Metaphors in the Writing Process of Student Writers

Abstract

Research shows that metaphors are a useful instructional tool in the science classroom, and additional research shows that student understanding of the writing process impacts the quality of the students' final products. This article investigates the potential value of applying metaphors to writing instruction. I asked experienced and inexperienced student writers to describe their metaphors for the writing process and compared their responses. I found that inexperienced writers had rigid metaphors focused on a perfect product, whereas experienced writers had fluid metaphors focused on developing through writing. This difference shows an opportunity for development within the student-generated metaphors, which educators can use to guide students to more developed concepts of academic writing.