Abstract
The objective is to present data from a study that aims to contribute to the adaptation and validation of the Metaphor Comprehension Test (TCM),1 an instrument for assessing the ability to understand metaphors, aimed at subjects between 9 and 14 years old. Ultimately, the instrument intends to have two sides: an evaluation and intervention resource that, to date, has content and construction validity, its original version being in Italian, already with immense research produced and evidence given. In Portugal and with the Portuguese version, this investigation is the second carried out. We still haven’t obtained enough results to allow us sophisticated statistics, nor the presentation of normative or standardized data. However, investigations continue and the answers obtained are promising. Although we assume the need for further investigation, we believe that the resource, as it stands, can and should be used, without constraints, as a resource for intervention/development of metalinguistic awareness, of understanding metaphorical language. The present study was carried out with 97 students, with individual and group applications, depending on their availability. There are no differences, considering the procedures. It is noted that there is a more significant performance as a function of age, as seen with the original Italian sample, and it was not possible for us to ascertain with certainty the differences between understanding, considering the type of metaphors, conceptual and/or physico-psychological, components of the used resource. However, the acceptability of the instrument is quite high.
Keywords: Figurative language; Metalinguistic awareness; TCM; Metaphors