Determining the Perceptions of Secondary School Students on the Concept of “City” Through Metaphors

Abstract

In this research, it is purposed to determine the perceptions of secondary school students on the concept of “city” through metaphors. The research, which was conducted with the participation of 179 secondary school students attending a secondary school in Mus in the 2021-2022 academic year, was designed as a qualitative study in the descriptive survey model. A metaphor form consisting of 2 parts was distributed to the students who will participate in the research. Whereas 2 different questions are needed in the first part of this form to learn the gender and grade level of the students, it was thought that it would be sufficient to include the expression “The city is like ........ Because ........” in order to determine their perceptions about the concept in the second part. The data obtained from the forms filled by the students in 5-10 minutes were analyzed through the content analysis method. Within the scope of the research, it was determined that secondary school students developed a total of 82 different metaphors, and the most prominent ones among these metaphors were determined as “flower”, “tree”, “house”, “garbage”, and “life”. Based on the reasons for these developed metaphors, 6 different conceptual categories were created. These categories are listed as “city as the understanding of love and beauty”, “city as a negative judgment”, “city as a necessity”, “city as density”, “city as presence”, and “city as misperception”.Bu arastirmada, ortaokul ögrencilerinin “sehir” kavramina iliskin algilarinin metaforlar yoluyla belirlenmesi amaçlanmistir. 2021-2022 egitim ögretim yilinda Mus ilinde bir ortaokulda ögrenimlerine devam eden 179 ortaokul ögrencisinin katilimiyla gerçeklestirilen arastirma, betimsel tarama modelinde nitel bir çalisma olarak tasarlanmistir. Arastirmaya katilacak olan ögrencilere, 2 bölümden olusan metafor formu dagitilmistir. Bu formun ilk bölümünde, ögrencilerin cinsiyet ve sinif düzeyi bilgilerini ögrenmek için 2 farkli soruya ihtiyaç duyulurken; ikinci bölümünde, kavrama iliskin algilarini belirleyebilmek için "Sehir ........ gibidir. Çünkü ........" ifadesine yer verilmesinin yeterli olacagi düsünülmüstür. Ögrencilerin 5-10 dakika arasi sürede doldurduklari formlar üzerinden elde edilen veriler ise içerik analiz yöntemiyle çözümlenmistir. Arastirma kapsaminda ortaokul ögrencilerinin toplam 82 farkli metafor gelistirdikleri tespit edilirken, bu metaforlardan en ön plana çikanlari “çiçek”, “agaç”, “ev”, “çöplük” ve “hayat” olarak belirlenmistir. Gelistirilen bu metaforlarin gerekçeleri temel alinarak 6 farkli kavramsal kategori olusturulmustur. Bu kategoriler; “sevgi ve güzellik anlayisi olarak sehir”, “olumsuz yargi olarak sehir”, “gereksinim olarak sehir”, “yogunluk olarak sehir”, “mevcudiyet olarak sehir” ve “yanlis algi olarak sehir” seklinde siralanmaktadir.