Metaphors about EFL Teachersʹʹ Roles: A Case of Iranian Non- English-Major Students

Following cognitive views to language pedagogy; there have been considerable studies particularly in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) contexts via metaphor analysis as a reflective research tool. Considering the inadequate attempts in an Iranian EFL environment, the present study seeks to unpack metaphorical reflections by a group of Iranian non-English-major university students about EFL teachersʹ roles. To this end, a metaphor elicitation questionnaire was administered to a convenient sample of 187 Iranian bilingual (Kurdish-Persian) university students majoring different disciplines at three public and private universities in Ilam. Using content analysis, the metaphorical expressions collected via completion of the metaphor prompt "An English language teacher is (like) …. because …." were structured into dominant thematic categories for further analysis. The metaphors were also examined to determine whether they fit into the design of current language teaching and learning approaches and methods. Generally, the results revealed that the metaphorical images were comparatively for and against several proposed models of language learning and teaching about EFL teachersʹ roles. There were also several pedagogical implications for teacher education programs as well as suggestions for further investigations.