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New Approaches to Multilingualism Research: Focus on Metaphors and Similes

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Multiculturalism, Multilingualism and the Self

Part of the book series: Second Language Learning and Teaching ((SLLT))

Abstract

This paper discusses a fairly new research methodology used in studying multilingualism. The complexity of the phenomenon of multilingualism calls for multidisciplinary approaches; it calls for a new research approach beyond the well-known paradigms of mostly quantitative investigations in bilingualism and the introduction of qualitative methods. One of the approaches advocated by researchers in multilingualism is conceptualization through the vehicle of metaphoric thinking about multilingual issues: “(…) conceptual metaphors work as models for abstract phenomena and processes, and provide insights for their understanding” (Aronin & Politis, 2015, p. 31). The article aims to illustrate how metaphoric conceptualizations of multilingualism can contribute to its understanding.

Language understanding is imaginative simulation.

Prof. Sirini Narayanan.

International Computer Science Institute, California.

The original version of this chapter was revised: For detailed information please see Erratum. The erratum to this chapter is available at 10.1007/978-3-319-56892-8_13

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56892-8_13

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Notes

  1. 1.

    www.isci.berkeley.edu.icsi/gazette/2012. Accessed on 17 December 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of English, University of Silesia, Gen. S. Grota-Roweckiego 5, 41-205, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Danuta Gabryś-Barker

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  1. Danuta Gabryś-Barker
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of English, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Danuta Gabryś-Barker

  2. Institute of English, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Dagmara Gałajda

  3. Institute of English, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Adam Wojtaszek

  4. Institute of English, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Paweł Zakrajewski

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Gabryś-Barker, D. (2017). New Approaches to Multilingualism Research: Focus on Metaphors and Similes. In: Gabryś-Barker, D., Gałajda, D., Wojtaszek, A., Zakrajewski, P. (eds) Multiculturalism, Multilingualism and the Self. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56892-8_6

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