Semantic Theory
Catherine Choo
John Jay College
English 201 Winter 2014
Abstract:
The Semantic Theory is how language is interpreted and how it changes. The Semantic
Theory would show unusual response from an individual. However, there are many areas
that is part of the Semantic Theory. Semantic Theory affects the vocabulary that kids learn
throughout their childhood. So, my partner and I conducted an experiment that require all
the participants to interpret and describe what they were shown to. Each participant took
different steps to determine a main concept. Some participants only saw what popped out at
them than looking at the whole picture whereas some got into detailed about the picture.
The data collected simply shows that some people would take that extra step to understand
the meaning of the context than just jump to conclusion. This experiment was based off the
knowledge of each individual. The experiment was not all perfect because of some flaws,
such as the time limit we had and the limited amount of participants, but we can conclude
that each person is different and each brain works differently from one another.
INTRODUCTION:
It's funny how people say that you can shape kids into who they are at an early age.
However, it is true with the Semantic theory. The semantic theory is how language is
interpreted and how it changes. It includes how the meaning is usually constructed,
interpreted, illustrated and paraphrased. It can occur at a young age therefore, it can affect
one's learning ability in the future. There are sources that describes what the Semantic
theory could be. My partner and I decided to conduct an experiment that can test out
different interpretations of different contestants, but before we can carry on the experiment,
we research more about the semantic theory.
A source that talks about the Semantic theory is an organization web page includes that
because of the Semantic theory, unusual response would occur. People who has Semantic
theory would usually have trouble with abstract words, idioms/sayings, and that people with
this would not be able to identify topics. (“Semantics.” Information for Families: Semantic
and Pragmatic Difficulties. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.)
Although the organization webpage talks about the Semantic Theory, another source that is
used is a resource site that tells what the semantic theory is for language. This source list
out many areas that is part of the Semantic Theory, however many of them are different, but
similar to the point that language is affected. Although, the overall theory of Semantics is
“An understanding of semantics is essential to the study of language acquisition (how
language users acquire a sense of meaning, as speakers and writers, listeners and
readers) and of language change (how meanings alter over time).” Which can be said in
simple word is that semantics deals with one’s interpretation of a subject.
(“Semantics.” Semantics. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.)
A different source is an organization resource that is used. This resource explains how the
Semantic theory affects with the vocabulary that kids learn throughout their childhood. A
person with Semantic theory “…may present with poor word and world knowledge and have
difficulty expressing their thoughts because of lack of flexibility in using words.” (“The
Vocabulary of the School-Age Child.” The Vocabulary of the School-Age Child. N.p., n.d.
Web. 15 Jan. 2015.)
METHODOLOGY:
As a researcher, I had to write down some important facts that the participants had pointed
out and showed the participants the pictures they had to see. As for my partner, she
showed the participants the saying that they have to interpret and made the participants felt
like they were in a conversation. Along with engaging participants, my partner recorded the
participants with her phone. All the participants had to do were to interpret and describe.
Our participants consisted of two females and two males. The two females are both
Hispanic. One male is Asian and the other is Caucasian.
RESULTS:
As my partner and I did our experiment, we realized that for the pictures, they told us what
they saw, which was fine because it helps us determine what they saw first and how they
figured that out. It showed us how they perceives things and what they perceived. Although
some people saw the same things, they took different steps to determine it. For example,
one of our female and one of our male participants figured that the second pictures was
interpreted as “half glass full, and half emptied” whereas one of our male participants
pointed out that one of the cups was just orange juice in liquid form and the other is orange
juice in ice form. From there, he determined the perception of half glass full and half glass
emptied.
One of the eight things that we showed the participants had four different interpretations.
That was the second quote which said “All bibles are man-made.” The different
interpretation we obtained constructed around the idea of bible, god, and humans. The
different interpretations we got were:

“A bible of what people thinks”; “story telling” –Female

“Bible is inspired by other people” –Male

“It is written by another person”; “opinions” –Female

“No one knows the truth about god.” –Male
The data that we collected was mainly on what they saw in pictures and what they read.
The pictures showed an image within another image, which was known as optical illusions
to see if we have various outcomes, which did happen. Some participants only saw what
popped out at them than looking at the whole picture. As for the sayings, some participants
only interpreted some quotes as the way they were written. The participants mainly
produced their own interpretations. Although some of the interpretations from all four
participants were the same, they used different steps to figure it out and the way they said it
while interpreting were different.
DISCUSSION:
In our experiment, there could be a lot of meaning from the data we collected. It could mean
that the participants said what they saw and not interpret the meaning or they had different
views. The data simply shows that some people would take that extra step to understand
the meaning of the context than just jump to conclusion. For this experiment, there isn’t any
right or wrong answer. This experiment was conducted to see the different perception of the
participants. The error in the data is that my partner and I didn’t ask them to interpret a
deeper meaning to what they said they saw. There wasn’t much that the data didn’t show
because the experiment was simple but it does raise a question for me on what else the
participants would interpret if they were to be shown the same thing again or if they had
more time to look at it.
This experiment was based off the knowledge of each individual. It was not conducted to
see what their intellectual level are. It was conducted to see how each individual take
various steps to get different or the same concept of a literature/art. There may not be a lot
of variety of answers obtained in the experiment. But because of the different interpretations
that were collected showed that each individual’s brain works differently than others.
Overall, the experiment went well. The experiment didn’t proceed like how we would have
thought it’d turn out. The participants didn’t really have much reaction towards participating
in the experiment due to the fact that they just had to say what they first thought of when
they saw what was shown to them. At first, my partner and I thought of just showing the
pictures for just 30 seconds to the participants, but instead, they were allowed to just look at
the picture and say what they first thought of and that they interpreted at the end. However,
there were other flaws, such as the time limit we had and the limited amount of participants.
CONCLUSION:
This overall experiment showed us what we needed to see. Some data we had were
different, and some contestants took an extra step to see how they get to the general idea.
Meanwhile, some didn't need to take that extra step. The Semantic theory can be a
plausible theory, but each person is different and each brain works differently.
Addendum:
Quotes/Sayings:
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“Life is a zoo in a jungle.” –Peter Debris
“All bibles are man-made.” –Thomas Edison
“It takes two to tango.”
“Sit on the fence.”
Pictures:
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