The Theory of Iconicity and Its Application to English Teaching

Tang+Rui

【Abstract】In recent years，more and more scholars have payed much attention to the study of iconicity and it has brought favourable achievenments in teaching and learning. The aim of this thesis is to make a comprehensive study on iconicity and applies this study to English teaching. This paper first give a general literature review on the theory of iconicity， mainly focus on classification of iconicity. Then， this thesis applies this theory to English teaching from the perspective of phonetic， lexcial and grammatical perpectives. It is believed that iconicity will make great contribution to English teaching.

【Key words】Iconicity； English teaching

1. Introduction

According to Croft（1990）， iconicity is a foundational feature of language that “structure of the language reflects in some way the structure of experience， that is， the structure of the world， including the perspective imposed on the world by the speaker”. In recent years，more and more scholars have payed much attention to the study of iconicity. Many linguistic fields， such as phonology， morphology， syntax， and discourse analysis have been detected by combining iconicity study with applied linguistics and literary criticism. The purpose of this paper is to make a brief introduction to the principles proposed in the iconicity study and their implications on language teaching.

2. Literature Review of Iconicity from Cognitive Perspective

2.1 Cognitive View of Iconicity

Cognitive linguistics tends to regard iconicity as the similarity between linguistic form and cognitive category or cognitive domain. Iconicity is not simply a relation between the form of a sign and what it refers to in the real world， but a relation between two conceptual spaces. What cognitive linguists deal with is the categories and cognitive domain we have about the real world， which provides a new reference point for the iconicity relation.

Haiman （1985） defines iconicity as “a perceived similarity between the structure of a diagram and the structure of the concepts that it represents”. Haiman（1985a）concludes iconicity of motivation manifests itself in the following principles：the principle of distance，the principle of quantity，the principle of order，the principle of markedness，the principle of topic and the principle of sentence patterns.

2.2 The Classification of Iconicity

The important types of iconicity， which have been proposed so far， are Iconicity of Distance， Iconicity of Linearity （Sequential Order）， Iconicity of Asymmetry， Iconicity of Quantity.

2.2.1 Iconicity of Distance

The iconicity of distance is also known as the principle of proximity iconicity or proximity principle. Givon（1965） defines the notion “proximity principle” as “The closer together are two concepts semantically or functionally，the more likely they are to be put adjacent to each other lexically，morphotactically or sytactically”.Furthermore， Haiman （1983）described the iconicity of distance as follows：“The linguistic distance between expressions corresponds to the conceptual distance between them”.

As recent developments have shown， the cognitive interpretation of iconicity has boosted research in this field. Some linguistic facts which used to be taken for granted but were in fact unexplained can now be interpreted as manifestations of the principle of iconicity.

2.2.2 Iconicity of Sequencial Order

People tend to arrange information for expression according to the natural ordering of its content. This type of iconicity is a very ingrained property of our language that eliminates the need for ordering words all the time， streamlining or simplifying it tremendously. According to Givon （1985）， there are at least two separate principles of natural sequential order used extensively in syntax.

2.2.3 The Iconicity of Markedness

Many linguists believe that the order from unmarkedness to markedness corresponds to the natural order of cognition.The marked term corresponds to the additional meaning.The unmarked term refers to the element with common meanings and usages.The marked term refers to the element with distinctive features in one pair.Compared with the marked term，the unmarked term usually has more generalizable and even neutral meanings.

Quantitative iconicity is in the domain of markedness theory. John Haiman（1983）put forward the term of the iconicity of quantity：the length of an utterance may correspond to the extent to which it conveys new or unfamiliar information. This principle may be explained by three norms： a.Larger chunk of information will be given a larger chunk of codes. b.Less predictable information will be given more coding material. c.More important information will be given more coding material.

3. Iconicity Theory and English Language Teaching

3.1 Iconicity and Phonetic Teaching

3.1.1 Principles of Phonetic Teaching

According to Ungerer and Schmid（2000）， the phonetics of a language concerns the concrete characteristics of the sounds used in language. The concept of pronunciation includes the sounds of the language， stress， rhythm and intonation. Concerned with phonetic teaching， two processes are taken into consideration： the individual sounds of the language； the stress， rhythm and intonation patterns in the language.

3.1.2 Application of Iconicity to Phonetic Teaching

As Fischer（1999） proposes， many linguists observe that the high front vowel /i/ often symbolizes small size， whereras the low vowel /a/ symbolizes big size. English examples being little， wee， teeny versus large or vast. Jeperson finds that words containing

/i/ have also been claimed to indicate nearness， words containing

/a/ suggests distance. The obvious example is the English proximal this versus distal that. In the process of analyzing and comparing these words， teachers can take advantage of phonological iconicity in order to make the lecture vivid and concrete. Two methods are used in phonetic teaching： let the learner mimic the prounciation； the use of extensive drills.

Furthermore， teachers should be aware of the features of foreign language and native language. They should assure the sound system of the first language does not influence the second one. Meanwhile， teachers should make use of the resemblances between the two languages in order to help the learners get the correct pronunciation effectively.

3.2 Iconicity and Vocabulary Teaching

As Harmer（2000） proposes， without grammar very little can be conveyed， without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. Vocabulary acquisition is so important that none of the four basic language skills—listening，speaking，reading and writing can be independent of. According to Bolinger（1980）， the productivity of compounding is limitless and words are the loosest elements and combine most freely. They tend to be analyzed into separate components and are semantically transparent.We can conclude the meaning from the separate meanings.

3.3 Iconicity and Grammar Teaching

Haiman（1980，1983）has showed that iconicity plays a very important role in the grammars of human languages. Furthermore， Cook（2000） proposes that the knowledge of grammar is considered to be the central area of language system around which the other areas such as pronounciation and vocabulary revolve； however important the other components of language may be in themselves， they are connected to each other through grammar. The following analyze the application of iconicity theory in English grammar teaching from two perpectives：

3.3.1 The Order of Words

According to Lockwood（2002）， the order of linguistic elements that may seem “natural” to the speaker of one language may not correspond at all to what seems natural to the speaker of another language. Iconicity plays an important role in the order of words and this can be mainly reflected in the iconicity of distance.

Firstly， the distance between the verb and the object can be analyzed. Lakoff and Johnson present two examples：

（1） I taught Harry Greek.

（2） I taught Greek to Harry.

After analyzing the two sentence， we can easily kown that the first sentence shows Harry has already have known what I taught him， while there is not the same hint shown in the second sentence. The reason is that in the first sentence， Harry is closer to taught.

Second， we can find subjective adjective and objective adjective in many phrases.For example， a mean wealthy man， an enormous steaming pressure cooker， an expensive woolen cardigan. Mean， enormous， and expensive refers to the subjective adjective while the wealthy， steaming， pressure and woolen belong to the objective adjective. Because the objective adjectives are the natural attributes of reality or concepts， thus they should be placed nearer to the noun than subjective adjective.

3.3.2 Finite Attribute Clause and Infinite Attribute Clause

The iconicity of disatance can be used to explain the differences between the two attribute clause.For example：

（1）I dont think he is the man that did it.

In this finite attribute clause， “that did it” modifies the antecedent “man”. In addition， in finite attribute clasue， the comma is not positioned between the antecedent and the relative pronoun or relative verb. The close conceptural distance can be reflected in the distance between the main clause and subordinate clause. However， for the infinite attribute clause， the distance is farther.

4. Conclusion

This thesis provides a general application of iconicity theory in English teaching. It has been shown that iconicity can be found on all levels of language， such as word-formation， sentence structure. Furthermore， it plays an important role in phonetic teaching， vocabulary teaching and grammar teaching. Thus， it will bring favourable achievenments in teaching and learning. The writer hopes that this thesis can make its due contribution to English teaching in China.

References：

[1]Bolinger，D.L.1980.Language-the Loaded Weapon：the Use and Abuse of Language Today.London：Longman.

[2]Cook，V.2000.Second Language Learning and Language Teaching.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[3]Fischer，A.1999.What，if anything，is phonological iconcity？ In Nanny，Max & Olga Fischer（eds）.Form Miming Meaning.Amsterdam： John Benjamins Publishing Company.

[4]Givon，T.1994.Isomorphism in the grammatical code：cognitive and biological considerations.In Simone，R 1994a：47-76.

[5]Haiman，J.1983.Iconicity and economic motivation.Language 1983（59）：781-819.

作者簡介：唐瑞（1985.2-），女，漢族，四川成都人，碩士，講師，研究方向：翻譯理論與實踐，跨文化交際，英美文學。