The use of analogies in language teaching: Representing the content of teachers' practical knowledge

Hulshof, Hans; Verloop, Nico

doi:10.1080/00220270110037177

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Students of many ages benefit from analogies, which assist them in understanding, visualizing, and remembering new concepts (Orgill and Bodner, 2007). Analogies are used to promote understanding in disciplines such as science (Harrison and Treagust, 2000a), mathematics (Richland et al, 2004), music (Stollak and Alexander ,1998), language education (Hulshof and Verloop, 2002), and art education (Casakin and Goldschmidt, 1999).…”

Section: Describes Analogy As Followsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of analogy use in secondary education science textbooks in Turkey

Akçay¹

2016

Educ. Res. Rev.

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Analogical reasoning is both an innate ability and a basic learning mechanism that can be improved. In classrooms, it is an important tool used by teachers, especially when explaining difficult or abstract issues. In addition to its use in all aspects of our lives, analogical reasoning is commonly used in textbooks. This research examines the extent to which analogies are used in high school science textbooks, the subjects of the examination being high school physics, chemistry, and biology course textbooks used by students between 14 and 17 years of age. A total of 15 textbooks (four biology books, five physics books, and six chemistry books) were reviewed. Ninety-two analogies were identified in these books. These analogies were classified based on a scheme developed by Curtis and Reigeluth. Findings are discussed in the context of previous related studies.

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Section: Describes Analogy As Followsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of analogy use in secondary education science textbooks in Turkey

Akçay¹

2016

Educ. Res. Rev.

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“…Whether this also applies to other school subjects is something we do not know much about. In our own research on language teaching (Hulshof & Verloop, 2002), analogies there is not much evidence of analogies in language teaching in classrooms and textbooks. If language teachers do use analogies, it is mostly unsystematically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other researchers have been concerned with this idea (Grossman, 1990), often without further elaboration when it concerns teachers' subject-specific practical knowledge. In the case of language teaching, we can place question marks just at this point because analogies are particularly useful for topics presenting some difficulty to the learner (Hulshof & Verloop, 2002;Newton & Newton, 1995). An analogy works best when the concept being taught is hard to grasp (Newton, 2000;Treagust et al, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whether this also applies to other school subjects is something we do not know much about. In our own research on language teaching (Hulshof & Verloop, 2002) …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Apparently there is a difference between school subjects with respect to the level of difficulty of concepts that need to be explained, and the experienced language teachers' practical knowledge that includes fewer analogies than that of teachers of physics or chemistry. The teaching of reading comprehension and literature does not offer content that is complex and difficult enough to need the sustained development of analogies (Grossman, 1990;Hulshof & Verloop, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Teachers Need Instructional Analogies to Teach Mother-Tongue (L1)? – Teachers’ Perceptions and Representations of Difficult Topics in Mother-Tongue Education

Hulshof

Verloop

2005

L1-Educ Stud Lang Lit

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ABSTRACT. The key elements in Shulman's conception of pedagogical content knowledge are knowledge of representations of subject matter and understanding of students' learning difficulties. The present study deals with teachers' perceptions of areas of student difficulty related to their representations of difficult subject matter. The focus is the role of analogies in the representation repertoire of six experienced language teachers who were interviewed about aspects of subject-specific practical knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge: difficult topics in mother-tongue education, related learning problems, representations, use of analogies, need for appropriate analogies, and an instructional model. The main question addressed in this study is whether language teachers use forms of representation that are different from those used by science teachers, including analogies, because of the nature of their school subject. The results indicate that reading comprehension and writing proficiency are considered difficult topics, and there are various representations without analogies. In the teachers' view, there is no need for analogies and an instructional model. It appears possible that language teaching does not lend itself to the use of instructional analogies.KEY WORDS: academic discipline and school subject, analogies, difficult topics, knowledge base of teaching, mother-tongue teaching, pedagogical content knowledge INTRODUCTIONExplaining difficult, new, or abstract subject matter to students often requires the use of special techniques, for instance, analogies. An analogy is the comparison of something familiar to something unfamiliar, in order to explain the unfamiliar concept. An analogy can help students transfer their existing knowledge to new knowledge. But analogies are also double-edged swords and can cause misconceptions. The analogy (a camera for the human eye or a computer for the brain) is a frequently applied tool within science education and has been intensively investigated as an aspect of science teachers' practical knowledge (Glynn, 1989;Treagust, Harrison & Venville, 1998). Whether this also applies to other school subjects is something we do not know much about. In our own research on language teaching (Hulshof & Verloop, 2002)

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The use of analogies in language teaching: Representing the content of teachers' practical knowledge

Cited by 12 publications

References 25 publications

Analysis of analogy use in secondary education science textbooks in Turkey

Analysis of analogy use in secondary education science textbooks in Turkey

Do Teachers Need Instructional Analogies to Teach Mother-Tongue (L1)? – Teachers’ Perceptions and Representations of Difficult Topics in Mother-Tongue Education

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