Recognition of figurative language and reading ability in Polish school children

Abstract

It is reported in literature (Nippold et al., 2001; Qualls, Bodle et al., 2001, Levorato, Nesi, Cacciari, 2004) that reading ability is associated with figurative language competence. The assumption is that good reading ability enhances lexical development, which, in turn, increases knowledge of figures of speech. On the other hand, studies on the metaphorical use of language by children primarily provide information on the interpretation and understanding of figurative language forms, to a lesser extent, on the ability to recognize them in the text. The aim of presented study was to investigate the relation between reading comprehension and figurative language recognition in 8- to 9-year-old children . In a preliminary phase two standardized tests was used, to assess the reading comprehension skills. Study involved 60 children attending 2 and 3 grades at primary school, divided into 3 groups: poor, medium and good comprehenders. The group of skilled comprehenders was compared to less skilled groups on two tasks: : metaphor recognition task and metaphor comprehension task, that include figurative expressions derived from school textbook. The study brings interesting results concerning the relationship between the ability to recognize metaphors with reading comprehension level, indicating that children with low levels of reading comprehension in less use context, making it difficult for them to differentiate literal from metaphorical expressions.