Using metaphor to explore the organizational patterns of expository writing

Abstract

Writing is a complex and multifaceted task that presents many challenges, especially when writing in a foreign language. Recent studies have shown that writers and readers benefit from explicit knowledge of text genres and their organization, since the sense of unity that is sought in a text is largely connected to its overall structure. Awareness of text structure informs about conventions of structure that control the flow of information and determine the kinds of cues available to readers. In the present article, we use conceptual metaphor theory to provide a new way of exploring the activity of writing in the academic context and tap into the conceptual frame that writers and readers of expository texts may employ to organize information. In this sense, we illustrate how the texts are journeys metaphor can be used to elucidate the rationale behind the macro- structural organization of expository texts written by non-expert EFL writers.