Unique signs for plural utterances: alleviating doubt in the language learner Lawrie Hunter Kochi University of Technolo

1. Unique signs for plural utterances: alleviating doubt in the language learner Lawrie Hunter Kochi University of Technology, Japan http://lawriehunter.com lawrie@ace.ocn.ne.jp

2. Unique signs for plural utterances: alleviating doubt in the language learner Lawrie Hunter Kochi University of Technology, Japan http://lawriehunter.com lawrie@ace.ocn.ne.jp

3. IDEAL semiotic system creation Ethnographic observation Semiotic analysis of need Signification system design Implementation Evaluation

4. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Ethnographic observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Search for analytical tools to explain success Systemic Functional Linguistics/Visual Design Grammar; Conceptual Integration Theory/Dual Coding Theory Metaphor comprehension studies

5. Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Please don't try to read these slides. You can download this file from lawriehunter.com and many more are available at http://www.core.kochi-tech.ac.jp/hunter/ Pragmatics of communication Pragmatics of signification

6. Ethnographic Observation WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Ethnographic observation Some Japanese university level learners of English, dubbed 'false beginners,' have acquired English vocabulary and grammar knowledge in six years of high school study but, resuming their study of English in university, they appear unable to make sense of, or sense with, strings of English lexical units. Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Pragmatics of signification

9. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Heuristic invasion Viewing the second language scenario as a mapping scenario, the author introduced three low-text mapping systems (Mind Maps, Cmaps, and the author's ISmaps) as 'interlanguage' for instructor-learner negotiation of meaning and to explore the effectiveness of low-text mapping as a language task sign system. Ethnographic Observation mind maps Heuristic invasion relation maps Serendipity structure maps Pragmatics of communication Pragmatics of signification

11. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Serendipity The learners quite uniformly reported that Mind Maps were uninteresting; Cmaps were rejected by many subjects at the outset. After using ISmaps for a brief period of time, these false beginners rather consistently demonstrated willingness to interpret received English utterance, and to engage in the risky business of producing English utterance to convey meaning. Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Pragmatics of signification

12. Hunter’s infostructure maps (ISmaps) < big Classification Description Degree comparison Attribute comparison Contrast Sequence Cause-effect !

13. Hunter’s infostructure maps DESCRIPTION My friend 57 Canadian English teacher

14. Hunter’s infostructure maps CLASSIFICATION Cars station wagons sedans coupes

15. Hunter’s infostructure maps COMPARISON (relative) < Calcutta Tokyo big old

16. Hunter’s infostructure maps COMPARISON (by attribute) new 3 years old M’s car K’s car white red

17. Hunter’s infostructure maps SEQUENCE find a bank machine put in your bank card follow the directions

18. Hunter’s infostructure maps SEQUENCE structure signals First Then and findbank machine put in bank card follow directions

19. Hunter’s infostructure maps SEQUENCE First Then and toast two slices of bread tear some lettuce slice a tomato

20. Hunter’s infostructure maps CAUSE-EFFECT buscancelled I...late for school heavyrain

21. ISmaps have been in happy use in KUT's English department since 1998.

22. Information structures based curriculum Say What You Mean KUT Press 2006 A writing and mapping workbook, 5 units (5 genres) in 30 lessons Critical Thinking Asahi Press 2001 A writing and presentation workbook, 6 units (6 genres) in 30 lessons Thinking in English Cengage, 2008 A writing and presentation mapping text/workbook, 5 units (5 genres) in 30 lessons

23. The domain of ISmaps

24. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Pragmatics of signification

25. "We should conceive of two different pragmatic approaches: a pragmatics of signification (how to represent in a semantic system pragmatic phenomena) and a pragmatics of communication (how to analyze pragmatic phenomena that take place in the course of a communicative process). Such phenomena as textual co-reference, topic, text coherence, reference to a set of knowledge idiolectally posited by a text as referring to a fictional world, conversational implicature, and many other phenomena concern an actual process of communication and cannot be foreseen by any system of signification. Other phenomena, such as presupposition, prediction of ordinary contexts, rules for felicity conditions, and so on, can, as we shall see, be considered by the study of a coded system of signification, to describe which both the semantical and the pragmatical approaches are strictly and inextricably interrelated." Eco, E. (1990) The limits of interpretation. U. of Indiana Press. p. 212

26. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Search for analytical tools to explain success: pragmatics of communication Taking up Eco's notions of a pragmatics of communication to explore the workings of the ISmap success. Communication related tools which proved useful within this framework are Cultural difference knowledge Linguistic difference knowledge Psychological (language development) knowledge Ethnographic observation Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Cultural factors Pragmatics of communication Linguistic factors Pragmatics of signification Psychological factors

27. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Cultural difference knowledge -reticence (cultural) -perfectionism (meme) -lack of need [sic] -defeatist ethos re English learning Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Cultural factors Pragmatics of communication Linguistic factors Pragmatics of signification Psychological factors

28. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Linguistic difference knowledge Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Cultural factors Pragmatics of communication Linguistic factors In Japanese, written signs carry meaning, but in many cases do not speak, or do not speak unambiguously. As well, Japanese is a left-branching language, and thus clause semantic completeness is not the primary processing unit in initial segmentation (whereas it is the primary unit in English). This results in a mindset where written utterance need not speak, is not expected to speak, yet where rich meaning does arise. Pragmatics of signification Psychological factors

29. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Linguistic difference knowledge Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Cultural factors Pragmatics of communication Linguistic factors Japanese is not a S-V-O syntax. Japanese characters are logographs. Japanese has delayed reveal of significand. Pragmatics of signification Psychological factors

30. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Linguistic difference knowledge Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Cultural factors Pragmatics of communication Linguistic factors When one's second language is syntactically and orthographically distant from one's first language, the interpretation of second language L2 utterance, particularly complex and structured utterance, is impeded by the 'foreignness' of grammar and syntax. Pragmatics of signification Psychological factors e.g. English: A skyscraper is several times higher than an ordinary apartment building. Japanese: Skyscraper no hou ga ordinary no apartment yori high desu.

31. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Psychological (language development) knowledge Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Cultural factors Pragmatics of communication Linguistic factors Pragmatics of signification Psychological factors Japanese is a left-branching language, and thus clause semantic completeness is not the primary processing unit in initial segmentation (whereas it is the primary unit in English). This results in a mindset where written utterance need not speak, is not expected to speak, yet where rich meaning does arise. Mazuka, R. (1998) The development of language strategies: a cross-linguistic study between Japanese and English. Erlbaum.

32. WHY do Japanese learners of English prefer ISmaps? Search for analytical tools to explain success: pragmatics of signification Taking up Eco's notions of a pragmatics of signification to explore the workings of the ISmap success. Theoretical tools which proved useful within this framework are Conceptual Integration Theory / Dual Coding Theory Visual Design Grammar / Systemic Functional Linguistics; Metaphor comprehension studies Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension

33. Ethnographic Observation Visual Design Grammar says layout in mixed media in English signifies relationships in two ways: left to right images/texts are GIVEN, Mediator and NEW, while top to bottom images/texts are IDEAL, Mediator and REAL. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (1996) Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge. Japanese media/graphic arts don't do things that way. Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension

34. Ethnographic Observation • Systemic Functional Linguistics says that rhetoric hinges on GIVEN, • what the listener/reader • already knows, and • NEW, • what the speaker/writer • is going to 'break.' • Halliday, M.A.K. (1985) An introduction to functional grammar. • London: Edward Arnold. • Japanese rhetoric • doesn't do things that way. Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension

35. Ethnographic Observation Conceptual Integration Theory says that metaphor is the combining of disparate FRAMES, i.e., Conceptual Blending, through which we realize great economy/synergy of thought. Conceptual Blending is culture-dependent, however, so all great minds do not think alike. Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. (2002) The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. Basic Books. Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension

36. Ethnographic Observation Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension

37. Ethnographic Observation Metaphor comprehension Japanese is a between-the-lines language: priming effects are derived from syntactic factors. Processing of metaphor when primed with base (inverted form of metaphor) is faster than when primed with target. Kurosawa, M., & Kawahara,T. (1999). Alignment or Abstraction? Metaphor comprehension in Japanese. Proceedings, Second International Conference on Cognitive Science. http://www.jcss.gr.jp/iccs99OLP/p3-19/p3-19.htm Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension

38. Ethnographic Observation Metaphor comprehension Japanese is a between-the-lines language: priming effects are derived from syntactic factors. Processing of metaphor when primed with base (inverted form of metaphor) is faster than when primed with target. Kurosawa, M., & Kawahara,T. (1999). Alignment or Abstraction? Metaphor comprehension in Japanese. Proceedings, Second International Conference on Cognitive Science. http://www.jcss.gr.jp/iccs99OLP/p3-19/p3-19.htm Heuristic invasion Serendipity Pragmatics of communication Visual design grammar Pragmatics of signification Conceptual blending Metaphor comprehension <= contradicts Gentner and Wolff's findings about the primacy of abstractionfactors in metaphor comprehension in English, a specificity-oriented language. Gentner,D., & Wolff,P. (1997). Alignment in the processing of metaphor. Journal of Memory and Language, 37, 331--355.

40. Thank you for your kind attention, and thank you in advance for your feedback and suggestions. Lawrie Hunter lawrie@ace.ocn.ne.jp downloads from http://lawriehunter.com