ABSTRACT
Within our diverse multilingual and international contexts, there is a need for knowledge about and competence in languages. At the same time, appreciation for language education in the Netherlands is waning. Different parties argue that the curriculum is too narrowly geared towards the practice of skills and strategies, while students should be offered a broader perspective on the phenomenon of language that, ideally, sparks their imagination. This essay presents a case study aimed at raising secondary school students’ awareness of language. Through the use of metaphor elicitation, young language learners were invited to explore different “stories behind language.”
