A comparison study between instrumental master and novice teachers in the use of and attitudes towards figurative language

This study compared master teachers and novice teachers in their use of and attitudes towards figurative language. Figurative language was defined as any act of creativity exhibited by the teacher that was intended to convey concepts to students. Two groups of teachers were studied, novice teachers (n = 8) and master teachers (n = 8). The researcher observed each subject teach for 45 minutes. Immediately following the lesson was an interview. The study used a parallel mixed method design to answer the research questions. The null hypotheses stated that there was no difference between the two groups in the number of uses of figurative language. A t-test was conducted and the null hypothesis was rejected at a significance level of .01. A questionnaire was used during the interviews to help answer the three subsidiary research questions. The first subsidiary research question asked if teachers felt that their undergraduate training included a focus on figurative language. A vast majority of the subjects responded with a decisive no. Triangulation of data was applied to this question through the study of current university syllabi and textbooks. Forty-two university professors submitted 71 syllabi. Only eight specifically mentioned language as a topic. From the syllabi the top 10 textbooks were examined and similar results ensued. The second subsidiary research question asked if teachers considered their language as an important teaching tool. This study hypothesized that teachers do not consider their language or the types of language they should use for instruction. The data concluded that the hypothesis is false. Teachers do consider the importance of language even though they have not discussed the topic much. The final research question asked if teachers remember their mentors because of the use of figurative language. This study hypothesized that teachers remember their mentors partially because of their use of figurative language. The data revealed a mixed answer. Although figurative language was discussed somewhat among subjects, other answers were also given such as classroom atmosphere, excitement, etc. Subjects who did mention figurative language as a characteristic of their mentor also had strong, positive memories of those teachers.