Grammar modulates discourse expectations: evidence from causal relations in English and Korean

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
EUNKYUNG YI ◽  
JEAN-PIERRE KOENIG

abstract This paper investigates whether differences in grammar affect the production of discourse relations. We report the results of two story continuation experiments on speakers of two typologically unrelated languages, English and Korean, and in two different discourse genres, monologues (Experiment 1) and conversations (Experiment 2), focusing on the contrast between the explanation discourse relation and the result discourse relation. Since the grammar of clause linkage in Korean, but not English, disfavors a backward causal order (explanation relation), we predicted that Korean speakers are less likely to produce EXPLANATION continuations in MONOLOGUES than English speakers. We also predicted that this difference disappears in conversation, as questions that can be uttered in conversations are not subject to the same constraints on clause linkage in Korean. The results confirmed our predictions. The effect of language on the production of discourse relations in monologue suggests that LINGUISTIC STRUCTURES can affect speakers’ discourse expectation and production, while the absence of language effect in conversation suggests that this language effect is not due to differences in the way speakers causally relate events or to conceptual or cultural differences in preferences for iconic discourse between English and Korean speakers.

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762199155
Author(s):  
Amanda R. Brown ◽  
Wim Pouw ◽  
Diane Brentari ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow

When we use our hands to estimate the length of a stick in the Müller-Lyer illusion, we are highly susceptible to the illusion. But when we prepare to act on sticks under the same conditions, we are significantly less susceptible. Here, we asked whether people are susceptible to illusion when they use their hands not to act on objects but to describe them in spontaneous co-speech gestures or conventional sign languages of the deaf. Thirty-two English speakers and 13 American Sign Language signers used their hands to act on, estimate the length of, and describe sticks eliciting the Müller-Lyer illusion. For both gesture and sign, the magnitude of illusion in the description task was smaller than the magnitude of illusion in the estimation task and not different from the magnitude of illusion in the action task. The mechanisms responsible for producing gesture in speech and sign thus appear to operate not on percepts involved in estimation but on percepts derived from the way we act on objects.


Author(s):  
Utut Kurniati

This research aimed to investigate the students' motivation in learning Literature using drama technique, to show what kinds of difficulties faced by the students and to show the way how they overcome the problems. The subjects of the research were all the fifth semester students in the academic years of 2014/2015 of UNSWAGATI. There were 12 classes. Each consisted of 25 students. The researcher took K and L class as the sample of her study by using lottre. It means there were 50 students as the sample.Revering to the research questions ad the findings, the researcher found that students had high motivation in learning, facing some difficulties in the learning process like limited vocabulary, cultural gap, the length of the story and feeling shy to act. Concerning the problems, the students had done may solutions. They enriched their action by using gesture, asking their friends, opening notes, reading the script and watching the original videos.There are some suggestions to enhance and find the best way in teaching literature. Practically, in order to gain the learning objective more optimal, lecturer are expected to be more creative in finding drama and enrich the class by teaching them cultural differences. For further researcher, drama is also possible to develope other language skills other than speaking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11720
Author(s):  
Wesley Malcorps ◽  
Richard W. Newton ◽  
Silvia Maiolo ◽  
Mahmoud Eltholth ◽  
Changbo Zhu ◽  
...  

Seafood supply chains are complex, not least in the diverse origins of capture fisheries and through aquaculture production being increasingly shared across nations. The business-to-business (B2B) seafood trade is supported by seafood shows that facilitate networking and act as fora for signaling of perceptions and values. In the Global North, sustainability related certifications and messaging have emerged as an important driver to channel the demands of consumers, institutions, and lead firms. This study investigates which logos, certifications, and claims were presented at the exhibitor booths within five seafood trade shows in China, Europe, and USA. The results indicate a difference in the way seafood is advertised. Messaging at the Chinese shows had less of an emphasis on sustainability compared to that in Europe and the USA, but placed a greater emphasis on food safety and quality than on environmental concerns. These findings suggest cultural differences in the way seafood production and consumption is communicated through B2B messaging. Traders often act as choice editors for final consumers. Therefore, it is essential to convey production processes and sustainability issues between traders and the market. An understanding of culture, messaging strategies, and interpretation could support better communication of product characteristics such as sustainability between producers, traders, and consumers.


Author(s):  
Monserrat Martínez Vázquez

In this paper I present an empirical approach to the analysis of the way English speakers conceptualize the communicative process in English. Most linguistic expressions about language in English are surface manifestations of what Reddy termed the "conduit metaphor". Reddy's model implies several interrelated cognitive associations: words are conceived as containers in which speakers introduce their ideas and send them to listeners, who will take these ideas out of these containers. Central to this model is the metaphor words are containers. It has also been claimed that there are other ways of perspectivizing the language process apart from the notion of containment (Vanparys 1995). In fact, Reddy himself notes that there is approximately a 30% of metalanguage not based on the conduit metaphor. The pervasiveness of the container metaphor would reasonably be most directly tested in expressions with the lexeme word. In order to measure what falls inside and outside these containers I carry out a corpus analysis of the lexeme word excerpted from the British National Corpus (BNC). The systematic evidence obtained from a large but delimited corpus gives us more reliable information about the frequency and use of this metaphor than an intuition based analysis or an arbitrary search in multi-source corpora.


Author(s):  
Lucy C. M. M. Jackson

As well as bringing together all the relevant evidence for the quality and activity of the chorus of drama in the fourth century, this monograph has raised certain key questions about the current understanding of the nature and development of Attic drama as a whole. First, it shows that the supposed ‘civic’ quality of the chorus of drama is, in fact, an association loaned, inappropriately, from the genre of circular, ‘dithyrambic’, choral performance. Being attentive to the cultural differences between these two genres should prompt a further re-evaluation of how to read dramatic choruses more generally. Second, the way in which key fourth-century authors such as Plato and Xenophon use the image of the chorus to discuss the concept of leadership has profoundly shaped ways of construing choreia in ancient Greek drama, and the ancient Mediterranean more generally. Armed with this knowledge, it is possible to retell the story and history of the chorus in drama.


1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Green ◽  
Paul Meara

Native English speakers search short strings of letters differently from the way they search strings of nonalphanumeric symbols. Experiment 1 demonstrates the same contrast for native Spanish speakers. Letter search, therefore, is not a result of the peculiarities of English orthography. Since visual search is sensitive to the nature of the symbols being processed, different scripts should produce different effects. Experiments 2 and 3 confirmed such differences for Arabic and Chinese scripts. Furthermore, these experiments showed no evidence that native Arabic and native Chinese speakers adapt their search strategy when dealing with letters. Implications of these findings are considered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 497-530
Author(s):  
Bruna D’Andrea de Andrades ◽  
Marina Zanella Delatorre ◽  
Adriana Wagner

This study aimed to draw a parallel between instruments assessing marital quality and the way couples conceptualize their relationship quality. Twenty-five couples were interviewed to understand their ideas about a good quality relationship. The interviews were analyzed according to the topics couples presented, which were then compared with the concepts included in the instruments measuring marital quality. Five themes were identified, partially correspondent to the concepts assessed by the instruments. Cultural differences were found in the American instruments regarding the valuation of some themes to the detriment of others. Research with the Latin American population is necessary to understand its particularities and to develop measures in accordance with these specificities.


2018 ◽  
Vol XIX (1) ◽  
pp. 518-523
Author(s):  
Bazaitu Razvan

We are all prisoners of the personal way in which we think and relate to those around us. We are so accustomed to our way of seeing the world that we really think it is exactly the way we perceive it. As with military-structured groups, life on board has a number of specific rigor and characteristics, and the commander has the primary task of knowing the challenges of seafarers, taking into account the principles of communication and cultural differences and harmonizing interpersonal relationship, with the ultimate goal of reaching the port of destination with his crew, ship and cargo on time, intact, healthy. Our hyperlinked world and hyper-transparent is no longer a place for private life, for secrets, for hiding. Any event can be instantly posted by Email, Facebook, Twitter or blogs. The problem with technological progress is that connects us too quickly, faster then we succeed in creating the necessary social framework to understand each other. This can sometimes lead naturally to misinformation, but it can also be an insidious tool, used by specialized entities, interested in obtaining a desired atmosphere, information or intrigues.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed F. Fasfous ◽  
Natalia Hidalgo-Ruzzante ◽  
Raquel Vilar-López ◽  
Mario Gálvez-Lara ◽  
Miguel Pérez-García

This study aims to examine the role of mathematical achievement in explaining cultural differences in neuropsychological performance. A comprehensive neuropsychological battery was administrated to 54 individuals from two different cultures: (27 Spaniard and 27 Colombians). Several studies have demonstrated that the quality of education measured by reading ability tests may explain cultural differences in neuropsychological test performance. These studies have been conducted mostly among English speakers within the same educational system. Being a non-phonemic language, English allows for the reading of low-frequency words to be used as a measure of the quality of education. However, this might not be useful in the case of phonemic languages, such as Spanish. Moreover, it is difficult to compare the quality of education measured by reading ability in cultures with different languages or different educational systems. The results of this study reveal significant differences between these group on the majority of neuropsychological tests. All these differences disappeared when the effect of mathematical achievement was controlled. Thus, mathematical achievement may be considered as a measure of quality of education when studying cultural neuropsychological differences.


Seminar.net ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hallberg ◽  
Henrik Hansson ◽  
Anders G. Nilsson

This paper explores the reasoning and use of information and communications technology (ICT) in lifelong learning by immigrant women. Data were collected from semi-structured and unstructured interviews. The study was carried out primarily in a school environment, which also makes it possible to draw conclusions about the connection between learning in and outside school environments. Most participants experienced major differences in the use of and access to ICT after moving to their new country. Most women use and access ICT, even if not of their own volition. Providing a summary of some of the benefits and barriers that emerged, our study has shown that it is important to distinguish the way someone reasons about ICT and their actual use of it. No account was taken of cultural differences between the participants’ countries of origin. This study made it possible for the immigrant women to voice their experiences, knowledge, and feelings about their situations in school and in everyday life.


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