Semiotics can increase one’s interpersonal communication competence by allowing them to learn how to interpret the signs and symbols found in daily life since most of the people based from what stated in the lecture tend to construct their own intensional meanings from signs and symbols. Sebeok summed up that it is important to learn the notion of signs for it allows the transmission of information between two species, whether referring to their existence, information communication, as well as interpret other information from other sources. Saussure’s defined sin as the tangible part of semiotics which can be seen, such as printed letters, sounds, and physical gestures (Sebeok 2001, pp. 3, 6). For instance, in the section two of the book, signs have broad meanings based from the culture’s perception of it (108). One example is the ‘OK hand sign’ wherein three fingers raised while the thumb and forefinger forms a circle have different meanings in some cultures. In Japan, this sign meant asking money or a potential thief. Another was the use of symbols which the second section explains as either used due to the existing “laws, conventions, or rules” (96); and as an example of this, the skull sign mostly used in packaging labels meant that the item is poisonous. Another was the is the cross, an icon used by Christianity as the symbol of the religion, but this symbol also translates to different meanings such as the symbol for hospitals and cemeteries. According to Peirce, some symbols have deeper meanings and require interpretations in order to be understood (Mick 1986, p. 199).
I have made inferences in questions from 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 because their questions refer to the events which were not indicated directly in the story. The couple only brought fishing rods with them, but we do not know if they really intend to fish, since the text says they went boating. There is no concrete evidence whether the man actually believed his wife. It was possible that he did since they proceeded to their journey and the culprit would be that the motor already had issues before. Another explanation would be: the boat’s gas tank was full before their journey; but the gas leaked slowly without them knowing which resulted to the loss of fuel. Furthermore, the type of motor they used was not specified; the story did not state whether they used a car to tow them as well as the situation of the sea. The only questions I answered easily are 1, 6, and 9 because two of them are true while the latter is false based from the story. I read the story many times and analyzed the situation. The easiest inferences I made were the boat’s motor failure, when the man asked his wife if the tank was full, whether rowed and how they did it. One of the failed inferences I made was when I met an Asian woman at the park which I automatically inferred as Chinese because she had almond shaped eyes and black hair but when I asked her, it turned out that she was a Filipino and she told me that some of her compatriots looked similar to Chinese due to intermarriages in the past centuries.
REFERENCES
Mick, D.G. (1986). Consumer Research and Semiotics: Exploring the Morphology of Signs, Symbols, and Significance. Journal of Consumer Research 13(2), 196-213. Retrieved from https://gates.comm.virginia.edu/dgm9t/Papers/Mick_1986_Consumer_Research_and_Semiotics.pdf
Sebeok, T.A. (2001). Signs: An Introduction to Semotics. (2nd ed.). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press Inc. Retrieved from http://monoskop.org/images/0/07/Sebeok_Thomas_Signs_An_Introduction_to_Semiocs_2nd_ed_2001.pdf
