Reaching for the Gold Standard: Metaphors and Good University Teachers
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Lixian Jin
Dr. Lixian Jin is Chair Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Her research focuses on English and intercultural communication; speech and language therapy; cultures of learning; and narrative and metaphor analyses.
and
Martin Cortazzi
Dr. Martin Cortazzi is Visiting Professor in Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK, where he researches issues in languages, cultures and learning; language teaching; applying narrative and metaphor analysis to education.
Abstract
This article considers “good” teachers in the context of current developments in universities in China to reach a “gold standard” of considerably higher and more challenging levels of teaching and learning. We outline this context and consider concepts of good teachers in classical Chinese traditions and more recent Western thinking as a possible dialogue within and between cultures of learning. Using cognitive and cultural linguistic perspectives, we analyze metaphorical concepts of “gold” in “the gold standard” as related to teachers. We report our applied metaphor research which analyzes Chinese students’ expectations, values and beliefs about good university language teachers; this presents a rich picture beyond developing knowledge, skills and understanding to include strong social and moral characteristics. Other aspects which recognize the complexity of “good” teachers show a student appreciation of teachers’ tireless effort, devotion and selfless sacrifice: these aspects are absent in many discussions of good teachers. The participant-centered picture from elicited metaphor analysis is part of students’ “cultures of learning,” but this should be developed culturally for the gold standard through further teacher development and student engagement. In line with interaction in cultures of learning, we indicate some classroom ways to extend students’ thinking through scaffolding teacher-student interaction based on textbook activities.
About the authors
Dr. Lixian Jin is Chair Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Her research focuses on English and intercultural communication; speech and language therapy; cultures of learning; and narrative and metaphor analyses.
Dr. Martin Cortazzi is Visiting Professor in Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK, where he researches issues in languages, cultures and learning; language teaching; applying narrative and metaphor analysis to education.
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© 2020 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reaching for the Gold Standard: Metaphors and Good University Teachers
- Researching Classroom-Based Assessment for Formative Purposes
- Using Social Media to Promote Intercultural Communication Between Chinese and American University Students
- Investigating Social Presence in Audio and Text Online Interaction for Language Learning
- A Study of Localization of Task-Based Language Teaching in China
- A Study of Three Variants of Gerund Construction from the Contrastive Perspective of Social and Natural Academic Abstracts on Construction Grammar Theory
- Why Is nice and Adj So Much More Frequent than Adj and nice?—From the Perspective of Humans’ Social and Limited-Processing-Capacity Attributes
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reaching for the Gold Standard: Metaphors and Good University Teachers
- Researching Classroom-Based Assessment for Formative Purposes
- Using Social Media to Promote Intercultural Communication Between Chinese and American University Students
- Investigating Social Presence in Audio and Text Online Interaction for Language Learning
- A Study of Localization of Task-Based Language Teaching in China
- A Study of Three Variants of Gerund Construction from the Contrastive Perspective of Social and Natural Academic Abstracts on Construction Grammar Theory
- Why Is nice and Adj So Much More Frequent than Adj and nice?—From the Perspective of Humans’ Social and Limited-Processing-Capacity Attributes
- Abstracts
- Chinese Abstracts
