Language as a Semiotic Resource

Abstract

This paper was originally conceived as an oral presentation delivered at the Vietnamese Academic Network in Japan (VANJ) Conference 2024 which was held at the University of Tokyo.Its main focus is to explore semiotics and assumptions about the nature of language while attempting to define the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in language learning. The overarching aim is to shed light on effective ways that foreign languages can be taught in the age of AI. Semiotics is generally understood as the study of signs. Language itself can be characterised as a semiotic resource because it is part of a system of signs used in daily life for the purpose of meaning-making and communication. Teachers and researchers in applied linguistics and related fields adhere to strongly held views about how languages are learnt. The position adopted here is that in areas as diverse as language use,the social context and the role of language as a meaningmaking resource, the role of AI should be ancillary. In other words, AI may be best understood as one of the many semiotic resources which the language instructor, learner and researcher can tap into at any given moment. According to this point of view,research into areas driven by AI including the Large Learning Model (LLM), pattern recognition and sentiment analysis helps to broaden the existing semiotic outlook.departmental bulletin pape