The Application of Iconicity to College English Writing Teaching

龔道慶

【Abstract】： As iconicity reveals the essential relationship between linguistic phenomena and human cognition and mind and writing processes are inseparable from human cognition， it is necessary to take advantage of this theory to guide teaching practice of writing. This paper first makes a thorough research into iconicity and its classification. Then the paper attempts to apply some fundamental principles of iconicity to college English writing teaching， by virtue of describing the text organization characterized by iconicity in expectation of putting forward a more effective and practical approach to college English writing teaching.

【Key words】： iconicity; college English writing teaching; text organization

1.Introduction

For most college students， writing is generally regarded as a difficult skill and a complex task. It seems that many college students are poorly prepared to write， for there are many writing problems in various aspects， including lexis， grammar， sentence structure and discourse coherence.

Nevertheless， discourse coherence is the biggest problem in that even if students can write grammatically correct， structurally sound and meaningful sentences， many of them still fail to produce coherent writing. Despite the fact that English writing is just a nightmare of many college students， good writing is of great significance for it will not only prepare them for CET4， CET6 and undergraduate thesis， it will also pave the way for their future life.

Furthermore， because writing is a process through which writers explore thoughts and ideas， and make them visible and concrete， there is a close relationship between writing and human cognition. Iconicity， a relationship of similarity between the two aspects of a sign： its form and meaning， can be used to explain many language points. Given that the current situation of college students English writing proficiency is not optimistic and good writing is desperately needed， a more effective way of college English writing teaching is a must. And this paper aims to apply some fundamental principles of iconicity to college English writing teaching so as to propose an effective way of writing teaching.

2.Iconicity

Contrary to arbitrariness， which has long taken as the design feature of the human linguistic system， iconicity has traditionally been considered to be a marginal， irrelevant phenomenon （adapted from Perniss & Vigliocco， 2014：1）.

The notion of iconicity was first introduced into discussions of the relation between form and content， in work by Charles Sanders Pierce （Newmeyer， 2000： 114）. Pierce （1940） proposes a trichotomous theory of signs： icon， index and symbol. In an iconic relation， there is some sort of similarity between sign and referent; in an indexical relation， the sign points to the referent; in a symbolic relationship the sign-referent link is arbitrary one （ibid.）.

Haiman （1985a， b）， is the most influential scholar who explores the iconicity at syntactic level. He classifies diagrammatic icons into two subtypes： isomorphism and motivation. The former refers to the bi-unique correspondence which tends to be established between the signifier and the signified， and the latter means that the sentence structure directly reflects some aspects of the structure of reality （adapted from Wang Yin， 2015： 522-523）.

Givón （1989） claims that there is at least some degree of non-arbitrariness in human languages （Zhu Yongsheng， 2002： 3）. Halliday （1978， 1985） holds that language is semiotic system which is composed of three basic strata， namely， semantics， lexicogrammar and phonology. The relationship between semantics and lexicogrammar is unconventional， while the link between lexicogrammar and phonology is conventional （ibid.）.

With the development of cognitive linguistics， more and more Chinese linguists and scholars draw their attention to the importance of iconicity. Xu Guozhang （1988）， who is the first famous scholar to translate “iconicity” into “象似性”， did a thorough research on disputing the theory of arbitrariness. Moreover， many scholars， such as Sheng Jiaxuan （1993）， Yan Chensong （1997），Wan Yin （1999， 2000， 2001， 2003）， and Wen Xu （2000， 2001） probe into the notion of iconicty from different perspectives.

3.The Classification of Iconicity

Since scholars both home and abroad study iconicity from different perspectives， it is difficult for them to reach an agreement on the classifications of iconicity. And many linguists and scholars classify iconcity into different types.

According to Pierces opinion， icons are further divided into three subtypes， i.e. images， diagrams and metaphors. These three iconic signs correspond to three subclasses of iconicity of language： imagic iconicity， diagrammatic iconicity and metaphoric iconicity. Urgerer and Schimid （2008） divide iconicity into three categories， sequencing iconicity， proximity iconicity and quantity iconicity.

Zhao Yanfang （2001） divides iconicity into two subtypes， diagrammatic iconicity and metaphorical iconicity. Diagrammatic iconicity consists of sequencing iconicity， proximity iconicity， quantitative iconicity， symmetric iconicity and asymmetric iconicity. Wang Yin （1999a， 2000b） holds that iconicity in sign languages is not restricted to sentence structure， but also can be observed at lexical and phonological level. Besides， he proposes that there are still marked iconicity， topic iconicity， sentence pattern iconicity， discourse iconicity and filtration iconicity.

4.The Application of Iconicity to College English Writing Teaching

Based on Pierce， Haiman and other linguists studies on iconicity and classifications of iconicity， this paper holds that the iconic relationship between language and its structure can be described by quantitative iconicity， sequencing iconicity and topic iconicity. As Croft （2003） puts it， we find “the structure of language reflects in some way the structure of experience.” And writing， to some degree， uses language to describe what we have thought and how we perceive the world. We can take advantage of the above fundamental principles of iconicity to study how to produce a coherent text so as to guide college English writing teaching.

4.1 The Application of Quantitative Iconicity

Quantitative iconicity refers that the number of linguistic units is proportional to the number of complexity of concepts they expressed（Wan Yin， 2001：352）. The more complex the concepts are， the more the number of linguistic signs is needed. Therefore， in English writing， the body of a text involves more linguistic signs than other parts. The violation of the principle of quantitative iconicity in the text organization will result in an incoherent text， as exemplified in the following case.

As far as Im concerned， developing childrens creativity plays a significant role in their education. First of all， creativity is the source of human civilization. Millions of years ago， our ancestors picked up stones and sticks and used them as tools creatively for better life， which means the origin of human culture. Since then， our civilization has been enriched by countless talents with their creativity. In todays day and age， our social civilization has reached an unprecedented height with advanced technology and prosperous culture. But it is still making progress at top speed with new things springing up every day. In a word， we would live like animals if we dont have creativity.

Secondly， theres no doubt that creativity is becoming increasingly important， especially in todays highly competitive society. Innovative talents are in highly demand at present. Just like what I say， the world is changing rapidly. New things come out and old-fashioned matters are abandoned every second. Nowadays， only people with brand new ideas can catch other peoples attention and get more opportunities. In order to help students become talents who can easily catch up with the society， developing their creativity obviously plays a very important role.

Just like Jean Piaget said： “The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things， not simply of repeating what other generations have done---men who are creative， inventive and discoverers.” Creativity ensures a bright future not only for the children， but also human civilization[1].

It is noted that compared with the body of this text， the student concentrates more on the introduction and conclusion. Thus， the structure of the text is illogical and unclear， and it is difficult for readers to figure out what the text mainly wants to emphasize. The student should first separate the first supporting evidence from the introduction and then add some points to the introduction， making it neither too short nor too long.

College English writing is usually composed of three parts， introduction， body and conclusion. In the introduction part， college students should not pay much attention but just state the theme of their essay with clear and concise language. However， in the body part， they should develop the central idea that they formulated in the introduction. Based on the principle of quantitative iconicity， more linguistic units are needed in the body part to convey more information. In the conclusion part， they just summarize what they have discussed in their essay. In this way can their essay be well-balanced and coherent.

4.2 The Application of Sequencing Iconicity

Sequencing iconicity holds that the sequence of linguistic components conform to the sequence of the concepts they expressed （ibid.： 361）. Language shapes how people know and comprehend the world; therefore， the ways people construct texts are consistent with the ways people know the world. Sequencing iconicity can be further divided into three subtypes： temporal iconicity， space iconicity and cognitive sequence iconicity. And this paper will discuss how the temporal iconicity and space iconicity are employed to produce coherent texts.

Temporal sequence iconicity refers that the arrangement of linguistic components in texts has a linear order. Therefore， college teachers could encourage students to make use of some temporal markers in their essay， such as before， after， while， so that the structure of their essay is clear and it is easy for readers to understand.

Space sequence iconicity means that the arrangement of space sequence of the linguistic signs reflect the cognitive mechanism of people. When college students describe a building， they should first choose a point of view to observe the building and then write it down based on their cognitive mechanism. They shouldnt change their point of view frequently in their essay， and this will make their essay incoherent. They can also use some space markers， such as in front of， under， over， which can serve as indicators to help readers to follow.

4.3 The Application of Topic Iconicity

Topic is often referred to as theme， and is used to describe the information structure. There are two levels of topic， topic sentence and discourse topic. And topic sentence usually occurs at the beginning of the sentence， while discourse topic is often represented in the introduction part.

In English writing， college teachers can instruct students to write a discourse topic in the introduction part or transitional part so that readers can have an idea of their essay at first glance. Moreover， in the body part of an essay， college students should also be encouraged to write a topic sentence， while the rest part becomes the supporting part closely related with topic sentence.

Sometimes， though there are discourse topic in the introduction part and topic sentences in the body part， they cannot help college students to produce a coherent essay in that college students dont conform to the discourse topic or topic sentences when writing their essay. Therefore， it is crucial that college students not only write discourse topic or topic sentence but also follow their topic.

5. Conclusion

It is noted that an incoherent text is just like a man without his soul. And coherence should be a most important criterion to evaluate the quality of students writing. Therefore， college teachers should attach great importance to the coherence of texts in English writing teaching. Based on what we discussed above， we can draw a conclusion that the application of five fundamental principles of iconicity to college English writing teaching does contribute to produce coherence in the text. It will help students raise awareness of the importance of coherence in the text and could effectively guide students to produce logically clear and coherent writing. Furthermore， the application of iconicity also presents a new perspective toward college English writing teaching.

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