English in Education

Research Journal of the National Association for the Teaching of English

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/reie20

“Metaphors we learn by”: teaching essay

structure and argumentation through conceptual
metaphors

Kimberley Pager-McClymont & Evangelia Papathanasiou

To cite this article: Kimberley Pager-McClymont & Evangelia Papathanasiou (20 Aug 2023):
“Metaphors we learn by”: teaching essay structure and argumentation through conceptual
metaphors, English in Education, DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2023.2240353

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2023.2240353

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa

UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group.

Published online: 20 Aug 2023.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 495

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=reie20
ENGLISH IN EDUCATION
https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2023.2240353

“Metaphors we learn by”: teaching essay structure and

argumentation through conceptual metaphors
Kimberley Pager-McClymonta and Evangelia Papathanasioub
a
University of Aberdeen’s International Study Centre, Aberdeen, UK; bUniversity of Huddersfield’s
International Study Centre, Huddersfield, UK

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In this study, we used Conceptual Metaphor Theory (henceforth Received 14 November 2022
CMT) for the benefit of English for Academic Purposes’ teaching Accepted 17 July 2023
and learning. CMT underpins how in metaphorical expressions, one KEYWORDS
concept is understood in terms of another. We argue that CMT can English for academic
help students understand and master argumentation skills and purposes; metaphor studie;
essay structure, although there is little research on this topic. In pedagogical stylistic; essay
this research, we focus on two metaphors: ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS and structure; teaching and
WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING. The study was conducted through learning
workshops for students of EAP using either Legos or cooking props
to help them link the metaphors to their writing skills. After the
workshops, students wrote an essay which was marked in accor­
dance with the International English Language Testing System’s
specification and compared to their average writing score through­
out the semester. Findings show that students who took part in the
workshops obtained a higher grade, particularly students who
attended the workshop on the metaphor WRITING IS COOKING, EATING,
DIGESTING.

Introduction
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) - “the teaching of English with the specific aim of
helping learners to study, conduct research or teach in that language – is an international
activity of tremendous scope” (Flowerdew and Peacock 2001, 8). Many universities have
resources allocated to EAP to support international students for whom English is an
additional language (EAL students) as well as L1 students of English. Indeed, as
Bourdieu, Passeron, and Saint Martin (1994, 8) explain, “academic language is a dead
language [. . .] and is no one’s mother tongue. [. . .] As such, it is very unequally distant
from the languages actually spoken by the different social classes”. This means that the
aim of EAP is to allow any students (L1 speaker of English or not) to understand and
practice academic language and processes.
Academic English Skills (AES) is a course provided by many education providers such as
Study Group, who work with universities to support international students with their

CONTACT Kimberley Pager-McClymont kimberley.pager-mcclymont@abdn.ac.uk University of Aberdeen’s

International Study Centre
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any med­
ium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article
has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
2 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

progression pathways. AES is a precursor course to that of EAP as it focuses on four key
skills students will need in their studies and will build on in EAP sessions: reading,
speaking, writing, listening. AES should not be understood to englobe general English
language, as this is not the case: it develops students’ critical reading, thinking and
argumentation skills, as well as their academic writing style.
In this paper, we argue that there is limited research in stylistics and metaphor studies
looking at specific metaphors for the teaching of EAP (or AES), particularly students’
writing skills. Thus, our research questions are:

● RQ1: What stylistic tools or concepts can be used for the teaching of EAP or more
generally English writing?
● RQ2: How can stylistics help students improve their writing skills?
● RQ3: What is the impact of using metaphors for the teaching of structure to (inter­
national) students?

To answer these questions, we first provide a brief literature review of Conceptual

Metaphor Theory and a summary of key studies in stylistic and metaphor research on
EAP. We then present our study’s methodology and findings. Finally, a discussion of our
findings in greater context is provided.

Literature review
This section aims to provide a brief explanation of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, as well as
a short overview of stylistic and metaphor research focusing on EAP. We do not attempt
to weigh in on the debates or critiques of EAP writing strategies and assessments made by
scholars such as Britton (1982), Robertson (1988), Widdowson (1994), or Adams (2014),
amongst others. As practitioners, we have no control over our assessments (type, topics,
how they are marked, how they take place) nor the content of what we teach (argumen­
tation, academic writing, essay structure are topics we must cover a certain way), and this
is decided centrally by our provider (Study Group). We focus on what we can change to
help our students: our methods for teaching topics we are instructed to teach such as
argumentation and essay structure. We choose to use our own expertise (here stylistics) to
help our students in their learning, which is why our literature is centred around the use of
stylistics for EAP teaching.

Conceptual metaphor theory: an overview

Metaphor studies is prominent in the field of linguistic (more particularly stylistics). One of
the key theories in metaphor research is Conceptual Metaphor Theory (hereafter CMT). In
Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) explore how linguistic and cognition
principles can be associated to observe the conceptual aspects of metaphors. Lakoff and
Johnson (1980, 153) claim that “metaphor is primarily a matter of thought and action and
only derivatively a matter of language”, meaning that despite metaphors being verbal
phenomena, they are equally thought processes and thus can shape our world percep­
tion, and CMT helps understand this phenomenon.
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 3

CMT has a basic principle that one concept is understood in terms of another (Kövecses
2002, 6; Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 5). These concepts are known as “conceptual domains”
and are mental processes. Following this theory, the “target domain” (typically more
abstract) is understood in terms of the “source domain” (typically more concrete), and
the systematic correspondence between those domains (the metaphor) is known as the
“cross-domain mapping” (Kövecses 2002, 6; Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 250). The corre­
spondence between the domains can be labelled as A IS B, a being the target domain, and
B being the source domain. For example, in the phrases “they are at a crossroads in their
relationship”, “this relationship is not going anywhere”, or “they’re in a dead-end relation­
ship”, the concept of LOVE is the target domain (suggested by the term “relationship”), and
it is understood through the idea of a JOURNEY (expressed through the terms “going
anywhere”, “dead-end”, and “crossroads”), which is the source domain. As such, the cross-
domain mapping generated is LOVE IS A JOURNEY. Indeed, there is no way of testing that we all
feel love the same way as each other, rendering love a subjective, unique, and abstract
emotion. On the other hand, a journey can be experienced universally, rendering it
concrete. In the example provided, three different phrases share the same metaphorical
mapping of LOVE IS A JOURNEY, meaning that this is a “master metaphor” (Kövecses 2008, 382).

Stylistics, metaphor studies, and English language teaching

In recent years there has been a growing focus on metaphor studies in educational
settings, particularly for adult learners. This section provides a brief overview of studies
pertinent to our research; for a more detailed overview see Littlemore (2016). Low,
Littlemore, and Koester's (2008) small-scale study looks broadly at the occurrence and
application of metaphor in lectures in order to build a workable framework for analysing
metaphor use generally in lectures. Most studies, however, do not focus on educators’
metaphorical language, but on the role metaphors play in learning and students’ experi­
ence. Indeed, according to Petrie and Oshlag (2002), using metaphor can help re-engage
students who have lost interest because it enables them to relate what they are learning
to their own experiences. Additionally, Littlemore (2004) argues that emphasising meta­
phor in the context of EAP can help students improve their critical thinking abilities. Thirty
students studying a British university’s International Development MBA programme in
Public Service Administration were divided into a control group and an experimental
group. In a broad “critical thinking” session, both teams took part. The experimental group
had a “metaphoric awareness-raising” session, whereas the control group did not.
Findings showed that the group which had attended the “metaphoric awareness-
raising” session showed more critical thinking skills.
Other studies explore how stylistic principles other than metaphor can be used in
educational settings. For instance, Marr (2019) outlines how successful paraphrasing can
be achieved by first year university students working in English as an additional language
using Halliday’s (2009) approach of Grammatical Metaphor, focusing specifically on ideas
and their logical relations (known within Systemic Functional Linguistics as the ideational
metafunction). More recently, Bridle and McIntyre (2022) conducted a study featuring
a brief course created to give students the tools they need to independently research style
and identify variation using corpus stylistics concepts. To determine the norms connected
to an academic register, students completed a series of worksheets using the British
4 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

National Corpus (BNC). Personal pronouns, contractions, beginning coordinating conjunc­

tions, absolute referents, and slang/informal/idiomatic terms were the main topics of the
tasks. The BNC was then used as support for the students’ preparation of a brief research
paper. The authors suggest that over a brief course and with little training, controlled use
of the BNC interface and foregrounding concepts were helpful in helping students
recognise fundamental patterns of proper language use.
Overall, pedagogical stylistics is a subfield of stylistics dedicated to its role in education
(see Cushing 2018, 2019; Giovanelli 2010, 2014, 2016, 2020; Mason and Giovanelli 2017;
Zacharias 2020), but as the focus has so far been on secondary school education, there is
limited research on using stylistics for EAP teaching and learning. Moreover, despite the
variety of studies on the use of metaphors in education, there is equally little research on
the use of specific metaphors for the purpose of teaching writing skills, which is the aim of
our study. It is noteworthy that the principles we discuss in this paper can equally be
applied to secondary school teaching and learning. However, because of our professional
background and the lack of research linking stylistics and EAP, this is the focus of this
study.

A study of using CMT to teach EAP

In this section, we provide the context in which our study was conducted. We describe our
methodology and rationale for our approach, and present our findings. Limitations are
discussed throughout for the sake of transparency, and to offer a reflection on our work.

Context of study
This study was developed as a response to a Needs Analysis questionnaire we conducted as
part of our teaching practice in the English Department at the University of Huddersfield’s
International Study Centre. We teach Academic English Skills to international students in
Foundation Year, Year 1, as well as Pre-Master students. Our cohort included students of
varied age, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds. To help us design seminars based on our
students’ needs, we conducted a Needs Analysis questionnaire asking students how well
they could do specific tasks in each of the four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking)
they would be assessed on throughout the course. Out of 103 students, only 12.6% (13
students) stated that they could write an essay “well”. Similarly, 18.4% (19 students) reported
that they organise and plan for the writing process “well”. This means that over 70% of
students did not feel confident organising or writing an essay.
To help our students, we decided to draw on CMT to teach them how to
organise and write an essay using concepts they were already familiar with,
regardless of their varied experiences, backgrounds, and cultures. To achieve this,
we led workshops using two metaphors: the known metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE
BUILDINGS (linked to THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS, see Kövecses 2002, 5; Lakoff and
Johnson 1980, 54), and the more novel metaphor we labelled WRITING IS COOKING,
EATING, DIGESTING. The metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS is grounded in the English
language, for instance: “to build an argument/a case”, “to put/piece an idea
together”, “this argument is the foundation of my thesis”, or “this idea is the last
brick in my argument”. On the other hand, to label the metaphor WRITING IS COOKING,
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 5

Table 1. Associated concepts showing the link between the target domain writing and the source
domain COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING.
Writing Process
Reading and gathering information from sources
Following the essay structure - one element at a time
Adding the different elements to write our essay
Presenting information from one source and putting it
into our own words to avoid plagiarism (paraphrase)
Extracting some information from one source and
putting it into our own words to avoid plagiarism
(summary)
Extracting some information from multiple sources and
putting it into our own words to avoid plagiarism
(synthesis)
If we follow the essay structure, our argument is
convincing to others – they can accept it
Cooking, Eating, Digesting Process
Gathering the ingredients for mise-en-place
Following the instructions on the recipe - one ingredient at
a time
Adding the different elements in our pot
Mashing one ingredient (use the entire ingredient but
served differently)
Juicing one ingredient, only keeping the juice, not the fibre
Juicing multiple ingredients together, only keeping the
juice, not the fibre
If we follow the recipe, our meal is tasty to others – they
can digest it (example of metaphorical expressions: “this
does/not sit well with me”, “this is shit”)

EATING , DIGESTING ,we drew on Nuttall and Harrison’s (2020) research on reader
reviews of Twilight on Goodreads featuring the metaphors READING IS EATING and
READING CHOKING / REGURGITATING . The reader reviews conveyed their opinion of the
novel (written work) through metaphors linked to food. Thus, we decided to
reverse the idea by generating the metaphor WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING for
the academic writing process, as shown in Table 1.
We chose those two metaphors because of the universal quality they have of
a step-by-step process. Indeed, as we teach international students, it was essential
for us to use concepts that would be recognised and understood worldwide, as it is
the case with buildings (of any nature) and food. The step-by-step process behind
each metaphor (piece by piece a building is constructed; ingredient or instruction at
a time, a recipe is followed) allowed us to develop students’ skills and confidence in
doing a task they had disclosed not performing well at through a notion they see daily
and are familiar with. Selected activities for those workshops can be found in
Appendices 1 and 2 and could be adapted for differentiation or for secondary educa­
tion teaching, which we encourage.
We conducted our workshops in June 2022 at the University of Huddersfield. In the
following section, we describe each of the workshops conducted and our methodology to
observe their efficiency.

Methodology
The study had 44 foundation students (44 = 100%) taking part in workshops. We orga­
nised the students into three groups:

● Group 1: students wrote an essay but did not participate in a workshop.

● Group 2: Students participated in a workshop using the arguments are building
metaphor and wrote an essay after the workshop.
● Group 3: Students participated in a workshop using the writing is cooking, eating,
digesting metaphor and wrote an essay after the workshop.
6 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

Table 2. Mix of students in each group of study based on mean writing grades.
Mean writing grade in Number of students in Number of students in Number of students in
% Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Total
>30 2 2 1 5
30s 4 1 3 8
40s 1 3 3 7
50s 5 5 3 13
60s 4 3 4 11
Total 16 14 14 44

Students were numbered (to maintain anonymity): the first number indicates which
group the students were in and the second shows which number they are within
that group (allocated at random). For example, student 3.4 was the fourth student
in group 3.
We selected students based on their average writing grade because we wanted to have
a balance in the three groups. Table 2 below summarises the mix of students in each
group:
We conducted the workshops during the academic year. Each lasted 3h30min includ­
ing a break. The groups were kept in their original English classes because of timetabling
constraints. This is why the mean grade average is not always evenly spread. For instance,
group 1 contains four students with a mean writing grade between 30% and 39%, group 3
contains three students in that category, whereas group 2 only has one student in that
category. To remedy this limitation, we included in group 1 only one student with a mean
writing grade between 40% and 49%, and three in groups 2 and 3. The grade needed to
pass the course being 50%, overall, our sample is balanced overall, despite the limitations
discussed.
All students were given the same essay title: “In 2020, New Zealand legalised
medical assisted suicide (euthanasia), which faced critics and debates. To what
extent do you agree that providing a medically assisted end of life can be
beneficial to terminally ill patients?” Similarly to their end of semester writing
exam, they were given an academic text (here Dugdale, Lerner, and Callahan
2019) to help them write their 250 words (minimum) essays in 1h15min (15 min
to read, 1 h to plan and write). We compared the students’ writing to their average
writing grade throughout the semester, and for qualitative comparison in their
writing we looked at the writing mock exam they completed in class three weeks
prior to the workshops taking place. The essay topic for this writing mock exam
was “Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of vegetarianism’s impact on human
health, the environment, and animal welfare”, and they were also provided with
an academic text (here, Arora et al. 2017).
The essays were marked following Study Group’s marking criteria, which mirror the
scoring strategy of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The key
marking criteria for the writing exams are:

● Task achievement
● Organisation
● Language content (lexis and syntax)
● Academic convention (register and use of sources)
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 7

For the sake of objectivity, we asked teachers who did not know the purpose of the
workshops in our department to mark the essays; we then moderated their marking. We
required all students to write on the same topic because we did not want the difference in
topics to present a difference in grades; some students might be more at ease with
one subject than with another, and we wanted to stay fair and objective. Furthermore, this
replicates the conditions in which students would be writing their actual exams. However,
there is a limitation stemming from this choice that ought to be declared: the workshops
did not take place on the same days, and thus students had the potential to share the
essay topic with each other. Although this is unlikely because the different groups did not
know the others, and we did not tell them other groups were doing similar workshops,
this is nonetheless a limitation. A way to remedy this could be to run the workshops at the
same time, though this was not feasible in our study owing to timetable constraints.
Both workshops 1 and 2 used a hands-on approach involving students using Lego
blocks, building cut outs; or recipe cards, and ingredients cards. Both workshops also
followed a similar structure although the tasks varied to best fit the metaphors used.
Appendix 1 provides selected activities for workshop 1 on ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS, and
Appendix 2 provides selected activities workshop 2 on WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING.
Appendices 3 to 5 showcase examples of students’ work during the workshops. Our
hypotheses for this study were:

● H1: there will be an improvement in students’ score for essay writing after attending
the workshops.
● H2: students that did not attend the workshop will score lower for the same essay
than the students who attend the workshop did.

Overall, students were engaged in each workshop and showed interest in hands-on task
using the Lego blocks and ingredient handouts.

Findings
Table 3 below shows the mean grades before and after the workshops for each group, as
well as the difference between the scores.
Group 1 had a mean writing grade before our study of 42.3%, and the average after the
workshops was 47.7%. This means that, although this group did not take part in
a workshop prior to writing the essay used for comparison, group 1 still increased their
average writing grade by 5.4%. This is likely because students had classes between their
end of semester exams, their latest writing task, and the study. They would have received

Table 3. Comparison of students’ mean grade before and after workshops, differentiated by groups.
Mean grade Mean essay
before grade during Difference between grade Difference between grade
workshop study before and after workshop before and after workshop
Group 1 42.3% 47.7% +5.4% +5.4%
Group 2 45.4% 56.9% +11.5% +10.5%
Group 3 52.3% 61.8% +9.5%
8 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

feedback from their tutors on their exams or tasks done in class, thus naturally improving
their skills. Group 2 had a mean writing grade before the study of 45.4%, and of 56.9%
after the workshops, showing a difference of+11.5%. This is significant because it shows
that, compared to group 1, who showed a natural progression of 5.4%, group 2’s
progression score had more than doubled that of group 1’s. This indicated that potentially
the workshop on the known metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS was able to bolster students’
writing abilities. Group 3 had a mean writing grade before the study of 52.3%, and of
61.8% after the workshops, showing a difference of + 9.5%. Similarly to group 2, group 3’s
results indicate that that the workshop on the novel metaphor WRITING IS COOKING, EATING,
DIGESTING is likely to have impacted students’ writing performance, in addition to their
natural progression.
Overall, when comparing the scores of students who did the workshops (group 2 and 3
combined), their mean difference between before and after the workshop is of+10.5%,
which is almost twice as much as group 1. One can argue that the original gap in
performance between the groups could query the results presented above. However,
since every group was composed of a mix of students as balanced as possible (for our
centre), we do not believe this to be the case. Additionally, as each group improved their
mean grade and we looked at the difference of grades in percentages as opposed to the
scores themselves, the gap in score would not be significant.
Tables 4 below provide samples of students’ writing categorised by essay sections
(introduction, main body paragraphs, conclusion). We compare students’ writing from
their mock writing exam (on vegetarianism) to the essay they wrote as part of the
workshop (on euthanasia). Table 5 illustrates a similar comparison, categorised by the
three main components stressed during the workshops: use of topic sentences, use of
thesis statement (both of which are accounted for in the “organisation” criterion of the
marking scheme), and use of sources to including evidence (accounted for in the “aca­
demic convention” criterion of the marking scheme). The students’ language was not
altered or rectified; the spelling and punctuation is also their own.
Overall, students in groups 2 and 3 improved the structure of their introduction,
particularly signposting their thesis statement with phrases such as “this essay will
argue” (student 2.8, Table 5) or “this essay will discuss” (student 3.14, Table 5). Some
students in group 1 also signposted to an extent their thesis statement, though this was
not always done skilfully, as shown by student 1.5 (Table 5). In terms of main body
paragraph and use of topic sentences (including use of connectives), students in all
three groups showed improvement, though students in group 2 used more connectives
that showed sequencing of ideas and less repletion, which could be because the work­
shop they attended used the metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS and focused primarily on
structure (see Appendix 1). For example, Table 4 shows that the three students’ (1.6, 2.7)
use of topic sentences and connectives was to an extent of equal quality, though the
quality of the argument and development of idea may differ. This is particularly obvious
when topic sentences are looked at outside the context of the main body paragraphs, as
shown in Table 5: student 1.2 shows limited improvement, student 1.6 shows some
improvement, and students 2.2, 3.7 also show some structural improvement though the
point made is clearer. Lastly, students from group 3 showed most improvement in their
accurate use of academic sources as evidence to support their point (e.g. student 3.11,
Table 5). This is not surprising, as the workshop they attended focused on the metaphor

Table 4. Comparison of students’ writing before and after workshop categorised by essay sections.
Student Sample of students’ writing from mock
Part of essay number writing exam before workshop
Introduction 1.2 Vegetarians are people who choose not to
consume animal meat products.
Vegetarianism is a complex topic and has
generated some debate: some researchers
believe that being vegetarian has several
benefits for our health and the
environment, but others believe that these
benefits do not outweigh the problems
caused by vegetarianism. I agree with the
first. First, I will discuss the benefits of
being vegetarian for health concerns and
then for the environment.
3.7 Vegetarianism has gained a lot of attention in Physician assistance in dying is a contentious
recent years due to various factors such as
health, environment, and ethical
considerations. A vegetarian diet involves
the exclusion of meat, fish, and poultry
products, and instead, relies on plant-
based foods such as fruits, vegetables,
legumes, grains, and nuts. In this essay
I discuss the key aspect of vegetarianism.
Main body 1.6 Firstly, vegetarianism can have serious
paragraph negative effects on human health. People
who follow a vegetarian diet are at risk of
developing nutritional deficiencies,
particularly in protein, iron, and vitamin
B12. This can lead to a number of health
problems such as anemia, weak bones,
and even cognitive decline. Additionally,
a vegetarian diet can also increase the risk
of developing certain types of cancers,
such as colon cancer (Arora et al. 2017).
2.7 The vegetarian diet may be linked to
decreased incidence of chronic illnesses
like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer,
according to a number of studies
published in 2017. Compared to diets that
include meat, vegetarian diet often
contain less fat and more fibre, and
vitamins, and minerals. It is important to
remember, too, that vegetarins need to
plan ahead to avoid any deficiencies.
ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 9
Sample of students’ writing from the
workshop essay
Euthanasia (legalized medical assisted
suicide) is when physicians supports the
patient in dying by giving them drugs/
medications because they are terminally ill
and going through lots of pain. This
debatable topic has raised a lot of red flags
for people and it has had a lot of people
question, if physicians are supposed to
practice that or not. This essay will
therefore disagree to the statement of
providing Euthanasia to terminally ill
patients, it will also explore and discuss
both sides of the argument.
topic that raises important questions
about physicians’ roles. It occurs when
a physician offers the essential means and
knowledge to support a patient’s decision
to terminate his or her life, according to
the American Medical Association. The
authors of this essay have differing
perspectives on the ethics of aid in dying,
thus the essay investigates the topic
without taking sides. It covers vocabulary,
the history of legality in the United States,
proponents of assisted dying, and
opponents.
Firstly, society has to put rules for euthanasia,
which means that not everyone can end
his life because he wants to. The person
has to have a physical reason and an
unsupportable pain that cannot be cured.
For example, having cancer at its high
level. Euthanasia will be effective in that
case as in the end this person is dying soon
so that will be kind of mercy that not
feeling too much pain before dying.
However, mental health issues are not
a reason to end the life as it can be cured
(Callahan 2019).
Firstly, There has been a sharp rise in patients
ending there life because of depression
and anxiety that totally disobey the law of
nature. Euthanizing patients just because
of the physical pain is totally unacceptable.
During 2014 to 2015 the rate of people
getting tired of life and ending their life
has been double (Dugdale, Lerner, and
Callahan 2019). Scientist has always found
the cures as they have found the covid-19.
People suffering from depression are dying
more than the people suffering from un
treatable diseases. Although, It should be
illegal as it is unacceptable to the law of
nature.
(Continued)
10 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

Table 4. (Continued).
Student Sample of students’ writing from mock
Part of essay number writing exam before workshop
Conclusion 1.8 In conclusion, vegetarianism is a poor
lifestyle choice that can have serious
negative consequences for both humans
and animals. It can lead to nutritional
deficiencies, environmental degradation,
and animal cruelty. Therefore, it is
important to consider the drawbacks
before adopting a vegetarian lifestyle.
2.10 Conclusion: Vegetarianism is beneficial in
terms of the environment, health, and
ethical considerations. However, some
people may find it challenging to adopt
a vegetarian diet due to habits of eating
meat. Adopting a more plant-based diet
can help reduce the demand for meat
products and promote sustainable food
systems.
Sample of students’ writing from the
workshop essay
In conclusion, providing a medical assistance
for suicide is not beneficial to refractory
disease. Euthanasia can lead serious
suicide contagion and create depression in
serious illness. Although, it may help
patients that have terminally ill health. This
can cause other ethical issues. Life of
human is precious, it should not be ended
easily.
In conclusion, this essay has argued that AID
could be beneficial for people with life
threatening illnesses. It was observed that
euthanasia is important for patients with
critical cases while considering the four
fundamental principles. In the future,
people could be more aware of medical
assisted end of life and psychiatrists could
take care of patients with depression
more.

WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING,

which not only focused on structure, but also discussed
how to use sources as evidence in academic writing (i.e. paraphrase, quote, summary,
synthesis – see Appendix 2). Overall, students from group 1 alluded to the text given but
did not paraphrase its ideas correctly nor did they provide correct in-text citations (we use
APA), as shown by student 1.9 in Table 5. Students from group 2 showed improvement,
some with their in-text citation (e.g. student 2.9, Table 5). Whilst some others' in-text
citations were not accurate, their understanding and summarising of the source text was
conveyed more clearly (e.g. student 2.11, Table 5).
This section presented the study we conducted and our findings. In the next section,
we provide a discussion based on our procedures and findings, highlighting their implica­
tions for EAP teaching and learning.

Discussion
The findings presented in section 3.3 convey that although students in group 3 who
participated in workshop 2 on WRITING IS EATING, COOKING, DIGESTING had on average a higher
score, students in group 2 whose workshop was on ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS had a higher
progression score overall. This is likely because the metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS is
embedded in the English language and the workshop required students to physically
build a Lego tower, an activity most people can picture, if they have not already done it as
children. On the other hand, the metaphor WRITING IS EATING, COOKING, DIGESTING is more novel
and the workshop drew on their knowledge of ingredients and cooking skills. Our
students are international students living with their families who often leave home for
the first time when they come to study with us; their knowledge of preparing food
following a recipe may not be as engrained as that of building a tower.
Furthermore, both workshops underpinned essay structure and argumentation, and
workshop 2 also helped students by including sources. Therefore, we looked how
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 11

Table 5. Comparison of students’ writing before and after workshop categorised by key criteria taught
in the workshops.
Criteria of Student Sample of students’ writing from mock
comparison number writing exam
Use of topic 1.2 So it is dificult to view vegetarians as
sentences (first healthy people, because they do not
sentence of eat all the food.
a main body §)
1.6 Firstly, vegetarianism can have serious
negative effects on human health.
2.2 It is also beneficial to not eating animls Secondly, the mental health should be
because it is healthier.
3.7 Nutrient deficiency is a drawback.
Use of a thesis 1.5 In this essay I talk about positive and
statement negative of vegetariansm.
2.8 I think that the negative effects of
vegetarian are more important than
the positive one.
3.14 Vegetarianism has more benefits than it This essay will discuss how this practice
has drawbacks.
Including sources, 1.9 All animals are actually sentient beings
using evidence who experience emotions like us (Arora
et al. 2017). For this reason, a lot of
people wouldn’t eat their pet, but they
eat farm animals which is ironic.
2.9 A study by the Food and Agriculture
Organization says that animal
production means “18% of global
greenhouse gas emissions, more than
the entire transportation sector”.
2.11 12 studies by Dinu 2017 found that
vegetarian diets can significantly lower
the risk of heart disease by 25% and
that vegetarians tend to have lower
body mass index and lower blood
pressure levels.
3.11 Vegetarian usually have reduced blood
pressure which means that this diet
can really reduce the risk of heart
disease by 25%, according to (Dinu
et al., 2017).
Sample of students’ writing from the
workshop’s essay
Also there is a slippery slope once doctors
are intrupted in hastening patient
death they have allready slide down
the slippery slope.
It cannot be denied that before the
introduction of medical assisted
suicide, there were medical assisted
suicides.
consider before permit euthanasia.
The first positive effect of euthanasia on
terminally ill patients is reducing
suffering of patients.
In this essay, it is going to talk about the
benefits to the patients by using
medical assisted suicide following by
the downside of the method.
This essay will argue that patients should
be given the right of autonomy of
ending their lives and getting relief of
the illness which bis nit curable.
can be advantageous to some extent
as well as the drawbacks of its
implementation.
[. . .] (Dugdale, Lerner, and Callahan 2019).
Patients got consent, informed of the
risk and benefit before apply
healthcare treatment.
According to Dugdale, Lerner, and
Callahan (2019) patients should have
the right to make decision on their
treatment or engage in any research
experiment after consent is given at
any critical health stage issue.
The state of Oregon recorded statistics
between the years of 1998 and 2013
showed that the number of
prescriptions written for euthanasia
rose by 12.1%, in the following years of
2014 and 2015 this rate doubled.
Over 70% of AID patients are elderly and
depressed, being desperate towards
their life would be enjoyable again
(Dugdale, Lerner, and Callahan 2019).

students performed in the marking criteria that specifically assess these skills: organisa­
tion and academic conventions, each scored out of 5 in our marking criteria. Students
from group 3 who took part in workshop 2 scored higher in academic conventions criteria
than those from group 2 (average 3.2/5 > 2.2/5). On the other hand, students from group
2 performed better at organisation than students from group 3 (average 3.9/5 > 2.8/5).
This means that both workshops were efficient in their own way and could be used in the
future to complement each other: workshop 1 to help students with organising their
12 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

essays, and workshop 2 to reinforce structure knowledge as well as help students includ­
ing academic sources in their writing.
It also shows that using hands on approaches and gamification strategies can benefit
students. Indeed, Wessel-Powell, Buchholz, and Brownell (2019) point out that teachers
should locate and adapt creative approaches to engage students beyond the restrictive
limitations set by standardised curricula. According to Lewis et al. (2013, 7), “the goal of
using games in any learning scenario, whether Civics or Social Studies, Math or Reading, is
to engage the learner and provide them motivation to continue exploring the content in
a meaningful way”. Thus, games and simulations can provide structured environments
that guide students through exploration of content in a risk-free setting in which they
solve problems and make logic-driven decisions (Gee 2010; Hicks 2015). Therefore,
teachers of all levels value the educational potential of Lego and can effectively utilise
the playfulness that bricks provide to the learning environment. For example, Warner
(2016) describes attempts at using Lego to teach reading and writing (e.g. letter-building,
word-building, counting syllables), literacy (e.g. storytelling, story starters, character crea­
tion, writing instructions), mathematics (number-building, calculations, multiplication
tables, sorting), as well as computer science topics: animations, programming, computer
coding.
Our study relates to the concept of gamification as the strategic application of game
mechanics to improve an educational experience. The students practised skills, gained
new perspectives, felt they were a part of the group- all of, which aids with memory, and
ultimately learning. For our study, we surveyed students for feedback on the workshops,
including students who only wrote the essay to ask them what they wish sessions on
essay structure would include. Overall, 38 students (out of 44 = 86.4%) took part in the
anonymous survey and all mentioned the idea of practical activities. Table 6 provides
selected examples of students’ feedback.
These comments from our students clearly show that using a hands-on approach is not
only beneficial to their engagement but also helps them process information in an
alternative manner, thus resulting in a greater understanding of concepts taught.
Finally, our results show that stylistic tools such as CMT are particularly well suited for
the teaching and learning of EAP (or writing skills at secondary education level). Indeed,
stylistics is concerned with language choices, and our students need to be able to make
conscious choices when they write (e.g. have a clear thesis statement or topic sentences),

Table 6. Selected examples of students’ feedback on the study.

Sample of examples of feedback given by students who Sample of examples of feedback given by students who did
took part in workshops (groups 2 and 3)
● “I loved that I was able to use my hands for some­
thing I would only use my head”.
● “It was nice to be able to actually build a tower
instead of just talking about it”.
● “I think we all enjoyed how explicit it all was, it
really was like following step by step instructions”.
● “It was helpful to see how everything fits together
and in what order”.
● “I felt less overwhelmed by what we learned that
I normally would feel, because I could physically
see it with my eyes”.
not take part in workshops (groups 1)
● “I wish some classes include activities that showed
the theory in a different way. I sometimes think
I understand in what order things go, but it’s all to
abstract and I lo[o]se track!”.
● “I like when things are clear and in front of me and
I can practice them with support, but that does not
always happen in English classes”.
● “It would be nice if some lessons used examples for
us to try and apply what we learn, like games
almost”.
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 13

as well as be able to recognise authorial choices when reading academic sources so that
they can include those in their own writing. As such, it is not farfetched to view stylistics as
inherently linked to EAP. In the case of CMT, because its premise resides in the notion that
metaphors are part of our processing of the world around us, using them for teaching and
learning is impactful: abstract concepts are understood though concrete ones. Akin to
giving students examples or a practice exercise after teaching them a theory, conceptual
metaphors allow for links to be created in students’ minds, especially in instances of
cultural and linguistic differences. This means that stylistic tools such as CMT are not just
for obscure academic analyses: then can be used in the classroom, and students can
benefit from being introduced to those tools.

Concluding remarks
Inj this paper we have indicated that there is an evident gap in research in using stylistic
tools for the purpose of EAP teaching and learning. We demonstrated that CMT as
a stylistic framework is well suited to the teaching of EAP, particularly writing skills such
as essay structure and argumentation, because it allows for abstract concepts to be
understood though more concrete ones. The two metaphors we chose for our workshops
(ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS and WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING) both follow a step-by-step
process, akin to writing an essay (or an academic paper!) We chose those metaphors
because the source domains can be globally pictured by most students, even when
a cultural or language gap is present: most will be familiar with buildings and food
preparation. The hands-on approach we adopted in our workshops allowed students to
experiment and visually experience the metaphors we taught them, thus keeping the
students engaged despite the length of the sessions.
Overall, our findings reveal that students who approached the writing process through
metaphors scored higher when writing essays than students who had not, thus demon­
strating that stylistic tools are not just theoretical or used to analyse language: they can
equally be used for teaching and learning.
Finally, although the context of this study is the teaching of EAP, the principles we
focused on (argumentation, essay structure, using sources) can to an extent be applied to
secondary education. Therefore, further research could be conducted to adapt our
materials (see Appendices 1 and 2) and materials for the benefits of teaching and learning
in a secondary education context.1

Note
1. A complete version of the lesson plans can be found here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/
track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:55a06531–6141-3d82-b128-57ed392fbf76

Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the International Study Centre at the University of Huddersfield for their support
and our students for taking part in this study.
14 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding
Authors received no funding for this research.

Notes on contributors
Kimberley Pager-McClymont is a researcher in Linguistics and Subject Coordinator in English for
Academic Purposes at the University of Aberdeen’s International Study Centre. Kimberley’s PhD is in
Stylistics from the University of Huddersfield. She focuses on metaphors research in education and
literature. She is an Editor for the Journal of Languages, Texts, and Society and an Associate Editor
for the Cambridge University Press Element Series in Cognitive Linguistics. She is also the
Webmaster for the Poetics And Linguistics Association.
Evangelia Papathanasiou has a PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of
Sheffield, and she is the Head of English at the University of Huddersfield's International Study
Centre. Her main research interests include Students' Needs Analysis and Writing in EAP.

References
Adams, K., ed. 2014. Expressive Writing: Classroom and Community. Lanham, US: Rowman &
Littlefield.
Arora, A. S., S. Bradford, A. Arora, and R. Gavino. 2017. “Promoting Vegetarianism Through
Moralization and Knowledge Calibration.” Journal of Promotion Management 23 (6): 889–912.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2017.1323263 .
Bourdieu, P., J.-C. Passeron, and M. Saint Martin. 1994. Academic Discourse: Linguistic
Misunderstanding and Professorial Power. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Bridle, M., and D. McIntyre. 2022. “Pedagogical Corpus Stylistics: Teaching Style and Register
Variation to EAP Students.” In Pedagogical Stylistics in the 21st Century, edited by S. Zyngier and
G. Watson, 75–104. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83609-2_4.
Britton, J. 1982. “Spectator Role and the Beginnings of Writing.” In Cross-Talk in Comp Theory:
A Reader, edited by V. Villanueva, 151–174, Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Cushing, I. 2018. “Stylistics Goes to School.” Language and Literature 27 (4): 271–285. https://doi.org/
10.1177/0963947018794093.
Cushing, I. 2019. Text World Theory and the secondary English classroom [Doctoral dissertation, Aston
University].
Dinu, M., R. Abbate, G. F. Gensini, A. Casini, and F. Sofi. 2017. “Vegetarian, Vegan Diets and Multiple
Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.” Critical
Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 57 (17): 3640–3649.
Dugdale, L., B. Lerner, and D. Callahan. 2019. “Pros and Cons of Physician Aid in Dying.” Yale Journal
of Biology and Medicine 92 (4): 747–750.
Gee, J. P. 2010. “Video Games: What They Can Teach Us About Audience Engagement.” Nieman
Reports 64 (2): 52.
Giovanelli, M. 2010. “Pedagogical Stylistics: A Text World Theory Approach to the Teaching of
Poetry.” English in Education 44 (3): 214–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-8845.2010.01074.x.
Giovanelli, M. 2014. Teaching Grammar, Structure and Meaning: Exploring Theory and Practice for
Post-16 English Language Teachers. Routledge.
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 15

Giovanelli, M. 2016. “The Value of Linguistics to the Teacher.” In Knowing About Language: Linguistics
and the Secondary English Classroom, edited by M. Giovanelli and D. Clayton, 13–21. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315719818.
Giovanelli, M. 2020. “Teaching English Language and Literature.” In Teaching English Language and
Literature 16-19, edited by F. Ahmed, M. Giovanelli, M. Mansworth, and F. Titjen, 3–17. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429317255-2.
Halliday, M. A. K. 2009. The Essential Halliday. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hicks, K. 2015. 12 Unexpected Ways to Use LEGO in the Classroom. Edudemic, March 2015. www.
edudemic.com/12-ways-use-LEGO-classroom/.
Kövecses, Z. 2002. Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kövecses, Z. 2008. “Metaphor and Emotion.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought,
edited by R. W. Gibbs, 380–396, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., and M. M. Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lewis, C. L., J. Lancaster, W. C. Savenye, and N. Haas. 2013. “A Formative Evaluation of the Balance of
Power Game and Curriculum.” Journal of Applied Instructional Design 3 (3): 5–16.
Littlemore, J. 2004. “Conceptual Metaphor as a Vehicle for Promoting Critical Thinking Skills
Amongst International Students.” In Directions for the Future: Directions in English for Academic
Purposes, edited by L. Sheldon, 43–50. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Littlemore, J. 2016. “Metaphor Use in Educational Contexts: Functions and Variations.” In The
Routledge Handbook of Metaphor and Language, edited by E. Semino, and Z. Demjén, 301–313.
London, New York: Routledge.
Low, G., J. Littlemore, and A. Koester. 2008. “Metaphor Use in Three UK University Lectures.” Applied
Linguistics 29 (3): 428–455. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amn008.
Marr, J. W. 2019. “Making the Mechanics of Paraphrasing More Explicit Through Grammatical
Metaphor.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 42:100783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.
2019.100783 .
Mason, J., and M. Giovanelli. 2017. “‘What Do You think?’ Let Me Tell You: Discourse About Texts and
the Literature Classroom.” Changing English 24 (3): 318–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.
2016.1276397.
Nuttall, L., and C. Harrison. 2020. “Wolfing Down the Twilight Series: Metaphors for Reading in
Online Reviews.” In Contemporary Media Stylistics, edited by H. Ringrow and S. Pihlaja, 35–60.
Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350064119.0007 .
Peacock, M., & Flowerdew, J., Eds. 2001. Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes.
Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524766.
Petrie, H. G., and R. S. Oshlag. 2002. “Metaphor and Learning.” In Metaphor and Thought, edited by
A. Ortony, 579–609. 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Robertson, E. 1988. “Moving from Expressive Writing to Academic Discourse.” Writing Center Journal
9 (1): 21–28. https://doi.org/10.7771/2832-9414.1165.
Warner, M. 2016. “Ways to Use LEGO in the Classroom.” Teaching Ideas, January. https://www.
teachingideas.co.uk/maths/ways-to-use-LEGO-in-the-classroom.
Wessel-Powell, C., B. Buchholz, and C. Brownell. 2019. “Polic(y)ing Time and Curriculum: How
Teachers Critically Negotiate Restrictive Policies.” English Teaching: Practice & Critique 18 (2):
170–187. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-12-2018-0116.
Widdowson, H. G. 1994. “The Ownership of English.” TESOL Quarterly 28 (2): 377–389. https://doi.
org/10.2307/3587438 .
Zacharias, S. 2020. “Towards a Concept-Driven Pedagogy: A Model of Linguistic Knowledge.” In New
Directions in Cognitive Grammar and Style, edited by M. Giovanelli, C. Harrison, and L. Nuttall,
261–278. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350111141.ch-014.
16 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

Appendix 1: Selected activities for workshop 1, on arguments are buildings

Topic

Using the metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGS to teach essay structure and argumentation.

Time Selected activities

10-15 min Flipped learning of metaphor practice:
Ask students to put their hand up if they love their best friend. Amongst the students, ask for 2 volunteers
to explain how much they love their best friends (most of the time students use metaphors to express
this emotion). The rest of the class then needs to determine how can we tell which of the 2 students
love their best friends the most. They will realise that emotions being unique, abstract and personal, to
explain them to others, we draw on metaphors.
5-10 min Introduction to the metaphor ARGUMENTS ARE BUILDINGs:
1. Explain the metaphor to students and show example as to how it is embedded in the English language
(i.e. to build a case, a foundation of thesis).
2. Ask students:
● what is the link between arguments and buildings?
● how is it useful to compare them and why?
3. review that both concepts show a step-by-step process.
5-10 min Lego block practice on argumentation:
1. Ask students to build a Lego tower with 3 blocks following this structure (colours can be changed):
● Argument in blue
● Counterargument in green
● Refutation in red
2. Show students an example of a correctly build tower with a blue block at bottom. Ask students:
● What would happen to the red and green if we try to remove the blue?
● What does this mean for our argument?
3. Class discussion: the red and green blocks would fall if the blue one was removed, showing that the blue
block (meaning the argument) is the key block in the argumentation process → it is the foundation.
5-10 min Lego block practice on essay structure:
1. Ask students to build a Lego tower with 3 blocks following this structure (colours can be changed):
● Introduction in green
● Main body in red
● Conclusion in blue
2. Show students an example of a correctly build tower with a green block at bottom. Ask students:
● What would happen to the red and blue if we try to remove the red?
● What does this mean for the introduction? Why?
3. Class discussion: the red and blue blocks would fall if the green one was removed, showing that the
green block (meaning the introduction) is the key element of an essay structure → it is the
foundation. The reason for this is that the introduction contains the thesis statement, the aim of the
paper/essay.
15-20 min Lego block practice on building a detailed essay structure:
1. Based on the revisions done so far, ask students to build a Lego tower representing the following
structure:
● Introduction:
○ Background information on the topic = white
○ Thesis statement (our position) = red
○ Route map (outline of key points) = blue
● Main body paragraph x2
○ Topic sentence = yellow
○ Evidence (from academic sources) = green
○ Concluding sentence (links ideas together) = grey
● Conclusion
○ Restate the thesis statement = black
○ Summary of key points made = yellow
○ Prediction or recommendation = grey
2. Based on their tower, ask students to put the essay strips back in order and to either tape them to the
Lego tower, or to tape them to a handout of a building shape. By doing so, students see that the
key blocks (introduction) are the foundation of the building.
3. Show students the essay in order and a fully built tower. Answer any questions students may have.
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 17

Appendix 2: Selected activities for workshop 2, on writing is cooking, eating,

digesting

Topic

Using the metaphor WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING to teach essay structure and argumentation.

Time Selected activities

10 min Introduction to the metaphor WRITING IS COOKING, EATING, DIGESTING:
1. Explain the metaphor to students and show the analogies (i.e. paraphrasing is like mashing, synthesising
or summarising are like juicing, essay structure is like a recipe card, see Table 1).
2. Ask students:
● what is the link between writing an essay and preparing food?
● how is it useful to compare them and why?
3. Review that both concepts show a step-by-step process.
10 min Practice on including sources in writing:
1. Provide students with 3 texts (1 is a summary, 1 a paraphrase, 1 a synthesis) and ask them to match them
to the cooking images in the screen (mashing, juicing 1 or 2+ ingredients). They can discuss in groups.
2. Go through the answers as a class.
20 min Practice on essay structure with recipe card:
1. Using the recipe card, ask students to match the ingredients to the essay elements:
● Introduction:
○ Background information on the topic = spices
○ Thesis statement (our position) = oil
○ Route map (outline of key points) = bouillon broth
● Main body paragraph x2
○ Topic sentence = aubergine (cut in slices)
○ Evidence (from academic sources) = tomato juice
○ Concluding sentence (links ideas together) = courgette (cut in slices)
● Conclusion
○ Restate the thesis statement = oil
○ Summary of key points made = bouillon broth
○ Prediction or recommendation = garnish
This recipe makes a basic layered ratatouille.
2. Ask students to tape their ingredients to the pot handout → it will be bottom-up in the right order.
3. Ask students what happens if we remove the oil (meaning the thesis statement). Students should stay
that every other elements will burn and stick, showing that the rest of the recipe/essay cannot
work without it.
4. Ask student what kind of evidence will be in the essay since tomato juice is the ingredient → summary.
15-20 Practice on cooking a detailed essay structure:
min 1. Based on the previous task, ask students to put the essay strips back in order and to tape them to the
handout of a pot shape. This consolidates their learning of essay structure and challenges them.
2. Show students the essay in order and a fully completed pot. Answer any questions students may have.
18 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

Appendix 3: Example of students’ use of Lego blocks to mirror essay

structure during workshop 1
 ENGLISH IN EDUCATION 19

Appendix 4: Example of students’ essay reconstruction during workshop 1

20 K. PAGER-MCCLYMONT AND E. PAPATHANASIOU

Appendix 5: Example of students’ reconstruction of essay using recipe

during workshop 2