Metaphorical Perceptions of Anatolian Imam Khatip High School Students Towards Arabic

Year 2025, Issue: 53, 199 - 226, 30.04.2025

Hasan Uçar , Yunus Emre Sayan

https://doi.org/10.28949/bilimname.1577267

Abstract

Metaphor means explaining an unknown thing by analogy with a known phenomenon and this has recently been used in education. This will pave the way for efforts to facilitate language teaching in Arabic. In foreign language teaching, metaphors are used to reveal students' perceptions of foreign language and the process of learning this language. Metaphors are also a guide in determining instructor’s attitudes. As a matter of fact, positive metaphors about the language in students' world affect the language learning process positively. On the other hand, negative metaphorical perceptions can negatively affect language teaching. As a matter of fact, some students encounter Arabic for the first time in high school. The rumour that Arabic is difficult creates a negative perception in the students' world. In this context, metaphors make it valuable to understand students' approaches to Arabic and the mental mechanisms they develop.
This research was carried out according to the views of students taking Arabic and Vocational Arabic courses at Anatolian Imam Khatip High School, a project school in the 2023-2024 academic year. The research was conducted with phenomenological design. The students were asked as a foreign language "Arabic is like .............. Because ............", and the data were obtained by collecting them. As a result, it was determined that 209 metaphors were developed about Arabic lesson. These metaphors were categorised in 9 different ways. These results were discussed within the scope of the study by including student opinions. The metaphors were considered that as the most appropriate methods and strategies for Arabic learning and teaching. Prior to this study, metaphor studies on foreign language were conducted at secondary school and university levels. This study was conducted for high schools, which is the education level between the two. This study will fill a gap in order to see students' approaches to language before university preferences.
In our study, the students placed Arabic mostly in the category of language of religion (25%) and expressed that they perceived Arabic as the language of Qur'an (f=11) in the third place as a metaphor. These findings coincide with the studies conducted in secondary schools and universities before this study. Because in the previous studies, the first finding was that Arabic is a complex and difficult language and the second finding was that it has spiritual importance. The fact that Arabic helps to understand the Holy Qur'an is the reason for this attitude of the students (43%) who like the course. On the other hand, in a study conducted on Arabic language teaching in Imam Hatip High Schools, it was found that 57% of the students do not like Arabic. 63.2 per cent of Arabic teachers state that Arabic teaching is difficult in whole or in part. This research shows the concrete equivalents of their thoughts. It is an undeniable fact that this situation will make education difficult. Because the subconscious mind, which learns that Arabic is difficult, will stay away from it. Moreover, it will prevent even a student who has a predisposition to learn the language from realising this feature. At the same time, trying to teach Arabic to a student in this situation will bring an additional burden to the teacher.
Our country has become more cosmopolitan in recent years due to refugees. The difficulties encountered in daily life with refugees from Arab countries, especially Syria, have increased the importance of Arabic, especially in Turkey. This situation was reflected in the perceptions of the students who emphasised the necessity of Arabic with metaphors such as king, gold, money, air, life, medicine, compass, automobile, water and hand soap. The students who were not aware of this situation or who stated that Arabic was not a language that would be needed in the world expressed Arabic with the metaphors of straw, a car that ran out of fuel, mosquito and stray dog. The metaphor expressed as the gears of a complex tool reveals the intertwined grammatical structure of Arabic. The situation of not being able to make progress despite thinking that he has learnt makes another student feel that he is riding the escalator upside down.
The metaphors that can be expressed as one of the interesting results of the research are the descriptions that reveal the inner worlds and psychologies of the students such as leek, broccoli, offal, watermelon, grandmother, mother's love and film. Because a vegetable or food that is not liked even though it is useful, a grandmother who does not know how to love even though she is loved, a mother's love that cannot be understood, a series of endless films point to the students' witty structures or some problems that need to be projected rather than their Arabic perceptions.

Keywords

Arabic language , Metaphor , Language teaching , Foreign language , Anatolian Imam Khatip High School.

Anadolu İmam Hatip Lisesi Öğrencilerinin Arapçaya Yönelik Metaforik Algıları

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, zorunlu ve seçmeli ders olarak okutulan Arapça dersine yönelik Anadolu İmam Hatip Lisesi (AİHL) öğrencilerinin metaforik algılarını tespit etmektir. Öğrencilerin söz konusu dile ve bu dili öğrenme sürecine ilişkin algılarını ortaya çıkarmada kullanılan metaforlar, muhatap kitlenin tanınmasına yardımcı olduğu gibi öğretici tutumlarını belirleme konusunda da rehber bir niteliği haizdir. Liseli bir öğrenci, kavrama yeteneğinin geliştiği bir evrede bulunduğu için dil algısını ifade edebilmektedir ve bu durumun en somut ifadeyle bilinmesi öğrencilerin mesleki hayatları için ehemmiyet arz eden lisans eğitimlerine yönelik atacakları son adımda müstesna bir önem arz etmektedir. Daha önce liselerde buna yönelik bir çalışmanın yapılmamış olması ve araştırmaya konu olan okulun LGS’de başarılı bir okul olması, araştırmanın sonuçlarına olan ilgiyi artıracak ve kıyas edilebilir çıktılar sunacaktır. Öğrencilerin dil öğrenmeye karşı hazır bulunuşlukları, öğrenecekleri dile karşı ilgi, tutum ve davranışları anlamada etkili rol oynamaktadır. Zira dile yönelik öğrencilerin dünyasındaki olumlu metaforlar, dil öğrenme sürecini pozitif; olumsuz metaforik algılar ise negatif olarak etkileyebilmektedir. Çalışma sonunda öğrencilerin Arapçayı din dili olması bakımından önemli gördükleri ve Arapçaya ekmek-su gibi bir değer atfettikleri görülmektedir. Konjonktürel olarak Arapçayı gerekli gören öğrenciler olduğu gibi, Arapçayı gereksiz bir ameliye sayanlar da yok değildir. Öğrenciler bu dili tam anlamıyla ihata edemeyeceklerini okyanus, dilin zorluğunu dağ, dile çift yönlü bakış açılarını dikenli gül vb. metaforlar ile ifade etmişlerdir.

Keywords

Arapça , Metafor , Dil öğretimi , Yabancı dil , Anadolu İmam Hatip Lisesi.

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