A Semiotic Analysis of Children's Pictures: “A School Polluted by Noise

Abstract

In this study, the pictures drawn by primary school students about noise were analyzed semiotically. The study was carried out with 20 primary school 3rd and 4th grade student volunteers. Research data are the pictures drawn by the children and the semi-structured interview records. From the analysis of the students' drawings, three main themes, namely "visual indicator", "sign", and "symbol" are identified in this paper. The reasons for the noise in the school are depicted quite well in the student pictures; noise is reflected as a phenomenon that is disturbing, destructive, threatening physiological-psychological health, and negatively affecting social life and learning in school. However, there were also paintings showing that they perceived sound and noise as the same concept. Students identified calmness in the classroom with the teacher. Findings suggested that activities should be included to improve the sound and noise awareness of the students at the school, initiate awareness in school of silence as a shared social value, and physically improve school acoustic quality.