Semiotics is the science of signs and the structures of signs within which meanings emerge. The process through which these sign structures are built up is called semiosis. Courses commonly taught as foundational to teacher trainers should be imbued with a specific semiotic emphasis. At a general level, teachers may be introduced to the notion of…

Developmental kinesics is the acquisition of nonverbal conversational behavior by the child. Semiotics is the study of what behavior means. Together they express the relationship of content and expression. Physiologically, verbal language and paralanguage represent the vocal-auditory mode, while kinesics represents the gestural-visual mode.…

This handbook of Colombian and U.S. gestures was prepared originally as an aid to English teachers in Colombia. The Colombian gestures were collected via personal observations and interviews with Colombian informants. Approximately 20 informants from various regions of the United States were also interviewed. To this orginal collection, published…

This volume represents a partial collection of papers scheduled for presentation at the 37th conference of the American Society for Information Science, held October 13-17, 1974. The 57 papers are grouped into 10 sections roughly corresponding to the 10 technical sessions of the conference: implications for information utility, data base…

Reviews some of the basic notions of semiotics to show how they can be applied to composition teaching. (FL)

Links are drawn between text theories, both linguistic and semiotic, and the teaching of writing. Presents class activities designed to motivate students and teach good writing based on these theories. (MSE)

Examines the challenge posed by the naturalist philosophy of language--the view that the meanings of symbols are fixed by the environment. Compares the naturalist philosophy with that presented in an activist Native American essay that argues for the preservation of traditional native languages. (SRT)

Offers a letter written to students enrolled in a semiotics of art class outlining the theory of a negotiated curriculum and the reasons for experimenting with it in the course. Interspersed between paragraphs of the letter are personal reflections on the strengths and shortcomings of the process. (HOD)

We noticed that when workers try to explain their mathematical practices to inquisitive outsiders, breakdowns in communication arise. We present here an example in which a worker spontaneously uses metaphors and models to facilitate explanation and communication. We analyse these, drawing on Lakoff & Johnson (1999) and Lakoff & Nunez…

A study aimed to discover a correspondence between the thinking processes and textual structures of six eleventh graders. In a predominantly White, middle class rural high school, six students were selected to think aloud as they read two essays written as part of two assignments for their advanced English classes. The six were selected based on…

This guide, with 1,039 annotated listings, covers the reference literature on linguistics beginning with the year 1957 and extending coverage through 1998. A few works published early in 1999 have also been added, and most of the Web sites cited were last checked in early 1999. This new edition has about 500 new entries added since the last…

Discusses the radical dramatism of language and the implications for writing instruction. (MM)

Reviews theories regarding school knowledge, cognitive processes, and curriculum development. Contends that students are not taught theoretical concepts because of a misapplication of Piagetian Theory. Concludes that students should be encouraged to explore several perspectives of reality to understand knowledge and thinking. (CFR)

Disciplinary didactics describes and designs the actualized/virtual learning and teaching relationships among disciplinary content, learner(s), and teacher. This article adopts a semiotic perspective to outline eight shared features of the various disciplinary didactics. The goal is to situate them within an integrated vision that helps shape a…

Studies by Unsworth and Williams (1988, 1990) compared the textual variation of purpose-written big books with literary texts. Purpose-written big books help children to predict repetitive clauses that realize explicit and simplistic meanings. (Contains six references.) (JP)