scholarly journals Towards a complete multiple-mechanism account of predictive language processing

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nivedita Mani ◽  
Falk Huettig
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Multiple Mechanism ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

AbstractAlthough we agree with Pickering & Garrod (P&G) that prediction-by-simulation and prediction-by-association are important mechanisms of anticipatory language processing, this commentary suggests that they: (1) overlook other potential mechanisms that might underlie prediction in language processing, (2) overestimate the importance of prediction-by-association in early childhood, and (3) underestimate the complexity and significance of several factors that might mediate prediction during language processing.

German-speaking children use sentence-initial case marking for predictive language processing at age four

Cognition ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 104988
Author(s):  
Duygu Özge ◽  
Jaklin Kornfilt ◽  
Katja Maquate ◽  
Aylin C. Küntay ◽  
Jesse Snedeker
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

Leveraging Python to Process Cross-Cultural Temperament Interviews: A Novel Platform for Text Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua J. Underwood ◽  
Cornelia Kirchhoff ◽  
Haven Warwick ◽  
Maria A. Gartstein
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Data Reduction ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Do So

During childhood, parents represent the most commonly used source of their child’s temperament information and, typically, do so by responding to questionnaires. Despite their wide-ranging applications, interviews present notorious data reduction challenges, as quantification of narratives has proven to be a labor-intensive process. However, for the purposes of this study, the labor-intensive nature may have conferred distinct advantages. The present study represents a demonstration project aimed at leveraging emerging technologies for this purpose. Specifically, we used Python natural language processing capabilities to analyze semistructured temperament interviews conducted with U.S. and German mothers of toddlers, expecting to identify differences between these two samples in the frequency of words used to describe individual differences, along with some similarities. Two different word lists were used: (a) a set of German personality words and (b) temperament-related words extracted from the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ). Analyses using the German trait word demonstrated that mothers from Germany described their toddlers as significantly more “cheerful” and “careful” compared with U.S. caregivers. According to U.S. mothers, their children were more “independent,” “emotional,” and “timid.” For the ECBQ analysis, German mothers described their children as “calm” and “careful” more often than U.S. mothers. U.S. mothers, however, referred to their children as “upset,” “happy,” and “frustrated” more frequently than German caregivers. The Python code developed herein illustrates this software as a viable research tool for cross-cultural investigations.

Capturing the variation in language experience to understand language processing and learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-109
Author(s):  
Judith F. Kroll ◽  
Andrea Takahesu Tabori ◽  
Christian Navarro-Torres
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Marked Change ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Early Research ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
The Past

Abstract A goal of early research on language processing was to characterize what is universal about language. Much of the past research focused on native speakers because the native language has been considered as providing privileged truths about acquisition, comprehension, and production. Populations or circumstances that deviated from these idealized norms were of interest but not regarded as essential to our understanding of language. In the past two decades, there has been a marked change in our understanding of how variation in language experience may inform the central and enduring questions about language. There is now evidence for significant plasticity in language learning beyond early childhood, and variation in language experience has been shown to influence both language learning and processing. In this paper, we feature what we take to be the most exciting recent new discoveries suggesting that variation in language experience provides a lens into the linguistic, cognitive, and neural mechanisms that enable language processing.

scholarly journals The Role of Awareness and Cognitive Aptitudes in L2 Predictive Language Processing

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 42-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Curcic ◽  
Sible Andringa ◽  
Folkert Kuiken
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

scholarly journals Knowing the Future: Predictive Processing in the ELT Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 274
Author(s):  
Edward Howland
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

Recent research in neuroscience has confirmed the brain’s ability to predict linguistic input before it occurs. Predictive language processing (PLP) is linked to language comprehension and production, yet it is rarely discussed within the ELT academic community. This paper is intended to explore that omission in three stages. First, available research is reviewed. Second, the results of a questionnaire regarding English language teachers’ awareness of and attitudes towards PLP are discussed. Finally, a presentation of two techniques designed to train an L2 learner’s predictive abilities is offered as a model for future language teaching. 最近の神経科学の研究により、脳が言語的な入力をあらかじめ予想する能力があることが確認されている。予想言語処理（predictive language processing; PLP）は言語の理解力と発話に関わりがあるが、英語教授法（ELT）の分野のなかでめったに論じられていない。本論文では、この分野を深く三段階にわたって研究する。最初に、これまでの研究を総括する。次に、アンケート調査の結果から、PLPに関して英語教師の認識また態度について考察する。最後に、今後に応用可能な言語教授法のモデルとして、第二言語学習者（L2）の予想力を高めるための二つのトレーニング技術が提示されている。

scholarly journals Lexical prediction in language comprehension: a replication study of grammatical gender effects in Dutch

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold Kochari ◽  
Monique Flecken
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Brain Research ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Original Study ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

[This is a postprint/accepted version of the manuscript. It is now published: https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2018.1524500 . Please cite the published version.] An important question in predictive language processing is the extent to which prediction effects can reliably be measured on pre-nominal material (e.g., articles before nouns). Here, we present a large sample (N=58) close replication of a study by Otten and van Berkum [2009, Does working memory capacity affect the ability to predict upcoming words in discourse? Brain Research, 1291, 92–101. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.07.042]. They report ERP modulations in relation to the predictability of nouns in sentences, measured on gender-marked Dutch articles. We used nearly identical materials, procedures, and data analysis steps. We fail to replicate the original effect, but do observe a pattern consistent with the original data. Methodological differences between our replication and the original study that could potentially have contribute to the diverging results are discussed. In addition, we discuss the suitability of Dutch gender-marked determiners as a test-case for future studies of pre-activation of lexical items.

scholarly journals The predictive potential of hand gestures during conversation: An investigation of the timing of gestures in relation to speech

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlijn ter Bekke ◽  
Linda Drijvers ◽  
JUDITH HOLLER
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Hand Gestures ◽  
Lexical Information ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Movement Component ◽  
Natural Conversation ◽  
Representational Gestures ◽  
Predictive Language Processing

In face-to-face conversation, recipients might use the bodily movements of the speaker (e.g. gestures) to facilitate language processing. It has been suggested that one way through which this facilitation may happen is prediction. However, for this to be possible, gestures would need to precede speech, and it is unclear whether this is true during natural conversation. In a corpus of Dutch conversations, we annotated hand gestures that represent semantic information and occurred during questions, and the word(s) which corresponded most closely to the gesturally depicted meaning. Thus, we tested whether representational gestures temporally precede their lexical affiliates. Further, to see whether preceding gestures may indeed facilitate language processing, we asked whether the gesture-speech asynchrony predicts the response time to the question the gesture is part of. Gestures and their strokes (most meaningful movement component) indeed preceded the corresponding lexical information, thus demonstrating their predictive potential. However, while questions with gestures got faster responses than questions without, there was no evidence that questions with larger gesture-speech asynchronies get faster responses. These results suggest that gestures indeed have the potential to facilitate predictive language processing, but further analyses on larger datasets are needed to test for links between asynchrony and processing advantages.

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