Reconsidering repetition in language education: an edusemiotic approach

Abstract

Since behaviorism fell out of favor as one of the prominent learning theories, language education has done away with using repetition of linguistic forms as one of the important strategies used in second-language classrooms. As a new direction in educational philosophy and theory, edusemiotics can offer a new perspective about the use of repetition in learning a new language. When language forms are treated as signs and not as substances, as in edusemiotics, linguistic particles can never be truly repeated, but each instance of a repetition of a language particle and structure disambiguates the meaning of a form in a different context. This paper argues that the repetition of language forms at the lexical, syntactical, phonetic, and discursive levels aids language learners to intuit meaning and function in the new language. Further, it is discussed that repetition of language forms prompts language learners to look for similarity in patterns between linguistic structures rather than surface-level similarity of forms of language. Finally, the use of linguistic repetition is examined for its affective and poetic bearing, as an important aspect of the acquisition of language.