ABSTRACT
The notion of metaphor can be explained to a class and examples can be provided to illustrate the term, but, as Tolstoy argued, teacher may simply replace one unintelligible term with yet another term or phrase which is equally unintelligible. The impediments or barriers to effective communication that teachers seem to recognise most readily, while they are engaged in the actual process of explaining something to a class, are the use of difficult or specialised vocabulary and over-complex grammatical constructions. The teacher has already explained to the class that their course in English will be organised to take account of the four language modes - reading, writing, speaking and listening. In contrast the teacher is talking about the 'elements' that underpin and give coherence to an English course in a secondary school - something familiar enough to a teacher, but new territory as far as the pupils are concerned.
