Young people, criticality and figurative language
- Dates: 2024–27
- Funding body: AHRC
- Value: £1,029,265
- Primary investigator: Alice Deignan (Education)
- Co-investigators: Elena Semino (Lancaster University); Jeannette Littlemore (University of Birmingham)
Young people are subject to information from all directions, some messages presenting fake news and toxic accounts of reality. A range of linguistic devices, including metaphors and other figurative language tropes, are used to 'package' these messages. This project will investigate the figurative language used with and by young people to frame ideologies and concepts. It will use corpus data to explore the use of these devices, and interviews and think-aloud protocols with young people to evaluate their awareness of them.