Raising Metaphor Awareness in English for Law Enforcement

Metaphor awareness is an asset for the ESP teacher, although it is not usually present in the second language curriculum. The discourse of technical expert groups in the field of crime is saturated with metaphor. In the Police Training Centre located in Avila, metaphor awareness raising activities are successfully included in the police ESP syllabus as a language learning strategy. Students in the second course of the Executive Scale of the Spanish National Police (CEFR B1) receive input in conceptual metaphors related to drugs, offences and offenders, police officers and equipment, and penalties and penitentiaries. This enables them to understand in context new specialized terms, enhances L2 vocabulary retention, and improves motivation, learner's autonomy, and intercultural competence. Metaphors are entitled to find their way into any law enforcers’ foreign language teaching curriculum.