The pragmatics of the image

Abstract

The study examines visual images that appear embedded in text, within the context of teaching Hungarian as a
foreign or second language (THL). By focusing on the receptive side, the paper emphasizes that these images do
not or cannot only serve the function of illustration. Indeed, the role of the images in THL is not limited to their
aesthetic function: they contribute to the meaning-making of the text by activating the process of bisociation. By
using direct visual experience and by evoking the knowledge activated by the image, the recipient is able to create
the meaning by which the foreign language text and its components are prepared. In THL, this property of the
image facilitates the process of language acquisition, the acquisition of meaning in context which supports comprehension,
and the pragmatically appropriate use of language tools; the creation of the sequence of events of the
image can take place in a specific cultural context, specific to it. In addition, the image can also directly transfer
(socio-)cultural knowledge.