Metaphor as a didactic phraseological resource in the SFL classroom: a contrastive cultural and linguistic approach; [La metáfora como recurso didáctico fraseológico en el aula de ELE: un enfoque cultural y lingüístico contrastivo]

Language is a manifestation of culture, and metaphors are a vivid expression of how a society perceives and conceptualises the world. In this context, the use of metaphors in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language (SFL) is a linguistically and culturally relevant phenomenon that deserves special attention. On this premise, this study focuses on analysing the presence of metaphors underlying certain idiomatic verbal locutions, exploring their cultural and linguistic relevance. It also aims to answer the question of how metaphors vary in different cultures and how these differences may affect the comprehension and production of language in foreign, in this case Russian, speakers. In order to carry out this research, a semantic and pragmatic analysis methodology was used with 40 Masters students in Linguistics. The results show that although metaphors in Spanish and Russian share some universal features, they also reflect the cultural and conceptual specificities of each language. The results of this study offer significant applications in the ELE classroom, as an understanding of these differences not only enriches students communicative competence, but also promotes a greater understanding of the relationship between language and culture in the teaching-learning process. © 2024 Universitat de Valencia. All rights reserved.