An analysis of narrative texts in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade middle school Turkish textbooks in terms of conceptual metaphor use

Metaphor is to understand the relationship between abstract concepts through concrete concepts by settling into the previous concept order in the comprehension stage. In order to ease this process, learning environments prepared in accordance with the developmental levels of students and appropriately selected course materials are very important. The most frequently used material in achieving the objectives of the current curriculum within a plan and order is textbooks. The capabilities of metaphors to strengthen narration add an intense meaning to the concepts in these texts. The aim of this study is to examine how conceptual metaphors are used in narrative texts in Turkish textbooks of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. Document analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research models, is used. The data were analyzed through content analysis and quantitatively through frequency analysis. The sample of the study consisted of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Middle School Turkish Textbooks. The narrative texts in the textbooks were grouped under the heading of conceptual metaphor types and the metaphors were analyzed according to Lakoff and Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor Theory (1980). The database of this study consists of 40 narrative texts from Middle School 5th Grade Turkish Textbook, 40 from Middle School 6th Grade Turkish Textbook, 41 from Middle School 7th Grade Turkish Textbook and 40 from Middle School 8th Grade Turkish Textbook. As a result of the analysis of the data, there are a total of 18 types of conceptual metaphors in the narrative texts in the Middle School 5th Grade Turkish Textbook. The frequency of use of these metaphors was 10 ontological metaphors, 7 structure metaphors and 1 orientation metaphor, respectively. There are 44 types of conceptual metaphors in the narrative texts in the 6th grade Middle School Turkish Textbook. The frequency of their use was 33 ontological metaphors, 9 structure metaphors and 2 orientation metaphors, respectively. There are 54 types of conceptual metaphors in the narrative texts in the 7th grade Turkish textbook. The frequency of their use was found to be 28 ontological metaphors, 23 structure metaphors and 3 orientation metaphors, respectively. There are 35 types of conceptual metaphors in the narrative texts in the 8th grade Turkish textbook. The frequency of their use was found to be 18 ontological metaphors, 12 structure metaphors and 6 orientation metaphors, respectively. Keywords: Conceptual metaphors, Turkish textbooks, narrative texts