Abstract
The hitherto unrecognized task of Empirical Semiotics is to identify particular testing procedures which measure qualitative differences in how representations are processed. Elicited imitation (EI) can indicate the nature of the interpretants which hold between sign and object by tapping how meanings are processed in working memory (WM). The way in which linguistic forms are handled in WM reveals striking distinctions between interpretants which express a proposition, as opposed to those which are simply diagrammatic in nature. EI is the soundest method (compared to natural speech, grammatical judgments) to measure qualitative semiotic advances because it measures meaning changes accorded to the sign in WM. Subjects were instructed to provide word associations after each stimulus (twenty-four sentences) to guard against verbatim recall. Repetitions of the advanced groups more often contained meaningful substitutions (words/inflections), whereas word deletions were more often documented in the beginner groups. Findings indicate the propensity of the more advanced L2s to process signs as meaningful propositions – lower proficiency learners illustrating verbatim repetitions in Secondness (associating more diagrammatic interpretants), while more symbolic meanings surfaced (Thirdness) in advanced groups. The EI procedure constitutes the best method of tapping L2s interpretants which mediate sign–object relations.
About the author
Donna E. West Donna E. West (b. 1955) is a professor at SUNY Cortland (USA), where she teaches Psychology, Linguistics, and Spanish. She has published extensively in semiotics using Peirce’s triadic sign system, supplying experimental data-driven approaches to Peirce’s division of signs. Her books Deictic imaginings (2013) and Consensus on Peirce’s concept of habit (2016) investigate the role of index in demonstrative use, and in habit formation. Recently, she has addressed Peirce’s virtual habit as an episodic phenomenon.
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