Methodological Innovations in Pedagogical Metaphorology

Abstract

Pedagogical metaphorology is a promising scientific field that has recently appeared at the intersection of cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, psychology and pedagogy. It studies metaphors as a cognitive and linguistic phenomenon of pedagogical discourse. This article discusses the goals and methods of pedagogical metaphorology in their genetic relation to cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, psychology and pedagogy. The method of elicited metaphor analysis is wide spread and is recognized as efficient. This method implies that a child-respondent is not a mere source of metaphorical images, but is, to a certain extent, a co-researcher as it is not only their speech that is analyzed, but also their cognitive activity. The Retrospective Metaphor Interview method is described, when a researcher and a person under test discuss metaphorical images of the latter about some kind of learning activity. There is a methodological shift in contemporary pedagogical metaphorology to individualization of the research, when a specialist focuses not on the general principles of applicability of the metaphor analysis results in pedagogical work, but on the needs and psychological features of certain children in educational and research projects. The following conclusion is made: it is possible to expand methodological potential of Russian scientists if they pay attention to the achievements of their foreign colleagues; Russian researchers will be able to join the global scientific discourse and to use achievements of foreign science in teaching.