EMOTICONS IN CYBERSPACE FACILITATE COMMUNICATION
Authors: Sheibaniaghdam Ashraf , Motamadi Abbas 
Published: February 2023

Meaning is described as \"the system of mental representations of an object or phenomenon, its properties and associations with other objects and/or phenomena.\" For human beings, meaning is reflected in the form of sensory information, images and concepts.” (Bedny & Karwowsky, 2004). It is either denotative or connotative. Connotation basically includes: pragmatic and semiotic levels. Connotation and denotation are often described in terms of levels of representation or levels of meaning. Roland Barthes adopted from Louis Hjelmslev the notion that there are different orders of signification (Barthes, 1957; & Hjelmslev, 1961). The first order of signification is that of denotation: at this level there is a sign consisting of a signifier and a signified. Connotation is a second-order of signification which uses the denotative sign (signifier and signified) as its signifier and attaches to it an additional signified. In this framework connotation is a sign which derives from the signifier of a denotative sign (so denotation leads to a chain of connotations).
For most semioticians both denotation and connotation entail the use of codes. Structural semioticians who highlight the relative arbitrariness of signifiers and social semioticians who stress multiplicity of interpretation and the importance of cultural and historical contexts are hardly likely to accept the notion of a \'literal\' meaning. The denotative meaning of a sign would be broadly agreed upon by members of the same culture, whereas \'nobody is ever taken to task because their connotations are incorrect\', so no inventory of the connotative meanings generated by any sign could ever be complete, just because they are language specific.(Bamard, 1996).
The present research paper relies on the social semioticians\' concept with the null hypothesis that emoticons are interpreted in the cultural and historical contexts of any specific language.
Methodology is of qualitative research type and the technique favored for data collection is field notes and diaries.
Participants in the project included two post graduate candidates, each comprising 16 tech literate students. Students in group A were TEFL majored and those in group B were majored in Persian literature. They were asked to communicate through emoticons, while storing them in databases already developed to that end. Data elicitation was basically based on e-mailing system and the databases. The candidates were given positive feedback for developing novel, identifiable, comprehensive and mutually exclusive emoticons. This process was continued for one semester.
Number and exactness of emoticons saved in each candidate’s database and the usage made out of them were effective factors in data analysis.
The qualitative analysis of the results, which were tabularized, significantly rejects the null hypothesis.
Discussion: Based on the finding, it is safe to say that the students’ field of study does not affect the semiotic interpretation and understanding of the connotative meaning of emoticons. The performance and databases of the candidates with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds were of the same ranking level. Hence, if language learning is a process of acculturation, the result of the present study seems not to confirm the null hypothesis.
Conclusion: Based on Motamadi’s, (2009) technology and cyberspace have removed deep linguistic gaps and cultural differences; but further researches are needed to confirm the present finding.