This study was conducted to determine the effect of a conversational approach
to integrated art appreciation lessons for children with mild disorders on their
ability to understand and use metaphors, both verbal and visual.
An art appreciation program that incorporates conversational and integrated
approaches was designed and implemented in a special education class of ten
students at an elementary school in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. A paired-sample t-test
was performed using SPSS1 2.0 for Windows for the analysis of the pre-and
post-program evaluation data for nine subject students. Changes in their verbal and
visual metaphorical expressions that were observed during the program implementation
have also been documented and analyzed.
The results of the analyses are as follows: First, the conversational and
integrated approaches to art appreciation lessons had a positive effect on the
subject students' ability to understand and use metaphors, both verbal and visual.
Second, the subject students' metaphorical expressions gradually developed from
static to dynamic, from a separate description of specific things to a narrative
description, and from black and white to color.
Despite the absence of factor analysis and other limits in reliability and
validity, it is hoped that subsequent studies will further investigate the positive
effects suggested by this study, which began with a search for an instructional
method where by the teacher may develop the students' expressive potentials
without hurting each other's feelings.