Grammatical and cognitive factors shaping the conceptualization of motion events

Motion event construal gives insight into the nature of the linguistic and conceptual representations underlying the encoding of events. Studies show that event descriptions differ cross-linguistically due to, amongst other factors, the absence or presence of grammatical aspect. While speakers of aspect languages generally focus on the process, speakers of non-aspect languages tend to perceive the event holistically and focus on endpoints. This investigation examines visual endpoint salience as a further factor that shapes event encoding. Thus, in this model, grammatical aspect is seen as a part of a more complex system of factors that determine event construal. The analyses, which cover German speakers, English speakers, and German-speaking learners of English, involve linguistic production data and results from memory performance tests. The findings show that the focus on endpoints increases for salient stimuli. While German speakers and learners of English show a tendency to focus on endpoints, a clear preference for focusing on the process can be observed in English speakers. Verbalizing endpoints correlates with the ability to remember them in a memorization task. The implications of these outcomes are discussed in the context of two factors which shape event encoding: grammatical aspect and endpoint salience.

How (not) to cross a boundary: Crosslinguistic influence in simultaneous bilingual children's event construal

Simultaneous bilingual children sometimes display crosslinguistic influence (CLI), widely attested in the domain of morphosyntax. It remains less clear whether CLI affects bilinguals’ event construal, what motivates its occurrence and directionality, and how developmentally persistent it is. The present study tested predictions generated by the structural overlap hypothesis and the co-activation account in the motion event domain. 96 English–French bilingual children of two age groups and 96 age-matched monolingual English and French controls were asked to describe animated videos displaying voluntary motion events. Semantic encoding in main verbs showed bidirectional CLI. Unidirectional CLI affected French path encoding in the verbal periphery and was predicted by the presence of boundary-crossing, despite the absence of structural overlap. Furthermore, CLI increased developmentally in the French data. It is argued that these findings reflect highly dynamic co-activation patterns sensitive to the requirements of the task and to language-specific challenges in the online production process.

Limitations on the role of frequency in L2 acquisition

abstract In the context of theories of statistical learning, frequency of encounter is viewed as a major driving force in L2 acquisition. The present paper challenges this position with respect to core components at the level of language competence which relate to language-specific patterns in cognitive construal. Empirical evidence from very advanced L2 speakers (L1 French, L2 English and L2 German) shows that forms and constructions which are highly frequent in the target languages in the expression of motion events are not used in a target-like form by L2 speakers. The study shows how the basis for language use which is not target-like lies at the level of event construal: conceptual frames, which are language-specific and are deeply anchored in the course of L1 acquisition, drive allocation of attention and the extraction of forms in L2 acquisition. Findings in the domain of spatial cognition show that motion event frames based on the L1 take precedence over frequency of occurrence of forms in the target language as a factor in L2 use.

Unlearning the boundary-crossing constraint: processing instruction and the acquisition of motion event construal

This study explores the effects of instruction on the acquisition of motion event construal among learners of English as a second language. The challenge for learners with Verb-framed first languages is that they need to ‘unlearn’ the boundary-crossing constraint and conflate manner and motion in the main verb, as in she ran into the bank, however, there is little research on how this domain can be taught. We evaluate performance on story-telling productive tasks using three experimental treatments involving 1) an input-only approach based on the principles of Processing Instruction, 2) combined input and output training and 3) explicit information only about the target construction. The findings show that boundary-crossing constructions expressing manner can be taught and learning effects generalised to non-boundary-crossing structures not included in the training material. The effectiveness of input-only instruction persists over a two-week period, and compares positively with that of an input+output teaching package.

INTERDISCOURSE SWITCHING IN DRAMA TEXT. GAZE PATTERNS AND COMPREHENSION CHECK RESULTS

The study explores the cognitive process of interdiscourse switching which occurs in reading drama plays with the author’s discourse fragments incorporated (Areas of Interest). The oculographic experiment reveals the gaze patterns and the discourse interpretation patterns, more and less typical of the process. The experiment is preceded by the parametric and annotation analysis of interdiscourse switching construal. Interestingly, there exist several construal parameter groups contingent with eye movement load redistribution, among them are Participant construal, Event construal, and Perspective construal. The results sufficed to show that construal effects also affect mentioning Areas of Interest in the subjects’ responses, the most significant influence is displayed by Participant Agentivity and Complexity parameters as well as by Event Type parameters.

WALKING CLOCKS AND SWIRLING GORGES: CONSTRUAL OF OBJECTS AND EVENTS IN DESCRIPTIONS OF PAINTINGS

Despite numerous studies, the difference between objects and events remains one of the most debatable issues, and scholars look for arguments relying on ontology, epistemology, and language. The authors of the paper hypothesize that differences between objects and events construal can be observed not only in linguistic expressions referring to these entities, but in the gestures that accompany them. To verify the hypothesis, an empirical study was carried out, with 20 Russian participants spontaneously describing four paintings belonging to different artistic styles. The authors analyze co-occurrence of the units of speech (Elementary Discourse Units, or EDU) denoting either objects or events with gestures classified into mimetic modes and mimetic categories (Molding, Acting, Drawing, and Representing categories). The results show that there exists significant correlation between object-construal EDU and Molding gestures, on the one hand, and between event-construal EDU and Acting gestures, on the other hand. Besides, the study reveals that some speech-gesture patterns relate to such qualities of the paintings, as content, style, genre, and technique.

Cognitive restructuring in the bilingual mind: motion event construal in early Cantonese–English bilinguals

abstractLanguages differ typologically in motion event encoding (Talmy, 2000). Furthermore, the cross-linguistic variations in lexicalization modulate cognition in a dynamic and task-dependent manner (Slobin, 1996a). This study aims to investigate whether early Cantonese–English bilinguals behave differently from monolinguals in each language when lexicalizing and categorizing voluntary motion in different language contexts. Specifically, monolinguals were instructed and narrated in their native languages. We assigned bilinguals to a monolingual and a bilingual context by manipulating immediate language use in their oral descriptions. Results from monolinguals suggested an effect of language on event conceptualization. However, results from bilinguals showed that their performances patterned with English monolinguals in both event lexicalization and conceptualization regardless of the language context. These findings indicate that early exposure to a second language has motivated speakers to converge to a single lexicalization pattern compatible for both languages. And the degree of convergence is modulated by the amount of language contact with each language. The study demonstrates that participants draw on their linguistic knowledge during the non-verbal task and provides evidence for L2-biased cognitive restructuring within the framework of thinking-for-speaking.