Article on English Language and Semiotics

Human beings have been using written texts as a way of communication for

centuries. In communication, the primary goal is for the both parties, the receiver

and the sender, to have a clear understanding with the messages they convey.

However, misunderstandings happen sometimes specially, if the messages were

not written clearly. For me, the importance of learning orthography is to diminish

the case of having misunderstandings. I remember the story of one of my teachers

as he told us that one of the reasons why the Japanese attack the Americans is

because of the punctuation mark that was not properly used. I realized that time

that even wrong usage of punctuation marks can cause chaos. Funny as it seems

but if we are going to think it twice, it is indeed possible.

On the other hand, learning semiotics is as important as learning

orthography because symbols and signs also convey messages. Symbols and

signs have been used by the human race even before the birth of Christ. They

have been part of the flags, emblems and even in the advertisements, in the

present generation. Understanding the meanings of signs and symbols have been

taught to us even in our elementary years. We were taught to interpret the

meaning of each of the colors in our own flag and later on, we were taught to draw

symbolisms presented in the different literary pieces. Thus, teaching both

semiotics and orthography are important to train the next generation how to

understand written text and the underlying messages that the symbols convey.