Os aprendizes são viajantes: identidades metaforizadas de estudantes de inglês de Hong Kong e Belo Horizonte

Abstract

If metaphors are a cognitive phenomenon by which we make sense of the world and ourselves, understanding identities and how they are constructed can also be a matter of metaphor. This article reports a research which aimed at investigating the metaphorized identities of English students of the Federal University of Minas Gerais and the City University of Hong Kong by examining the metaphors in multimodal language learning histories. In this study, two narratives datasets were analyzed – one from each university. The data reveals that the most frequent metaphorized identity in both groups of participants involves routes, paths and journeys, such as the traveler. Getting to know the metaphors students use to talk about language learning can help teachers better understand the identities that are constructed during the process.