THE ROLE OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION IN ECOLOGICAL MEDIADISCOURSE

Abstract

Ecological crises and climate change are some of the most pressing issues in global mediadiscourse today. The linguistic tools used to describe climate change, particularly conceptual metaphors, play a crucial role in shaping public perception.

The aim of this research is to identify conceptual metaphors and provide cognitive-linguistic analysis of them in ecological mediadiscourse related to environmental issues and climate change. Also, the primary focus is on exploring how conceptual metaphors influence public opinion.

The research highlights the cognitive significance of conceptual metaphors in describing environmental problems and offers insights into their more effective use. Thus, the scientific significance of the study lies in the identification of mechanisms for the formation of perception of global environmental problems through language, as well as in the assessment of cognitive and emotional effects arising from the use of conceptual metaphors. The practical significance is associated with the possibility of applying the results for further scientific research on environmental discourse, as well as for reading university academic disciplines such as intercultural communication, cognitive linguistics, media linguistics, etc.

The methodology includes content analysis, cognitive-linguistic analysis, as well as a survey of recipients in order to identify how various conceptual metaphors affect their perception of environmental problems.

The results of the study demonstrate that metaphors contribute both to the simplification of complex information for a wide audience and to emotional engagement, however, their excessive use may negatively affect perception and lead to a decline in interest in the content. The research contributes to the study of the cognitive mechanisms of the influence of language on environmental behavior and awareness, offering recommendations for more effective use of metaphors in media communication.