Human Communication Research Articles

Introduction to the special issue on new approaches to figurative language research

ABSTRACT The use and interpretation of figurative expressions (e.g., irony, idiom, and metaphor) is an integral part of everyday human communication. Thus, the ability to comprehend figurative language underpins successful communication and social functioning. Despite this, there is an ongoing debate regarding the fundamental cognitive and neural processes that support figurative language comprehension. In addition, relatively little is known regarding the additional challenges that can be faced in many situations, for example, when communicating in one’s second language, or with partners from a different culture, or when integrating information across different modalities. The purpose of this special issue is to showcase some of the latest research in this area, utilizing state of the art methods to examine comprehension (e.g., eye-tracking and EEG) and investigating how certain factors, such as cultural and individual differences and multimodal stimuli affect the comprehension process.

A case for animal reference: beyond functional reference and meaning attribution

Reference is a basic feature of human language. A much debated question in the scholarship on animal communication and language evolution is whether traces of the human capacity for reference can be found in animals too. Do animals refer to things with their signals in the manner that humans do? Or is reference something that is unique to human communication? Answers to these questions have shifted significantly over the years and remain contentious. In this paper, I start by reconstructing and critically analysing three influential discussions of the ways in which animal signals refer: the theory of functional reference (Marler, Evans and Hauser, 1992), Wheeler and Fischer (2012)’s meaning attribution framework, and Scarantino (2013)’s revised definition of functional reference. I show that functional reference, both in its traditional and revised version, as well as the meaning attribution framework, fail to adequately characterise animal reference as an evolutionary precursor of linguistic reference. This is because they all overlook at least some aspects of the psychology of signal production. Nonetheless, drawing on Crockford et al. (2012, 2017), I show that we can plausibly interpret chimpanzees’ alert hoos as a case of intentional, human-like animal reference.

Auditory Versus Visual Interruptions: A Skeptical Perspective on Auditory Preemption and Suggestions for Advancing Theory

ABSTRACT Auditory preemption applies to the case where a person is engaged in an ongoing visual task and intermittently is required to engage in an additional discrete task. Some research has suggested that an interruption from an auditory discrete task is more damaging to the ongoing visual task than an equivalent interruption from a visual discrete task – a phenomenon that has been described formally as Auditory Preemption Theory. In this critical comment, I review the definition and history of the notion of auditory preemption and survey the most cited literature that has purported to show auditory preemption. I argue that the foundational evidence of auditory preemption has been characterized by shortcomings that weaken or preclude the conclusion that auditory preemption occurred. I argue that there is little evidence that the effect described by Auditory Preemption Theory is a modality effect – findings across laboratory studies appear approximately consistent with what would be expected due to sampling error if no auditory preemption effect exists. Plausible alternate candidates to explain phenomena that have been attributed to auditory preemption include startle responses, cognitive demands associated with speech generation in communication tasks, and possibly social demands associated with human communications. Suggestions from the open science movement to improve methods and theory are applied to the problem of building theories of interruption modalities. These suggestions include methodological reforms and making more explicit auxiliary assumptions about theories.

Deep learning-based sentiment analysis for social media: A focus on multimodal and aspect-based approaches

Commonly referred to as opinion mining, sentiment analysis harnesses the power of deep learning systems to discern human emotions and subjective sentiments towards a wide array of subjects. As such, it has become an integral tool in identifying and distinguishing sentences that harbor emotional biases or trends. By systematically examining sentiment-tinged data, researchers can unearth pivotal insights that not only reflect current perspectives but also predict future behaviors and trends. This process involves intricate computational models that analyze and interpret the emotional undertones embedded within a body of text. Whether these undertones are positive, negative, or neutral, sentiment analysis allows us to delve into the subtle nuances of human communication. This ability to "understand" and quantify sentiment is particularly vital in our modern digital age, where opinions and reviews shared through social media and online platforms can greatly influence public sentiment and consumer behavior. By extending beyond the literal meanings of words and phrases, sentiment analysis can provide a more comprehensive understanding of how people truly feel. It is instrumental in fields as diverse as marketing, politics, social science, and even artificial intelligence development, given its potential to gauge public opinion and predict societal trends. This paper aims to consolidate relevant research within the field of sentiment analysis conducted in recent years. Furthermore, it seeks to prognosticate the future trajectories and impacts of this rapidly evolving domain. Emphasis is placed on the role of deep learning and its transformational effects on the approach and capabilities of sentiment analysis, anticipating how its further advancement will continue to refine this intricate process of emotion recognition and interpretation.

MANAJEMEN STRATEGIS KOMUNIKASI HUMAS DALAM MENINGKATKAN CITRA POSITIF DINAS KETENAGAKERJAAN KOTA BANDUNG

Humas' strategic communication management plays a crucial role in enhancing the positive image of the Bandung Employment Service. First of all, there is a need for a deep understanding of the external and internal environments that can affect the image of the service. This research is to describe and analyse about Strategic Management of Human Communication in Improving the Positive Image of Employment Services, covering formulation, implementation and evaluation. This research uses a qualitative approach in which this research aims to analyze issues of strategic management of communication in enhancing a positive image. The research methods used in this research are descriptive methods. The location that will be the object of this research is the Government Intension located in Bandung City. The location of this research is located at the Bengal City Employment Service, located at R.A. A. Marta State No.4, Turangga, Lengkong District, Bandung City, West Java 40264. Integrating well-planned communication, this strategy is able to create message alignment across communication channels, forming a more positive public perception of the role and contribution of the Labour Service. The strategic role of communication proved to be a major driver, linking communication activities with the long-term vision of the institution and building a strong reputation. Responsiveness to the needs of the community, supported by the use of modern communication technologies, provides the ability to engage more effectively and respond quickly to emerging issues.

A Cultural Comparative Study of White and Black Colours in Spanish and Arabic Adages

The use of colours in human communication and expression is deeply rooted in cultural values and symbolic meanings. White and black are two colours that hold significant cultural history and symbolism. This comparative study investigates the cultural connotative meanings of white and black in both Spanish and Arabic adages. By comparing the cultural connotations associated with white and black in Spanish and Arabic adages, the paper highlights the similarities and differences these colours invoke in their respective cultures. The comparative study examines the adages' context and cultural background to gain insights into how colours convey meanings and reflect cultural values.

On the Pragmatic Functions of Hedges in Public Speeches

Fuzzy language is widely used in human communication, and as the most common and typical form of fuzzy language, hedges are a major linguistic strategy. From both theoretical and practical perspectives, this paper analyzes the pragmatic functions of the text taken from Barack Obama’s public speech with the discourse analysis approach based on the pragmatic theory. Firstly, the definition, classification and semantic features of hedges are elaborated; secondly, a brief introduction to public speeches is given; finally, the pragmatic functions of hedges in public speeches are analyzed in detail. The conclusion is that with the proper use of hedges, public speakers can make their words more credible and polite, so as to avoid unnecessary responsibility or criticism and to achieve their speech goals better.

Analisis Kesantunan Berbahasa dalam Daftar Putar Satu Persen Taman Edukasi: Career Preparation

Within language, there are several categories, such as language politeness, which have objectives and intents that vary depending on the context and situation of human communication. In this language civility study, attention is drawn to the goals and intentions generally contained in our language usage. This study aims to identify forms of compliance and violations of the principle of language politeness on the Satu Persen playlist of Taman Edukasi: Career Preparation. This research uses two approaches, namely the qualitative descriptive approach as a methodological approach and the pragmatic approach as a theoretical approach. The technique used in collecting data is the listen-and-record technique. Data analysis of this research is presented through a data triangulation process, which includes three stages: data verification, data presentation, and data classification. The author conducted this research hoping that public knowledge about the principles of language politeness will be wider. This study aims to identify forms of compliance and violations of the principle of language politeness on the Satu Persen playlist of Taman Edukasi: Career Preparation. The results showed that in the playlist there were thimbles of generosity, wisdom, consensus, opinion, and sympathy thimbles. However, there is no thimble of apology, forgiveness, appreciation, simplicity, and feeling. Furthermore, the study's findings demonstrate the necessity for an increased awareness of the utilization of courteous and deferential language in communication, particularly concerning the realm of education and career readiness.

Analisis Gaya Bahasa Pembelajar Bahasa Arab sebagai Bahasa Asing: Studi Kasus pada Alumni Pesantren dan Non Pesantren

Language plays an essential role for human interactions and communication and it can also show cultural, social and individual identity. Ones’ background may generate different language use in either written or spoken contexts. Against this backdrop, this research aims to explore the written language styles of Islamic boarding school and non-Islamic boarding school alumni who learn Arabic as a foreign language. This research is designed under qualitative perspective and employs a case study approach. Data was in the form of documents, obtained through informant essays about the experience of learning Arabic. Besides, the data was also collected through semi-structured interviews with two informants to further understand differences in educational background, differences in first language, family background, foreign language mastered, and exposure to Arabic. Data was analysed by reading essays then providing coding and categorization, which was carried out separately by each researchers, conducting discussions on written language styles focusing on the choice of language used from a sociolinguistic aspect. The results of this research demonstrate that the written language styles of students of Arabic as a foreign language between Islamic boarding school and non-Islamic boarding school alumni have differences in terms of lexical choice, phrases and sentence structure. Such differences happen because of the way a learner's family background, foreign language mastery, and exposure to Arabic influence the written language style. Moreover, the findings have demonstrated how different academic background, language exposure, and learning impact to one’s language style. Given the limited number of the informant, future research may consider recruiting more diverse and more participants.

FACIAL EXPRESSION RECOGNITION

Facial Expression Recognition is a system which provides an interface for computer and human interaction. With the advancement of technology and need of the hour such systems have earned the interest of researchers in psychology, medicine, computer science and similar other fields as its applications are identified in such fields. Facial expression recognizer is an application which uses live data coming from the camera or even the existing videos to capture the expressions of the person in the video and is represented on the screen in the form of attractive emojis. Expressions form the basis of human communication and interaction. Expressions are used as a crucial tool to study the behaviour in the medicine and psychological fields to understand the state of mind of the people. The main objective to develop such a system was to be able to classify facial expressions using CNN algorithm which is responsible for the expression detection and then providing a corresponding emoticon relevant to detected facial expression as the output.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ КОММУНИКАТИВНОЙ КОМПЕТЕНЦИИ УЧАЩИХСЯ НАЧАЛЬНЫХ КЛАССОВ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ОБУЧЕНИЯ БУРЯТСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ КАК ВТОРОМУ

This article is devoted to the problem and solution of the communicative competence formation of younger schoolchildren in the process of teaching Buryat as a second language. Communicative competence doesn’t appear out of nowhere, it is formed. The basis of its formation is the experience of human communication. In order to confirm the scientific validity of the theoretical propositions put forward by us, the article theoretically substantiates and develops a system of exercises based on the principle of a communicative approach. A set of exercises for teaching dialogic or monologue speech, used in Buryat language lessons, are aimed to ensure that the child passes through the actions committed by a literary hero, learns to believe, make friends, love, analyze various life situations. This approach ensures the development of the student's speech, teaches to engage in dialogical disputes about the transformation of literary heroes, gives an excellent opportunity for the development of monologue speech. The actions that a student takes while performing an exercise can be conditionally divided into three groups: truly communicative or verbal, conditionally communicative or conditionally verbal, and constructive or linguistic. The purpose of these exercises is the consistent assimilation of lexical material in the process of forming skills, abilities, ultimately, communicative competence. The developed system of exercises is focused not only on improving and further developing the level of communicative competence, but also on developing the creative potential of students, their creative abilities.

A comparative typology of verbal affixes in Riau-Malay and Sundanese

This study presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of verbal affixes in two Austronesian languages, Riau-Malay and Sundanese, with a focus on their morphological, syntactic, and semantic properties. Both languages are spoken in the Indonesian archipelago, and while they share certain linguistic characteristics, they exhibit intriguing differences in their verbal affixation systems. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of linguistic diversity within Austronesian languages and to reveal on the mechanisms underlying verb formation in these two distinct linguistic systems. By comparing and contrasting the verbal affixation systems in these languages, this study aims to reveal striking differences in terms of affix types, attachment patterns, and grammatical functions. The analysis explored the morphology of verbal affixes used in Riau-Malay and its comparison in Sundanese. It identifies clear distinctions in the ways affixes are employed to mark tense, aspect, mood, and other grammatical categories. Furthermore, the study also investigated the syntactic roles of verbal affixes, exploring how they affect word order and argument structure in sentences. This analysis exposes intriguing patterns of valency-changing operations in Riau-Malay and Sundanese. The findings of this study are expected to enhance people’s understanding of Riau-Malay and Sundanese and to contribute to the broader typological and theoretical discussions in linguistics. The comparative analysis of these two languages provides valuable insights into the ways in which languages within the Austronesian family can diverge and adapt to their unique cultural and historical contexts. Ultimately, this study may be valuable to advance our knowledge of linguistic diversity and variation, offering a deeper appreciation of the intricate web of languages that shape human communication in the Indonesian archipelago and beyond.

The Italian Bella Figura – a challenge for politeness theories

Abstract This paper examines the Italian folk concept of bella figura in the framework of politeness-theories and the various binary conceptions it provides for explaining the nature of human communication. BF is a culture-specific understanding of self-projection in everyday discourse: It is both, a cognitive concept concerning the “beautiful” embodiment of self, and a performative concept concerning the active “figuring out” of a bella figura in order to avoid its contrary, the brutta figura. Thus, the figura-concept represents a pragmatic principle for acting in line with socially accepted norms setting out a reference frame for judging social endeavours according to a culture-inherent value system. Accordingly, affinities can be assumed between the figura-concept and the sociopragmatic core notions ‘face’ and ‘politeness’. A comparison of the figura-concept with the respective first- and second-order conceptions of the two, reflects a cultural version of ‘impression management’ conceiving an image of self which coincides with Goffman’s, but not at all with Brown and Levinson’s face-concept. This makes it difficult to identify figura in relation to politeness. Connections and disconnections are discussed alongside the paradigmatic binary scales and the positive/negative value-attributes. Finally, the findings are verified by comparing the use of the respective expressions as evaluation tools.

Efektivitas Penggunaan Gadget Terhadap Anak Usia Dini

Technological developments are growing rapidly in line with the times. Technology is an important need today. This is because early childhood education is for children aged 0-6 years, early childhood education has a very important role in developing children's personalities and preparing children to enter a further level of education because technology is needed for many purposes. Technology is very easy to obtain because some prices are cheap and some are expensive according to the user's economic needs. This research uses descriptive research methods, namely by creating a detailed description of the condition of a subject or object. Gadgets are media that are used as modern communication tools. Gadgets make human communication activities easier. Now communication activities have developed even more advanced with the emergence of gadgets. Excessive use of gadgets will have a negative impact on children's social and emotional development. The bad impacts of using gadgets on children include children becoming closed individuals, sleep disorders, liking to be alone, violent behavior, fading creativity, and the threat of cyberbullying. This research uses a descriptive research method, namely by creating a detailed description of the condition of a subject or object. Descriptive research focuses on solving real problems as they existed at the time the research was conducted. In education, descriptive research works more for practical solutions than for the development of science

Listening to your partner: serotonin increases male responsiveness to female vocal signals in mice.

The context surrounding vocal communication can have a strong influence on how vocal signals are perceived. The serotonergic system is well-positioned for modulating the perception of communication signals according to context, because serotonergic neurons are responsive to social context, influence social behavior, and innervate auditory regions. Animals like lab mice can be excellent models for exploring how serotonin affects the primary neural systems involved in vocal perception, including within central auditory regions like the inferior colliculus (IC). Within the IC, serotonergic activity reflects not only the presence of a conspecific, but also the valence of a given social interaction. To assess whether serotonin can influence the perception of vocal signals in male mice, we manipulated serotonin systemically with an injection of its precursor 5-HTP, and locally in the IC with an infusion of fenfluramine, a serotonin reuptake blocker. Mice then participated in a behavioral assay in which males suppress their ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in response to the playback of female broadband vocalizations (BBVs), used in defensive aggression by females when interacting with males. Both 5-HTP and fenfluramine increased the suppression of USVs during BBV playback relative to controls. 5-HTP additionally decreased the baseline production of a specific type of USV and male investigation, but neither drug treatment strongly affected male digging or grooming. These findings show that serotonin modifies behavioral responses to vocal signals in mice, in part by acting in auditory brain regions, and suggest that mouse vocal behavior can serve as a useful model for exploring the mechanisms of context in human communication.

A Bibliometric Perspective of Regional Languages on Select Scholarly Articles

Regional languages are spoken within a specific geographical area or by a particular ethnic group and may have official recognition or be used informally. Research on regional languages is essential for several reasons. First, it helps to preserve and promote cultural heritage and linguistic diversity. Second, it can inform language policy and education practices. Third, it can contribute to our understanding of human cognition and communication. This study examines the research publications on regional languages and their impact using data from the database Web of Science from 1990 to 2022. The results indicate that research publications on regional languages have steadily increased over time. The United States ranks first in total publications. The Ohio State University has the highest number of publications among all institutions. The most frequently published journal was Zeitschrift Fur Dialektologie Und Linguistik, and the leading authors were Cynthia G. Clopper and Robert A. Fox. The analysis of keywords used in these publications showed that dialect, language policy, dialectology, bilingual education, and local language were the main research areas of interest. Overall, this study provides insights into the growing interest in regional languages and the research focus areas in this field

Next-generation healthcare infrastructure based on cross-layer optimization of biosignal sensing and communication

The human body already uses electric signals to transmit information to and from the brain and the rest of the body but is there potential to harness the complex interactions between living organisms and electromagnetic waves to advance scientific disciplines? Associate Professor Dairoku Muramatsu is the head of the Muramatsu Laboratory. He leads the Bioelectromagnetics Research Group, Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering Mechanical and Intelligent Systems, University of Electro-Communications, Japan. He is a specialist in bioelectromagnetic engineering that spans engineering and medicine interested in the interactions between living organisms and electromagnetic waves and how improved understanding of these interactions could lead to practical, real-world impacts. A key principle behind Muramatsu's research is that by passing a weak electric current through the human body and using the body itself as a path for electric signals, it is possible to exchange information between people and objects that come into contact with them. He is working to create innovative and highly usable technology by making full use of simulation and manufacturing. As research on human body communication, which is wireless communication that uses the human body itself as a transmission path for high-frequency signals, findings will play a key role in the spread of wearable devices. Muramatsu has already proposed bioelectromagnetic models that serve as a tool for a wide range of bioelectronics and sensor designs, including non-invasive blood glucose monitoring using bioelectromagnetic response as an evaluation criterion.

Cognitive Architecture toward Common Ground Sharing among Humans and Generative AIs: Trial Modeling on Model-Model Interaction in Tangram Naming Task

For generative AIs to be trustworthy, establishing transparent common grounding with humans is essential. As a preparation toward human-model common grounding, this study examines the process of model-model common grounding. In this context, common ground is defined as a cognitive framework shared among agents in communication, enabling the connection of symbols exchanged between agents to the meanings inherent in each agent. This connection is facilitated by a shared cognitive framework among the agents involved. In this research, we focus on the tangram naming task (TNT) as a testbed to examine the common-ground-building process. Unlike previous models designed for this task, our approach employs generative AIs to visualize the internal processes of the model. In this task, the sender constructs a metaphorical image of an abstract figure within the model and generates a detailed description based on this image. The receiver interprets the generated description from the partner by constructing another image and reconstructing the original abstract figure. Preliminary results from the study show an improvement in task performance beyond the chance level, indicating the effect of the common cognitive framework implemented in the models. Additionally, we observed that incremental backpropagations leveraging successful communication cases for a component of the model led to a statistically significant increase in performance. These results provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of common grounding made by generative AIs, improving human communication with the evolving intelligent machines in our future society.

Studying large language models as compression algorithms for human culture

Large language models (LLMs) extract and reproduce the statistical regularities in their training data. Researchers can use these models to study the conceptual relationships encoded in this training data (i.e., the open internet), providing a remarkable opportunity to understand the cultural distinctions embedded within much of recorded human communication.

Virtually simulated interpersonal touch negatively affects perceived closeness and social affiliation to an avatar partner

Interpersonal touch is an essential component of human non-verbal communication, facilitating social affiliation and bonding. With the widespread use of digital interfaces and online platforms in all realms of human interactions, there are fewer opportunities for communicating through touch. Popular online platforms that virtually simulate human interactions rely primarily on visual and auditory modalities, providing limited or no capacity for the exchange of tactile cues. Previous studies of virtual interactions have explored the simulation of social touch using haptic devices, but little is known about how the visual representation of interpersonal touch is perceived and integrated into a virtual social experience. In two studies we examined how the exchange of virtual touch mediated by simulated 3-dimensional human characters, or avatars, within an online virtual environment influenced affiliation towards an unfamiliar interaction partner. Surprisingly, the exchange of virtual touch negatively affected the perceived closeness and affiliation to the partner and the social evaluation of the interaction but did not affect the level of physiological arousal during the interaction. These results indicate that the visual representation of social touch is sufficient to virtually communicate touch-related cues that impact social affiliation, but the influence of touch may be dependent on the interaction context.