Legitimidade da metáfora em língua de especialidade num quadro didáctico

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to propose a reflection and a contribution about the metaphor in a specialized language, i.e., a kind of metaphor that facilitates, in a context of learning, the transmission of knowledge, the understanding of the abstract to make analogies with the concrete or the familiar. In this regard, we observe how the expert, in the field of cardiology, tries to transmit the knowledge to the students. This, we place the terminological metaphor in a hermeneutic context that implies another way of thinking and another way of seeing the object of description. We must emphasize that in this context, the metaphor operates a re-description of reality. The teacher has at his disposal a highly scientific term or a metaphorical expression to designate the same object. Based on some examples we are going to verify that the metaphorical instrument works as an intralingual translator that essentially assumes the role of illustrator. The specialized metaphor with an explanatory nature stems from a concern of pedagogical clarity and aims at the effectiveness at understanding of abstract concepts. Finally, we focus on the main opportunities and barriers that can be attributed to the metaphor in a context of situation of learning.

Keywords

• Terminological metaphor
• metalanguage
• learning
• social stratification