Illustrates the anthropological notion that man is ritualistic. (SW)

This article discusses kinesics, the study of gesture and facial expression in language and shows the role that gestures play in language systems, evaluates them as a full-fledged semiotic system, and shows the value of them in the foreign- language classroom. (Author/JL)

Explores how transmediation extends the new literacies found in multimedia classrooms. Defines "transmediation" as responding to cultural texts in a range of sign systems -- art, movement, sculpture, dance, music, and so on -- as well as in words. Contends that transmediation has the potential to capture the postmodern reality of multiple texts,…

Argues that the meaning of the words of a language other than one's mother tongue lies neither in text nor picture but in the explanations provided to learners during acquisition of the language. Suggests that what is important in developing critical thinking in a second language is that concepts are supported with relevant discussions and…

Explains how indexers choose keywords and how results can differ between indexers by focusing on certain properties of the terms rather than on the terms themselves. Based on research in semiotics, cognitive science, discourse analysis, and reading theories. Indexing terms from 833 bibliographic records from an environmental database are analyzed.…

Describes the use of signs in Elizabeth George Speare's "The Sign of the Beaver," in which a settler youth and a young Indian learn to communicate by signs, and how the signs reveal much about each character's culture. Summarizes the plot elements of the book, including characters who are not as sympathetic to the Indian point of view.…

Examined four- through six-year olds' ability to diagram the configuration of a toy railway set they had assembled and to reconstruct the railway based on drawings. Found that motivation had a significant influence on the accuracy of drawings. Results suggest that semiotic activity with the help of schematic representations or drawings is in the…

Ways that molecular and molar semiotic analysis of children's sociodramatic play can lead to new insight into children's interpersonal relations and social development is demonstrated. The method is illustrated through analysis of play transcripts of 2 girls aged 4.5 and 5.5 years. (Author/LB)

Some preliminary observations relating to problems of the semiotic mediation of reality through linguistic tools are presented and discussed in light of the experiences of 12- to 13-year-old Swedish students interpreting a table of postage rates. Learning to use such a tool is a genuinely social phenomenon. (SLD)

Complements review in previous volume concerning Australian literacy (in first- and second-language) initiatives that drew on systemic functional linguistics, highlights ongoing research within the same theoretical framework, and focuses on the question of modeling context in educational linguistics. The discussion includes modeling context as…

Examines to what extent, and in what ways, speech is unusual and how it compares to other semiotic systems. Discusses language and speech, neurolinguistic processing, comparative vocal/auditory abilities, primate evolution, and semiogenesis. (SR)

Describes and categorizes patterns we construct between texts of different kinds (patterns of intertextuality). Whether the principles of intertextuality can be applied to other sorts of semiotic "texts" such as computer graphics and hypermedia is raised as a crucial question for the future of educational research. (Contains 48…

Proposes that language awareness cannot be fully developed if it rests on a view of language from within. Suggests that language is always one of a number of semiotic modes in use in any act of communication, and that language may not be central mode. To get sense of modes of communication involved, a condensed account of a science lesson on plate…

Reflects on three articles in this themed issue written by classroom teachers, describing how and why they incorporate the arts into the heart of their language arts instruction. Concludes that sign systems and the arts are powerful tools for thinking, whether they are used efferently, to represent specific information, or aesthetically, to create…

Examines the advantages and disadvantages of books on tape for children. Analyzes some taped readings. Concludes that they make heavier use of stereotypes than written texts and in doing so raise ideological questions. Suggests that tapes offer shortcuts to semiotic competence, to interpreting the world through a kind of shorthand that is equally…