Conceptual Metaphor as a Cognitive Solution to English Writing Problems: The effect of instruction on Writing Attitude and Self-efficacy of EFL Learners

Drawing on the conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003) and using the theoretical framework of the cognitive writing model (Flower & Hayes, 1980), the researchers attempted to improve EFL learners’ writing dispositions through establishing an interaction between their conceptual system and the natural experiences that form the framework of a text. To that end, 120 male and female EFL Bachelor-of-Arts (BA) students from Foreign Language Center at Islamic Azad Karaj University in Iran participated voluntarily in the study and were randomly divided into two groups, with the experimental group receiving the cognitive approach training and the control group the traditional approach instruction. Using a two-way analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) procedure, the researchers evaluated the posttest results of both groups. SPSS (version 25) was used to analyse the data of the present study.The analysis revealed that the cognitive group experienced a remarkable growth in the posttest scores of writing self-efficacy and writing attitudes. Findings of the present study can be of practical and theoretical importance to the EFL writing teachers, because they provide EFL teachers with feedback to incorporate conceptual metaphor as a cognitive strategy in their writing courses to improve their students’ affective factors which overshadow their success in writing.