The Process of Metaphor Comprehension Development in Persian-Speaking Children of 6 to 8 Years Old

The present study, evaluated the developmental process of metaphor comprehension in Persian-speaking children of three age groups of 6, 7 and 8 years old. Some researchers believe that metaphor comprehension occurs at the beginning of adolescence. Another group believes that preschool children can understand metaphorical concepts. Cognitive linguists believe that metaphors are fundamental aspects of language and cognition, which are used innately and subconsciously, for perceiving emotions and other mental and abstract concepts. To examine the children’s metaphoric competence, a multiple-choice test of 36 metaphoric sentences, in four subtests, was designed. Based on the findings, children are able to comprehend different types of metaphors at early ages, and their interpretation of metaphors develops progressively with the increase of age and world knowledge development.