ERIC Number: EJ1089457
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1554-480X
EISSN: N/A
The Shape of Joy, the Colour of Fear: Multimodal Abduction in the Foreign Language Classroom
Nelson, Mark Evan; Johnson, Neil H.
Pedagogies: An International Journal, v9 n1 p45-62 2014
In this article, we describe a programme of qualitative research and interpretive analysis around an approach to foreign language pedagogy that aimed to develop learners' symbolic competence through experience with and examination of the signs in acts of communication. Learners were presented with the problem of visually representing the abstract concepts of envy, excitement, joy and fear as a means of exploring relationships between mode and meaning and how meaning may be transformed as a result of re-presenting ideas in different modal forms. The data set included learners' visual compositions, observational field notes on in-class interaction and transcribed semi-structured interviews and student presentations on their work, all of which were analysed through the interpretive lens of Peircean semiotics, specifically the notion of "abduction." Findings suggest that facilitating learners' creative engagement in shifting meaning across representational boundaries of mode can serve to stimulate socio-cognitive processes of abduction, and thereby heighten students' awareness of and connection to unique linguistic resources afforded by the target language.
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Creative Thinking, Semiotics, Qualitative Research, Teaching Methods, Communicative Competence (Languages), Cultural Awareness, Intercultural Communication, Psychological Patterns, Nonverbal Communication, Classroom Communication, Cognitive Processes, Semi Structured Interviews, Inferences, Multimedia Materials, Visual Arts, Asians, Foreign Countries, Student Attitudes, College Students, Signs, Logical Thinking, English (Second Language)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Japan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A