Heteroglossia as a Dialogic Route to Metaphoricity in Education

Summoning Michail Bakhtin’s notion of heteroglossia and its relationship to metaphoricity, this chapter invites a re-conceptualized view of language use in education. The notion of heteroglossia posits the sign as a multi-discursive, diverse, ideologically and socially constructed event. A heteroglossic approach to metaphoricity is therefore contemplated as a deeply interpretive stance on the part of teachers who are open to forms of engagement with signs well beyond centripetal considerations of language that is otherwise ‘dead on arrival’ and denies its diverse potential for creative meaning-making. The chapter uses an example of research in the area of early childhood education as those years where clues to meaning are often elusive. In keeping with the central tenet of edusemiotics, emphasis is placed on interpreted meanings in action rather than isolating the sign as if it merely passes from one person to another. In the increasingly heteroglossic nature of our world, coupled with a new era of openness, diversity, and dialogue, teachers are compelled to contemplate multiple dynamic forms of semiotic engagement with learners.