Metaphor and Metonymy in English for Politics (ESP) Course

The versatile research carried out in political linguistics has revealed the peculiarities of political texts thereby opening vast possibilities for a fruitful application of the findings to the curriculum of an ESP course of English for Politics corresponding to C1/C2 level of CEFR (2001). The present study analyses the knowledge and experience of students of political science in identifying, using and analysing metaphor and metonymy in political discourse in the English language. Methodologically, the study is a small scale analysis carried out with the use of a questionnaire delivered to 55 students, where students are asked to answer questions with respect to their general knowledge and understanding of the use of metaphor and metonymy. They are further asked to identify metaphorical and metonymical expressions in a piece of political discourse. Finally, they are requested to express their opinion about the role of metaphor and metonymy in the creation of political texts. The results show that students demonstrate quite good theoretical knowledge of figurative language, namely metaphor and metonymy, however, their discourse analytical skills are rather poor. This conclusion can be made on the basis of students answer to the self-evaluative questions placed to them and on the basis of the given practical task.