Pre-service Teachers' Perceptions on the Concept of Oral Communication: A Metaphor Research

Abstract

This research aims to determine pre-service teachers' mental images of the concept of “Oral Communication” by using the metaphor technique. The qualitative research method was used in the research. The pattern of the study is phenomenology, which is one of the qualitative research method designs. The participants of the research are 84 teacher candidates, 16 male, and 68 female, studying in various departments in the education faculty of a state university in the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. To get the opinions of pre-service teachers as a data collection tool, “Oral Communication… like/similar. Because…” An open-ended question form was used. In this context, pre-service teachers were provided to fill in the blanks in the form using a metaphor. Easily accessible sampling (study group), which is one of the purposive sampling methods, was used in the selection of the sample. The obtained data were analyzed through the content analysis technique. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained from the research, it was determined that the teacher candidates produced a total of 64 metaphors in 6 different categories. These categories, in terms of the metaphors they contain; “Oral Communication as a tool, Oral Communication as an abstract concept, Oral Communication as a basic need, oral communication as an analogy, oral communication as a profession expression, oral communication as the expression of living things” Categorically, it was determined that the density of metaphors was in the category of “oral communication as a tool” and that the pre-service teachers produced metaphors reflecting their generally positive perceptions and thoughts about the concept of oral communication.