From “Robot” to “Rejuvenating Warrior”: An EFL Learner’s Conceptual Metaphors During School Transition

Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory, I investigated the school transition experience of an English as a foreign language (EFL) learner. In this narrative case study, participant’s emotion labor was followed throughout his first semester at high in Turkey. Exploring journals, metaphors, and interviews, examined dynamic emotional states. The findings revealed that may entail inhibiting for freshman EFL learners. Moreover, it also shown these emotions force adolescent learners to reconceptualize learning with negative perspective develop surviving learner’s strategies support them terms getting satisfactory grades summative assessment culture but jeopardize long run.