USING METAPHOR ANALYSIS TO

EXPLORE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' ATTITUDES

TOWARDS LEARNING MATHEMATICS
NECDET GÜNER
Pamukkale University, Turkey

In this study, the attitudes of Anatolian high school and voca-

tional high school students towards learning mathematics were
examined by using the metaphor analysis method. The study
included 669 12th grade students (317 female, 352 male) of two
Anatolian and two vocational high schools located in a city cen-
ter in the Aegean region of Turkey. The study exatnined whether
students' attitudes towards learning mathematics varied accord-
ing to the type of high school and gender; and whether they used
different metaphors to describe their mathematics learning expe-
riences. It was found that vocational high school students had
more negative attitudes than Anatolian high school students
towards learning mathematics. Gender did not affect students'
attitudes towards mathematics.

Introduction tions, opinions and behaviors towards an

Mathematical literacy is an individual's
capacity to understand the role of mathe-
matics in the world and to apply
mathematical thinking and mathematical
decision-making processes to everyday
problems. Today, almost every profession
requires some level of mathematical think-
ing and employees are expected to solve
novel problems, requiring reasoning abil-
ity rather than using mathematical skills.
Yet, it is important to teach students con-
centrating in various branches mathematics
effectively, as mathematical knowledge
enhances everyday problem solving skills
by establishing a cause and effect rela-
tionship. Students, however, often
experience difficulty with mathematics,
due to psychological factors such as dis-
interest in the subject, anxiety, fear or
prejudice.
Mathematics attitude
Aiken (1970) defines attitude as a set
of positive or negative pre-acquired emo-
object, a fact, a concept or a person. Pre-
vious studies reveal a positive relationship
between individuals' achievements and
their attitudes towards a field in general
and towards mathematics in particular
(Akar, 1986; Chen & Stevenson, 1995;
Ethington & Wolfe, 1986; Farooq & Shah,
2008; Ma, 1997; Utsumi & Mendes, 2000;
Yenilmez, 2007). Ethington and Wolfle
(1986), as well as Ma (1997) concluded
that a positive attitude towards mathemat-
ics is highly correlated with success in
mathematics. Ma (1997) conducted a study
on 1200 high school seniors and reported
that students with positive attitudes towards
mathematics were highly successful in
mathematics. Tocci and Engelhard's (1991)
research indicated that students who are
successful in mathematics have more pos-
itive attitudes towards mathematics and
also believe in the usefulness of the field.
A study conducted in Italy (Muzzatti
& Agnoli, 2007) showed that as students
progress from primary to secondary school.

39
40/Education Vol. 133 No. 1
independent of gender, revising mathe-
matics becomes more difficult. Six to seven
year old female students, who have just
started school considered themselves bet-
ter than male students of the same age;
however, that percepfion is reversed when
they reach age 12-13. Furthermore, in a
study conducted by Wilkins and Ma
(2003), 3116 students were observed from
6th grade fill 12th grade, and their attitudes
towards mathematics showed a decline.
The relafionship of students' atfitudes
and parents' atfitudes towards mathemat-
ics was researched by many. Even though
most parents agree that mathematics is
important, they think it is a difficult and
boring subject, based on memorizafion of
rules and techniques (Brown, Carpenter,
Kouba, Lindquist, Silver, & Swafford,
1988; Cai, 2003; Cain-Caston, 1993; Gal-
lagher & Kaufman, 2008). A survey of
1766 7th and 13th grade students showed
that the factors which affect students' math-
emafics achievement are students' attitude
towards mathemafics, academic self-con-
fidence and students' as well as parents'
academic expectations (Wong, 1992). Sim-
ilarly, Tocci and Engelhard's study revealed
that parental support and perceived
achievement reduce mathemafics anxiety
(Tocci & Engelhard, 1991).
Minato and Kamada (1996) conducted
a meta-analysis of 56 studies; Ma and
Kishor (1997) reviewed 113 studies, con-
cluding that mathematics attitude has a
positive effect on mathemafics success.
Studies found that developing positive atfi-
tude towards mathematics and mathematics
lessons is the key to success for students.
Previous studies of students' mathematics
atfitudes generally used Likert scaled ques-
tionnaires or one-to-one interviews (Bran-
dell & Staberg, 2008; Kloosterman, 2002;
Ma & Kishor, 1997). The present study
examined students' attitudes towards learn-
ing mathematics by examining the
metaphors they created about learning
mathemafics.
Definition of metaphor
In their bookfitled"Metaphors We Live
By", Lakoff and Johnson (1980) examined
the usage of metaphor in daily language
and in English literature. They defined it
as: "Metaphor is principally a way of con-
ceiving of one thing in terms of another,
and its primary funcfion is understanding."
(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p.36). Fleener,
Pourdavood, and Fry point to the impor-
tance of metaphor saying that "The role of
metaphor for organizing and communi-
cating thoughts about one's personal reahty
is central to a constructivist approach to
language which views individual con-
struction of personalized reahties as limited
by individual knowledge and language"
(1995, p.3).
As a concept, metaphor is considered
an intellectual instrument that an individ-
ual can use in expressing and explaining
an abstract and conceptual fact. Metaphors,
which occur in every field of life, represent
understanding of a subject through refer-
ence to another subject. In a way, metaphor
builds nonlinear relafionship between an
unfamiliar concept and something more
familiar. Metaphor is one of the shortcuts
to reveal exisfing intellectual schemes as
well as enlightening a certain aspect of a
concept when addressed.
Lakoff and Johnson (1980) in a section
tided "Metaphor, Truth, and Acfion" say

"... we define our reality in terms of
metaphors and then proceed to act on the
basis of the metaphors." (p.158). The
metaphors that students use to describe
their experiences of learning mathematics
also show their attitudes towards mathe-
matics. The literature review did not
identify any previous studies in which stu-
dents' attitudes towards mathematics were
researched using metaphor analysis.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to deter-
mine the opinions and attitudes of 12th
grade students about learning mathemat-
ics. To this end, the study used metaphor
theory. The research questions were:
1. Which metaphors do students general-
ly use in order to define their positive
attitudes towards learning mathemat-
ics?
2. Which metaphors do students general-
ly use in order to define their negative
attitudes towards learning mathemat-
ics?
3. Is there a relationship between students'
attitudes towards mathematics and their
gender?
4. Is there a relationship between students'
attitudes towards learning mathematics
and the type of high school they attend?
Method
Participants
In order to have the best representation
of participant characteristics, purposeful
sampling was employed. The choices were
made in a way that can reflect the differ-
ences in the group and that can enable the
inclusion of people with certain qualifica-
Using Metaphor Analysis... / 4 1
tions into the study group (Berg, 1998).
Maximum variation sampling was used to
increase the likelihood that all relevant
aspects of phenomenon being studied
would be reflected (Patton, 2002).
Turkish students enroll in high schools
according to their scores in a nationwide
examination after the secondary stage of
primary education. Students who are suc-
cessful in primary education also generally
achieve high scores in the subsequent
examination. These students enroll an Ana-
tohan high school or other prestigious high
schools, requiring top scores. These
schools prepare students for a university
education, whereas students who score less
in the general examination attend voca-
tional high schools to learn a profession.
This study was conducted on two Ana-
tolian and two vocational high schools in
Turkey. All four schools were located in a
city center in the Aegean region. The
research was based on 669 12th grade stu-
dents, 323 (169 female, 154 male) of whom
attend Anatolian high schools and 346 (148
female, 198 male) of whom attend a voca-
tional high schools. Of the 669 students,
317 {Al.AWo) are female and 352 (52.6%)
are male, 48.3% of the students attend Ana-
tolian high schools and 51.7% attend
vocational high schools.
Data Collection Instrument
The study used a two-part questionnaire
that was prepared by the researcher. The
first part collected demographic data; stu-
dents were asked to write the type of their
high school, their grade and gender. The
second part presented an open-ended ques-
tion that sought to determine students'
experiences during their mathematics edu-
42/Education Vol. 133 No. 1
cadon. According to Patton "The true open-
ended question allows the person being
interviewed to select from among that per-
sons' full repertoire of possible responses
those that are most salient" (Patton, 2002;
p 354). Participants were asked to com-
plete the sentence "For me, learning
mathematics is like...; because..." based
on their experiences.
Data collection
Data were collected during the fall term
of the 2011. This study was conducted in
the course of Turkish literature classes at
participadng high schools. The researcher
informed the students about the research
in each class, where the Turkish literature
teacher was present. First, the literature
teacher described what a metaphor is and
gave some examples fiom literature and
daily life. Afterwards, the purpose of the
research was revealed, indicating that par-
ticipation was voluntary. Students who
chose to participate were given 30 min-
utes to answer the questions and find
metaphors showing their emotions about
learning mathematics. Students were
expected to work individually, creating
their own metaphors.
Data Analysis
Completed questionnaires were col-
lected and read individually by the
researcher before stardng classificadon. In
the first reading, quesdonnaires that omit-
ted demographic informadon (19), did not
answer the open-ended question (23), had
a metaphor the researcher did not under-
stand (26) or had no explanatory sentence
regarding the metaphor (35) were exclud-
ed (total 103) from the coding. The
remaining 669 quesdonnaires, that were
answered adequately were used and coded.
Classification of metaphors in
terms of indicating attitude towards
learning mathematics
All of the 669 metaphors used and the
justifications for using these metaphors
were reviewed. The subject of the
metaphor, the source of the metaphor, and
l;he power of students' explanations
towards learning mathemadcs were ana-
lyzed. Metaphors were separated into 3
groups; metaphors which show students'
positive atdtudes, metaphors which show
students' negative attitudes and neutral
metaphors in which students' atdtudes can-
not be determined.
Reliability
The researcher recorded each student's
attitude towards learning mathematics,
reflected by the given metaphor, in a com-
puter file. Then he asked one of his
colleagues from faculty of educadon, who
is familiar with metaphor studies, to do the
same. Some differences were observed in
the coding of the two experts. While one
expert considered a metaphor as indicat-
ing a definidve atdtude the other considered
it neutral. The reliability of the research
was calculated by using the formula below
(Miles & Huberman, 1994).
Reliabihty = {Agreement/ (Agreement
-H Disagreement)}
The first classificadons about students'
attitudes towards learning mathematics
showed 91% reliability. The reliability
coefficient was later increased to 94% after
discussion and collaboration on the clas-
sificadons.
 Using Metaphor Analysis... / 4 3

Presentation of the data like setting sail to new horizons; because

After classificadon of used metaphors, every new subject in mathematics is like a
frequency tables were prepared for the atd- new world in itself. Every new method
tudes towards learning mathematics, increases the power of thinking while
according to gender and school type. Par- teaching you to take different approaches
dcipants' opinions were directly reflected to events. Thus, it provides a new point of
in the research results by quodng some of view for the subject while developing dif-
their answers to open-ended quesdon. This ferent ways of thinking each time." (118,
method is thought to be important by M, AHS).
Creswell (2007) since it directly reflects the Another male student emphasized that
opinion of the pardcipants. The survey learning mathemadcs is not easy and then
number, gender and school type of each mendoned that the effort is worthwhile and
student was given after each quote. brings satisfaction. This indicates a posi-
dve atdtude of this male student. "For me,
Findings and Discussion learning mathemadcs is like climbing to
the observation terrace of a skyscraper on
Metaphors that students used to describe foot; because mathematics is a very diffi-
their positive attitude towards mathematics cult subject to learn and to practice.
learning However, once you succeed, you realize
Students generally described their pos- that nothing can stop you. At the end, the
idve atdtudes toward learning mathemadcs view is worth seeing." (35, M, AHS).
using metaphors such as discovering the Some examples about posidve atdtudes
unknown, acquiring a new skill, playing a on mathematics learning are given below:
game they like or solving puzzle. A female "For me, learning mathematics is like
student from an Anatolian high school discovering new places; because ai you
compared learning mathematics to riding travel, you are curious and you want to
a bicycle. "For me, learning mathemadcs see new places." (23, F, AHS).
is like riding a bicycle; because in the "For me, learning mathemadcs is like
process of learning to ride me fall but con- reading a long and suspenseful novel;
tinue to ride (try to solve the problem) in because there is the continuation of infor-
the hope of continuing my way. Once I mation as you learn. You do not want to
really enjoy this, I cannot resist it." (10, leave it as you learn and understand. " (73,
F, AHS). With this metaphor, the student M, AHS).
emphasized that learning mathematics is "For me, learning mathemadcs is like
not easy; however, she also stated that she playing computer games; because some
enjoys the challenge. A male student from computer games are challenging. You must
an Anatolian high school compared learn- make an effort to pass to higher levels.
ing new things in each and every However, some levels are easy." (92, M,
mathematics subject to a voyage of dis- AHS).
covery. "For me, learning mathemadcs is
44/Education Voi. 133 No. 1

"For me, learning mathematics is like not liked the subject starting with my very
reading a comic book; because when you first mathematics lesson." (334, M, VHS).
read a comic book you must only focus on This male student at a vocational high
comics. You cannot understand the idea if school emphasized that he has experienced
you do not focus on it. Similarly, you can- problems learning mathematics since the
not solve the problems if you do not focus beginning of his studies. He did not have
on mathematics. For me, both of them are sufficient foundation at the beginning,
very enjoyable." (204, F, AHS). making future learning more difficult and
"For me, learning mathematics is like transforming what is not understood into
reading an exciting book; because as we a mountain summit that he can not reach.
turn each page of the book, new events A female student at an Anatolian high
take place and we are excited in reading school compares learning mathematics to
the book. I hold on to mathematics more a nightmare.
as we learn each subject and I wonder "For me, learning mathematics is like
what other operations will be performed. " having a terrible nightmare; because from
(563, M, VHS). the first minute of a mathematics lesson,
"For me, learning mathematics is like a nightmare begins for me. I feel that this
being occupied with something I like; 45-minute-long lesson is like death. When
because being occupied with the numbers I encounter mathematical concepts, I get
is so enjoyable.lt is very nice to reach the bored and I hate them. However I have an
result even though some topics are diffi- individual problem with mathematics, not
cult." (602, F, VHS). with my teachers. I do not like mathemat-
ics." (126, F, AHS).
Metaphors that students used to describe Some examples about negative attitudes
their negative attitudes towards learning on mathematics learning are given below:
mathematics "For me, learning mathematics is like
Metaphors that reflect students' nega- learning Chinese; because mathematics is
tive attitudes towards learning mathematics a very complicated subject." (32, M,
generally express the difficulty of learn- AHS).
ing mathematics. Students who used "For me, learning mathematics is like
metaphors such as searching for the exit in riding in a horror tunnel at an amusement
a maze, having a nightmare, suffering pain, park; because you get on the ride to have
nibbling tree bark, climbing Mount Ever- fun, yet you are so scared that you want to
est, learning Chinese etc. explain how get out as you proceed through the tun-
agonizing and difficult an experience it is nel." (110, F, AHS).
for them to try to learn mathematics. Some "For me, learning mathematics is like
examples are given below: climbing to the top of a building with 100
"For me, learning mathematics is like floors without an elevator; because / never
climbing Mount Everest by foot; because liked mathematics, I do not like it. I think
for me, mathematics is like a mountain that most of the topics are unnecessary
summit which is impossible to reach. I have and they will not serve any purpose beyond
 Using Metaphor Analysis... / 4 5

the lesson." (332, F, VHS). a torture." (379, M, VHS).

"For me, learning mathematics is "For me, learning mathemafics is like
always like a torture; because//zave never walking around in a maze; because you
been good with numbers. I understand can get out of the maze if you have a map.
some topics; however, things come to a Ifyou do not know and cannot learn it, like
deadlock. I have no more will or motiva- myself, you keep walking in the maze and
tion. Especially when I take an exam in suddenly find yourself on the edge of a
math on topics I do not understand, I feel cliff." (630, F, VHS).
offended that I cannot do anything. I hate
it." (337, M, VHS). Students' Mathematics Attitude According to
"For me, learning mathemafics is like Gender
going up a steep and long hill; because Mathemafics attitudes derived from the
one has difficulty while doing something metaphors that students used are given in
that he/she does not like. Similarly, Ido not the Table 1.
like mathematics so much." (362, M, Chi-square test (x'= 1.58, p=.A5A)
VHS). showed that gender difference alone was
"For me, learning mathematics is like not statistically significant on mathemat-
a torture; because it is boring, complicat- ics attitudes of students. This result
ed and I do not understand anything. supports findings which concluded that
Continuing on to the next mathematical there is no difference between mathemat-
topic without understanding the previous ics atfitudes and gender (Farooq & Shan,
one is very confusing." (373, F, VHS). 2008; Ma & Cartwright, 2003; Utsumi &
"For me, learning mathematics is like Mendes, 2000).
a torture; because the time does not flow
when one is bored each minute. I tried Students' Mathematics Attitudes According
everything, I still do not understand math. to High School Type
For this reason I do not like it and it is like
Table. 1. Smdents' mathematics attitudes according to gender
Mathematics Attitude Total
Gender Positive Negative Neutral/
Undecided
Female 113(35.7%) 130(41.0%) 74 (23.3%) 317(100%)
Male • 137 (38.9%) 146(41.5%) 69 (19.6%) 352 (100%)
Total 250 (37.3%) 276(41.3%) 143(21.4%) 669(100%)

Table.2. Students' ttiathematics attitude according to high school type

High School Mathematics Attitude Total
Type Positive Negative Neutral/
Undecided
Anatolian H. S. 151 (46.8%) 96 (29.7%) 76 (23.5%) 323 (100%)
Vocational H. S. 99 (28.6%) 180(52.0%) 67 (19.4%) 346 (100%)
Total 250 (37.4%) 276(41.2%) 143 (21.4%) 669 (100%)
46/Education Vol. 133 No. 1
According to chi-square calculations
(x'= 36.2, p=.OOO), there is a statistically
significant difference in mathematics atti-
tudes and high school type. The Anatolian
high school students are showing more
positive attitudes towards mathematics than
those in vocational high schools. It is
known that students at Anatolian high
schools, which accept students with a
national exam, are generally more suc-
cessful in mathematics than vocational high
school students. It can be presumed that
students who are successful in mathemat-
ics have more positive attitudes towards
this lesson. Previous studies showed that
the differences in mathematics attitudes
according to high school type are in favor
of Anatolian and science high school stu-
dents (Ozlü, 2001; Yenilmez, 2007).
Conclnsions
The metaphors that students used while
describing learning mathematics varied
significantly according to the high school
type. Anatolian high school students make
greater use of positive themes such as dis-
covering the unknown, playing game,
solving puzzle and doing or using some-
thing useful; in comparison, vocational
high school students use the negative
themes of climbing a mountain, trying to
find an exit of a maze, seeing a nightmare
etc. Eor instance, only 3 Anatolian high
school students described learning math-
ematics as a torture, compared with 20
vocational high school students. There was
no statistically significant difference
between high school types and the themes
of acquiring a new skill, solving a puzzle
and playing a game.
The finding that the Anatolian high
school students expressed more positive
opinions about learning mathematics sup-
port thefindingsof a previous study, which
showed that students who are successful in
mathematics have more positive attitudes
towards the subject (Yenilmez, 2007).
Having a nightmare, a feeling of suffering
and similar negative metaphors given by
vocational high school students show that
these students are very unhappy in math-
ematics classes. This may result from the
fact that partially students enrolling in
vocational high school have big deficien-
cies in their mathematical backgrounds.
When a student lacks the basis for under-
standing the new topic discussed in a
mathematics class, the subject is likened to
a form of torture or a nightmare.
In Turkey, a high school student can
continue to the next grade even if the stu-
dent fails some courses, as long as his/her
grade point average is sufficiently high. It
is very difficult for a student who lacks
basic understanding in a subject such as
mathematics which has a hierarchical struc-
ture, to close the learning gap from the
previous school year and to succeed in the
subsequent level of a mathematics course.
Whether it is appropriate for high school
students who have deficiencies in mathe-
matics to attend subsequent mathematics
courses in the next grade level, without
receiving any special assistance, must be
discussed. Introduction of summer term in
high schools may be considered as a solu-
tion. Thus, students who make up their
deficiencies during the summer semester
may be prepared to continue the following
course at the next grade level without trou-
ble.

Moreover, it may be useful to provide
in-service training to high school mathe-
madcs teachers about students' percepdons
in learning mathemadcs. Teachers should
find alternative teaching methods that
encourage students, arouse their interest
in mathematics, so that the subject is no
longer perceived as a "torture". Conse-
quently, students' opinions are relevant to
the training of future mathemadcs teach-
ers. Therefore, besides giving in-service
training to current mathemadcs teachers,
it would be useful to teach prospective
mathemadcs teachers in faculties of edu-
cadon the emodons, opinions and atdtudes
of students towards mathemadcs and math-
ematics learning, creating a positive
atdtude towards the subject, and making
mathemadcs learning more interesdng.
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