Teaching Japanese using PIC symbols; A case study of an elementary school child from Bolivia

摘要

The main purpose of the present study is to advocate the method of teaching Japanese using a system of visual symbols called PIC (Pictogram Ideogram Communication), which has been normally employed for those people with communication disorders. In order to show the significance of using this kind of visual aides when talking with each other who do not share the common language, a case study was reported where employing PIC symbols was helpful in identifying the current topic of the conversation and also in recognizing the individual words whose concepts were already acquired by the child in another language.