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…

Identifies the characteristic principles of intertextuality in school mathematics. Drawing on a larger study, this article examines how language is used to construct the shared meanings of a mathematical theme. An analysis is made of spoken and written texts to determine their contribution to the development of a thematic formation for the topic…

Discusses how concepts from semiotic theories may be adapted to teaching media literacy to English language learners. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (Author/VWL)

Discusses authentic learning. Investigates semiotic activity in the play activities of 4- to 7-year-old children in Dutch primary schools. Suggests that with some assistance young children can be engaged meaningfully in semiotic activities during play. (CMK)

States that by considering necks in a literal sense it may be possible to envision new metaphors for understanding minds, bodies, and ways of knowing. Discusses necks as important signs for such ideas as beauty or fragility. Focuses on views of epistemology, such as the disembodied way of knowing. (CMK)

States that isolation of small portions of life can result in revelation, the power of metaphor occurs when connections are viewed and meaning is derived from the whole, and at times the question of meaning has been translated into a search for order. (CMK)

Focuses on Carolee Schneeman, one of many artists, dancers, and musicians who combine visual art media and methods with dance, poetry, and music. Explains that Schneeman focuses on the body as object and subject and discusses some of her performances. (CMK)

In this chapter, we argue that deeper insight into the social nature of self-development can be gained by adopting a dual focus on social relationships and meaning making. A key challenge for future scholarship will be to investigate the role of semiotic mediation in self-construction during the early years of life.

What is the nature of the change represented by digital communications technologies? How will the impact of the digital compare with the massive changes spawned in its time by print and books? These are the two key questions addressed in this article. The authors answer the first of these questions by comparing the emergence of the printed book…

The authors studied sensitivity to semantic priming, as distinct from semantic judgment, in poor readers. Association strength (high vs. low semantic association) was manipulated factorially with semantic association type (categoric vs. thematic association). Participants were 11-year-old poor readers (n = 15) who were matched with a group of…

Properties of the input, such as raw frequency and syntactic diversity, have been shown to play a role, to different extents, in the acquisition of nouns and verbs. This study investigated the relationship between three properties of the input (input frequency, syntactic diversity, and variety in noun-type co-occurrence) and age of acquisition of…

This paper presents Bigger Bits, an interactive multimedia learning environment that teaches students about VLSI within the context of computer electronics. The system was built with COSMOS (Content Oriented semantic Modelling Overlay Scheme), which is a modelling scheme that we developed for enabling the semantic content of multimedia to be used…

Deleuze and his colleagues, particularly Guattari, have had a profound impact on a number of fields of study. The authors argue that their work offers a range of images to help think about and write action research, a way that acknowledges and celebrates the complexities of the sites of action. The article has a divided structure, coherent with…