Semantic Competence Research Articles

Детермінація когнітивного та емоційного компонентів мовлення у дітей старшого дошкільного віку

The purpose of the study is to carry out a theoretical analysis of the cognitive and emotional components of speech in older preschool children. The main research methods are theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature. Analysis of research materials proved that the cognitive sphere is a multifaceted mechanism, the work of which is provided by intellectual components: sensation, perception, thinking, memory, attention, imagination and speech in particular. In cognitive linguistics, the functioning of language is considered through cognitive activity, and its processes are studied through language phenomena: awareness of speech constructions, understanding of word meanings (semantic competence),grammatically correct speech, expression of one's own opinion, improvement of speech abilities. Each speech action has an emotional accompaniment, the concept of emotions is realized through verbalized (structural-semantic, lexical) and no verbalized (facial expressions, gestures, actions) sign system. Understanding cognitive interaction with the functional speech system makes it possible to understand the more complex mechanisms of speech ontogenesis. This is especially true if there is a need to learn the language and speech of children with typical psychophysical development and speech disorders. The study of scientific statement on the issues of our study indicates the leading components of speech readiness for school, namely: cognitive (intellectual-speech) – covers the idea of semantic constructive significance of language and speech, the formation of speech components; motivational (learning motive) – understanding of social and cognitive motives of learning, their arbitrariness in the organization of behavior and during learning; activity (speech activity) – active participation in various types of speech activity, manifestation of independence, creativity, initiative, cooperation with children and teachers; emotional (verbalization of emotions and feelings) – awareness and control of their emotional state, adequate expression of emotions indifferent life situations, the ability to explain and recognize them in other people.

Quantificadores e o Problema de Frege

Em Sobre o Sentido e a Referência, Frege (2009) propôs a seguinte questão (no que segue, chamarei essa questão de ‘problema de Frege’): como é possível que frequentemente ampliemos nosso conhecimento ao descobrir a ver-dade de identidades da forma a=b? A esse problema, um caso particular do problema da onisciência lógica, Frege dá a seguinte resposta em termos da distinção sentido-referência: alguém que ignora a validade de a=b não sabe que os sentidos de ambas as expressões denotativas envolvidas na equação identificam a mesma referência. Apesar de não ser consensual, essa solução é bastante influente. Logo, seria interessante verificar se ela poderia ser generalizada para outros casos do problema da onisciência lógica. O presente artigo aborda esse tema. Pretendo aqui mostrar que o problema de Frege e a sua solução em termos da distinção sentido-referência são generalizáveis a uma família mais ampla de casos de falha de onisciência lógica associados à nossa competência semântica no uso de quantificadores. Enquanto o problema de Frege original trata de casos de ignorância sobre a correferencialidade de dois termos singulares, a versão generalizada do problema trata de casos de ignorância sobre a co-extensionalidade de dois ou mais quantificadores ocorrendo em uma fórmula. Apelando a uma caracterização bidimensionalista do conceito de sentido, sustentarei que os quantificadores apresentam um elemento indexical e, consequentemente, estão associados a uma função caráter que, em certos contextos linguísticos tolerados pela situação epistêmica imperfeita de agentes racionais médios, atribuem domínios não co-extensionais a diferentes quantificadores ocorrendo em uma fórmula.

Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Failure in Jordanian Media Discourse

Cultural differences are brought to attention basically in cross-cultural communication where members of each culture start to compare and contrast their culture to the cultures of their addressees. While some cultures like Arabic can be described as high context cultures for basically depending on non-verbal communication, other cultures might be low context cultures for relying basically on words. In cross-cultural communication, i.e. communication between speakers from different cultural backgrounds, speakers are not expected to find it difficult to understand their addressees as long as they have the required semantic and pragmatic competence. The present study examines the occurrence of cross-cultural pragmatic failure in a Jordanian social drama focusing on how pragmatic failure might contribute to communication breakdown. It is an attempt to identify aspects and sources of pragmatic failure in both Arabic and English, and to investigate how cultural factors might influence language use of native and non-native speakers. Keywords: Pragmatic failure; cross-cultural communication; politeness; sociolinguistics.

Do Children Interpret ‘or’ Conjunctively?

AbstractPreschoolers often struggle to compute scalar implicatures involving disjunction (or), in which they are required to strengthen an utterance by negating stronger alternatives, e.g. to infer that, ‘The girl has an apple or an orange’ likely means she does not have both. However, recent reports surprisingly find that a substantial subset of children interpret disjunction as conjunction, concluding instead that the girl must have both fruits. According to these studies, children arrive at conjunctive readings not because they have a non-adult-like semantics, but because they lack access to the stronger scalar alternative and, and employ doubly exhaustified disjuncts when computing implicatures. Using stimuli modelled on previous studies, we test English-speaking preschoolers and replicate the finding that many children interpret or conjunctively. However, we speculate that conditions which replicate this finding may be pragmatically infelicitous, such that results do not offer a valid test of children’s semantic competence. We show that when disjunctive statements are uttered in contexts that render the speaker’s intended question more transparent, conjunctive readings disappear almost entirely.

Classification of Spoken Errors Regarding the Communicative Competencies

Errors are inevitable in the foreign language learning process. They are indications to educators of the unlearnt knowledge and problematic areas of the learners. For this reason, it is important to investigate and classify the most frequent errors produced by non-native speakers of English. The present research investigated the spoken errors of university level learners. A classification of spoken errors using the Common European Framework for Language’s (CEFL) (2001) on the communicative language competences was developed to shed light into the difficulties which learners experience in their learning progress. Data were collected from 40 EFL learners through in class observations and recordings. The results of revealed that the most prevalent errors were produced in the main category of linguistic competences. Within the linguistic competence the most prevalent errors were produced in the sub category of lexical competence followed by grammatical competence, functional competence, phonological competence, sociolinguistic competence, pragmatic competence and lastly semantic competence. The findings have implications for educators to understand the problems which learners encounter and set more realistic expectations for themselves and their learners.

Does Hearing Loss in the Elderly Individuals Conform to Impairment of Specific Cognitive Domains?

It is well known that age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is strongly associated with dementia. Different hypotheses have been considered to explain this link, including sensorial deprivation, the reduction in cognitive reserve, and the presence of shared pathological pathways (microvascular damage of the brain). We carried out a study of the audiological and neuropsychological characteristics of a sample of hearing impaired but cognitively healthy individuals (HIH). The aim of our study was to carefully outline the neuropsychological profile of the patients in order to verify whether hearing loss correlated with deficits in specific cognitive domains. Episodic memory is affected by the presence of hearing loss, while semantic competences, syntactic, and grammar skills seem not to be affected. Furthermore, some audiological features linked to the intelligibility of spoken words can predict the presence of executive dysfunction; the same does not apply to memory impairment. In HIH, executive functions are widely employed in maintaining an acceptable level of comprehension of spoken language; consequently, other cognitive domains and instrumental abilities in HIH are not properly supported. Thus, it is arguable that programs of hearing rehabilitation for HIH could restore the allocation of attentional resources to the functioning of other cognitive domains.

Truth-Conditional Cognitivism and the Lexical Problem

When dealing with ‘meaning’ or related notions, one cannot ignore what for a long time was the dominant paradigm in semantics (call it truth-conditional cognitivism). According to such paradigm, truth-conditional formal semantics for natural language is a theory of semantic competence. In this article, I shall discuss a foundational problem for such semantic program (call it the lexical problem). I shall first be following authors who claim that truth-conditional formal semantics is unable to provide a complete account of lexical competence, and, therefore, it suffers from incompleteness. Moreover, as a few authors observed, a coherent completion of lexical meaning/competence cannot be easily provided in the philosophical framework of truth-conditional semantics. The problem is a consequence of Kripke’s and Putnam’s arguments against the view that semantic values (intension, reference) of words are cognitively determined. I shall argue that these arguments undermine the notion that formal semantics can be, at the same time, a theory of truth-conditions and a theory of semantic competence. I shall outline and critically discuss two general attempts to solve this problem, which I shall refer to as the social/ideal route and the (Fodorian) concepts route. The conclusions of the article are deliberately open. I shall argue that both these attempts are exposed to conceptual troubles and counterintuitive consequences, and so the lexical problem still remains a deep and unresolved issue for (formal) semantics.

A novel multi-word paradigm to assess semantic context effects in uncompromised and impaired language production

A novel multi-word paradigm to assess semantic context effects in uncompromised and impaired language production

Looking Forward to Play: The Persuasive Strategies of a Dog

The author analyses, with semiotic tools, the behaviour of a dog that she observed in Trieste, along the famous promenade called “Barcola”. The animal had been playing with its masters on the seashore and then brought back onto the avenue ready to go home. The dog repeatedly tried, with different strategies, to convince its masters to return to shore and continue their play. The tripling of the trials that is so typical of fairy tales was observed to have been enacted: exactly three times, the dog reproduced the sequence of running towards the parapet, glancing over the sea with guile, running towards its masters, jumping and imploring in front of them, renouncing and walking in a backward position with a lolling head. It is argued that this behaviour demonstrates a highly structured semantic, narrative and communicative competence. This study aims at connecting Semiotics and the ecological approach to cognition that takes into account not only strictly cognitive activities but a wider spectrum of strategies through which an animal develops the adaptive behaviour requested by specific environmental conditions.

The Occasion-Sensitivity of Thought

On the most common interpretation of occasion-sensitivity what varies cross-contextually is the truth-conditional content of representations. Jerry Fodor argues that when extended to mental representation this view has some problematic consequences. In this paper I outline an approach to occasion-sensitivity which circumvents Fodor’s objections but still maintains that the aspect of thought that guides deliberation and action is occasion-sensitive. On the proposed view, what varies cross-contextually are not truth conditions but rather the conditions for accepting a (true) representation as true relative to a practical goal that is pursued on an occasion. I show that although the proposal entails an error theory this theory is not problematic since it is meant to compensate for the over-generating nature of semantic competence, namely, the fact that not all of the representation’s truth-makers are conducive to a given contextually salient goal.

Auditory conflict and congruence in frontotemporal dementia.

Impaired analysis of signal conflict and congruence may contribute to diverse socio-emotional symptoms in frontotemporal dementias, however the underlying mechanisms have not been defined. Here we addressed this issue in patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD; n = 19) and semantic dementia (SD; n = 10) relative to healthy older individuals (n = 20). We created auditory scenes in which semantic and emotional congruity of constituent sounds were independently probed; associated tasks controlled for auditory perceptual similarity, scene parsing and semantic competence. Neuroanatomical correlates of auditory congruity processing were assessed using voxel-based morphometry. Relative to healthy controls, both the bvFTD and SD groups had impaired semantic and emotional congruity processing (after taking auditory control task performance into account) and reduced affective integration of sounds into scenes. Grey matter correlates of auditory semantic congruity processing were identified in distributed regions encompassing prefrontal, parieto-temporal and insular areas and correlates of auditory emotional congruity in partly overlapping temporal, insular and striatal regions. Our findings suggest that decoding of auditory signal relatedness may probe a generic cognitive mechanism and neural architecture underpinning frontotemporal dementia syndromes.

Illustration in Explanatory Dictionary

This paper has treated the syntagmatic level in the explanatory dictionaries, in the monolingual and bilingual as well, since the syntagmata in the dictionary can be dealt with as being unnoticed, because it is considered as less important than explanations or definitions or equivalents (when the dictionary is bilingual). But, if, for example, it can’t be said in the explanation that a verb or adjective can be linked with words that refer to alive and not alive objects, than the user can see the illustrative examples (the weather became cold/cold (distant) from his friend; a cold room/a cold person; a man walks/ the horse walks ; the time passes/ the work goes on; ecën koha (ecën puna). Nowadays, when the society is developing so fast and thoroughly, the use and utilisation of monolingual, bilingual, multilingual, linguistic or encyclopaedic dictionaries, is the most common and inevitable phenomenon, because these works not only are recorders of the word and phraseology, of semantic and lexical fortune, national and international one, but also have their determining importance in the acquirement of the language and in the expansion of the linguistic and communicative competence, in finding an unknown word and its semantic definition, or in finding lexical and semantic units with which creates semantic, paradigmatic, word-forming and stylistic relations etc. The illustrative examples are helpful for the full exploration of meaning and serve as an additional instrument for the characterisation of the word, showing the area of use and the typical grammatical lexicon enclosure. They also prove the stylistic evaluation and grammatical characteristic that is given to the word. The main purpose of this paper is that by relying in the subject that is offered by these kind of irreplaceable works, it will treat the importance of the syntagmatic level of the explanatory dictionary as an important part for knowing the word and its significance, to increase the lexical and semantic competence of the users of these dictionaries.

Inferential and referential lexical semantic competence: A critical review of the supporting evidence

Abstract In philosophical semantics, a distinction has been proposed between inferential and referential lexical semantic competence. The former accounts for the relationship of words to the world, the latter for the relationship of words among themselves. Recent neuroscience research suggests that the distinction might be actually neurally implemented. That is, that inferential and referential abilities might be underpinned by two functionally independent cognitive architectures, with partly different neural realizations. This hypothesis is consistent with brain patient data, supporting the notion of a functional double dissociation between inferential and referential abilities, and with neuroscience data, suggesting that inferential and referential abilities are underpinned by at least partly different regions of the human brain. The principal aim of this article is to provide the first comprehensive and critical review of the empirical evidence in favour of such hypothesis.

Application of a lexical-semantic intervention programme for students with Specific Language Impairment / Aplicación de un programa de intervención léxico-semántica en alumnado con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje

The aim of this research has been to test the efficacy of an intervention programme on lexical-semantic problems in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The sample consisted of 34 children diagnosed with SLI and 34 children with typical language development, all enrolled in different schools on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). For the selection of the sample, CELF-3, Peabody, ITPA Auditory Association and Visual Association subtests and the K-BIT IQ tests were used. The intervention programme consisted of 72 sessions of 30 minutes each, using noun and action naming activities along with conversation and categorization tasks in order to increase vocabulary and improve lexical semantic competence. Significant results were achieved in aspects related to the acquisition of vocabulary as well as in lexical semantics or related terms. The educational implications are clear insofar as lexical-semantic aspects are key in terms of activating other linguistic components and in improving the academic progress of SLI students.

Exploring the learnability and usability of a near field communication-based application for semantic enrichment in children with language disorders

ABSTRACTRecently, a few software applications (apps) have been developed to enhance vocabulary and conceptual networks to address the needs of children with language impairments (LI), but there is no evidence about their impact and their usability in therapy contexts. Here, we try to fill this gap presenting a system aimed at improving the semantic competence and the structural knowledge of children with LI. The goal of the study is to evaluate learnability, usability, user satisfaction and quality of the interaction between the system and the children. The system consists of a tablet, hosting an app with educational and training purposes, equipped with a Near Field Communication (NFC) reader, used to interact with the user by means of objects. Fourteen preschool children with LI played with the device during one 45-minute speech therapy session. Reactions and feedbacks were recorded and rated. The system proved to be easy to understand and learn, as well as engaging and rewarding. The success of the device probably rests on the integration of smart technology and real, tangible objects. The device can be seen as a valuable aid to support and enhance communication abilities in children with LI as well as typically developing individuals.

A puzzle about demonstratives and semantic competence

My aim in this paper is to lay out a number of theses which are very widely held in contemporary philosophy of language and linguistics, and to argue that, given some extra theses for which I’ll argue, they are inconsistent. Some of this will involve going through some very well-trodden territory—my hope is that presenting this familiar ground in the way that I do will help to make plain the problem that I aim to identify.

Axiom, Anguish, and Amazement: How Autistic Traits Modulate Emotional Mental Imagery.

Individuals differ in their ability to feel their own and others’ internal states, with those that have more autistic and less empathic traits clustering at the clinical end of the spectrum. However, when we consider semantic competence, this group could compensate with a higher capacity to imagine the meaning of words referring to emotions. This is indeed what we found when we asked people with different levels of autistic and empathic traits to rate the degree of imageability of various kinds of words. But this was not the whole story. Individuals with marked autistic traits demonstrated outstanding ability to imagine theoretical concepts, i.e., concepts that are commonly grasped linguistically through their definitions. This distinctive characteristic was so pronounced that, using tree-based predictive models, it was possible to accurately predict participants’ inclination to manifest autistic traits, as well as their adherence to autistic profiles – including whether they fell above or below the diagnostic threshold – from their imageability ratings. We speculate that this quasi-perceptual ability to imagine theoretical concepts represents a specific cognitive pattern that, while hindering social interaction, may favor problem solving in abstract, non-socially related tasks. This would allow people with marked autistic traits to make use of perceptual, possibly visuo-spatial, information for “higher” cognitive processing.

A physiological signature of sound meaning in dementia

The meaning of sensory objects is often behaviourally and biologically salient and decoding of semantic salience is potentially vulnerable in dementia. However, it remains unclear how sensory semantic processing is linked to physiological mechanisms for coding object salience and how that linkage is affected by neurodegenerative diseases. Here we addressed this issue using the paradigm of complex sounds. We used pupillometry to compare physiological responses to real versus synthetic nonverbal sounds in patients with canonical dementia syndromes (behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia – bvFTD, semantic dementia – SD; progressive nonfluent aphasia – PNFA; typical Alzheimer's disease – AD) relative to healthy older individuals. Nonverbal auditory semantic competence was assessed using a novel within-modality sound classification task and neuroanatomical associations of pupillary responses were assessed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of patients' brain MR images. After taking affective stimulus factors into account, patients with SD and AD showed significantly increased pupil responses to real versus synthetic sounds relative to healthy controls. The bvFTD, SD and AD groups had a nonverbal auditory semantic deficit relative to healthy controls and nonverbal auditory semantic performance was inversely correlated with the magnitude of the enhanced pupil response to real versus synthetic sounds across the patient cohort. A region of interest analysis demonstrated neuroanatomical associations of overall pupil reactivity and differential pupil reactivity to sound semantic content in superior colliculus and left anterior temporal cortex respectively. Our findings suggest that autonomic coding of auditory semantic ambiguity in the setting of a damaged semantic system may constitute a novel physiological signature of neurodegenerative diseases.

Individuelle Förderung von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit Legasthenie im Fremdsprachenunterricht

Dyslexic students have significant problems with learning a foreign language. Foreign language (FL) learning is built upon the native language (L1). The skills such as phonological/ orthographic, syntactic and semantic competences in the native language form the foundation for foreign language learning (and FL aptitude). The strength of the native language codes considerably determines the extent to which a learner can become proficient in a foreign language. Weak L1 skills inhibit FL proficiency development. That is why it is essential to provide dyslexic students with special support in foreign language classes.

Porfirio nella «Vita di Plotino». Note a una traduzione di Giacomo Leopardi

In the opening to the Dialogo di Plotino e di Porfirio, Leopardi translates cum variatione a passage from Porphyry’s Vita Plotini (XI 11-15). While respecting the words and syntax of the original Greek text with elegant rigour and heightened semantic competence, Leopardi makes a few deliberate changes, thereby giving rise to an exchange that plays upon Porphyry’s rational ethos and Plotinus’ ‘feeling of the soul’ [‘il senso dell’animo’]. The original passage is not cited in its entirety; actually, the disciple could not be present at his master’s death, thus depriving the latter of the very consolatory affections to which Leopardi’s Plotinus refers in his moving speech at the end of the dialogue. His words therefore convey an illusion, one which Leopardi knowingly withholds from the reader.