Abstract
In this chapter, knowledge is posited as a sign: as such its significance, relevance, and implications need to be addressed and interpreted within specificcontexts . Theedusemiotic perspective challenges dominant philosophy ofeducation influenced by Cartesian substance dualism that propels a view on knowledge as exclusively mental and fundamentally distinct from material bodies. The chapter presentsresearch data collected in two Persianheritage language classes in California that were analyzed usingdiscourse analytical methods to support an edusemiotic perspective on the acquisition and transformation of knowledge. The interactions and interviews with the teachers in these classes indicate that the acquisition of the heritage language cannot be measured in terms of the number of vocabulary items, grammatical structures, or the phonological aspects as assumed in mainstream language classrooms but includes the interpretation of signs. An interpretive system is inherently a relational system. The chapter builds on Semetsky’s discussion of the relational notation ‘~’ (tilde). The learning process in the heritage language classrooms is examined within a relational, interpretive, edusemiotic, framework.
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Atoofi, S. (2017). Knowledge as a Sign: An Edusemiotic Theory of Learning Heritage Language. In: Semetsky, I. (eds) Edusemiotics – A Handbook. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1495-6_16
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