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Dr S.J. Chopra (Chancellor, UPES)
“MAGIC has come a long way. Looking at the variety of
abstracts/themes, I am sure that each one of you must be
keen to be a part of the deliberation at the Conference. My
compliments to the team MAGIC! I am sure the
Conference will be a great success.”

Prof Utpal Ghosh (CEO)
“MAGIC has grown by leaps and bounds over the years since its inception.
In addition to Language and Literature, it also encapsulates skill
development under its umbrella now. I am happy see some very promising
titles under a plethora of themes and subthemes in this edition of “MAGIC”.
I look forward to the deliberation and outcomes of the Conference. Let’s
create MAGIC, yet again!! My best wishes to the MAGIC team.”

Dr.Srihari Honwad (Vice Chancellor)
“It has been over half a decade for MAGIC now. The
name has become a brand and it carries an equity of the
intellectual best. I can say with much confidence that it
has set a standard of deliberation that is profound in the
field of Literature and Humanities. The previous
Conferences have been enormously successful and my
best wishes are for the upcoming Conference. Let us have a great round of
deliberation that takes the level of discussion even higher than before!”

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Mr. Sanjeev Zutshi (Senior Director Operations)

“MAGIC seems to be creating magic in the field of communication. I will be
witnessing it for the first time. I expect the proceedings at the Conference will
turn out to be exhilarating and invigorating which in turn will not only serve the
professional needs but, will also inculcate those human qualities in the young
generation which will expand their moral vision.”

Dr Kamal Bansal (Dean, College of Engineering Studies)
“Well, MAGIC has been repeating its magic for the past four Conferences and is
all set to do it this year also. I have been witnessing its growth and it has set very
high standards but, by reading this year’s abstracts I am sure that bar is going to
get even higher.”

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Dr Rati Oberoi (Convener)
“It pays your every effort when you receive overwhelming response from the
fraternity. Team MAGIC has been working really hard for several months for
organizing the Conference. I take this opportunity to thank every individual
stakeholder as well as participant for their response. I will also seize this
opportunity to officially welcome you to MAGIC.”

Co-Conveners : Dr Shalini Vohra and Dr Asha Kaushik

“ The capacity of learning is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to
learn is a choice.” Brian Herbert

“The Centre for Professional Communication is always striving towards the best.
This year we geared up having new ideas with a different perspective on
enhancing communication skills through social empowerment and innovation;
with an initiative to support Skill India. This year experience MAGIC 2016, as
an exciting endeavor of novel and emerging ideas, concerted action and the
dissemination of knowledge through the main event of the Conference along with
keynote speeches, interactive sessions.

We are beholden to Prof. Basu,, Prof. Gaur and Prof. Chakrabarti for their
guidance. We also appreciate the hard work of the team MAGIC 2016.”

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INDEX

Communication Research: Legacy of Not Thinking Differently - Prof. Sisir Basu 7

The Need of Emotion in Communication: Strategizing to Increase the Emotional 15
Quotient Connect in the Overall Teaching-Learning Process – Ms.Suparna Ghosal

On C.S.Peirce’s Theory of Signs: Node Connecting Language, Communication and
18

Pragmatism - Garima Singh

Tools of ICT: Revolutionizing the Pedagogical Practices for English Language

Acquisition and Soft Skills Enhancement - Dr. Seema Singh 34

Literature & English Communication: Importance for the Development of an

Individual - Neelima Bangwal & Dr. Sakshi Semwal 41

The Voiceless Woman: A Study in Dalip Kaur Tiwana’s A Journey on Bare Feet - 48
Amandeep Kaur

Badal Sircar’s There’s No End: Rhetoric of Despair and Chaos - Himani Sharma 57
Alter ego and style of writing in the selected novels of J.M. Coetzee - Babita Negi 67

Female Subaltern Voices in Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi - Dr. Jyoti Pandey & Ankita 75
Sheel

India Uday: The Dialectics of Globalization and Indian Literature - Pinak Sankar
80

Bhattacharya

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A Study to Discuss the Myths Related to Time in Online Learning Process - Manu 86
Priya Chhabra

Role of Language and Communication - An Input to Teaching and Learning - Dr. K. 93
Ujjwala

The Language of Law in Independent India - Dr. Sujata Bali 104

The variability of language in contemporary Indian Writing in English novelists 107
Rita Garg's: An Abbreviated child and Altaf Tyrewala's No God Insight.- 116

Dr. Manjusha Kaushik

Literature And Globalization - Ashima Chandna

Signifying Language through Literature - Dr. Sucharita Sharma 128

Politics of Language and Identity: A Role of Indian English - Avishek Deb and 133
Shiladitya Bhattacharya

Analysis of Krashen’s ‘Input Hypothesis’ in Teaching English Language - Anamika 144
Lall

Communication Skills–Core of Employability Skills: Issues & Concerns - Dr. A.V.
148

Bharathi

Empowering Engineering Students through Employability Skills - Urvashi Kaushal
168

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The Role Of Information Literacy Competence And Higher Order Thinking Skills To 180
Develop Academic Writing In Science And Engineering Learners –

Dr. B. Kranthi Kumari

The Need Of Personal Branding Or Self-Image In A Profession- With Special

Reference To Solicitors - V.Bhuvaneswari & Dr. Prabha Lama 191

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Communication Research: Legacy of not to Think Differently

Prof. Sisir Basu

I would like to speak on Communication Research and to broadly touch upon some of
the fundamental aspects of research studies in Communication, which have come down
to us as a legacy.

Introduction

First, I would prefer to look into the history of Communication to take shelter and also
to dig into various aspects of the historical development of the discipline of
Communication or the field as there is still a debate among the scholars whether it is a
discipline or a field. Placing ourselves and the area of Communication study in the
history gives us an identity, and thereby, gives us strength. It also helps us to develop
our frames of references. Hence to be historical is always advantageous. History tells
us the characteristics of the discipline.
Journalism, at the turn of the 20th century, was being taught in the university (University
of Kansas, 1903) by Willard Bleyer, popularly known as ‘daddy Bleyer’.1

In this short article, I would discuss the following:

 Bullet theory and the negation of it by Personal Influence authored jointly by Paul
Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz;

 How personal decisions and objectivity guide the direction of research;
 Cold War era and the emergence of critical and cultural research in Communication;

and
 The role of psychological disposition called conformity in research.

Bullet Theory and Personal Influence
In the beginning of the 20th Century, the media was thought to be very powerful and
effective which gave rise to the concept of ‘Bullet theory’, ‘Hypodermic needle theory’,
and ‘magic bullet theory’. How did this concept come into being? This is a difficult
question to answer with certainty. But this was referred to by many eminent research

1 Rogers M. Everett, A History of Communication Study – A Biographical Approach, The Free
Press, New York, 1997, pp. 18 - 19

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scholars during 1950s and 60s. Prominent among them was Elihu Katz in 1953 in a
report by Bureau of Applied Social research (BASR) located in Columbia University.2

Elihu Katz stated:

‘There was powerful mass media, on the one hand sending forth their messages
and the atomized mass of individuals, on the other, rather directly and immediately
responding – and nothing in between.’3

‘Voting’ was another report by BASR published in 1954. It was the analysis of 1948
presidential election. This also referred to ‘hypodermic needle’ concept (Berelson,
Lazarsfeld and McPhee).4 David K. Berlo in the early 60s referred to media as
hypodermic needle. Many scholars do point out that Harold Lasswell’s ‘Propaganda
Technique in the World War’ – published in 1930s is the source of ‘Bullet’, or
hypodermic .

This concept that media is all powerful, strongly effective and works as per the desire
of the communicator is believed by people to be true. The research studies done and
projects undertaken were focused on this concept. The ‘Personal Influence’ again a
BASR publication, jointly authored by Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld argued that the
force of the media is tempered by other elements that surround the society. The concept
said that in between media and receivers, many variables related to communication exist
and in particular, personal touch influences and weakens the power of the media
messages. Thus, the concept of two-step flow, multi-step flow of communication have
been discussed and given credence. Personal was a result of questioning the traditional
belief that media was all powerful. But this questioning did not continue. The scholars
of the latter days went back to the concept that media was all powerful and continued in
the treaded path. Hence, the linear flow of communication: Sender to Receiver(SR)
model remained in the core of research studies conducted thereafter, of course with
variations and complications. The effect models or transmission models dominated the
phase of communication research for quite some time. The effect tradition still
continues.

Personal Decisions

Again, looking at the history of communication one will find that there has been, and
there is politics, politics of personal power shaping the focus of research. Also, it is the
persons who are at the helm of the hierarchy, their personal decisions; likings and

2 Katz. Elihu, The Part Played by People in Park W. David & Pooley Jefferson (eds.), The History of
Media and Communication Research – Contested Memories in Lubken Deobrah Remembering
the Straw Man: The Travels and Adventures of Hypodermic, Peter Lang Inc, New York, 2008,
pp.23.
*Is a professor in the Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi.
3 Ibid. pp. 21 – 22.
4 Ibid. pp. 23 & 37 as a reference.

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disliking that guide the kind of research studies that are conducted. Paul Lazarsfeld
experienced it.

Paul Lazarsfeld was born in Vienna in 1901 and was a Jew. He was a mathematician
but was very interested in social issues. In 1925, at the age of 24 he completed his
doctorate in Mathematics. Since his interest was in numbers, he took to the empirical
research tradition. He belonged to Social Democratic Party. Lazarsfeld had all the
attributes that Spann Circle was opposed of: his Jewish heritage, his tilt to empirical
social research, and belonging to Social Democratic party. Therefore, it was not
possible for Lazarsfeld to begin an academic/ research career in Vienna. His name was
suggested by Prof. Karl Buhler for a Rockefeller Fellowship to America and that is how
he could escape the life threatening suffocating atmosphere of anti- semiticism in
Vienna and land on the shore of the United States of America where he joined Bureau
of Applied Social Research at the Princeton University and Dr. Hadley Cantril took him
to Columbia University, New York on a grant from Rockefeller Foundation to conduct
research on Communication, Advertising, and National Marketing following empirical
social research methods. This center has been identified as the birthplace of
Communication research by Everett Rogers. From this brief narration one could easily
deduce that Paul Lazarsfeld lost out an opportunity to pursue a career in University in
Vienna because of Prof. Othmur Spann who was against him at a personal level. Paul
Lazarsfeld could build his career in the USA because of recommendation of Prof. Karl
Buhler.5

Follow this man again in the USA. He could conduct research studies on the impact of
radio on the listeners and was very successful. This was made possible by his friend
and colleague Dr. Handley Cantril. He was able to get a fellowship from Rockefeller
Foundation for a particular interest in Radio of John Marshall who was the Assistant
Director of the Humanistic Division of the Foundation. Again, his personal decision
and liking of an individual was at the top. If one investigates further, one would see that
it was President Roosevelt who supported these activities of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Ford Foundation, after World War II, approached Paul Lazarsfeld to work on the impact
of television on the American audience. During this time, as the cold war was heated
up, any social science project was looked upon with suspicion and considered to be
subversive. Two congressional committees were constituted to investigate the
individuals and institutions supporting communism. These committees were – Cox
Commission in 1952 and Recce Commission in 1953. The Ford Foundation was
implicated and it withdrew the television project. It was Senator Paul McCarthy who
whipped up hysteria of anti-communism in the United States of America.6

5 Morrison E. David, Opportunity Structures and the Creation of Knowledge: Paul Lazarsfeld
and the Politics of Research in Park W. David and Pooley Jefferson ( eds.), The History of Media
and Communication Research – Contested Memories , Peter Lang Inc, New York, 2008, pp.181 -
185.

6 Ibid. pp. 187 - 197

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Paul Lazarsfeld was successful in radio project with political support and personal
backing of the bosses at the institutional level. Again, he could not repeat the same in
television project because of lack of political and institutional support.

Therefore, projects, research, funding, publications and creating strands in research
depended and still depend on politics in institutions. It is also dependent on political
ecology and support that prevails in a given time and space.

Cold War Era

Soon after the Second World War ended, the world got enveloped in the cold war
between the two super powers and their allies. Search for new sophisticated weapons
was paramount important for both the camps. There was a spurt of new technologies
discovered and commissioned for military purposes while the old technologies got
discarded. These were then modified and used for civil purposes. While this was going
on, there were campaigns from both the camps to win the minds and hearts of the citizens
and the governments of various countries. The basic purpose was to broaden and deepen
the influence of their camps. The psychological warfare was very intense. Thus, various
agencies undertook seriously the campaigns taking the expertise from many who were
directly involved in making communication strategies during the Second World War in
Washington.

Therefore, the communication activities with regard to development of messages and
disseminating the same increased many times. The results of such activities were also
found through various research projects. But all these basically remained in the same
direction as that of the bullet theory and personal influence. New models were
propounded from the findings of such research studies but paradigm did not change.

The European Contributions:

i) The Frankfurt School

While the effect paradigm or transmission orientation got firmly rooted in
Communication research, there have been efforts of shifting focus to other areas of
Communication studies. Very early on in 1922-23 Felix Weil, the son of a wheat
merchant, was inquisitive about the reasons of Bolshevik revolution in the then Soviet
Union, established the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt, popularly known as
Frankfurt School and Critical School.7 The scholars in this institute worked on the
following:

 Max Horkheimer initially worked on Positivism – focusing on the inadequacies of
‘administrative’ research to have a comprehensive assessment on any social issue.

 After the institute moved away from Europe to the USA, Horkheimer and Theodoro
Adorno worked on ‘Cultural Industry’. They analysed the role of mass media,

7 Bottomore, Tom. The Frankfurt School, Routledge, London, 2002, pp. 11 – 14. (Special Indian
Edition).

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particularly of television in commodifying, massifying and standardizing the audiences
and the programmes.
 Walter Benjamin worked on theatre, film and radio with Brecht. Their contributions
gave a new perspective to media product appraisal.
 Jurgun Hebarmas worked on ‘Public Sphere’ and the role of Communication in it.

ii) The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham

Europe contributed another paradigm in Communication studies and research; it is the
cultural studies. Richard Hoggart was the founder director of the Centre for
Contemporary Cultural Studies at Birmingham. With Stuart Hall joining the Centre at
the request of Hoggart, the Centre focused on the studies of youth culture, mass and
popular culture, film, and television. What was unique at the Centre is that the research
and publications were collaborative in nature. The senior faculty members such as
Stuart Hall believed more in stimulating young minds than doing it by him. In India,
the collaborative work such as conducting research studies in a team and publish jointly
is rare. Hence the quality and quantity of the publications is rather low.

The two institutes that have been mentioned above had their roots in Europe ---
searching in culture the process and causes of communication and not the end results.
Therefore these two institutes have added new dimension to communication and media
research. The effect tradition, notwithstanding, has remained steadfast in
Communication research.

The Influence of Conformity

Another aspect of the communication research tradition since the dawn is conformity.
Conformity is an important aspect of any society. Paul Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz had
discussed the concept of conformity in their book Personal Influence. During this time
Davis Riesman had written a book called ‘The Lonely Crowd’. Riesman had also
discussed conformity in research quite at length. We shall first discuss the frame given
by Personal Influence to Conformity and later by Riesman. The first is opposite to the
latter.

Lazarfeld and Katz in Personal Influence emphasized that conformity:8

 Insulates the citizens/ audience from the propaganda the powerful media;
 Helps the audience rediscover the primary groups and members that audience are

associated with;
 Tells us that personal networking is important to lead a meaningful life;

8 Park W. David. The Two – Step Flow vs The Lonely Crowd: Conformity and the Media in the
1950s in Park W. David and Pooley Jefferson ( eds.), The History of Media and Communication
Research – Contested Memories , Peter Lang Inc, New York, 2008, pp.253 - 255.

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 The members of the primary groups do not like any member to leave the group and think
and do things differently;

 Basically members would like to see the group succeeds and hence preserve the core
values and culture; and

 Groups cannot achieve goals without consensus.

From these, it is clear that a group is more important than the individuals and the group
like the individuals to follow the group ---possess the herd mentality.

David Riesman identifies three important types of conformity. He states that
conformity comes from the traditions; the inner – self, seeds planted by family and close
members early in life; and the ‘other’ directed by peer group and society at large.9
According to Riesman, this last one, i.e., the other in a socio-cultural environment is
crucial and important as all the cultural and intellectual activities and institutions in a
society are guided, goaded and coerced to adjust with the big picture --- the going on in
the political, economic and cultural spheres. Riesman says that the huge diversity in
nature and man’s capacity to differentiate the experiences of individuals is valued much
by men in general. Human beings, deep in their hearts, recognize these individualities
and uniqueness and count this as a blessing. Riseman says, “… He is not tempted and
coerced into adjustment… The idea that men are created free and equal is both true and
misleading: men are created different; they lose their social freedom and their individual
autonomy is seeking to become like each other.”10

We need to realize and understand the creativity. Search for truth and reality comes
from thinking and doing things differently as per the questions raised by free thinking.
This creativity and free thinking is smothered by all sorts of political and social norms
set up by the society. Individuals find themselves in awkward position if they follow
their free thoughts. Erich Fromm who had some influence on Riesman said that if one
finds oneself different in thinking from the rest, one would be in a minority and hence
one would find oneself terribly insecure and would be in danger of all sorts of harm
inflicted on oneself. One would then be forced to conform to the rest of the society to
overcome one’s insecurity. This psychological pressure continuously works in all of us
as many would experience that their thought process is different than the majority. The
people thus hide their real consciousness and thoughts. Eric Fromm beautifully says,
“… virtue is to be adjusted and to be like the rest. Vice, to be different.”11

It is unfortunate that Riesman was not followed in Communication research tradition.
Lazarsfeld and Katz’s thesis of conformity was adhered to and the tradition of research
in communication continues in the path of effect and transmission model.

9 Ibid. pp. 255 – 256.
10 Ibid. p.258.
11 Fromm Erich, The Sane Society, (pp.158.) 1950s in Park W. David and Pooley Jefferson ( eds.),
The History of Media and Communication Research – Contested Memories , Peter Lang Inc, New
York, 2008. P. 262.

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This conformity has limited the research studies in communication to the symptoms
emanating from various socio-economic-cultural causes. The causes have not been
taken up for scrutiny. Hence, empirical research tradition became the mainstay of
communication research quantifying symptoms. Not focusing on the causes underneath
the symptoms. Whether or not it is in the area of health communication, marketing,
advertising, audience for radio, readers for newspapers or viewers for television
programs, it is the study of what is seen and not what is behind. Communication
research therefore, could not get deeper in its search for truth and reality.

Communication research has been conforming to the norms of various agencies who
fund research projects or policy makers who generally set the parameters of research
projects. This vicious cycle will have to be understood if one would like to break new
ground in this area of study. The future of the discipline depends on whether or not we
think and act differently.

Conclusions

This article began with the concept of bullet theory describing media as an all-powerful
instrument in the modern society. This accepted notion was questioned and Paul
Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz came up with the role of Personal Influence in decision
making for ordinary being in the society. They showed that media was not as powerful
as was thought to be. The results for thinking differently were rewarding ones. But this
trend, thinking differently was not followed by later day research scholars. They made
the path of Katz and Lazarsfeld as their own. Hence, communication research got stuck
in the transmission model.

We have had a discussion on the role of personalities at the helm of the affairs - the
personalities who were endowed with power to take decisions. They are supposed to
work for the benefit of the institutions and greater good of the society. However,
institutional politics and personal likings and disliking of the decision makers take
precedence over the institutional good. The decisions thus become misguided. What
was true during the time of Lazarsfeld is true here and now. The subjectivity,
unreasonable and personal likings and disliking create uncertainty in the future direction
of the research. It happens across the disciplines.

The last point on conformity has a strong bearing on the kinds of research that was
conducted and is being conducted. The signals of what type of research is being funded
and accepted is what guides the scholars to design their proposal for. Life is short and
usually the scholars would like to achieve name and fame within a certain space of time
and hence gregariousness… How short-lived such endeavor is.

Therefore, we need to think differently and pursue our original thinking. Our creativity
will flourish then. We need to read what other research scholars are writing about and
get inspiration from them. We also need to stand by our own conviction and standalone
even if we are in minority. These will lead us to open up new arena for research.

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References:
 Park W. David and Pooley Jefferson (eds.), The History of Media and Communication

Research – Contested Memories , Peter Lang Inc., New York, 2008.
 Bottomore, Tom. The Frankfurt School, Routledge, London, 2002. (Special Indian

Edition).
 Rogers M. Everett, A History of Communication Study – A Biographical Approach,

The Free Press, New York, 1997.

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The Need of Emotion in Communication: Strategizing to Increase
the Emotional Quotient Connect in the Overall Teaching-
Learning Process

Ms. Suparna Ghosal

Abstract

Communication is the crux of all living beings from the days when pictorial depictions
have been found in caves to the current hype of the digital world. Communication
sometimes, if not imparted in the proper tone, widens the gap between two individuals,
communities, races or on the other hand… collapses the entire world into one single unit
of a global village!

Communication – in the perspective of a teaching methodology is an entirely different
science… the gap between the teachers and the taught, across the median of education
from primary school to the University must vibe in the same wavelength. To make these
vibrations of communication reach the students in the right tone and language inter-
woven with the depth of information is the responsibility of the teacher. And the
efficiency of the responsibility increases many fold with the right emotive expressions
of language, experiments, visual material and profound knowledge transfer.

Today as the strength of the classes increase or the spread of specializations take a
horizontal sweep, with a myriad of subjects available under the sun for the student to
enrich and make himself competitive ; the only thread that remains common is the ‘art
of communication’.

Thus, the need of the hour is to strategize and impart knowledge to the students such
that not only do their IQ levels increase but the EQ, too is made solid and robust to face
life stoically and win over many a battle. When communication between the teacher and
taught is clear then and then only, a confident, rational morally responsible student is
born.

In the time to come – a good citizen!

And that is the final deliverance of the education system.

Education has been integral to the sub-continent. Right through the ages India has
witnessed many dynasties and rulers who believed in education. Hence, the prestige and
the spirit of the country is bound to its education and literacy levels. From the days of
the Vedas to the Artha Shastra to Chankyaniti and from the courts of Akbar, the country
has had the good fortune to be blessed with documentation which strengthens the core
value of education.

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By the early eighteenth century when the British took over and the country had borne
enough in the name of ‘loot’ and deprivation that even Lord Macaulay had to suggest
that India needs to be brought at par with the countries of the west and so was the British
methods of education which got rapidly adapted into the social fabric of India. That was
perhaps one of the greatest boons of the British rule that India was blessed with. Some
of the institutions begun by the British today stand as lofty Institutions of repute and the
quality of students that enter the market place definitely speaks volumes of the education
that has been imparted to them in a holistic manner, be it discipline, perseverance,
humility, skill, in-depth understanding of the subject or even humanitarian values.

Somewhere along the time, when India got Independence, it also was pushed into
nurturing, planning, strategizing education for the millions. Parallel to this there was a
world which went on inventing and discovering various facets of the Universe and
started imparting them to the students. Countries which woke up early to strengthen the
education system, those who understood that the future belongs to the next generation
were eager to impart the knowledge and so we saw some of the greatest being born in
the West. The Cambridge , Oxford, Harvard , even Rockfeller Institutions etc were born
to impart quality education , to make the future generations perfect in order to keep in
touch with the galloping technology.

Technology & engineering suddenly became the core of every discipline. Skill became
indispensable. Higher education in India had to keep pace with the world economy
progressively moving ahead. Millions and millions of children needed the right
perspective of education, they needed guidance, they needed good teachers to enable
them to compete with the West.

India today stands at the cusp of a big leap. It is the youngest nation in the world with
more than 50% of its population within the 15-24 age groups! And this youth needs
proper harnessing!

According to UGC, the nation has some 700 Degree granting Institutions and around
35,000 Affiliate Colleges and enrolment is to the tune of 20 million students per year!
Yet we hear that the students are not ‘Job Ready’ - a paradox that is a reality. Most of
the engineering graduates are found to lack practical knowledge, the medical students
are full of information but how do they put them to use in this technology guided medical
instrument led world of healthcare is a big question. The basic graduates then get into
the world of skill based training to earn a livelihood.

What then happens at the grassroots of the Indian milieu? The girth of India lies in the
states of UP, MP & Rajasthan and it is reported on the 9th of August 2016 by Times
News Network that almost a lakh of schools are run by a solitary teacher! These children
are the future of the country. How does one educate them, train them, and make them
emotionally strong to take on the challenges of educated India?

Added is that the entire socio-economic fabric of the country is changing .The educated
girl child wants to have a career, the job scenario is focused only in the cities, people
have to travel far and wide to earn livelihood. The resultant is the mushrooming of

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nuclear families built around the aspiring middle class of India. The child in his most
formative years is devoid of the security and learnings from his elders, which would
have otherwise happened in a joint family.

Hence the need of the hour is to inculcate a very robust emotional get up of the children.
Well informed minds and brains are required but important are holistic individuals
whose minds and hearts are well formed, balanced with a humanitarian approach.

In the schools of today, students are under pressure to perform, excel, memorize and get
the best of the grades; beyond school there would be coaching classes to enable the child
to compete in the entrance exams for higher education. From the age of 8 to 16 years,
when the brain physiologically is most receptive to personality development,
understanding the value of compassion, empathy, humbleness, to be sportive and
supportive, to value the finer nuances of art and culture; this phase unfortunately gets
dogged under the pressure of attaining and securing marks for a good future! The child
grows into a good informative student but a poor interactive team player. Emotional
nurturing and development lies at the core of such a situation. It requires a strategic
decision and understanding from the individuals at the helm in educational institutions
to gravitate towards strategizing to increase the emotional quotient connect in the overall
teaching-learning process. It requires to be inbuilt into the curricula for both the student
as well as the teacher to nurture the usage of appropriate emotions whilst
communicating.

Education in its totality should enable the student of today- the citizen of tomorrow to
take justified, unbiased, non-judgmental decisions under any circumstance and
situation; to have that in-born yearning to spread value in everyday happenings at the
work place; to be able to stand up for his/ her honesty, to be able to recall what their
teachers have taught them in their growing years with pride; for, in today’s difficult
times getting a job with degrees is relatively well chanced but sustaining one’s personal
growth requires tremendous positive emotional health and good being!

On C.S.Peirce’s Theory of Signs: Node Connecting Language,
Communication and Pragmatism

Garima Singh

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Abstract

This research paper attempts to bring in light the theory of signs ‘Semiotics’ as given by
American Philosopher C.S.Peirce. Although Peirce was not a language or a
communication pioneer, still his theory is a node that mutually connects these fields to
meaning. In spite of this, he has been avoided by researchers given the reason for
entailing complex terminology. He divided ‘sign’ into three parts: Sign or represent
amen, its object and an interpretant. Through this triadic relationship of sign-activity
(semiosis) he addressed the dynamic nature of language and communication as an
evolving process. His idea behind inclusion of interpretant has been to stress on the
importance of context which is integral to language and communication. Through this
study it has been argued that Peirce philosophy of pragmatism assures its validity in the
multifarious spatiotemporal backgrounds. This study finds out that Peirce’s theory
adheres to practical context of an act of communication thus providing scope to language
for dynamic changes. And thus in practice his theory provides much greater potential
for objectivity.

Keywords: semiotics, context, pragmatism, semiosis, trichotomies.

Introduction

The real world we humans live in and the virtual world we have created both have
secured crucial parts in our lives. Quite integral to these worlds are the notions of
language and communication. Language is the most apparently available tool to humans
for communication and communication is the essence of human society. If we observe
human as a cultural being, both language and communication are the two axis on which
human world rests. Contemporary period has seen researchers attempting to decipher
meaning found explicitly and implicitly in the use of language and communication.
Many theories have been put to test for this purpose. However, it has been observed that
naming a theory that is equally efficient at practice level has been difficult. Albeit, there
is one theory that can be argued to be simultaneously resourceful at theory and practice
level, it has been generally avoided. More or less the reason for avoidance has been the
entailment of complex terminology. This theory is the study of signs ‘Semiotics’ as titled
by its founder C.S.Peirce, an American Philosopher. The complexities and difficulties
of his theory do not in any way make it less worthy for analyzing language and
communication practically. Rather, the base of this theory as formed by Peirce’s idea
of pragmatism makes it the most deserving one. Before discussing the complexities of
Semiotics it is vital to consider the notions of communication and language as they lay
in the core Peircean philosophies. Andy Blunden (2005) in his research article “Charles
Sanders Peirce: The Subject as Semiosis” talks about Peirce’s views of subject and
communication:

“All those who contributed to the notion of subject up to this point, even Hegel, still
oblige us to place communication at a level resting on an underlying level of being, but
for Peirce communication is inherent in mind itself” (p.3).

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Peirce view of communication here is an applied common sense yet interesting enough
to initiate new researches. It is fruitful to cite Mathew J. Fairbanks (1976) who in his
research article “Peirce on Man as a Language: A Textual Interpretation” illuminates
this view through textual interpretation of Peirce’s works. He states:

“In effect, Peirce is saying that a person is everything that he communicates, or a man
is the practical manifestation of the signs, symbols and words he uses. A person means
and is what he or she states in the widest sense of the term ‘states’ ” (p.2).

There are two things to be cleared while engrossing Peircean views in mind. Firstly, for
Peirce communication as stated in the section below is not limited only to verbal
expressions it extends to include all that takes place in human mind and thus, it is
inherent in mind. Secondly, Peirce idea for calling man a symbol is to shed the
boundaries of traditional dualism and to give passage to context that shapes everything
from communication to language to philosophy to universe. Few extracts from
Fairbanks’s article will serve the purpose of clearing these points more meaningfully.
He stresses further:

...But this is also to say much more, namely, that a man is identical with the totality of
the signs used to express him verbally and non-verbally. Actual expression is essential.
“For must not every sign, in order to become a sign, get uttered?” (8.348) In short, to be
human and, indeed, to be real at all ..... is to be a complex process of practical, public
verifiable communication” (p.2).

So many perspectives are discussed in the above section but they all point towards one
direction that communication is a naturally existent phenomenon available to humans
and language, not only verbal but in all its forms is a tool for giving man his identity.
And thus, communication and language are essentially integral to us as individuals. Take
note as Fairbanks quotes Peirce to show how while addressing man as a symbol Peirce
comes back again to communication:

“By this Peirce does not mean a man is merely something that stands for or represents
some other. Rather, man as a symbol is a triadic process of communication, a process
which includes object, ground and interpretant” (p.3).

Continuity is what Peirce promotes, continuity as a process of evolution. Evolution of
man through interaction with his world and quite same the interaction of signs/symbols
with their context is what Peirce advocates loudly. A word in spite of its limitations is
easily available simultaneously for different uses same is a man with his own physical
and mental limitations available to his society and his mind for multipurpose uses. And
this is how Peirce goes on to bring in one line man, communication and language while
positioning these on the ground of signs. Fairbanks (1976) positions this point:

“A person is not composed of ‘mental’ ideas encased in a ‘material’ container or a body.
A man is in fact a process of fusion, a melding, a blend of signs. All thought is in signs,
words, symbols and, similarly, reality or being is at base one with cognoscibility”.

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Hence, to be real and to be a symbol is one and same. Similarly to be human and to be
a collection of symbols, or a language, is a statement of identity”. (p.4).

By discussing these quotes an attempt has been made to delineate the essence of Peirce’s
views concerning communication and language. Communication and language will be
revisited again after explaining signs and different concepts of semiotics.

Semiotics: The study of ‘signs’

Let’s begin the theory of signs ‘Semiotics’ with one of the famous statements of Peirce.
He firmly believed that “all this universe is perfused with signs, if not composed
exclusively of signs”. Moreover according to Peirce “we think in signs” (1931/58). A
sign as understood by Peirce is a combination of three elements: a representamen or a
sign, its object and an interpretant (S.O.I). Queiroz and Merell (2006) in their research
article “Semiosis and pragmatism: Toward a dynamic concept of meaning” explain sign
in the words of Peirce:

“My definition of a sign is: A Sign is a Cognizable that, on the one hand, is so determined
(i.e., specialized, bestimmt) by something other than itself, called its Object, while, on
the other hand, it so determines some actual or potential Mind, the determination
whereof I term the Interpretant created by the Sign, that that Interpreting Mind is therein
determined mediately by the Object” (p.4).

From this it follows, that representamen is in fact the form that a sign takes while
referring to its object through the process of mediation by its interpretant. Scholars
believe it is crucial to understand that Peirce refer to the term ‘sign’ in two senses: in
broad sense, it refers to the combination of S.O.I as a whole and in narrow sense, it refers
to the first element of this triad i.e. representamen. Object could be anything from an
event to a quality or from a thing to a person; it could be anything which basically do
not generate sign rather put constraints in order for a representmen to fulfill it and
represent that object. Object for Peirce works in two types; one as an immediate object
and another as a dynamical object. Nicole Everaret-Desmedt (2011) in his research
article titled as “Peirce’s Semiotics” describe these two types of object with an example.
He writes:

“For example, a piece of red paper that is used as a sample (= representamen) for a can
of paint (= object) indicates only the red colour of the object, since it is assumed that
one already knows all of its other characteristics (packaging, content, usage, etc.)...To
put it more succinctly, Peirce distinguishes the dynamical object (the object as it is in
reality) from the immediate object (the object as it is represented by the sign). In our
example, the can of paint is the dynamical object, and the colour red (of the can of paint)
is the immediate object”.

(Available at: http://www.signosemio.com/peirce/semiotics.asp. Accessed on 29
August 2016)

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Interpretant means not the person who interprets but the related concept in the
interpreting mind. This concept while furnishing the base for the first representamen
triggers another sign for similar process. Daniel Chandler (2002) in his book “Semiotics:
The Basics” explains this triad using an example of traffic light:

Within Peirce’s model of the sign, the traffic light sign for the stop would consist of: a
red light facing traffic at an intersection (the representamen); vehicles halting (the
object) and the idea that a red light indicates that vehicles must stop (the interpretant)”
(p.33).

It can be seen here how efficiently Peirce include both experience and context in his
triadic model of sign. Given the context would have been different, a red light would
have been simply a light with red colour as if in a club and also without the experience
of the similar idea by the interpreting mind this sign would have been interpreted in an
altogether different manner. Signs cannot be understood if treated as separate entities. It
is necessary to understand them in their totality. The triadic relationship established by
the three elements is dynamical and irreducible in nature. The object is referred by the
sign through the mediating interpretant which is in a process to initiate another triadic
relationship by becoming the second sign. This continuity of becoming sign and forming
triads endlessly is referred to as “semiosis” by Peirce. Chandler (2002) provides a simple
definition of semiosis. He writes:

“The interaction between the representamen, the object and the interpretant is referred
to by Peirce as ‘semiosis” (p.33).

Queiroz and Merell (2006) in their research article “Semiosis and pragmatism: Toward
a dynamic concept of meaning” explain this as follows:

“Peirce defined semiosis as an irreducible triadic relation between a Sign, its Object (the
object, act or event with which it inter-relates) and its Interpretant (that which is
becoming interpreted through its inter-action with its interpreter)... That is, according to
Peirce, any description of semiosis involves a relation constituted by three irreducibly
connected terms, which are its minimal constitutive elements” (p.4).

Semiosis is not mere the connective thread of S.O.I in fact it is the key regulator of a
dynamic process that has no end. This process does not stop at interpretant rather after
reaching the level of interpretant it initiates the creation of another sign. And so on goes
the never ending process of semiosis. Queiroz and Merell (2006) write:

“As Savan (1986: 134) argues, an interpretant is both the third term of a given triadic
relation and the first term (sign) of a subsequent triadic relation. This is the reason why
semiosis cannot be defined as an isolated triad; it necessarily involves the continuous
development of triads actualized from semiosis.

...As a truly process thinker, it was quite natural that Peirce conceived semiosis as
basically a process in which triads are systematically linked to one another so as to form
a web” (p.5).

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Sign categories and the three trichotomies

Theory of signs as discussed till now appears simple, complexities begins with the
introduction of categories which forms the ground for the triad and its three elements.
These categories exist in terms of numbers: First-ness, second-ness and third-ness. The
added ‘ness’ highlights the expression of hierarchy that moves from first to third.
Queiroz and Merell (2006) further define these categories:

“In brief, the categories can be defined as: (1) Firstness: what is such as it is, without
reference to anything else; (2) Secondness: what is such as it is, in relation with
something else, but without relation with any third entity; (3) Thirdness: what is such as
it is, insofar as it is capable of bringing a second entity into relation with a first one in
the same way that it brings itself into relation with the first and the second entities”
(pp.3-4).

Firstness denotes the very first, anything in its originality, in its pure quality. Secondness
is the counter part of the first, always in response to something i.e. the reaction. But only
in relation to the first and without any reference to the third. Thirdness is the acting force
in between first and second, in the form of probabilities that create habits, laws and
conventions. Queiroz and Merell conclude:

“In another way of putting the categories: Firstness is possibility, what might become,
Secondness is what is taken to be what is within some particular context, and Thirdness
is what in all probability would be, given a certain set of conditions” (p.4).

To more meaningfully comprehend the categories of the sign a brief sketch of the three
trichotomies that are present within S.O.I. has been drawn in the following section. The
first trichotomy entails Qualisign, Sinsign and Legisign; these three signs within
representamen exhibit what actually a ‘sign’ is. Qualisign is the quality in its pure
possibility, Sinsign carries number of qualisigns that together makes an actual thing or
an event and Legisign is the naturally existing law that is a sign ready for manifestation.
The second trichotomy comprises Icon, Index and Symbol; which reflects the relation
between a sign and its object. Icon is a sign of resemblance, Index of a factual causal
relationship and Symbol by its very nature, of being a learned convention. And the third
trichotomy concerns itself with the relation between a sign and its interpretant. The
triads in third trichotomy are Rheme, Dicent and Argument where Rheme is what
potentially could be but does not exist as if now. Dicent is the actualization of Rheme,
it is a fact; note here that Rheme depicts what might be, Dicent as a fact justifies the
existent and Argument explains why and in what relation it exists, thus Argument is a
law, an actualized law. Torkild Leo Thellefsen (2001) in his research article “C. S.
Peirce’s Evolutionary Sign: an Analysis of Depth and Complexity within Peircean Sign
Types and Peircean Evolution Theory” quotes Peirce from his Collected Papers to
explain the three trichotomies:

“Signs are divisible by three trichotomies; first, according as the sign in itself is a mere
quality, is an actual existent, or is a general law; secondly, according as the relation of

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the sign to its object consists in the sign's having some character in itself, or in some
existential relation to that object, or in its relation to an interpretant; thirdly, according
as its Interpretant represents it as a sign of possibility or as a sign of fact or a sign of
reason” (p.12).

On the basis of these nine signs as part of the three trichotomies active under
representamen, object and interpretant Peirce develops a model of ten collective signs
that reflects on the logic active behind the working of signs. Torkild Leo Thellefsen
(2001) writes:

“Peirce creates ten classes of signs from the above trichotomies. The ten classes are a
consequence of classes logically excluding each other. A Qualisign will always be a
Rhematic Iconical Sign, and a Symbol will always be a Legisign, and an Argument will
always be a Symbolic Legisign, etc.” (pp.20-21).

In the figure mentioned below Thellefsen explains the logic of similarities and
dissimilarities among these ten signs:

I V VIII X

Rhematic Rhematic Rhematic Argument
Iconic Iconic Symbol Symbolic
Legisign Legisign Legisign
Qualisign
II VI IX

Rhematic Rhematic Dicent
Iconic Indexical Symbol
Sinsign Legisign Legisign

III VII

Rhematic Dicent
Indexical Indexical
Sinsign Legisign

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IV

Dicent
Indexical
Sinsign

Torkild Leo Thellefsen (2001) in his research article “C. S. Peirce’s Evolutionary Sign:
an Analysis of Depth and Complexity within Peircean Sign Types and Peircean
Evolution Theory” uses this figure as an illustration of two classes of signs.

“The organization of Peirce's ten basic classes of sign types in figure 5 illustrates that
two classes, which border on each other with a thin line, share similarities in two ways.
For example, the Indexical Sinsign (3, 4) or (1, 5) is both Iconic and Rhematic. But,
where the thick black line divides the classes between 2 and 6, 6 and 9, 3 and 7, this is
not the case. Neither can classes share similarities if they do not share borders. The
classes have been given the shortest possible names that distinguish them from each
other. The names of the classes are in bold letters” (p.21).

On consulting these trichotomies and classification common question that comes in
mind is, what is the need for such a complex division? The answer lies in the word
‘meaning’. Meaning of anything communicated or represented as done by signs of all
kinds is not planted in one or other sign. Rather every sign follows an evolutionary path
and keeps on achieving more modified and actualized meaning based on interpretation.
The communication of meaning from originally a quality in one’s mind or in nature gets
displaced from Qualisign (Representamen) to Argument (Interpretant) through a
continuous process. The notion of displacement from Qualisign to Argument is
generally known as ‘Sign displacement’. Thellefsen writes:

“The concept of sign displacement has to be understood as a process... A sign
displacement is the semiotic gap between a Representamen and a sign. For a
Representamen to become a sign it must merge with an object through an interpretant.
A sign only exists as a sign when it contains an object and an interpretant. The
Representamen does not contain an object or an interpretant. A Representamen
expresses generality and possibility whereas a sign is a concrete interpretation of the
Representamen. So, the displacement occurs from generality to concreteness” (p.3).

That is how the meaning in a sign is displaced from representamen to object through
interpretant. It is in fact at the level of the interpretant where the cognitive act of
displacement takes place. And as we know, in an endless chain when numerous signs
are engrossed in this activity they denote the process of ‘Semiosis’.

Now when the sign, its classification and sign displacement is clear it is appropriate to
discuss the movement in the degree of categories i.e. from Firstness to thirdness which
does not evolve only at vertical level; but concurrently at horizontal level too. Torkild
Leo Thellefsen (2001) in his research article “C. S. Peirce’s Evolutionary Sign: an

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Analysis of Depth and Complexity within Peircean Sign Types and Peircean Evolution
Theory discusses the development of sign categories in terms of vertical and horizontal
movement:

“... the signs of Secondness act like an axis of reflection. The signs of Firstness are on
one side of the axis and on the other side are the signs of Thirdness. The vertical
movement has to be understood in terms of an increase in Thirdness from Qualisign to
Legisign, from Icon to Symbol and from Rheme to Argument” (p.8).

Quite naturally scholars elucidate the movement of degrees only at face value that is
from representamen to interpretant. But Thellefsen (2001) points out that the movement
is intrinsic to the trichotomies. As seen in the above quoted paragraph, it is following
vertical path and moving from top to bottom whereas at horizontal level it moves from
left to right i.e. from Qualisign to Rheme, from Sinsign to Index and from Legisign to
Argument. He writes:

“...[horizontally] the signs of Firstness: Qualisign, Icon and Rheme; the signs of
Secondness: Sinsign, Index and Dicent Sign and the signs of Thirdness: Legisign,
Symbol and Argument are collated. We still note an increase of Thirdness within the
trichotomies” (p.9).

Logic: Abduction, Deduction and Induction

Peirce has always been a firm advocator of logic. He stressed more on the logic behind
sign-activity as a whole rather than talking about some arbitrary dyadic relationship. He
founded the philosophy of Pragmatism on the similar guidelines. He initially began with
a goal to create ground of logical inquiry for semiotics. His statements reflected the
similarities he felt between pragmatism and semiotics. Fairbanks (1976) quotes Peirce
to explain this:

“Logic”...in its broader sense...is the science of the necessary laws of thought, or, still
better (thought always taking place by means of signs) it is general semeiotic, treating
not merely of truth, but also of the general conditions of being signs...” (p.24).

While Fairbanks illuminates the similarity of logic as base, Queiroz and Merell stress
on the similarity of meaning as base:

“Pragmatism, in its original formulation, can be defined as a theory of meaning” (p.1).

It can be seen here that Peirce idea for pragmatism and semiotics directs towards ‘logic’
that is applied to decipher meaning of ‘signs’ around us. And as argued these signs
include everything, every thought, every action, and every tangible or intangible entity
and so on. This inquiry for logic or meaning forms the preliminary stage for any sort of
interpretation. He proposed the idea of an ‘initial interpretant’. Initial interpretant marks
the starting point for the process of inquiry. Andy Blunden (2005) in his research article
“Charles Sanders Peirce: The Subject as Semiosis” throws light on this:

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“Peirce’s original aim was to use logic to understand the process of enquiry. A process
of enquiry is always initiated by some sign; there is then an ‘initial interpretant’ – the
first thought or initial reaction to some unexpected stress or irritation; the initial reaction
could be some outward action, or in the case of a human being, it could be a ‘thought
experiment” (p.4).

Blunden (2005) adds that for Peirce initial interpretant ignites a chain of inquiry that in
its course leads to communication of habit formation after repetitive concurrences. He
writes:

“In this way, Peirce has outlined a process of development of a sign which encompasses
all kinds of learning processes – “the mind is a sign developing according to the laws of
inference” (p.4).

By developing the triad of S.O.I Peirce stands out than those semioticians who follow
traditional approach of dyadic relations. He has given base to the phenomenon of ‘stands
for something’ in terms of a sign titled as ‘arbitrary’ by Saussure (1966). He provides
an intrinsic two way role of an interpretant which by itself creates next sign for
interpretation. Sandra E. Moriarty (1996) in his research paper “Abduction and A
Theory of Visual Interpretation” quotes Sebeok (1991) to explain the function of an
interpretant:

“Interpretation means that every interpretant, besides translating the immediate object
or the content of the sign, also increases our understanding of it in new ways. Peirce
calls this the criterion of interpretability and explains it as a two-step function that
involves both translation and extension, a process that leads to an infinite chain of
signification. He explained that the meaning process--finding the signified--is an infinite
process of interpretation. The idea of an endless chain of signification is what makes
Peircean semiotics such an open system of meaning construction” (p.167-187).

(Available at http://spot.colorado.edu/~moriarts/abduction.html Accessed during 20
August – 15 September 2016)

To minutely study the process of interpretation it is necessary to understand the logics
involved in drawing interpretative inferences. This is how Peirce has entailed laws of
inferences logically into the study of signs i.e. Semiotics. As for Peirce, interpreting
signs to explicate meaning is a continuous act of inference performed by human mind.
In addition to the two forms available to researchers since the time of Aristotle i.e.
Deduction and Induction, Peirce added one more to it and termed it as ‘Abduction’ or
retroduction. Thus, these three laws: abduction, deduction and induction underline the
process of inquiry that goes into the dynamics of semiosis and sign displacement. Sandra
E. Moriarty (1996) in his research paper “Abduction and A Theory of Visual
Interpretation” explains the base of deduction and induction:

“In Aristotelian logic deduction moves from a general rule to specific cases and
induction moves from specific cases to a generality.... In deduction the truth of the

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premises ensures that necessarily the conclusion must also be true; in other words,
knowing that the premises are true gives us a sufficient reason for believing the
conclusion, i.e. we infer a conclusion... With induction, however, the conclusion makes
some prediction on the bases of several cases each of which make certain claims about
the same subject” (pp.167-187).

There has been doubt among scholars as to how these laws apply to the three categories
of sign. The questions generally asked are: what sequence does the degree of sign
categories follow in their evolutionary process? Abduction applies to Firstness,
Secondness or Thirdness and why? Before answering these questions let us take a look
at what is abduction described as by Peirce. Moriarty asserts:

“Peirce described the formation of an abductive hypothesis as 'an act of insight,' the idea
coming to us "like a flash." (5.181) Abductive reasoning then assembles the
observations and attributes a variety of characteristics or conditions to a subject until a
match is made and an hypothesis or conclusion can be stated”. (pp.167-187).

Moriarty provides the classical analysis of the inference laws as given by Peirce:

“Deduction: Rule: All the beans from this bag are white.

Case: These beans are from this bag.

Result: These beans are white.

Induction: Case: These beans are from this bag.

Result: These beans are white.

Rule: All the beans from this bag are white.

Abduction: Rule: All the beans from this bag are white.

Result: These beans are white.

Case: These beans are from this bag” (pp.167-187).

It appears that the formulaic version of abduction is vague as to keep the case at the end.
But Peirce based all his statements on logics; he applied logic here too. Moriarty writes:
“Peirce describes how this reversal can happen:

"The first premise is not actually thought, though it is in the mind habitually. This, of
itself, would not make the inference unconscious. But it is so because it is not recognized
as an inference; the conclusion is accepted without our knowing how” (pp.167-187).

This short reference to abduction in terms of instant acceptance leads us to understand
that the nature of abduction is similar to that of being a ‘pure’ quality i.e. Firstness.

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Firstness exists prior to any interpretation just as the law of abduction is applied without
a prior knowledge of inference; merely as an instant acceptance. Wim Staat (1993) in
his research paper “On Abduction, Deduction, Induction and the Categories” explains
this:

“In apprehending Firstness one would actualize a quality into an apprehension of that
quality- which then of course has become a fact rather than a quality. Clearly, the term
‘quality’ is an apprehension already, but let’s settle for it so that this term suggested as
the correlative of the hypothetical nature of abductive reasoning’s conclusion- in
abduction we conclude what might be the case – snugly fits the attribution of Firstness
to abduction” (p.2).

Now when it is pretty much clear that we can assign abduction to Firstness the next
question that emerges is about the rest of the two laws: Deduction and Induction. Staat
writes:

“Peirce’s Collected Papers are quite clear about the categorical status of abduction, but
over against the distinctness about the Firstness of abduction there is the opacity of the
status of deduction and induction” (p.2).

Inconsistency can be noticed with regard to deduction and induction in the ‘early’ and
‘late’ statements of Peirce. Despite this, Staat concludes that if we move with Abduction
as Firstness then only two possible ways of apprehension lies with Deduction and
Induction. One is to take the path as: abduction, induction and deduction which as per
the rules of the inferences increase in certainty. And second is to opt for the path of
inquiry which gives us: Abduction, Deduction and Induction. Note this in the words of
Staat:

“As for the conclusion of inferences, the succession ‘abduction, induction, deduction’
is one of the increasing certainty- and simultaneously decreasing ‘uberty’. [second case]
In that case ‘abduction, deduction and induction’ would reflect the following succession:
first the suggestion of a hypothesis, then the subsequent formulation of the consequences
of the acceptance of such a hypothesis and, thirdly, the testing of these consequences so
that new or more precise hypothesis can be suggested [...] I will argue that the best
[sequence is] indeed under the condition of taking the second” (p.3).

Staat has discussed the complexities and doubts related to the application of the laws to
the three categories at length in his paper. To clear any doubt left he quotes Peirce from
his “Partial Synopsis” and concludes that abduction, deduction and induction is the right
sequence of inferences. As per Staat (1993) Peirce’s idea behind the law of abduction
and the doctrine of Pragmatism is same. Both are linked to the ‘Theory of Inquiry’.

“The answer to the question ‘What is pragmatism?’ subsequently ‘What is the logic of
abduction?’ is the same in both cases, namely: ‘a theory of inquiry’” (p.7).

Making theory of inquiry as base Peirce has stressed on the value of experience in terms
of reality. It is the practical context of reality that Peirce hints on using the laws of

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inferences and ultimately directs us to achieve scientific objectivity. Laws of inferences
are not mere rules for him to be applied rather they together create a process that at the
level of thirdness i.e. at the level of induction opens up the space to reality. Staat (1993)
writes:

“This theory entails the succession in science of abduction, deduction, and induction
and, moreover, a description of modes of reality in terms of ‘can-be’s’, ‘existents’ and
‘would-be’s respectively” (p.7).

‘Can-be’s’ are the possibilities i.e. the Firstness, ‘existents’ are the actualities i.e. the
Secondness and finally ‘would-be’s’ are the real probabilities i.e. the Thirdness (Staat,
1993). This concept of reaching at the real probabilities from the possibilities reflects
on the fact that the man much as a part of nature is detached from it in ways to create
his realities based on his interaction with the nature. The product of this reality
construction is what we can call ‘culture’ in other words. From this point we come back
to the question regarding man: as symbol; as language and in a continuous act of
communication. Torkild Leo Thellefsen (2001) in his research article “C. S. Peirce’s
Evolutionary Sign: An Analysis of Depth and Complexity within Peircean Sign Types
and Peircean Evolution Theory” comparatively analyze representamen, object and
interpretant with nature, man and culture respectively. He explains that this is his
comparison not a one devised by Peirce but it does provide a better picture of how signs
around us work. He writes:

“The concept of sign displacement designates the process whereby Firstness understood
as nature is perceived through Thirdness understood as culture” (p.3).

This comparison is not real in the sense that the one who gave the triadic model of sign
did not propose it. But it is fruitful in understanding the complexities of sign. Thellefsen
(2001) suggests that Firstness as ‘pure possibilities’ is comparable to nature that offer
immense possibilities for further evolution. Secondness as the reaction or simply as the
actualization of firstness is comparable to man, who is a product of nature but has been
detached from it. And ultimately Thirdness being anchored in Firstness serves as a
mediating force which is quite comparable to culture. Culture is a product of the
interaction between nature and man who detached from nature tries to apprehend it and
in the due course creates culture. Culture just as an evolutionary interpretant works in
dyadic process: it mediates between nature and man while simultaneously growing as a
more developed version of itself. Thellefsen (2001) writes:

“Culture which springs from the human intellect is the mediator between nature and
man. And the interesting aspect is that culture as Thirdness creates its own worldview
so to speak. It creates and upholds our understanding of nature and this understanding
will always be displaced from nature” (p.4).

Thellefsen’s comparison here is inspired by Peirce’s evolution theory where he
proposes a triad of mind, matter and evolution. Note how he draws similarities from
this triad:

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“So, we have the notion of nature defined as a potential of living feeling, and from this
living feeling somewhere along the path of evolution man arose. In this way, man
becomes Secondness to Firstness, man is a manifestation of nature, one of many
possible, but due to the continuity of evolution, the living feeling is transferred into
man as an aspect of the original living feeling. This means that man is anchored in
nature; thus we are natural beings; however, since we are the only abstract being
(Stjernfelt 2001) we have evolved the ability to create cultures which through
evolution have displaced us from the original living feeling, and have become a kind
of cultural cyborg (Brier 2001)” (p.6).

So, man stands at the Centre in interaction with nature while developing culture as a
product. In return culture shapes our understanding of the nature. When we take culture
as the Thirdness it is obvious to realize that this culture is an outcome of acts of
communication being performed by man. Acts through which we have created the
virtual reality (culture) from the actual reality (nature). Thellefsen writes:

“It is indeed the virtual world or rather the virtual evolution that I suggest creates and
develops culture. It is the gap between the actual evolution and the virtual evolution I
define as the sign displacement, and it is the virtual evolution's rebuilding of the actual
evolution which can be labelled semiotic constructivism” (p.6).

Semiotic constructivism is the point of understanding that happens at the stage of
interpretant. In other words, it is this understanding that gets constructed following a
process of semiotic activities which is designated as semiotic constructivism.

Conclusion

Most of us limit the term ‘Communication’ to either the working of mass media or to
our personal communication acts. But as argued in this essay, for Peirce communication
is an inherent act of human being. And what we know of man as today is to a large
extent being constructed by his use of language. The work reviewed in this essay
emphasizes this point again and again. Pragmatism as a philosophy of logical inquiry
can be applied to anything but then it has been proved here that same is the case with
semiotics. As the study of signs of all kinds it can be applied to any sort of analysis. But
this is possible only when followed the process of analysis as showed by Peirce. He
provides a scope for objective analysis by including interpretant and thus giving
importance to context of communication being done.

The journey of arguments made in this critical essay till now highlights a chain Peirce
has formed. This chain incorporates so many different aspects together. For Peirce
interaction of humans with this nature i.e. communication forms an inseparable part of
our existence. On the way to progress with this existence humans build their individual
identity which is being regulated by language as a tool. Our communication and
language that in other words could be explained as our interaction with this nature give
shape to our culture. This culture of ours includes everything that is the product of
several years of our experience and our intelligent virtual creation. Studying all of this
and the meaning inhibited in these aspects is not an easy task. But Peirce at least makes

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it accomplishable if not easy by his theory of semiotics. He by applying logic behind
environment both natural and cultural that have induced infinite signs around us helps
us in understanding these varied and complex perspectives. As based on logic, his theory
leaves a scope for experiential improvement and thus promoting objectivity in the best
sense of it.

This essay can be concluded with the following points:

1. Peirce by giving a triadic model enhances the importance of context in communication.
With every triad of semiosis interpretant improves on its concept thus giving full credit
to experiential learning.

2. He uplifts the stature of communication by stressing on its inherent presence in humans
lives. From the first ‘pure feeling’ to ‘habit formation’ it is communication that is active
in the process.

3. As understood by Peirce, language whether verbal or non-verbal is a replica of a man’s
identity. In other words, a man is what he ‘states’; that could be in his mind as thought,
in front of others as dialogues, in terms of gestures as received by others etc.

4. He suggests not a subjective analysis rather a logical analysis and thus makes semiotics
similar to the philosophy of pragmatism. This gives semiotics the place of a Meta
science that can be applied to all sort of analysis, As Peirce did for the study of human
evolution.

5. Therefore, in order to understand an act of communication Peirce’s theory of signs
offers an advanced tool which equips the analyst with the techniques of a logical and
objective inquiry.
References

Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: The basics. London: Routledge.

Fairbanks, M. J. (1976) Peirce on Man as a Language: A Textual Interpretation.

Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society. Winter 1976. Vol,12, No. 1, pp. 18-
32.

Available at: www.jstor,org/stable/40319754

Queiroz, J.. & Merell, F. (2006). Semiosis and pragmatism: Toward a dynamic
concept of

Meaning. Sign Systems Studies, 34.1 .

Moriarty, S. E. (1996) Abduction and A Theory of Visual Interpretation.

Communication Theory, 6:2. Pp.167-187.

Available at: http://spot.colorado.edu/~moriarts/abduction.html

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Peirce, C. S., (1931/58) Collected Writings (8 vols) (ed, Charles Hartshorne, Paul
Weiss and

Arthur W. Burks), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Thellefsen, T. Leo. (2001). C. S. Peirce's evolutionary sign: An analysis of depth and

complexity within Peircean sign types and Peircean evolution theory. SEED
(Semiotics, Evolution, Energy, and Development). Available at
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/see/pages.html
Saussure, F. De. (1966). A Course in General Linguistics (W. Baskin, Trans.). New
York:
McGraw-Hill. (Original work published 1915)
Sebeok, Thomas A. (1991). A sign is just a sign. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
Staat, W. (1993) On Abduction, Deduction, Induction and the Categories.
Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society. Spring 1993, Vol. XXIX, No.2.

Web Resources
1. Andy Blunden (2005) Charles Sanders Peirce: The Subject as Semiosis. The Subject.

Philosophical Foundations, http://home.mira.net/~andy/works/semiosis.htm
2. Nicole Everaert-Desmedt (2011), « Peirce's Semiotics », in Louis Hébert (dir.), Signo

[online], Rimouski (Quebec), http://www.signosemio.com/peirce/semiotics.asp.

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Tools of ICT: Revolutionizing the Pedagogical Practices for English
Language Acquisition and Soft Skills Enhancement

Dr. Seema Singh

Abstract:

This paper tries to examine how the use of ICT in the fast shrinking world of today can
enhance language competence and is also appropriate for an optimal performance.
Information and Communication technology has changed the face of our pedagogical
practices as also the language acquisition process. Engaging with the tech-savvy learners
of today by blending technological tools with classroom teaching and thereby increasing
their exposure and interaction in the target language may be an interesting way to begin
and sustain the momentum in the process of English Language Acquisition as well as in
the overall soft skill development of the students. A classroom environment that
judiciously taps the teaching and learning potential offered by the tools of ICT will be a
place where students will be more than eager to explore, discover, innovate and
experiment with multiple media thereby providing an upswing to their own acquisition
of the English language.

Keywords:

ICT tools, multimedia, internet, language lab, soft skills, English Language acquisition,
computers, cell phones, technology.

The internet, web and mobile devices have revolutionized the way we communicate
with each other today. In the current scenario it may be appropriate to add that the
English language is widely recognized as a global language. It is certainly a language
that rules the virtual world and a language that enjoys huge preference over the other
languages of the world. It is also increasingly being realized that ICT has become an
indispensable part of today’s teaching learning environment, given the fact that our
present generation is extremely well-versed with the use of tools of Information and
Communication Technology. It almost seems significant to add here that the use of
modern technological tools to enhance and expedite English Language Acquisition is
the order of the day. This paper tries to examine how the use of ICT in the fast shrinking
world of today can enhance language competence and is also appropriate for an optimal
performance. It also endorses the view that ICT can play a fundamental role in not only
in advancing language acquisition but in also expanding the frontiers of knowledge in
the knowledge driven society of today. One is tempted to add that gone are the days
when the teaching and learning of the English Language was reduced to a lop-sided
pedagogical practice with the teacher being the active member and the learner a passive
recipient of the instruction, having very little to say and contribute in the pedagogical
process. The boost that the global economy has received from the tools of Information
and Communication Technology may be replicated in the pedagogical practices for
English Language Acquisition, while taking cognizance of the fact that it is the English

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Language that continues to act as the catalyst aiding the growth and development of the
global economy. The fact of the matter is that the conventional approaches to teaching
and learning of the English language in a traditional classroom setting are passé. The
conventional, age-old unilateral and regimented method of teaching English language
with the teacher being at the center of the class and the learner at the periphery does not
hold good for the present times. It may thus be quite appropriate to point out that
Information and Communication technology has changed the face of our pedagogical
practices as also the language acquisition process. Engaging with the tech-savvy learners
of today by blending technological tools with classroom teaching and thereby increasing
their exposure and interaction in the target language may be an interesting way to begin
and sustain the momentum in the process of English Language Acquisition as well as in
the overall soft skill development of the students. In this context it may be pertinent to
point out that a lot of teachers in the Indian setting are still quite weary about
incorporating ICT in their pedagogical practices. While some lack interest, others are
complacent. It is therefore very important that the teachers be willing to give new ideas
a chance. In fact as far as the Indian Classroom settings are concerned one could endorse
Cuban’s view that technology is underutilized in our classrooms (Cuban 2001). The
teachers and trainers therefore, ought to not only welcome but also embrace the tools of
ICT for their classroom instruction to reap greater dividends from this kind of a setting.
They will be surprised by what they see, once they warm up to how the ICT can do
wonders for them as well as their student learners. The use of Internet can also be highly
advantageous as well as extremely pertinent in the present day context. It is an exciting
and extremely powerful learning tool for such teachers/instructors and learners and not
to mention here that it also aids and expedite English Language Acquisition. Integrating
the internet with classroom teaching and learning, by conducting/ arranging various
online activities with the student learners is the way forward. Thus, careful and well-
planned teacher intervention is important to ensure that all the online activities,
assignments and projects are appropriately interspersed with the overall course
curriculum rather than as a separate, special, once in a blue moon kind of an activity.
Introducing ICT as a series of disconnected activities might prove to be counter-
productive. The teacher should thoughtfully consider what types of language
experiences would be beneficial for the learners and structure the computer activities
accordingly. A clear goal may be necessary. If the goal is to teach writing, activities that
provide ample writing opportunities may be created by the teachers. Random online
activities which are introduced with little or no planning and without any clear goal in
mind may not serve any real purpose. Thus, the onus of creating a congenial linguistic
environment where the use of ICT tools are encouraged and are suitably utilized lies on
the teacher. Teachers ought to provide all the necessary support to the learners by way
of identifying the difficulties and challenges that student learners face. If a teacher pays
adequate attention to the complications and complexities that may arise on account of
the use of ICT in the classroom, students will remain motivated, interested and involved.

Studies in the past have consistently shown that most student learners of English display
positive attitudes towards tools of ICT being used in the classroom teaching and learning
processes and that such technology has been known to have a positive impact on their

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overall linguistic acquisition as well as skill enhancement. ICT enhanced classrooms
keep the students involved and motivated. A classroom environment that judiciously
taps the teaching and learning potential offered by the tools of ICT will be a place where
students will be more than eager to explore, discover, innovate and experiment with
multiple Medias thereby providing an upswing to their own acquisition of the English
language. They thus, end up having greater control over their own learning of the
language. The students feel more empowered. They engage in the classroom activities
involving multimedia with greater zest and vigour. Language lab sessions are a positive
step in this direction. The language lab is equipped with modern gadgets like computers,
headphones, audio and video system, microphones, camcorders, English Language
learning software etc.. In this context one may add that Multimedia is “the combination
of various digital media types, such as text, images, sound, and video, into an integrated
multisensory interactive application or presentation to convey a message or information
to an audience” ( Mao Neo & Ken T.K. Neo 2001, 4).The thrust on practical aspects of
learning by way of performing activities goes a long way in overcoming student
apprehensions and inhibitions. Students acquire tremendous confidence through active
participation and engagement in the Lab sessions. This also helps them in broadening
and sharpening their soft skills. Activities like self-introduction, extempore, role-plays,
group discussions, presentations using a power point, listening comprehension, story-
telling bring a lot of energy and action into the classroom, Recording the student
performances with mobile phones or a camcorder can be very helpful. Students can
spend some time in assessing their performances with the help of these video recordings.
Self assessment may be necessary for measuring one’s progress. Constructive feedback
from the teacher/ trainer and the peer group is also useful in gaining more insight.
Students can acquire several skills in the process, such as interpersonal skills, team
skills, presentation skills, time management, persuasion and negotiations, problem
solving, listening skills, public speaking to name a few.

It may seem significant at this juncture to discuss the factors that make ICT tools so
relevant and useful for both the teachers and the language learners. The most significant
factor that makes ICT tools look so promising is the fact that it provides tremendous
boost to experiential learning. The wealth of information that is present in the virtual
world can be accessed by the students according to his/her own needs and requirements.
A lot of learning happens in the process. Students become the movers and shakers of
their own learning. There is no linear flow of information. This is not the kind of setting
where the knowledge of the subject passes from the teacher to the student rather there is
greater emphasis on the give-and-take of meaningful information between the learners
and the instructors. The students learn a lot by doing things by themselves. The teacher
may facilitate his learning by way of consistent guidance and support clubbed with
classroom instruction. The utilization and integration of ICT tools can indeed help and
enable students in acquiring competency in the use of English language as well as
enhance and better the quality of their overall learning experience, not to mention the
wonders it can do to widening their overall skill set.

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Computers, Tablets, cell-phones and the like are extremely popular with the young
generation of today. For many, there is an element of fun attached to them and for others
the use of gizmos and technological gadgets is more of a fashion statement. Students
definitely feel more inclined to using them for enhancing their linguistic or
communicative quotient. Their enthusiasm for such tools coupled with the wide variety
of activities that can be conducted with them makes ICT a sought after proposition. It
makes them feel more independent and empowered, to say the least. Students may enjoy
undertaking writing projects such as short compositions, sharing their viewpoints and
opinions on topical issues, vocabulary building exercises and quizzes, grammar drills
etc. with the aid of ICT tools. Comprehension exercises can be conducted by viewing
videos or listening to audio-recordings. Choosing audio-video material that would ignite
the interest of the students and consequently boost their skills is one of the small ways
in which ICT can consolidate and extend learning. ICT based learning strategies can
therefore provide a huge upswing in student enthusiasm and participation. It eases off
the pressure of learning and makes the sessions extremely interactive and engaging. ICT
can be used to create opportunities for language learners to communicate in the target
language, in other words, the English language. (Warschauer & Kern 2000). Network-
based instruction can help strengthen the learners linguistic skills by positively
impacting their learning attitude. By way of exposure to the inherent self-instruction
strategies that can be accrued to the tools of ICT students also experience a tremendous
boost in their self-confidence. Thus, it is quite helpful in promoting and enhancing
learner achievement. Learners can make use of various resources of authentic reading
materials either at school or in their homes. Such materials can be accessed by them 24
hours a day at a relatively low cost. What gives boost to the learning is the fact that
random access to a wide range of reading material on the web breaks the linear flow of
instruction. By exchanging e-mails and joining newsgroups, learners can communicate
with people they have never met. They can also interact with their own classmates.
Learners can also devote a lot of their time on social networking sites interacting with
friends. Such informal interactions on social networking sites esp. in the target language
may certainly have some implications for the student. Moreover some Internet based
activities may give students quick, individualized feedback by automatically correcting
their on-line exercises. This can be very beneficial to the learners as prompt feedback
ensures immediate redressal of wrong forms/constructions. Diffident or inhibited
students can benefit immensely through individualized feedback, student-centered
approach to teaching and through interactive and collaborative learning strategies.
Quick or advanced learners can also realize their full potential without getting bogged
down by slow learners, thus preventing their peers from working at their own pace. Thus
students are given the opportunity to escape from canned knowledge, conventional
methodologies to learning and hence they are able to widen their horizon by getting
enormous exposure to tools that they are very comfortable working with. As a result,
this exposure provides them a lot of interdisciplinary and multicultural learning. A
foreign language is studied in a cultural context. In a world dominated by widespread
use of the Internet, an English Language instructor is able to facilitate students' access
to the web thereby making them denizens of a global classroom and beneficiaries of the
bounties of knowledge emanating from the use of tools of Information and

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Communication technology. Thus, these learners are able to broaden their horizon by
practicing communication on a truly global scale.

In the light of the above discussion one may surmise that Web-based tools and powerful
internet connections provide various new possibilities for a better and quicker
acquisition of the English language. It is widely accepted that advances in information
technology and new developments in learning science provide opportunities to create
well-designed, learner-centered, interactive, affordable, efficient, flexible e-learning
environments (Khan, 2005). This can certainly benefit both the trainers as well as the
learners on account of the varied possibilities ICT may offer making the learning of the
language easy as well as enjoyable. At the same time one may observe that a variety of
basic language skills as well a wide range of soft skills can be developed with the help
of web-based language learning activities and ICT tools. Students can be given a number
of assignments, testing their reading, written, speaking and listening skills by the
teacher/instructor and the same can be made more interactive by seeking the help of the
tools of ICT. E-mails, blogs, chats and even mobile learning are some of the interesting
tools that can be exploited quite appropriately and significantly by the teacher. Placing
emphasis on well-designed and easy to use tools can be very helpful to the teacher in
achieving this end. These tools by way of their quick feedback and quality of flexibility
find avid admirers in the student learners. In fact the capacity of computers to provide
instant and individualized feedback has long been recognized by educators (Salaberry
2001).The students find the whole experience less stressful, more exciting and certainly
more enlightening as most of them look upon technology as an important component of
their lives. They find it more credible and thus they also seem to be equally eager to tap
its immense potential to catapult themselves higher in their social and professional lives.

One of the best things about the use of ICT tools for the teaching and learning of the
English language is that it boosts collaborative learning. In the dynamic and challenging
environment of a virtual classroom or a classroom equipped with ICT tools the teachers
and the learners learn from each other in a wide variety of ways. Sharing thoughts, ideas,
views and information in such a setting with learners from different cross-sections of
the society cutting across the divisions of region and age can be powerful tool in
learning. It is interesting to see students collaborating with each other through social
media to gather information and facts, to test out theories and ideas and to gauge each
other’s opinions. By working together, students figure out how to find common ground
and balance time. Thus, one may contend that the tools of ICT have great potential not
only for individualized learning but also for group learning.

Teachers can devise ingenious ways of engaging students, using social media to teach
everything from reading and writing to literature. The teachers/instructors can also use
social media to connect with each other, share ideas, and find the best teaching tools and
practices. This generation of teachers will certainly have to improvise their conventional
methods of teaching the language which is by and large the lecture approach concerned
with the teacher imparting or transferring knowledge to the student learners. They will
have to become more willing to engage with technology. They will have to recondition

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their attitude and approach keeping abreast with the requirements of the changing times.
Media today is an integral part of our lives. Integrating it with our pedagogical practices
can be very beneficial for the both the teachers and the learners as it will ensure
broadening of the student’s mental and intellectual horizon. Technology can open up
multiple perspectives to approach Language acquisition and soft skills development.
The chalk and talk method needs to change. Technological exposure in the form of e-
books, e-libraries, blogs, CD’s, DVD’s, LCD etc. have become an integral part of one’s
world view today. It may therefore open new dimensions for general awareness,
understanding, perception, analysis and discussion which may in turn pave way for
faster skill acquisition and development of critical thinking. A judicious use of
technology in the classroom can make language learning lot more relevant, fruitful and
an enjoyable experience. To conclude one may add that technology has changed the way
the world works and therefore it may be significant to take into consideration the role of
ICT in not only academic instruction but also in the learning of the English Language.

Works Cited

Cuban, L. 2001. Oversold and Underused: Computers in schools 1980-2000.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Khan, B. H., (2005). Managing e-learning: Design, delivery, implementation, and
evaluation. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing
retrieved on 18 August 2016 from http://BooksToRead.com/elearning)

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Neo M., and K. Neo, “Innovative Teaching: Using Multimedia in a Problem-based
Learning Environment”, Educational Technology & Society Education, 4.4, 2001.

Salaberry, M. R. 2001. The use of technology for second language learning and
teaching: A retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85 (1), 39-56.

Warschauer, M., & Kern, R. 2000. Network-based language teaching. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.

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Literature & English Communication: Importance for the
Development of an Individual

Neelima Bangwal
&

Dr. Sakshi Semwal

Abstract

Communication is the major part of a being. From the ancient time, people
communicate in a varied way to make sensibility among them and now in today’s world
it is a matter of concern to communicate but it is very difficult to learn every language,
so the origin of English and the understanding of English have made it easy for every
individual to communicate.

English is the universal language .Hence good communication skills are necessary in
every part of life .It is very important to walk with the world and in the era of
globalization it is necessary for all especially for Indians to accept the language English
which is the universal accepted language and in connection with the Skill India it seems
to be important phase in the development of an individual.

As concerned to literature it plays a vital role in the development of an individual.
Literature creates a personality and helps the reader to connect with the character and
sometimes the character is so impressive that the reader wants to be like the character
shown in the particular work of any author.

Main motive of the Skill India is to raise confidence; create personalities which were
never existed before and to bring out a new individual. Literature & English
communication plays a vital role in the same and it is necessary to guide them
accordingly to make the Indians worldwide professionals, who can communicate in the
language of the world and to enhance their abilities and skills in the professional world.
Hence, it can be said that study of language and literature helps any individual to
develop.

Keywords

Communication, importance, development, activities, teaching, learning, individual,
language, systematic

Introduction

The aim of this paper to show the importance of English literature in the overall
development of an individual through learning of short stories, essays, autobiographies

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and biographies . It also emphasizes on the importance of teaching language
communication in the Skill India Program.

English as a language which is been used all over the world, first because of the
colonialization and due to the migration of people from one country to other, bring along
with new language, the language of the world i.e. English. English can be said as a
language spoken by the world. In Europe, English is progressive language, after the
World War II, it became the main language after French and started to take the place of
French language.

And with the decreasing distance between the countries, English became the major
language of communication. And hence it can be said that it is a primary language of
the countries. and also English is the official language in the large number of countries.
It is the official language of 53 countries. Learning and understanding how to
communicate in English can open doors for an individual worldwide.

Nowadays, every branch like engineering, medicine, economics, education, health,
science and social life all include English language in their curriculum and therefore it
has become an important to learn English. In the era of globalization it becomes very
necessary to communicate anywhere in the world with English. English can be consider
as weapon , a weapon to find themselves in the world of varied people with varied
language and the above statement can be verify with the quote of Chinua Achebe “My
weapon is literature”.

English can make individuals feel oneness. It does not bring with it the pacifism as it is
the language for all, spoken by all, all over the world and almost 65% of people in the
world use English regularly.

Use of English Communication for Enhancing Skill India Program

“Skill India is a campaign launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 15
July 2015 with an aim to train over 40 crore (400 million) people in India in different
skills by 2022”.

Main objective of the Skill India is to create opportunity , space and scope for the
development of the talents of the Indian youth and this talent can come out with their
training and not only training is necessary for their development but also their
communicative part, personality development should be there to make them perfect as
regard to their scope .

In communication, if we talk about the Skill India Program, it becomes more important
to make unskilled skilled with the essence of English which can bring a new personality.
Only skill is not important for an individual but too the communicative part of his/her is
also very important. We can take many examples from our region that is ‘Pahad’, where
many of the people are matured in various artistry but they are unable to show their
talent out of their country even out of their region. So, their talent is hidden and has
limited exposure. So same with the other people of India who are mastered in their skill

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but unable to show their talent and this is because they do not get the platform where
they can show their talent and this is because of their lack of communication their
inability to communicate to outer world. Language is the major barrier between them
and their customers.

With the above example it can be said that without effective communication a person is
like a deaf-dumb because he/she will unable to make any one understand and unable to
understand anyone’s view . Basically people who come for the Skill India Program are
generally from rustic background so they really need very good communication skill
which can create a new individual. Reading and learning English helps them, to create
new ideas, develop them and bring out the real essence.

As per Chinua Achebe “Art is man’s constant effort to create for himself a different
order of reality from that which is given to him”. With the above statement writer want
to emphasis on the statement that a tag which is given to person by birth can be changed
with the efforts of him/her who can come out of that tag of particular he could be known
for and this could be done only through the expression of him through the work of
literature and his expressions on the particular area and also changing his/her identity
not by agitating but by literature it can be expressed in a very authentic way.

How to enhance English of skilled through Skill India Program

 Proper class should be organized, keeping in mind the rural background of the learner.
 Things can be started with the basics, Basic English learning practice should be taken

or learning the basics of the learners.
 Special lessons should be organized for the illiterate to enhance, to make them learn the

basics so that they can learn from the beginning and they can bring out their talent which
is within.
 Constant use of the language can help to improve the communication
 To improve English, videos, interactive sessions should be played; English newspaper
and magazines should be given to learners.
 Make every student feel confident and correct them on mistakes instead of laughing.
 Maximum use of dictionary is helpful.
 Learning of English vocabulary plays a vital role, so it should be included in regular
sessions, along with idiomatic phrases.
 Tell students to write down own thoughts in a diary and maintain day to day activities
in the diary only in English language.

Importance of English Language and Literature for the Development

Literature helps an individual to develop new ideas, abstraction and assumptions and
also allows learning about our self, our history. Literature helps student to learn four
basic the skills, listening, speaking, reading and writing.

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Literature study also allows self-realization, self-identification and self-representation.
It too teaches the moral values and ascends morale. Sometimes it motivates the people
to react in a certain situation and make them strong enough to keep their view.

Literature helps us to understand the universal theme, or love, war, desire, justice and
many more. When we read this topic we become much more rational and it expands the
world in our mind and elaborates the new idea and our thinking and also helps us to be
a good denizens.

It helps us to give our view on particular topic and helps us to form opinions and English
literature can aid us in the process and it also help an individual to present themselves
as an educated member of the society . English literature also helps us to understand the
tradition, modernity and the social life of the particular period. English literature is also
very effective in understanding the concepts and the ideologies of the social life.

Literary text provides a deep insight towards a new world through another sight. They
develop the understanding of various human behavior and human psychology, life style,
tradition, living standard of the other societies..

As per Scher (1976) literary text can be used for “language practice, reading,
comprehension and possible aesthetic appreciation”. (Myuskens 1983, p. 413). he also
affirms the fact that for advancement of English language learning, literary text may be
used for the “development of knowledge of world literature, practice in reading and
discussing creative work and the introduction of literary concepts, genres and
terminologies - example recognition of figures of speech, levels of meaning and other
stylistic features”.(p. 413).

Oxford English dictionary defines language as “words and the methods of combining
them for the expression of thoughts”

Language is a very systematic form of representing your thoughts and idea .Through
language a new systematic and universal accepted law is followed and by it thoughts
and ideas can be understood easily. It focuses on the rules of writing, vocal, arbiter,
productive, dynamics, variations and human vocal symbol. And language as a means of
verbal communication can be done by the human being. It is the language which
distinguish man from any other creature.

It is very important what you say but it is more important how you say. Language
teaching not only teaches how to speak but to speak what listener want to listen
.Language too can be used as referential which refers to our surrounding and day to day
activities and it has usefulness in communication. If language learning is followed, the
idea or thought which learner want to convey will be null because the sensibility will be
lost if words will be used unsystematically. Proper use of grammatical structure should
be followed. It is the systematic study of symbol and meaning and though if we
communicate with people .knowing English language is very important as it is a unique
language and develop listening, speaking, and writing skills. And it is very expressive
and raises confidence. Stuart Mill states that “Language to be light of the mind”.

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Language has become a major tool to communicate between the worlds. And
Mittgenstans too states that “The limit of my language is the limit of my world “with
the limitations of the language it is collapsible of one personality in one’s place but
learning through language brings out the proper wheel of communication and help to
express emotions, bases of all education, it is the medium of literature and help in
development and growth of civilization.

Benefits of Various Genres of English Literature for Language Learners

The use of literature to teach English language can be traced back to over one century
ago. English language teacher realize that it can be used to reinforce the skills and
compliment language teaching. Well with the use of short stories and essays a new
scissors can be develop among students.

Learning English, a second language through short stories, essays, autobiographies and
biographies help students to improve the language skills. It helps in improving oral and
written language skills with the help of a number of activities that they go through with
the help of essays. Student can work in pairs and groups. They read essays and provide
written and verbal feedback. Students enjoy and get benefit from reading in discussing
their essays among their peer group members. They get encouragement to write essays
on various topics.

Reading short stories and essays, student gets the real example of grammatical structure
and vocabulary items that helps them to advance their competence in the language skills.

As per Roger Bacon “The conquest of learning is achieved through the knowledge of
language”.(The Opus Majus of Roger Bacon , volume -1. 2010 ). And with the study
of short stories and essays an instinct of learning can be developed giving a path to know
a new language.

If we talk about English teaching in classroom mostly short compositions are useful
because to use the long composition like novels, dramas and poetry is impractical and
problematic because of limited time of class and a large number of students .Figurative
language of poetry takes very long time to understand the meaning by the student. The
novels length made it difficult to finish it in given time period. Also dramas are found
difficult to act out in limited time period. So, as the consequences short stories and
essays are recommended to use in the curriculum for their shortness and simple
language. If the students are interested and can manage their time they can go through
long narratives.

Literature composition like short stories and essays should be selected carefully because
the shortness of the text is important for the students to understand and finish it in due
course of time. Language teacher should use suitable text to teach in class. It should be
used as per need and the requirement of the student. The output of the given information
should be kept in mind. The linguistic and sentence structure of the text should be
suitable as per the level of the student.

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Teacher who uses literature to teach English as a second language feels that various
genres of literature have benefits especially through short piece of composition like short
stories, essays, biographies and autobiographies offer material which is real and creative
and rich in language selection.Teaching through short stories is amusing motivational
in nature .It is one of the highly effective approach for teaching English language. It
helps the reader to develop reading comprehension skills being a short piece of writing,
the students get the understanding of the content easily. It can also help the student to
create a variety of writing activities to develop writing skills. Teachers can ask them to
write dialogues and provide some time to develop his/her own stories. It will improve
their creativity and imaginary powers. It also helps to raise critical thinking skills.
Students can be asked to summarize the short stories in his/her works. It will help to
improve their speaking and writing skills.

In 1972, Dell Hymns introduced the concepts of “Communication Competence” which
focuses on giving students the opportunity to participate and interact in real life
situations.

Conclusion

Learning English can open doors for the world for the professionals or skilled. It is the
language of the world. And if taught through the proper techniques and methods can
enhance the quality and the productivity of an individual. And also language learning
process can enhance the quality of an individual and also language learning process can
develop a good communication skill of the learner and too develop the personality to a
great extent. The main aim of the paper is to bring out the various methods and ways by
which English can be taught to the students and how it can benefit them with the study
of various genres of English literature.

References: Page 45
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Myuskens, J.A (1983) Teaching second language literature: Past, Present and Future.
The Modern Language Journal, 413
Pardede Parlindungan Using Short Stories to teach language skills; Christian University
of Indonesia; Jakarta, Indonesia
Phukan Saikia Rumani, Skill India Programme - objective features and advantages.
John Stuart Mill (1806) British philosopher, political, economist influence by Adam
Smith, John Locke.
Ludwig Joseph Witgenstein (1889) philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics
Spoir Edward, Language: An introduction the study of speech.1921
Faculty. washington.edu/ezens/el.htm
https://yovitadiach.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/language-as-a-means-of-
communication
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/language
http;//www.enotes.com/homework.help/what.importance.english.literature.359432.

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The Voiceless Woman: A Study in Dalip Kaur Tiwana’s
A Journey on Bare Feet

*Amandeep Kaur

Abstract

The term ‘Subaltern’ incorporates the entire people that are subordinate in terms of class,
caste, age, gender and rank, or in any other way. It is the subject position that defines
the subaltern. When it operates in terms of class, caste and gender, it is more
psychological than physical. This paper endeavors to highlight the voiceless
marginalized women in Dalip Kaur Tiwana’s autobiography A Journey on Bare Feet,
(a translation from the original Punjabi text, Nange Pairan da Safar) rendered into
English by Jai Ratan.

Dalip Kaur Tiwana is a sensitive and prolific Punjabi writer who has given a new
approach and perspective for the study of social reality of crucial issues concerning
women. The translation of her works into English, besides rendering much larger
readership, gives an insight into the deeper psychological understandings of the
peripheral existence of women in Punjab. Tiwana’s purpose is to explore and set out the
extent to which a society has established the discriminative order of caste, class and
gender. She analyzes these issues of class, caste and gender which, when viewed
together, offer a comprehensive précis of the feminist work undertaken to date to explain
men’s violence against women in a society. Tiwana posits that women who are toiling
masses are leading their life as beasts of burden and as victims of dominant caste
onslaught. It is but natural that they are mute.

The sniffles, sobs, loneliness, silence, resignation and neglect mark the lives of subaltern
an everyday reality of struggling with the hegemonic power structures. They have ‘no
say’ in the society they live in and so helplessly suffer and get marginal place or no place
at all in the history and culture of which they are the essential part as a human being.

Keywords-: Silence, Subjectivity, Stereotypes, Class, Caste and Gender

Dalip Kaur Tiwana, winner of Sahitya Akademy Award, is a sensitive and prolific
Punjabi writer who has given a new approach and perspective for the study of social
reality of crucial issues concerning women. Her purpose is to set out the extent to which
a society has established the discriminative order of caste, class and gender. She
analyzes these issues of class, caste and gender which, when viewed together, offer a
comprehensive précis of the feminist work undertaken to date to explain men’s violence
against women in a society. Tiwana’s feminist framework unfolds the subjective
position of the voiceless and marginalized women in her works. She posits that women

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who are toiling masses are leading their life as beasts of burden and as victims of
dominant caste onslaught. It is but natural that they are mute.

Admittedly, one gets realistic and authentic glimpses of the lives of women through the
creative writings of Tiwana, particularly through her autobiographical work, namely A
Journey on Bare Feet which is a historical memoir. She says in A Journey on Bare Feet,
“It is a history, history of those who have borne it (on their bodies) long before, it is
written on the pages of history. This autobiography is dedicated in remembrance to those
who have endured history on themselves” (Translation mine from the original Punjabi
text, Nange Pairan da Safar). Even if the narrative depicts Tiwana’s life history, yet it
is a history of Punjabi culture, rituals and beliefs as well. Although Tiwana’s account is
essentially personal, yet her struggle is the struggle of every woman, ‘a shared concern’.
Several concerns of women such as dowry, women’s education, the general preference
for sons and status of women form an integral part of A Journey on Bare Feet. Tiwana
has truthfully delineated realistic and authentic accounts of women, their suppression,
humiliation, sufferings, dilemmas and exploitation.

Dalip Kaur Tiwana has written this autobiography in a stream of consciousness
technique where mechanical time span of past, present and future does not work; instead
various time spans (Past, present and Future) overlap one another in a flash back
technique. A Journey on Bare Feet consists of twenty seven chapters without specifying
any date and year. Based on its content, this autobiography precisely recounts Tiwana’s
life from 1935-1980. The time span of forty five years of Tiwana’s life is beautifully
woven in A Journey on Bare Feet.

Though the entire Punjab is reflected in this narrative, nevertheless, she specifically
focuses on the areas of the Malwa and Majha that lie around and below the Sutlej. She
writes about the people there, their fates and their fortunes in their own Punjabi Malwa
dialect. She has captured their spirit through a women’s sensibility which gives a
different dimension and coloring to her writing.

Born on 4th May in 1935, Dalip Kaur Tiwana in A Journey on Bare Feet recounts her
birth in a small village of Rabbon in Ludhiana district of Punjab where she is brought
up in a wealthy traditional family of prosperous zamindaris. It was the time of pre-
independence; there were several princely states in India. Punjab was one such the then
princely state of India which Tiwana describes in her autobiographical account, A
Journey on Bare Feet. Tiwana in the backdrop of colonial times highlights the working
of zamindari system in the Punjab province. She takes notice of the richly adorned life
of Maharaja of Patiala and his Ranis in one of her visit to Motibagh Mahal with her
Aunt (younger Bua ji), where in Fort Mubarika and Lila Bhawan, Ranis and Maharanis
lived, all decked up nicely with diamonds, pure silk suits and attendants all around.

In her autobiography A Journey on Bare Feet, Tiwana first introduces us to her meek-
looking, poor and humble grandmother. Tiwana’s grandmother is a simple woman from
a Jatt family, married to a rich man, Hazura Singh. Living in a family of zamindars of
great repute, her grandmother has never been accustomed to the lifestyle of opulence
and grandeur of this royal family. All the time engrossed in different types of

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superstitions and beliefs; of sins and previous life, of birth and rebirth, of redemption
and reincarnation, her grandmother taught Tiwana to live in fear of the Almighty and
“his secret dispensation” (3). Her grandmother has lived her life as a stereotyped image
of the silent, suffering woman in a village patriarchy. Her marginalized location in an
oppressive, caste-ridden feudalistic society is not unknown to her. Every now and then
she gets reminded of her peripheral existence in that very house of zamindars. Tiwana
describes the extent of her grandmother’s internalization of her inferior position in a
society she live in by narrating an instance. She describes when Tiwana’s grandfather
gave a sum of hundred rupees to his wife while going to Nabha, the whole of the night
her grandmother could not asleep for fear of losing the money. All the time she kept
worrying, “What if I lose it? My parents are in no position to make good the loss” (3).
Tiwana, on seeing the disturbed state of her grandmother suggested her to spend the
money on daily items. Wondering at Tiwana’s suggestion her grandmother said to
Tiwana, “What a large heart you have! That’s because you belong to an aristocratic
family” (3). Her grandmother knows that she could not even think of spending such a
big amount at a go. Tiwana in the narrative traces the dichotomy between classes and
its fallout in shaping the psyche of the subalterns into pushing them to internalize their
secondary stance in the society. Likewise, Tiwana’s grandmother’s alienated stance
belonging to lower strata showcases her subdued position in an elite social milieu.

Tiwana has great regard for her grandmother whose unconditional love and preaching
has made Tiwana what she is today. Her sense of gratitude for her grandmother lies at
the core of her heart, which she acknowledges in these words: “When I was very small,
my grandmother had breast-fed me. Surprisingly, her breasts had filled with milk. I was
too young to know why my grandmother had nursed me in place of my mother.”(2).

Another very important character in this narrative is Tiwana’s mother, Chand Kaur.
Chand Kaur is a daughter of a poor peasant Hira Singh. Chand Kaur’s mother, Har Kaur
was a pious woman who died at a young age leaving behind her seven years old
daughter, Chand Kaur and two sons. After her death, Hira Singh and Sadhu Baba
Bhagwandas (Har Kaur’s foster brother) looked after the children with great care. Baba
Bhagwandas left no stone unturned in bringing them up as his own children. He has
made Chand Kaur memorize “five scriptures, the sayings of the saints and the Granth
Saheb with all its commentaries.”(26) His religious discourses too have enlightened her
mind which, henceforth, has made her a devotee like her mother, Har Kaur. His affinity
for the family was fathomless. It was only he who accompanied Hira Singh to Tiwana’s
family with an offer of Chand Kaur’s marriage to their son, Kaka Singh.

In Journey on Bare Feet Tiwana also narrates her mother’s journey in Rabbonwalli
family of zamindars. Chand Kaur, a dark complexioned is an ill-fated woman. She is a
neglected woman in the family because she has not given birth to any son, an heir to
carry on the lineage of zamindars. She has consecutively given birth to three daughters
in a marriage of five years. Besides being cooped up and suffered at the hands of her
family members, she has also witnessed the separation from her own daughters, living
under one roof. For their degree of consanguinity lies more with the paternal, aristocratic
family, she has no right either to love or show fondness for them. Her coloured skin,

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