Toward Semiotic Coaching (Paris School): Change and Transformation

In a transmodern world, the current research finds commonalities between the Semiotics of Discourse (Paris School) which is intertwined with other fields such as linguistics, and coaching. The main problem and hypothesis of the present research is to argue that the Semiotics of Discourse (Paris School) can provide ʻpart ofʼ a comprehensive theoretical framework for conceptualizing coaching and its development as an academic discipline and subdiscipline. Therefore, adopting a descriptive-analytic method based on Fontanillechr('39')s ideas (Fontanille, 2003, as translated by Bostic, 2006) in analyzing and solving a case study of one of her clients in coaching, and introducing the term ʻKhodnavardiʼ being established and registered in Iran by her, the author examines this problem and hypothesis. In order to make linguistics (its types and subdisciplines), semiotics (its types, and other fields intertwined with it), and other possible, probable fields, institutions, practitioners, skills, and sciences more practical, the current and future objective of this inquiry is to elementarily introduce the process of coaching discourse as an object and corpus of transdisciplinary studies. This trajectory will finally provide the context for the localization of the academic discipline, subdiscipline, and new profession of coaching, and subsequently coaching education and studies, and coaching training: a kind of localization, entrepreneurship and job creation. Pointing out the similarities between the Semiotics of Discourse (Paris School) and coaching, and presenting a model based on “Khodnavardi”, the main achievement of this inquiry is suggesting the basics of ʻSemiotic Coachingʼ at an academic level in Iran. In addition, ʻSemiotic Coachingʼ can lead to interactions or commonalities with other fields, institutions, practitioners, skills, and sciences including pragmatism, educational linguistics, edusemiotics, change, transformation, cognitive sciences, philosophy, sociology, psychology, teaching, communication, management, human and organizational resource development, leadership, literature, cinema and theater, etc., and on the other hand, with different types of coaching like linguistic, semantic, ontological, integral, existential, narrative, cognitive, clean language, core energy, neuro-linguistic, academic, developmental, emotional intelligence, and other topics which will not be addressed for the sake of brevity.