I chose this article because I planned to do my thematic unit on this book and somehow use the idea of cultural differences. I had not looked at the cultural difference in relationship to the language component that the author talks about.

This article by Ann Mosely focuses on the book “Sign of the Beaver” in regards to two related tenants of communication: Semiology, a science developed by Jonathan Culler and others, which studies how “signs” are part of the total language system of a culture, and the principles of langue (system of signs) and parole (individual expression of the system) developed by Saussure, who recognized that each sign consisted of a “signifier” (a sound-image) and a “signified” (meaning).  I thought the way the author presents the concepts made it very difficult to understand the subtle difference.

In her article, Mosley attempts (I believe successfully) to show how two boys from different cultures and communication systems, through the sharing of their communication systems “symbols”, can come to understand each other and respect the cultures that shaped them.

The book’s main characters are Matt (who represents the white-man culture) and Attean (an Indian). Attean’s tribe has been victimized by the white-man, through the misunderstanding of treaties that have cost them their land. Atteans’ grandfather, Saknis, comes to understand that the white-mans system of “signs” (his written words) hold a kind of power that the tribe does not understand, and he asks Matt to teach Attean his written language. In the book Saknis understands oral English, but not the graphic meanings, since he brings a different set of cultural values to the signs. His understanding of the “signified” is different than the White mans.

As Matt teaches Attean, he uses Robinson Crusoe as the example of language, and showing the language system in context which provides Attean a way to correctly relate the signs to a different cultural system.

But in teaching Attean, Matt is forced to examine his own language and the cultural bias he had, and through his expression of the language system, he begins to change his own “langue”.

Although writing is emphasized as Matt’s primary communication component in the story, Attean’s main communication is orally, as he retells Robinson Caruso to his village. This follows suite with the Indian culture, which is based upon groups, and requires oral communication for audience participation and expression. This contrasts with the white-mans written language, which is more solitary and fragmenting. This shows how the various cultural communication methods lend to that culture seeing and understanding the world in unique ways.

Another example of the difference in language between Matt and Attean is emphasized in the book for the sign of the beaver. Indians use an iconic symbol to represent the beaver, while the white man uses a symbolic sign (the word “beaver”) which only arbitrarily links the symbol with the reality of what is trying to be communicated.

Throughout the story, Matt and Attean learn more about each others language of signs and how each others culture communicates, and in doing so, begin to respect the others culture.

While I think some of the concepts of communication addressed in this article would be very difficult for students to comprehend, I think that my own awareness of the communication difference will help me to point out these differences to the students.