Resumen de The Effect of Language on the Identification of Pictorial Stimuli
Learning from pictorial stimuli is increasingly gaining importance among educators. Pictures are used for cognitive and affective purposes as well as in arousing motivation and changing attitudes. The present study researches the varying effects of pictures on subjects that belong to different language backgrounds. Any one picture, no matter how simple, includes several dimensions such as size, shape, colour, etc. These dimensions may affect different viewers in different ways according to their culture, native language and level of education. One important variable is the way in which the mother tongue, whether Arabic or English, emphasises one of these dimensions over the others. The results of the study showed that the native language variable is of primary significance correlating with the degree of familiarity of the picture to the subject. The more unfamiliar the pictures are the more the effect of the language background becomes significant in emphasising certain dimensions in these pictures. The sex of the subjects also affected the denotative and connotative identification of pictorial stimuli.
