphors in science, learning and instruction

The case of energy

| American University of Beirut

A substantial body of research has accumulated on the use of metaphor and analogy in science, their role in the construction of novel concepts during learning, and their strategic deployment in instruction. Despite this significant body of work, we still do not have a coherent picture of the role of metaphor in how a specific scientific concept comes to be understood. This chapter draws on the theories of conceptual metaphor and blending to put forward a perspective on how metaphor makes a scientific concept accessible; crucially, the account coordinates analyses of the roles of metaphor in science, learning and instruction. The chapter offers a case study of the concept of energy to illustrate the perspective.

Keywords: conceptual metaphor, blending, science, learning, instruction, energy
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The scientific concept of energy
  • Perspectives on metaphor: Conceptual metaphor and blending
    • Conceptual metaphor theory: Identifying conceptual patterns underlying language use
    • Blending theory: Conceptual dynamics in the flow of discourse
  • The metaphorical construal of energy in scientific discourse
    • Metaphorical construal of energy: Transfer, transformation and conservation
    • Metaphorical construal of energy transfer as heat
    • Metaphorical construal of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics
  • The challenge of learning to use metaphorical construals of the scientific concept of energy
    • Changes in the use of conceptual metaphors with the acquisition of expertise
    • Conceptual metaphors in everyday language and learners’ alternative conceptions
    • Errors in student reasoning and the substance metaphor of heat
  • Conceptual metaphor and teaching the concept of energy
    • The implicit nature of conceptual metaphors
    • Invoking particular source domains strategically
    • Mapping source domains to target concepts appropriately
  • Conclusion
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 22 April 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.6.03ami
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