The problem of metaphors in teaching French as a second language is addressed from a communicative perspective oriented toward the knowledge and interpretive competence of the hearer/reader. A distinction is made between idioms, clichés, and other figurative expressions fixed in a language and authorial metaphors, which are original creations of the speaker/writer. The former tend not to be used by students, due to avoidance strategies, pressure against personal interpretations, and a decorative quality conferred on metaphor by usual pedagogical approaches. Metaphor instruction requires a text-based approach, not a lexical one; context must be overtly specified. The treatment of metaphor in J. Courtillion's and M. Argaud's textbook 'Archipel 111' ((Archipelago III), 1987) is assessed, and exercises on figurative language and metaphorical expressions found in the text are outlined. (Copyright 1996, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.) (LLBA 1996, vol. 30, n. 1)