Pragmatic Use Of Language Research Articles

The association between pragmatic language impairment, social cognition and emotion regulation skills in adolescents with ADHD

Objective Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with significant pragmatic language impairment and theory of mind deficits, but there are only a handful of studies have investigated the relationship between them in these conditions. This study aimed that investigate two different aspects of Theory of Mind (ToM) (ToM decoding and reasoning), pragmatic language impairment, and emotion regulation in patients with ADHD. Method Seventy adolescents with ADHD were compared to matched 64 healthy controls. We administered Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Kiddie-SADS, Conners Parent Rating Scale, Children’s Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2), Faux Pas, Comprehension Test, and Reading Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) to all study participants. Results The CCC-2 scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in the ADHD group than in healthy controls. ADHD group had lower performance in the Faces Test and RMET compared to healthy controls, which did not survive from false discovery rate correction. We also found that CCC-2 performance and Conners scores were significant predictors of social responsiveness. Conclusion Our results point to widespread impairment in pragmatic language use and communication from many perspectives. These results might be important to understand the difficulties in social functioning and interpersonal relationship in adolescents with ADHD. Key points ADHD is associated with significant impairment in pragmatic language use and social cognitive functions. ToM-Decoding (RMET) is impaired much more than ToM-Reasoning (Faux Pas) in ADHD. Pragmatic language skills and severity of ADHD may be significant predictors of social responsiveness. Emotion regulation problems may affect communication and pragmatic language use.

KOMUNIKACNA KOMPETENCIA V ANGLICKOM JAZYKU A JEJ ROZVOJ NA PRIMARNOM STUPNI VZDELAVANIA

Development of communicative competence has become one of the most important aspects of foreign language education in the modern days. The study portrays the development of communicative competence at the primary level of education in Slovakia. The main aim of the inquiry is to identify and examine the process of developing communicative competence at the given level of proficiency by a qualitative enquiry with the use of content analysis, observation, and interview. The results and findings depict how the components of communicative competence are referred to in real teaching environment. The findings reveal that several linguistic components of communicative competence prevail in the teaching process, whereas sociolinguistic and pragmatic language use is rather neglected.

Investigating EFL speakers’ gratitude strategies: Interlanguage pragmatics

Gratitude strategies used by EFL speakers have always been the focus of interest by researchers who observed the presence of pragmatic transfer strategies by which speakers express their gratitude. We have seen that several adapted versions of Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) by Eisenstein and Bodman (1986) are constructed based on the original version and largely applied to the participants from various backgrounds. A similar methodology is used in this study and we investigated the gratitude strategies of participants, including 80 EFL learners in Turkey and 70 non-native European speakers of English at tertiary-level. We also interviewed with 44 Turkish speaking participants and used two sampling methodologies to identify the participants that could promote the data obtained from the DCTs. Our research entailed quantitative and qualitative data examined through content analysis. Primary findings indicated strong divergences and weak similarities between both speaker groups who resorted to the speech act of thanking compared to non-native European speakers who also differed in thanking strategies. Finally, we have been provided with valuable indications for the constituent parts of the language teaching that neglect the instructional side on the pragmatic use of language for gratitude and other speech acts.

Comparison of Adaptive Functioning in Children with Williams Beuren Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Syndrome Study.

Williams Beuren syndrome (WBS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been long considered as "polar opposite" disorders. Although children with WBS appears to be hypersociable, recent researches have revealed difficulties in socio-communicative skills such as shared attention, showing or giving objects, social relationships comprehension, pragmatic use of language, and emotion's recognition. The aim of this cross-syndrome study is to compare clinician-report adaptive profiles of two wide developmental range children by means of Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Interview Edition, Survey Form. Eighty individuals, 40 with WBS and 40 with ASD (31 preschoolers and 49 scholars) with ASD and WBS matched for chronological age and developmental/cognitive level were recruited. Analysis of domains and subdomains have been reported. Results showed no significant difference in global adaptive level between WBS and ASD in both preschooler and scholar children. Communication domain significantly differ in preschoolers (higher in WBS children), but not in scholars. Expressive subdomain significantly differ in both preschoolers and scholars (higher in WBS children). Play and Leisure subdomain significantly differ in scholars (higher in WBS children), but not in preschoolers. Our results support hypothesis on a shared global adaptive impairment in children with WBS and ASD, by extending this findings to scholar-age children. Analysis of domains and subdomains differences highlight the need for interventions targeting social-pragmatic skills since first years of life. Differences in preschoolers and scholars adaptive profiles could be explained through a developmental perspective. LAY SUMMARY: Little is known about differences in adaptive profiles between Williams Beuren syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. Our results show similarities in global adaptive level and difference in communication level. Furthermore, expressive skills seem to be higher in Williams Beuren Syndrome. Autism Res 2021, 14: 748-758. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Using Gesture To Identify and Address Early Concerns About Language and Pragmatics.

Speakers and signers naturally and spontaneously gesture when they use language to communicate. These gestures not only play a central role in how language is used in social situations but also offer insight into speakers' and signers' cognitive processes. The goals of this article are twofold: (1) to document how gesture can be used to identify concerns in language development and (2) to illustrate how gesture can be used to address those concerns, particularly with respect to pragmatic development. These goals are explored in this article, with a focus on deaf and/or hard of hearing (DHH) children. Medical providers and allied health professionals, as well as educators and parents, can use the information gleaned from the gestures of DHH children to determine if intervention is needed. Gesture can also be used to design interventions, including interventions in which children who are DHH are presented gestures in combination with speech or signs and interventions in which they are encouraged to gesture themselves. Children's gestures not only increase their learning potential but also create opportunities for medical and health professionals, as well as educators and parents, to gain access to a DHH child's unspoken and unsigned ideas, capitalizing on the opportunity to provide intervention when it is likely to be effective.

Current Research in Pragmatic Language Use Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.

In this article, we provide a narrative review of research literature on the development of pragmatic skills and the social uses of language in children and adolescents, with a focus on those who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). In the review, we consider how pragmatic skills may develop over time for DHH children and adolescents depending on age, language context, amplification devices, and languages and communication modalities. The implications of these findings for enhancing intervention programs for DHH children and adolescents and for considering ideal contexts for optimizing the pragmatic development of DHH children are considered.

فعالیة برنامج تدریبى قائم على الاستخدام البراجماتى للغة فى تنمیة التفاعل الاجتماعى والثقة بالنفس لدى أطفال اضطراب التوحد The Effectiveness of a Training Program Based on the Pragmatic Use of Language in Developing Social Interaction and Self-Confidence among the Autestic Children

هدفت الدراسة إلى التحقق من فعالية برنامج تدريبى قائم على الاستخدام البراجماتى للغة فى تنمية التفاعل الاجتماعى، والثقة بالنفس لدى أطفال اضطراب التوحد. تکونت عينة الدراسة من (5) أطفال من ذوى اضطراب التوحد بمرکز مملکة الطفل للتوحد بولاية عبرى بمحافظة الظاهرة بسلطنة عمان، تراوحت أعمارهم بين (5-9) سنوات بمتوسط عمر زمنى (7.25 )، وانحراف معيارى (1.70). وتم استخدام الأدوات التالية وجميعها من إعداد الباحثين وهى: مقياس الاستخدام البراجماتى للغة – مقياس التفاعل الاجتماعى – مقياس الثقة بالنفس – برنامج قائم على الاستخدام البراجماتى للغة، وباستخدام اختبار ويلکوکسون للقياسات المرتبطة تمت معالجة فروض الدراسة. وقد أسفرت الدراسة عن النتائج الآتية: وجود فروق دالة إحصائيا بين متوسطات رتب درجات أطفال المجموعة التجريبية فى القياسين القبلى والبعدى للبرنامج على مقياسى: التفاعل الاجتماعى، والثقة بالنفس لصالح القياس البعدى. وعدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيا بين متوسطات رتب درجات المجموعة التجريبية فى القياسين البعدى والتتبعى للبرنامج على مقياسى: التفاعل الاجتماعى، والثقة بالنفس. وتشير هذه النتائج إلى فعالية البرنامج التدريبى القائم على الاستخدام البراجماتى للغة فى تنمية التفاعل الاجتماعى، والثقة بالنفس لدى أطفال اضطراب التوحد. The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a training program based on the pragmatic use of language in developing social interaction and self-confidence among children with autism disorder. The study sample consisted of 5 children with autism disorder at the ChildKingdomCenter for Autism in IbriState, Al Dhahirah Governorate, Oman. The participants ages ranged between (5-9) years with an average age of (7, 25), and a standard deviation of (1,70). The following instruments were prepared by the researchers: the pragmatic use of language scale, the social interaction scale, the self-confidence scale, a program based on the pragmatic use of language and were adopted in the study. Through using the Wilcoxon test for the associated measures, the study hypotheses were addressed. The study yielded the following results: there were significant differences between the rank averages of the experimental group scores in the pre and post measurements of the program on the scales (social interaction, and self-confidence) in favor of post-measurement; there were no significant differences between the rank averages of the of the experimental group scores in the post and follow- up measurements on the scales (social interaction, and self-confidence). The results of the research revealed the effectiveness of a training program based on the pragmatic use of language in developing social interaction and self-confidence among children with autism disorder.

The correlation between white matter integrity and pragmatic language processing in first episode schizophrenia

Objective: Higher-order language disturbances could be the result of white matter tract abnormalities. The study explores the relationship between white matter and pragmatic skills in first-episode schizophrenia. Methods: Thirty-four first-episode patients with schizophrenia and 32 healthy subjects participated in a pragmatic language and Diffusion Tensor Imaging study, where fractional anisotropy of the arcuate fasciculus, corpus callosum and cingulum was correlated with the Polish version of the Right Hemisphere Language Battery. Results: The patients showed reduced fractional anisotropy in the right arcuate fasciculus, left anterior cingulum bundle and left forceps minor. Among the first episode patients, reduced understanding of written metaphors correlated with reduced fractional anisotropy of left forceps minor, and greater explanation of written and picture metaphors correlated with reduced fractional anisotropy of the left anterior cingulum. Conclusions: The white matter dysfunctions may underlie the pragmatic language impairment in schizophrenia. Our results shed further light on the functional neuroanatomical basis of pragmatic language use by patients with schizophrenia.

Profiles and Predictors of Academic and Social School Functioning among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objective: The purpose of the study was to identify profiles and predictors of academic and social functioning in a sample of school-age children with autism spectrum disorder. Method: The study included 178 children (88% boys, 75% Caucasian, ages 10–11) who completed a standardized measure of academic skills and whose teachers completed a related measure. Measures of both academic and social performance were used to construct profiles of school functioning. Measures of language, nonverbal IQ, autism symptom severity, behavior difficulties, and early social-communication skills between ages 3 and 4 were used to examine predictors of profile membership. Latent Profile Analysis was used to identify and describe profiles of children’s academic and social school functioning. Profile membership was then regressed on each of the predictors using a series of multinomial logistic regression models. Finally, a multivariate model that included all significant predictors was built to examine the best fitting constellation of profile predictors. Results: Four profiles – reflecting variation in academic achievement, school engagement, socialization skills, pragmatic language use, and social relationships – captured the diverse school functioning outcomes of the sample. Profile membership was predicted by variation in imitation, responding to joint attention, language ability, nonverbal IQ and behavior difficulties between ages 3 and 4 years. However, in a multivariate model, only language and behavior difficulties emerged as significant predictors. Conclusions: A person-centered approach to targeted early intervention that reduces behavior difficulties and enhances social-communication and language abilities may prove especially important for the promotion of later academic and social functioning at school.

Politeness in Teacher-Student Interactions in a Kenyan Secondary School Context and Implications for Pedagogy in Communication Skills

It is commonly agreed that politeness is reflected in the pragmatic use of language (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Although the politeness phenomenon is universal, with many expressional similarities, each language possesses norms and ways of expressing politeness within a given cultural context. The Kenyan school syllabus caters for the teaching of these politeness expressions across all levels of the curriculum and learners are expected to observe the same. This study sought to investigate the impact of the teaching of politeness strategies on their pragmatic use by secondary school students. Through a case study, the study looked at what strategies are used by documenting interactions in varied forums outside the classroom. The study therefore considered the verbal expressions of politeness strategies. The study finds Kenyan secondary school students limited in the use of politeness strategies and that the English language politeness strategies are at variance with the students’ cultural orientation. The study makes recommendations on how learners can be better equipped in the use of politeness strategies for improved communication.

Pedagogical Foci of Teaching Cantonese as a Second Language

When the West met East at the Pearl River delta during the 19th century, learning Cantonese as a second language was rooted in the area. Nowadays, there always exists a need by expatriates who are living and working in Hong Kong for learning the local language. The field was developed and influenced by theories in TESOL and foreign language education. It is also inspired by ideas and concepts of teaching Chinese as a second language since the learning of Mandarin Chinese has rapidly spread out in recent decades. Teaching Cantonese as a second language has developed with its own characteristics. This article reviews the development of teaching Cantonese as a second language in terms of pedagogical framework and teaching approaches. The article presents different pedagogical foci in the field of teaching Cantonese as a second language and discusses the academic debates whether to focus on linguistic competence or on pragmatic language use when teaching Cantonese as a second language in Hong Kong.

Linguistic and Pragmatic Devices in King Abdullah’s Speech: A Political Discourse Analysis

This article investigates a speech delivered by King Abdullah of Jordan at Oxford University. The study is carried out on the basis of political discourse analysis. The researcher commences by outlining the growth of concept of discourse, and elucidating features of political discourse. At a later stage, the scrutiny deals with the analysis of linguistic and pragmatic devices which are utilised in the speech. This paper has revealed those features that are employed in the discourse; to be precise, these are: the use of first person deixis, metaphor as a rhetoric figure, repetition, term choice, and the pragmatic use of language. Eventually, the text analysis demonstrates that the King’s speech can be envisaged as a political discourse whose structure is convincing and influential. The researcher has proved that the speech is rich in linguistic elements which are certainly indispensable in language of politics.

Multilingual learners in London mainstream schools: Policy, practice and professional development

This paper is a summary of a report section produced for LUCIDE (Languages in Urban Contexts: Integration and Diversity in Europe) project and network, funded by the EU Commission Lifelong learning programme 2011–2014, based on the collected primary and secondary data. This summary focuses on multilingualism in mainstream education. The full report addresses multilingualism in several other areas: public, economic, private sphere and urban spaces. It is available on: www.urbanlanguages.eu.
 
 Considering the size, population and complexity of London, our specific focus is on one local authority (out of an existing 33): the City of Westminster, geographically the heart of this metropolis. Westminster is in many ways representative of London language trends. It shows some of the most prominent features of multilingualism in London: an extraordinary linguistic variety with a wide distribution of languages, where no one language is dominant.
 
 The aim of this research is to gain insights into experiences of multilingual learners in London in regards to: education practice and relevant policies. Primary data was collected by a team of four researchers who consulted 82 professionals relevant to the identified spheres of practice. The methods used were interviews and questionnaires. The sampling was purposive in terms of relevant professions: education, social work, public services, police and finance
 and business sector professionals. The theoretical framework used to develop our approach is the typology of language use, which distinguishes: symbolic, pragmatic and authoritative language use.

Augmentative and alternative communication: from qualification to speech, language and hearing science clinical practice

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the qualification of the speech language and hearing therapists and their clinical performance with Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Methods: a descriptive, transversal, individual and contemporary study. Data were collected through a questionnaire, filled by twenty-four speech therapists, selected by a convenience sample. Content analysis was chosen for data study. Results: regarding access to the information media, all speech therapists in the sample presented the initiative to supply the absence of language training with Augmentative and Alternative Communication by different means. Regarding the dual focus on intervention, all speech therapists were favorable to this practice. However, according to experience, they reported resistance from the family, school and other therapists. The results showed two different types of introduction implementation and use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication, predominantly formed by strategies contemplating the pragmatic use of language through the contextualization of significant activities for the user. The other way used the Picture Exchange Communication System. Conclusion: the speech-language and hearing therapists in the present study inserted different interlocutors in the intervention, guided by implicit or explicit linguistic principles, by theoretical frameworks specific to the area of Augmentative and Alternative Communication knowledge, by global neuromotor elements and, finally, by principles of functionality and general wellness.

Concrete images and abstract metaphorical extensions in the encounter between language and music: Hsu Chih-Mo's poem “Serendipity”

Although previous studies on metaphor and music have yielded fruitful results in the past decades, none of them have investigated the complex “one-to-many” relationships between metaphor and music in compositions based on the same lyrics in examining how verbal metaphors are mapped on, transformed into, and combined with the musical/aural mode of the compositions. To bridge this gap, this study provides a detailed metaphor-based and musical analyses to examine the transformation of verbal metaphors in the classic Mandarin Chinese poem “Serendipity,” written by the famous poet Hsu Chih-Mo (徐志摩), into multimodal metaphors in four musical versions.Our findings show that the lyrics of the poem have been transformed into the musical mode both visually and aurally through the highlighting of the “concrete images” and “abstract metaphorical extension” of metaphors, providing a method for categorization of the concrete-abstract continuum of compositional patterns and musical techniques. Furthermore, we demonstrate the following findings that have not been addressed in previous studies on metaphor and music, especially within a multimodal context:(1) The “chain of metaphors,” the interactively echoing relationship between metaphors resulting in the coherent and holistic multimodal representation, may be a significant feature distinguishing the differences between metaphors in multimodal and monomodal modes; (2) both the concrete relationships of space and the abstract attributes of emotion can be mapped onto various representations of prominent musical features like increasing/decreasing dynamics, high/low keys, increasing/decreasing figures, dark/bright timbres, and wide or narrow tonal range; (3) the pictorial effect shown in the score and prominent musical features, deemed to be visual and aural cues, function to construct the scenario of the metaphor and to activate imagination, interpretation, and the multimodal esthetic appreciation. In summary, this study heralds a new way of thinking about multimodal metaphor, which could shed light on interdisciplinary studies of the interface between pragmatic multimodal use of language and music and the esthetic experience of art appreciation.

Auditory Training Effects on the Listening Skills of Children With Auditory Processing Disorder.

Children with auditory processing disorder (APD) typically present with "listening difficulties,"' including problems understanding speech in noisy environments. The authors examined, in a group of such children, whether a 12-week computer-based auditory training program with speech material improved the perception of speech-in-noise test performance, and functional listening skills as assessed by parental and teacher listening and communication questionnaires. The authors hypothesized that after the intervention, (1) trained children would show greater improvements in speech-in-noise perception than untrained controls; (2) this improvement would correlate with improvements in observer-rated behaviors; and (3) the improvement would be maintained for at least 3 months after the end of training. This was a prospective randomized controlled trial of 39 children with normal nonverbal intelligence, ages 7 to 11 years, all diagnosed with APD. This diagnosis required a normal pure-tone audiogram and deficits in at least two clinical auditory processing tests. The APD children were randomly assigned to (1) a control group that received only the current standard treatment for children diagnosed with APD, employing various listening/educational strategies at school (N = 19); or (2) an intervention group that undertook a 3-month 5-day/week computer-based auditory training program at home, consisting of a wide variety of speech-based listening tasks with competing sounds, in addition to the current standard treatment. All 39 children were assessed for language and cognitive skills at baseline and on three outcome measures at baseline and immediate postintervention. Outcome measures were repeated 3 months postintervention in the intervention group only, to assess the sustainability of treatment effects. The outcome measures were (1) the mean speech reception threshold obtained from the four subtests of the listening in specialized noise test that assesses sentence perception in various configurations of masking speech, and in which the target speakers and test materials were unrelated to the training materials; (2) the Children's Auditory Performance Scale that assesses listening skills, completed by the children's teachers; and (3) the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamental-4 pragmatic profile that assesses pragmatic language use, completed by parents. All outcome measures significantly improved at immediate postintervention in the intervention group only, with effect sizes ranging from 0.76 to 1.7. Improvements in speech-in-noise performance correlated with improved scores in the Children's Auditory Performance Scale questionnaire in the trained group only. Baseline language and cognitive assessments did not predict better training outcome. Improvements in speech-in-noise performance were sustained 3 months postintervention. Broad speech-based auditory training led to improved auditory processing skills as reflected in speech-in-noise test performance and in better functional listening in real life. The observed correlation between improved functional listening with improved speech-in-noise perception in the trained group suggests that improved listening was a direct generalization of the auditory training.

Negation Markers in Kalmyk

Focusing on changes to the system of negation in Kalmyk, this paper will discuss the diachronic development of the expression of negation and will examine the results of grammaticalization process in negation system on synchronous level with special attention to innovations occur in colloquial speech. The goal of this paper is to report on a corpus-based study comparing the syntactic form, scope and pragmatic use of negative markers in Kalmyk. I will try to describe patterns of pragmatic language use of negative affixes or full negative copulas in written and spoken Kalmyk and to find explanations to both synchronic variation and to changes in a diachronic perspective.The paper deals with semantic, pragmatic, and morphosyntactic properties of all these negative markers, however, it focuses on the competition of two main markers of sentential negation and its contracted variants in Kalmyk used both in nominal clauses and in declarative sentences. I argue that there is new cycle of development in Kalmyk and the process of specialization goes through ambiguity of new negative marker to the pragmatic and semantic differentiation depending on the scope of negation and the information structure of sentence.

TALIP Perspectives, Guest Editorial Commentary

In hopes of sparking a discussion, I argue for much needed research on automated deception detection in Asian languages. The task of discerning truthful texts from deceptive ones is challenging, but a logical sequel to opinion mining. I suggest that applied computational linguists pursue broader interdisciplinary research on cultural differences and pragmatic use of language in Asian cultures, before turning to detection methods based on a primarily Western (English-centric) worldview. Deception is fundamentally human, but how do various cultures interpret and judge deceptive behavior?

What can software tell us about political candidates?

This study evaluates a computerized text analysis program, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), by investigating the relationship between the discourse and personalities of presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2008 presidential election in the United States. Analyses of speech samples (N = 141) from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, and Sarah Palin were conducted using LIWC. The results show that in the context of political speech events, such as media interviews, political candidates make unique linguistic choices, which may be interpreted as displaying distinct personality traits. Yet, despite the statistical significance of the results, there are salient limitations of utilizing computerized methodologies to analyze political speech events, such as the limited interpretative capacity of the software to understand pragmatic and contextual language use.

L'entretien de recherche avec des personnes ayant une trisomie 21. Spécificités du discours et réflexions sur les soutiens

The pragmatic use of language by young people with Down's syndrome is studied through the analysis of some research interviews that were part of a more extensive study 1 . Three main types of speech are identified: interviewee vs interviewer-managed discourse; discourse produced in dialogue. Their properties are compared with each other and illustrated using brief extracts from the verbatim reports. The results show that interviewee-managed discourse usually characterizes the beginning of the interview, while discourse produced in dialogue occurs when the person with Down's syndrome is answering a question which s/he is particularly interested in or when s/he is sharing a personal story. Interviewer-managed discourse would seem to indicate that the interviewees need time to enter into dialogue. These results show that the depth of the interview is due to mutual interactions.