A schema-based cognitive linguistic study of Iraqi EFL university students' interpretations of flash fiction

Abstract EN

The study at hand makes use of the cognitive linguistics approach in order to analyze the Iraqi university students' interpretations of (one sentence) flash fiction.

Flash fiction is a fictional work distinguished by its brevity, but still offers plot and character development; it has a unique literary quality.

The study is a schema based one; it adopts Fillmore's Frame Semantics (1982) as the model for analyzing data.

The data, the interpretations of the students for the texts, are collected by a reflection test and semi structured interview.

Frame semantics is a theory that relates linguistic meaning to encyclopedic background knowledge.

The current study aims to investigate how individual experience and encyclopedic knowledge affect the participants' understanding and interpretations of such brief and rich sentences, consequently producing new meaningful contexts.

It also aims to identify the words that evoke such reflections.

The study reveals that despite the fact that the students usually have identical educational or intellectual background information and are about the same age, their previous experience and encyclopedic knowledge vary from one student to another which leads to different interpretations of the same text.

However, there is some sort of similarity in the students' interpretations in accordance with their shared cultural knowledge.

Moreover, nearly in all interpretations, the students depend on specific words as keys for interpreting the text under investigation and these words evoke the entire context of the text, sometimes away from their literal meaning.

The study is important for both linguistics and literature teachers; since it sheds light on how schema in addition to the linguistic meaning of certain words in any text affect understanding the whole context of the text.

The study at hand makes use of the cognitive linguistics approach in order to analyze the Iraqi university students' interpretations of (one sentence) flash fiction.

Flash fiction is a fictional work distinguished by its brevity, but still offers plot and character development; it has a unique literary quality.

The study is a schema based one; it adopts Fillmore's Frame Semantics (1982) as the model for analyzing data.

The data, the interpretations of the students for the texts, are collected by a reflection test and semi structured interview.

Frame semantics is a theory that relates linguistic meaning to encyclopedic background knowledge.

The current study aims to investigate how individual experience and encyclopedic knowledge affect the participants' understanding and interpretations of such brief and rich sentences, consequently producing new meaningful contexts.

It also aims to identify the words that evoke such reflections.

The study reveals that despite the fact that the students usually have identical educational or intellectual background information and are about the same age, their previous experience and encyclopedic knowledge vary from one student to another which leads to different interpretations of the same text.

However, there is some sort of similarity in the students' interpretations in accordance with their shared cultural knowledge.

Moreover, nearly in all interpretations, the students depend on specific words as keys for interpreting the text under investigation and these words evoke the entire context of the text, sometimes away from their literal meaning.

The study is important for both linguistics and literature teachers; since it sheds light on how schema in addition to the linguistic meaning of certain words in any text affect understanding the whole context of the text.