The pedagogical and theoretical questions addressed in this study relate to the extent to which native Japanese readers with little or no knowledge of Chinese characters recognize Chinese characters that are viewed as abbreviations of the kanji they already know. Three graphic similarity functions (i.e., an orthographically acceptable similarity,…

Tolerance of ambiguity has been referred to as "the indispensable component of symbolic competence" (Kramsch, 2006, p. 251) and the recommendation was later made for college-level language instructors interested in emphasizing symbolic competence in their classrooms to "bring up every opportunity to show complexity and…

In several of his papers, Charles S. Peirce illustrates processes of interpreting and understanding signs by examples from second language vocabulary teaching and learning. The insights conveyed by means of these little pedagogical scenarios are not meant as contributions to the psychology of second language learning, but they aim at elucidating…

This article reports the findings of a study that investigated the role of graphic novels in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to International Baccalaureate students (aged 15-16) in TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School. Two intact 10th grade classes were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups who studied…

The use of a semiotic approach to foreign language literature appreciation and criticism at the college level is advocated as a means of analyzing texts. What is sought first of all is the meaning of the text with the semiotic-linguistic levels of organization that produce the meaning. (MSE)