METAPHOR AND READING COMPREHENSION

Abstract. In this study the influence of the amount of metaphor in written language upon reading comprehension is analyzed. Subjects in this study, 190 sixth graders, read two passages, relating the same events, but differing in the amount of metaphorical language used. Comprehension was measured by means of a cloze test. Though both passage versions yielded identical readability estimates, cloze comprehension of the metaphorical passage was lower than the comprehension of the non-metaphorical version. The influence of the study of linguistics on reading has precipitated extensive research into the relationship between linguistic style variables and the difficulty or readability of written passages. Linguistic style variables have not traditionally included literary style variables except occasionally under the comprehensive term "figures of speech. " Because many writers, especially those whose works are considered superior by critics of children's literature and literature in general, utilize many and varied figures of speech, these variables of style are worthy of more intensive consideration. This study was an attempt to begin investigation int