Metaphorical Visual Imagery from the Perspective of Children

Abstract

This paper will present the results of a study of an educational project on visual metaphors in children’s initiated discourse. The purpose of the study was to identify children’s metaphorical skills in recognizing similarities and noticing differences between the target domain and the source domain of visual metaphor in Iwona Chmielewska’s artistic picture book Two People, dedicated to the issue of community. In the designed didactic intervention activities, the research material came from participant observation, focus interviews and analysis of children’s creations (graphic visualizations). The research was carried out with a group of third-graders in selected elementary schools, in a metropolitan environment. The results of the research show children’s preferences for translating one area of metaphor by another, as well as strategies for constructing children’s knowledge about life in the community. In addition, they point to the need to expand the educational environment in Polish educational culture.

Keywords

• child discourse
• children’s aptitude for metaphorization
• knowledge construction
• educational environment
• picture book