Epistemic reasoning in pragmatic inferencing by non-native speakers: The case of scalar implicatures

Scalar implicatures involve inferring the use of a less informative term (e.g. some) to mean the negation of a more informative term (e.g. not all). A growing body of recent research on the derivation of scalar implicatures by adult second language (L2) learners shows that while they are successful in acquiring the knowledge of scalar implicatures, a property at the semantics–pragmatics interface, it remains controversial as to which mechanism, default or non-default, could account for L2 learners’ derivation of scalar implicatures. The present study used an online self-paced reading task to address this issue by examining the role of the speaker’s knowledge state in the interpretation of the existential quantifier some by Chinese-speaking learners of English in incremental sentence processing. Results showed that both L2 and native participants demonstrated comparable online sensitivity to the speaker’s knowledge state. Critically, when the scalar implicature was computed in situations where the speaker was more likely to know whether the statement with the stronger alternative was true, it gave rise to measurable reading latency, indicative of increased processing costs. We conclude by arguing that our findings are compatible with the context-driven models within the Gricean tradition.

Scalar diversity and ignorance inferences: An experimental study on 'at least' as a modifier of numerals vs. adjectives

This work presents results from an experiment that investigates whether at least as a modifier of gradable adjectives (e.g., at least misleading) triggers speaker ignorance inferences just as has been established for at least as a numeral modifier (e.g., at least two). I find that, while at least gives rise to ignorance inferences with both types of scalar expressions, this happens in varying degrees, contra existing accounts of at least (Geurts & Nouwen 2007; Cohen & Krifka 2014) and in line with experimental evidence on the scalar inferences of unmodified adjectives and numerals (Doran, Baker, McNabb, Larson & Ward 2009), known as scalar diversity. I also find indications that the scale structure of adjectives may affect the availability of ignorance inferences, as in the case of scalar implicature computation for unmodified adjectives (Gotzner, Solt & Benz 2018a), yet in a reverse manner.

Utterance ambiguity in uncertainty contexts strengthens scalar implicature

N. Goodman and A. Stuhlmüller’s experiment provides empirical support for the Rational Speech Act (RSA) model that predicts the probability of implicature inference in uncertainty contexts. We present a partial replication of this experiment in English and Polish; we argue that the partial replication indicates a possible ambiguity in the experimental design concerning the ‘some’ quantifier term. We verify the ambiguity of the quantifier term hypothesis in a redesigned experiment and argue that our results support the idea that the RSA model encodes a robust theory of communication.

Tattoos as a window onto cross-linguistic differences in scalar implicature

This paper addresses the question of how to predict which alternatives are active in scalar implicature calculation, and the nature of this activation. It has been observed that finger implicates 'not thumb', and a Manner-based explanation for this has been proposed, predicting that if English had the simplex Latin word pollex meaning 'thumb or big toe', then finger would cease to have the implicature 'not thumb' that it has. It has also been suggested that this hypothetical pollex would have to be sufficiently colloquial in order to figure in scalar implicature calculation. This paper makes this thought experiment into a real one by using a language that behaves in exactly this way: Spanish has pulgar 'thumb' (< pollex), a non-colloquial form. We first use a fill-in-the-blank production task with both English and Spanish speakers to guage the likelihood with which a speaker will produce a given form as a way of describing a given digit. Production frequency does not perfectly track complexity, so we can then ask whether comprehension follows production frequency or complexity. We do so using a forced choice comprehension task, which reveals cross-linguistic differences in comprehension tracking production probabilities. A comparison between two RSA models -- one in which the speaker perfectly replicates our production data and a standard one in which the speaker chooses based on a standard cost/accuracy trade-off -- illustrates the fact that comprehension is much more closely tied to production probability than to the mere existence of sufficiently simple alternatives.

The interpretations of scalar implicatures, presuppositions, and implicated presupposition by Thai children with autism

Using the negated universal quantifiernot every, the study investigates the interpretations of scalar implicatures, lexical presuppositions, and implicated presuppositions by Thai children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs; n= 32), comparedto their typically-developing (TD) peers (n= 70) and adults (n= 40). The results provide further empirical evidence to the literature (Chevallier et al. 2010, Hochstein et al. 2017, Pijnacker et al. 2009) that not only do adolescents with ASD perform on par with TD adolescents,children with ASD are also age-appropriate in their performance on deriving scalar implicatures. Despite the children with ASD's ability to compute scalar implicature, they still tend to give more logical, literal responses, compared to their peers. Compared to adults, both children with ASD and TD children still have a higher tendency to rely on the logical meaning rather than pragmatically inferred meaning. They are also less likely than adults to derive scalar implicatures, but equally likely to derive lexical presuppositions. No additive effects of implicated presuppositions are found in any group of the participants.

The Cost of the Epistemic Step: Investigating Scalar Implicatures in Full and Partial Information Contexts

We present the first ERP experiments that test the online processing of the scalar implicature some ⇝ not all in contexts where the speaker competence assumption is violated. Participants observe game scenarios with four open cards on the table and two closed cards outside of the table, while listening to statements made by a virtual player. In the full access context, the player makes a fully informed statement by referring only to the open cards, as cards on the table; in the partial access context, she makes a partially informed statement by referring to the whole set of cards, as cards in the game. If all of the open cards contain a given object X (Fullset condition), then some cards on the table contain Xs is inconsistent with the not all reading, whereas it is unknown whether some cards in the game contain X is consistent with this reading. If only a subset of the open cards contains X (Subset condition), then both utterances are known to be consistent with the not all implicature. Differential effects are observed depending on the quantifier reading adopted by the participant: For those participants who adopt the not all reading in the full access context, but not in the partial access context (weak pragmatic reading), a late posterior negativity effect is observed in the partial access context for the Fullset relative to the Subset condition. This effect is argued to reflect inference-driven context retrieval and monitoring processes related to epistemic reasoning involved in evaluating the competence assumption. By contrast, for participants who adopt the logical interpretation of some (some and possibly all), an N400 effect is observed in the partial access context, when comparing the Subset against the Fullset condition, which is argued to result from the competition between the two quantifying expressions some cards on the table and some cards in the game functioning in the experiment as scalar alternatives.

Conversational Implicature Of Women’s Language By Shin Tanokura In Drama Series Of Oshin

This study aims to describe the conversational implicature of women’s language by Shin Tanokura in the drama series of Oshin. Research-based on a theory of Azuma (2009) for implicature as women’s language and Yule (2006) for conversational implicature. It is a kind of qualitative research. The data collection technique used is the observing method. The method used in this research is the descriptive analysis with Connect and Compare Equation Technique and Connect and Distinguishing Technique. The result showed that the conversational implicature of women’s language by Shin Tanokura in the drama series of Oshin is generalized conversational implicature, particularized conversational implicature, and scalar implicature. These three implicatures present markers that confirm the utterances belong to the variety of women’s language. In conclusion, the use of the implicature with high intensity is a marker of the utterance that belongs to the variety of women’s language. The variety of women’s language with the use of implicature gives an impression and an image about the characteristic of women and the variety of women’s language.

On the Variability of Scalar Implicature Computation: Evidence from L2 English Adults

When we say that Some people have lungs, we implicate that not all people have lungs. This scalar implicature arises when we produce a weaker expression instead of a stronger one. Studies on bilingual adults suggest that L2 learners, regardless of their proficiency level, are sensitive to under-informative sentences and they exhibit a superior pragmatic ability on a par with monolingual control groups. However, the evidence obtained from these studies is largely one-dimensional stemming from offline tasks that provide limited information about scalar implicature processing. The present study addressed this issue by investigating scalar implicature computation among L2 adults using an online sentence verification paradigm similar to that of Bott and Noveck whereby participants are required to judge the veracity of categorical under-informative sentences. The study also examined how individual differences in personality traits and L2 proficiency level would modulate participants’ pragmatic responses and processing times. Our results showed that those with weaker English proficiency tended to be significantly less sensitive to implicatures than those with proficiency advantage. The two proficiency groups also took significantly longer processing times to compute the pragmatic interpretation than the logical interpretation. The results further revealed that the pragmatic responses and their processing slowdowns were influenced by various personality and autistic traits. Our findings provide novel empirical insights into how L2 learners process scalar implicatures, and thus useful implications for the processing theories in experimental pragmatics and second language acquisition.