Revisiting German Figurative Expressions and Translation in Flipped Learning Class: A Case Study

In human speech, figurative expressions such as metaphors or similes frequently occur, conveying a multiplicity of language users’ feelings, values, and thoughts. Those ubiquitous denotative and implicative expressions entail many sociocultural perspectives that correspond to each object. This implies that as figurative expressions are employed in communication, hearers can challenge understanding. The subjects of this study showed two outstanding divergencies. One was that they did not consider the semantic molecules that underlie each metaphoric object This indicates that their translation does not consider that each expression can go behind the surface appearance of its expression. The other showed their understanding of the purpose of figurative expressions in discourse. Based on translation theories, they attempted to translate them into their target language, employing similar expressions that correspond to the source objects: they became aware that such an expression is a favored device in language use.