Abstract This article examines the metaphors about university professors roles in current and ideal situations chosen by a group of 200 Iranian BA students. The aim of the study is to determine whether there is any mismatch between the roles that the professors take on currently and the ones they are expected to adopt ideally. To this end, the participants were asked to select their preferred metaphors among twenty one metaphors of the checklist about their professors. Then, the metaphors were organized according to three roles of animator, author, and principal (Goffman, 1981). Chi-square was run to determine whether there is a significant difference among the roles of the professors as animator, author, and principal. The results revealed that university professors teaching TEFL and English Literature at BA level mostly take on animator and author roles in the current situation while principal and author roles are the ones the students prefer their professors to adopt. Identifying the students’ hidden beliefs can heighten teachers’ awareness, help them to modify their roles, and make the language classroom more welcoming environment for the students.

Keywords