Understanding Language Learners’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Roles in Online Education: A Metaphor Analysis

Abstract

This study investigates language learners’ perception of Turkish teachers’ roles in an online setting using metaphor analysis. The aim of this qualitative study was to see how learners viewed their teachers’ roles in the setting. Using this data collection tool through convenient sampling, this study elicited 161 language learners’ perceptions of teachers’ role in an online context during the COVID-19 era between December and January 2020. Analyzing the data, the researchers came up with 10 different conceptual metaphors depicting learners’ beliefs about their teachers’ roles. The results identified some differences between how learners view teachers’ roles in an online mode of education compared to the conventional one as other studies suggest. The implications of these findings for teachers in general and language teachers in particular are discussed, highlighting what can be done to cushion the adverse effects of this novel medium of instruction.