The teacher is a facilitator: Reflecting on ESL teacher beliefs through metaphor analysis

Metaphors offer a lens through which language teachers express their understanding of their work.Metaphor analysis can be a powerful reflective tool for expressing meanings that underpin ways ofthinking about teaching and learning English as a second/foreign language. Through reflecting on theirpersonal teaching metaphors, teachers become more aware of the beliefs that underpin their work.This paper reports the reflections on the prior beliefs of three experienced ESL teachers in Canadathrough the use of metaphor analysis. The paper attempts to explore the prior beliefs of the threeexperienced ESL teachers in Canada through metaphor analysis by using the Oxford et al. (1998)framework as a theoretical lens in which to gain understanding of the use and meaning of thesemetaphors. Results indicated that all three teachers used a total of 94 metaphors throughout the periodof the group discussions and interviews, and that the metaphors used most were those related tolearner-centered growth, followed by social order, then social reform.

Keywords:

reflection , teacher beliefs , teaching philosophy , ESL teachers , metaphor analysis