Speaker's Perspective Research Articles

Understanding delusions to improve our mutual interactions: A précis of <i>"Why Delusions Matter"</i>

Why Delusions Matter is a reflection on the importance of the study of delusions for better understanding and reshaping our mutual interactions. The study of delusions has transformed the philosophy of mind and psychology in the last thirty years, helping redefine the relationship between rationality and intentionality. It has still a lot to offer to emerging areas at the intersection of ethics and epistemology. These are areas where the focus of the investigation of beliefs is moving from a painstaking assessment of the individual’s cognitive achievements and failures to a broader examination of the environmental and social pressures on the adoption, revisions, and maintenance of beliefs at individual and collective levels. In the book, there is an exploration of the notion of delusionality across clinical and non-clinical contexts which shows how delusions are meaningful beliefs that matter to the speaker's identity but are received by the interpreter as implausible and unshakeable. Delusions are not pathological by default, but they can bring epistemic and psychological costs as well as temporary benefits. Although a speaker's delusions can make collaboration difficult, this should not discourage interpreters from attempts at genuine engagement. Delusions are not a sign of a breakdown in the speaker's capacity for agency and thus understanding them can help interpreters appreciate the speaker's perspective.

Interpreting referential noun phrases in belief reports – the de re/de dicto competition

The de re/de dicto ambiguity centers on the referential and/or attributive properties of noun phrases within the scope of intentional operators, such as belief reports. For instance, in the belief report "Julie believes Elizabeth’s poem will win the competition," a de re reading of the embedded referential noun phrase "Elizabeth’s poem" entails that the referential association between this noun phrase and the target poem is true from the speaker's perspective but may not be recognized as such in the belief holder’s (i.e., Julie’s) mind. In contrast, a de dicto reading describes Julie’s beliefs as she understands the referential association in her mind. While both de re and de dicto readings of definite noun phrases are considered acceptable, given different supporting contexts, we show that the acceptability of de re readings is vulnerable to contextual and pragmatic manipulations. One such case involves a context in which the belief holder, Julie, holds a mistaken belief about the identity of the poem, such as thinking that it was written by Nicole when, in reality, it was written by Elizabeth. This mistaken identity context introduces a de dicto reading of a competing noun phrase, "Nicole’s poem," in "Julie believes Nicole’s poem will win the competition." In this context, the speaker-oriented de re reading of "Elizabeth’s poem" has a roughly bimodal acceptability distribution, while the de dicto noun phrase was overall preferred. Our study is the first to systematically lay out the empirical landscape of de re/de dicto readings of definite noun phrases and highlights the vulnerability of the de re reading. This investigation solidifies the foundation for further theory development and endorses the practice of collecting reliable empirical judgment data for nuanced semantic phenomena.

The role of linguistic perspectives in the language description

Abstract The paper discusses the language of linguistic description (metalanguage), in particular the question of how the language of description can influence the language that is the object of the description. I approach the topic from the aspect of the use of linguistic terms and their personification. I summarize the results of my three previous case studies, in which I tracked the formulations associated with the selected terms. I focused on the actions that, according to the literal understanding of the formulations, are performed by the terms. Based on these case studies, I concluded that the more frequently a term is used, the more likely it is that it will “perform” an activity and, if this happens, the further away they go, the more their “competencies” expand, i.e. they perform progressively more complex acts. I have characterized this phenomenon as the perspective through which we view linguistic reality through terms (the perspective of the term), and in contrast to it, I have presented the speaker’s perspective, through which linguistic reality is perceived from the perspective of everyday speakers. I have pointed out that the perspective of the term can affect the description of language in a way that shifts the linguist’s attention from the real behaviour of speakers to the “behaviour” of abstract linguistic entities.

Factors affecting students’ concept retention in learning science online using instructional videos

Effective science instruction in a blended learning approach is synonymous with the strategic use of instructional videos (IVs) to fill the gap in teacher support. This study aims to determine the IVs’ effectiveness in improving students' concept retention and overall learning experiences. The experimental group was exposed to instruction integrating IVs via embedded mixed-method design, whereas the control group was exposed to traditional lecture methods. The results showed that students' post-test scores and concept retention improved significantly in the experimental group, where students reported better learning experiences than in the control group. This beneficial effect of a technology-integrated approach can be attributed to various elements of IVs, such as engaging content, motion graphics, video length, the language used, and the speaker's perspective. This study recommends that IVs be used to enhance learning opportunities and results in the teaching and learning process.

Centering Heritage Speaker Perspectives in Undergraduate Linguistics Education

Centering Heritage Speaker Perspectives in Undergraduate Linguistics Education

Realities of comfort and discomfort in the heritage language classroom: Looking to transformative positive psychology for juggling a double‐edged sword

AbstractAs emotions research in the field of second language acquisition continues to evolve, it is equally important to explore the impact of social–emotional variables that are specifically relevant to heritage language (HL) contexts. Anchoring on foundations in critical heritage language education (HLE), this study examines the discomforts of the HL classroom from a diverse heritage speaker (HS) perspective. Additionally, comforts that support the HL classroom as a safe space for emotional security and well‐being for HSs across HLs are explored. Examining the HL classroom from the perspective of HL practices and knowledge systems, this study ultimately aims to: (a) outline the emotional complexity of HL pedagogical spaces, and (b) provide concrete and meaningful recommendations for supporting HS well‐being and HL development from a transformative positive psychology lens. Data for the current qualitative study were provided through two separate methodologies. First, 64 HSs of Spanish responded to a qualitative questionnaire probing the emotional reactions and memories instigated by authentic HL classroom reading material on sensitive topics of racism, bilingualism, and immigration. The themes identified in written narrative data through an inductive thematic approach were then used as a foundation for semistructured interviews with language learners (n = 6) and educators (n = 8) from eight different HL backgrounds. Findings revealed feelings of comfort and discomfort, and even trauma and healing, in HLE spaces rooted in (a) language learning experiences, (b) social memories of (dis)comfort, and (c) intergenerational histories. Together, the data suggest how the HL classroom can act both as a trigger of social injustice, linguistic insecurity, and family conflict and, at the same time, as a space instigating affective reactions associated with social rebellion, linguistic confidence, intergenerational healing, and emotional refuge. Specific pedagogical recommendations are made to equip educators with a concrete toolkit for the HL classroom.

Linguistic Empathy: Behavioral measures, neurophysiological correlates, and correlation with Psychological Empathy

Relations among behavioral, psychological, and electrophysiological correlates of Linguistic Empathy were examined in two experiments using lateralized stimuli. Linguistic Empathy is defined as a linguistic manifestation of the point of view the speaker assumes toward the content of the utterance, and of the speaker's attitude toward/identification with the referents therein. Linguistic choices made by the speaker among multiple logically and referentially synonymous lexical and grammatical options reveal the speaker's perspectives. In experiment 1, acceptability ratings were measured for Context-Target sentence pairs that did or did not violate two Empathy Hierarchies (Person Empathy Hierarchy and Topic Empathy Hierarchy); the Empathy Quotient (EQ) test of Psychological Empathy was also administered. Ratings were lower for sentence pairs that violated both hierarchies than for those violating neither and were intermediate for sentences violating only one hierarchy. Linguistic Empathy (LE) was operationalized as the difference in ratings between sentences violating both vs. neither empathy hierarchy; this measure correlated positively with EQ. Experiment 2 replicated those results with new participants and measured reaction time and EEG during ratings. While there were no effects of hemisphere or visual field on the linguistic variables, the amplitude of a positive event-related potential deflection at 380 ms provided a partial electrophysiological correlate for LE. Its difference measure correlated with behavioral LE but not with EQ. Though preliminary, these experiments show that Linguistic Empathy may share information processing computations with Psychological Empathy and have an electrophysiological correlate.

Inconsistency in perspective-taking during comprehension.

In order to successfully comprehend referring expressions, a listener must often consider how the speaker's perspective differs from their own. Such consideration of others' perspective is effortful and not always employed. Previous studies disagree about whether executive function predicts perspective-taking use in language comprehension. Furthermore, it is unclear whether or not there are consistent individual differences of perspective-taking ability in comprehension. This study tested participants in three perspective-taking in comprehension tasks and two measures of executive function to determine whether participants show consistency in their perspective-taking ability and whether this ability is predicted by measures of executive function. We found that (1) some but not all perspective-taking in comprehension tasks correlate with one another, and (2) inhibition control and working memory are not linked with any of the three perspective-taking measures. Based on these findings, we conclude that perspective-taking in comprehension may not be a unitary ability.

Language Shift and Endangerment of Sundanese Banten Dialect in South Tangerang

The objective of this research is to find out the language shift in one of Sundanese dialects known as Bantenese (SBD) and the reasons underlied, in the spoken area of South Tangerang, which could bring to endangered of extinction. The SBD is spoken by the native in South Tangerang in several areas along Cisadane river which is adjacent to Tangerang district. The observation was carried out on two things, namely the use of SBD words among the native speakers and the use of Sundanese among children. This is a qualitative-descriptive research using participant observation and informal interviews. Observations were made in six sub-districts, where the majority of the native people are Sundanese. The observation involved observation, interview, taking notes, and recording techniques. The results showed that there was language shift in SBD among the Sundanese ethnic population in South Tangerang. The main reason is the negative perspective of speakers of SBD. As the consequence, the language is not transmitted to next generation thus led to endangerement.

Priming Center-Embedded Object and Extraposed Subject Relative Clauses in Persian Language Production: Searching for Persistence of Hierarchical Configuration.

Substantial evidence suggests that priming can co-occur at different syntactic and nonsyntactic levels. In this study, we further explore two loci of priming concerned with hierarchical configuration and thematic information using relative clause (RC) constructions. In a comprehension-to-production task, Persian speakers (42 adults and 42 children) described pictures after hearing extraposed subject or center-embedded object RCs containing the same or different verbs. We ask whether priming the object RC mitigates the computational cost of center-embedding and thus increases the subsequent production of this infrequent structure. We also measured persistence effects associated with the assignment of emphasis to thematic roles, examining whether a particular portrayal of an event is captured and reproduced (e.g., foregrounding the patient). Although this study could not establish any significant priming effects in the production of the center-embedded object RC, we observed that adults used this construction more in the same verbs condition. The overall results instead revealed strong evidence for thematic emphasis persistence, such that patient-emphasis object relatives further elicited functionally equivalent RC constructions. We discuss priming of hierarchical configuration as a candidate locus and explain the activation of functional information from the speaker's perspective.

Knowing failably and Moorean assertions

AbstractKnowledge‐fallibilism is a species of a genus that I call knowledge‐failabilism. Each is a theory of knowledge's nature. One apparent challenge to knowledge‐failabilism's truth is the prima facie absurdity of Moorean assertions like ‘It's raining but I do not believe that it is.’ Does each such assertion convey an implicit and unfortunate contrast, even a contradiction? I argue that this Untenable Contrast analysis fails: no such contrast is present within the speaker's perspective at the pertinent time.

Outside the clause: Functions of the Persian na ‘no’

Despite its significance, the pragmatics of negation remains an unexplored area in Persian. This study utilizes a discourse analytic and functional methodology to identify, classify, and explain the functions of the response signal na ‘no’ in Contemporary Standard Persian. The analysis of its frequent uses reveals its variation in response to previous questions or statements. Prototypically, na can function conceptually as a negative or even an affirmative response. Furthermore, it can serve procedurally to signify mirativity, causativity, contrast, preference of a speaker's perspective, turn negotiation, misunderstanding management, earlier topic resumption, and emotion expression. By endorsing the inherent association between negation and indexicality, the study extends its examination to pinpoint textual, participant, cognitive-(inter)subjective, and physical categories for the antecedents of na. In short, this paper represents an initial step toward developing a unified functional method to analyze extra-clausal constituents, in particular discourse markers.

The Suffix -ation in English

This paper analyses the role of the suffix -ation in English, based on data from the OED. The suffix forms deverbal nouns. Its origin can be traced back to Latin, but French had an important part in it, too. For the analysis, nouns in -ation and their corresponding verbs were retrieved from the OED. The purpose of the analysis was to characterize the position of -ation in the mental lexicon of current speakers of English and to assess the role of the word formation rule in the history of the formation of nouns in -ation. For the analysis, Marchand’s classification of nouns in -ation is used, which distinguishes nouns with verbs ending in -ify, -ize, -ate, and other verbs. This classification is combined with the information about first attestation dates provided by the OED. Cases where more than one verb can underlie a particular noun are studied in detail. Particular attention is paid to the issue of backformation, i.e. cases where the noun has been attested earlier than the verb. In the interpretation of these cases, the perspective of individual speakers is highlighted.

Native American and First Nation Perspectives on the Use of Human Remains in Education & Proximity to Death

Cultural attitudes regarding interactions with the deceased, the dead and contact with the lifeless human body vary throughout the world, including among Native American, First Nation, Metίs, and Inuit groups in North America. From remains that have been obtained without consent to working with cadaveric specimens, this talk addresses the beliefs and concerns of indigenous peoples regarding the use of human remains as educational specimens and interaction with the dead. Both speaker perspectives as well as preliminary results from research will address the diverse attitudes towards the dead, treatment of the dead, use of human remains for teaching and research purposes. We will also acknowledge the principle of informed consent in a colonial world. Anatomical education is often reliant on the gracious donation of humans but what are we to do if they were not obtained with consent as are many of the indigenous specimens still maintained at universities?Working with human remains can also be of concern for indigenous students with respect to their cultural beliefs. This talk will address the importance and considerations needed for indigenous students while providing the audience with a basic understanding of some of those cultural beliefs. It is not only important to have respect for the human remains but also for the students who encounter them. Anatomical educators must have an awareness of cultural and religious beliefs that are at odds with working with human remains or being in the presence of a lifeless body, so that we are prepared to provide inclusive learning environments for our students. We hope to provide an inclusive discussion on Native American and First Nation perspectives on the use of human remains in education and the proximity to death.

Referential choices. A study on quantification and discourse salience in sentence production in Swedish

This paper is concerned with the salience of discourse referents from both a hearer and a speaker perspective in the context of negative quantifying expressions (e.g. not all, few) in Swedish. In three sentence completion studies we investigated what discourse referent is most salient from each of these perspectives and how salience is affected by the syntactic form/semantic type (entity vs. proposition) of the sentence topic in the continuation. We also investigated what morphosyntactic forms are used to refer back to referents of different information structural status. The studies were specifically set up to allow us to distinguish between the two perspectives on salience, unlike previous studies on English, which have only taken hearer-salience into account. The emerging picture of what discourse referent is most salient for negative quantifying expressions is therefore more complex than what previous studies have shown.

When past meets future in Persian: A construction grammar approach to futurity

ABSTRACT In Persian, two of the verbal constructions used for expressing futurity – the Past Simple and the Future Simple – are built around the past form of the main verb. This paper seeks to demystify this connection between the past and the future by investigating how these past forms contribute to the expression of futurity and setting this within an overall analysis of the future constructions in this language. Based on the form of the main verb in 940 sentences with verbal future constructions, six constructions were identified and categorized into future-oriented past constructions (FPST), which include the Past Simple and the Future Simple, and future-oriented present constructions (FPRT), which include the Present Simple, the Present Progressive, the Present Subjunctive and the WANT construction. A construction grammar approach together with Reichenbach and neo-Reichenbach terminology was then utilized to distinguish the differing relations between tense, aspect, mood and speaker perspective, and assign syntactic-semantic maps in terms of features such as level of formality, perfectness, intended future, certainty and inner aspect (aktionsart) to each of the FPST and FPRT constructions. It is argued that the use of the past form of the main verb in the Past Simple and the Future Simple (FPST constructions) owes much to aspectual and ontological factors, with the past element indicating certainty, perfectness and a speaker perspective of looking back.

The infinitive subjunctive with obscure reference in modern Italian through the eyes of native speakers

The paper uses the perspective of native speakers to present an aspect of the topic of the infinitive subjunctive in modern Italian that cannot be extracted through sentence grammar. The study is based on a corpus extracted from the pages of three novels – contemporary Italian fiction – and on a questionnaire distributed to twenty native speakers. Through a linguistic analysis of the informants’ responses to the questionnaire created for this purpose, their point of view is interpreted with regard to the phenomenon under study. The main aim of the study is to get at the strategies that native speakers use in interpreting linguistic facts, and to try to answer the question why the violation of syntactic norms does not interfere with the comprehension of the text.

Communicating climate change findings from IPCC reports: insights from outreach events in India

In recent years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been collaborating with Indian institutions to organise outreach events. This essay draws on the perspective of participants, speakers and organisers of 17 in-person outreach events conducted across India in 2018 and 2020, to share insights and recommendations for future IPCC events in India and other developing country contexts. The formats analysed in this essay range from panel events with very large public audiences to more focused workshops, meetings and seminars. Target audiences covered both academic and non-academic audiences and included researchers, teachers, students, industry and NGOs. The events, while achieving their main objective of communicating the findings of IPCC reports, also provided a platform for open discussion of localised climate impacts and good practices in adaptation and mitigation. There are, however, notable challenges to public outreach in India, specifically in terms of attracting an adequate number of participants, experts’ availability, communicating to a diverse audience and translation into local languages. The biggest challenge faced by speakers was a lack of knowledge about the number of attendees and the composition of the audience prior to an event. It is our recommendation that future outreach events in India are designed to be interactive, tailored to the regional context and complemented by simplified communication materials. Speakers should be provided with audience information and background prior to the event, and greater reach into rural areas, including school children, could be achieved with material in local languages. Additionally, event organisers often require logistical and operational support to host outreach events.

Epistemic Perspectives and Communicative Acts

Searle (Speech Acts, 1969) introduced his famous distinction between constitutive and regulative rules that together define felicity conditions of speech acts. Regulative rules are normative rules, whereas constitutive rules define what counts as a performance of a speech act. In this paper we demonstrate with the example of assertions and referential uses of definite description that simple regulative rules can be given to speech acts that hold only on a core of well-behaved utterance situations. From this core, extended uses can be derived based on epistemic paths that are defined by the epistemic perspectives of speaker and hearer. As the use of speech acts get extended to a wider class of utterance situations, conflicts with the constitutive rules can emerge. We show that the extended uses are nevertheless felicitous. We represent epistemic relations in a possible worlds framework, and take an interactional approach that considers speech acts as part of joint communicative acts.

Examining the influence of perspective and prosody on expected emotional responses to irony: Evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Ironic language is typically more difficult to process and interpret than a literal equivalent, hence is assumed to serve several social and emotional functions not achieved by literal communication (such as politeness or introducing humor). Several factors may influence emotional responses to irony, such as the perspective from which the utterance is encountered (e.g., speaker vs. target) and the tone of voice (prosody) used. To examine these issues, we conducted two event-related brain potential (ERP) studies in which participants listened to scenarios describing emotional responses to either literal criticism or ironic criticism. Ironic criticism was delivered with either natural or ironic prosody. Scenarios either described an emotional response the speaker expected to elicit from the target (speaker perspective), or the target's actual emotional response (target perspective). Expected or actual emotional responses were described as either "amused" (Experiment 1) or "hurt" (Experiment 2). ERPs were calculated time-locked to the end of the ironic or literal statements, and to the audio presentation of the critical emotion words. Results showed a significant effect of perspective for amused conditions, reflected by a larger late posterior positivity for the target than speaker conditions, indicating amused responses are more expected from speaker than target perspective. This effect was not seen for hurt conditions, suggesting these are equally expected from target and speaker perspectives. The data also revealed a more negative-going ERP waveform specifically for ironic criticism delivered with ironic prosody, reflecting prosodic processing. This suggests prosody may be able to speed the identification of irony. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).