The potential of systematic metaphor analysis in the context (conception) research in music education

Abstract

Following up on an interview study on learner’s conceptions regarding composing, this article infers students‘ latent cognitive structures and comprehension processes, in order to derive didactic consequences for teaching composition in schools. Learners’ conceptions in the context of music education, as opposed to science subjects, are largely unexplored and require specific methods and theoretical backgrounds due to the nature of music as a subject. Against this backdrop, the article discusses a method called systematic metaphor analysis and its potential regarding cognitive research fields in music education. This method understands metaphors not as rhetorical devices, but in accordance with cognitive linguistics rather as a central element of perception and concretised meaning. Analysing these metaphors allows conclusions regarding implicit, reflexively unavailable thought patterns of learners about abstract and complex issues.