In an explorative field study to examine the introduction to hypertext writing, two parallel classes (total N = 60) were observed constructing hypertexts during their regular school lessons. The teachers in both classes used completely different metaphors to introduce the concept of hypertext. The metaphor chosen influenced both the structures of the completed hypertext documents and the discussion about the subject matter. The space-metaphor seems to be especially appropriate to introduce the concept of hypertext to the learner in such a way that a creative interaction between the structure of the hypertext and the semantic structure of the subject could result. Three tests were administered to measure the degree to which knowledge about semantic relations and structures was acquired. The class that had discussed hypertext with spatial metaphors showed significantly better results than the parallel class. (LLBA 1999, vol. 33, n. 4)