The Role of Metonymy in Teaching the Spanish Verbal System to L2/FL Learners of Spanish

This paper explores the application of conceptual metonymy (Lakoff, 1987; Ruiz de Mendoza, 2000; Langacker, 2009; Panther, Thornburg and Barcelona, 2009; Barcelona, 2013) in the development of pedagogical resources for the teaching of the Spanish verbal system to L2/FL learners. To this end, a description is given of the advantages of introducing inferential reasoning using metonymy based on certain principles taken from the Cognitive Grammar model (Langacker, 1987, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2009) in grammar teaching materials — both descriptions and activities. We focus on tense uses that involve metonymic processes, particularly, the meaning extensions in two Spanish past tenses: (1) the actional meaning of stative verbs when conveyed in pretérito indefinido (preterit), as in Pudimos comprar la casa 'We could buy the house', metonymically extended to Compramos la casa 'We bought the house'; and (2) the distancing use (uso citativo) of pretérito imperfecto (imperfect) when referring to current facts, as in ¿Cómo te llamabas? (How PRO.REFL.2SG call.IPFV.PST.2SG?) 'What was your name again?', which is metonymically extended to (Se me ha dicho/No recuerdo/No he oído) cómo te llamas [('I have been told/I can't recall/I couldn't hear') how PRO.REFL.2SG call.PRES.2SG]. In order to discuss the kind of contribution that this conceptual standpoint can make to the teaching of the Spanish verbal system, the pedagogical potential of some techniques and resources is explored in terms of (a) metonymic and metaphorical reasoning in pedagogical grammar descriptions, (b) consciousness-raising paraphrase exercises focused on meaning indeterminacy, and (c) network building and the use of (dynamic) images to show variable construals in grammatical meaning

Essentials of Semantic Syntax

Semantic Syntax (SeSyn), originally called Generative Semantics, is an offshoot of Chomskyan generative grammar (ChoGG), rejected by Chomsky and his school in the late 1960s. SeSyn is the theory of algorithmical grammars producing the well-formed sentences of a language L from the corresponding semantic input, the Semantic Analysis (SA), represented as a traditional tree structure diagram in a specific formal language of incremental predicate logic with quantifying and qualifying operators (including the truth functions), and with all lexical items filled in. A SeSyn-type grammar is thus by definition transformational, but not generative. The SA originates in cognition in a manner that is still largely mysterious, but its actual form can be distilled from the Surface Structure (SS) of the sentences of L following the principles set out in SeSyn. In this presentation we provide a more or less technical résumé of the SeSyn theory. A comparison is made with ChoGG-type grammars, which are rejected on account of their intrinsic unsuitability as a cognitive-realist grammar model. The ChoGG model follows the pattern of a 1930s neopositivist Carnap-type grammar for formal logical languages. Such grammars are random sentence generators, whereas, obviously, (nonpathological) humans are not. A ChoGG-type grammar is fundamentally irreconcilable with a mentalist-realist theory of grammar. The body of the paper consists in a demonstration of the production of an English and a French sentence, the latter containing a classic instance of the cyclic rule of Predicate Raising (PR), essential in the general theory of clausal complementation yet steadfastly repudiated in ChoGG for reasons that have never been clarified. The processes and categories defined in SeSyn are effortlessly recognised in languages all over the world, whether indigenous or languages of a dominant culture—taking into account language-specific values for the general theoretical parameters involved. This property makes SeSyn particularly relevant for linguistic typology, which now ranks as the most promising branch of linguistics but has so far conspicuously lacked an adequate theoretical basis.

A tale of two explanations: Enhancing human trust by explaining robot behavior

The ability to provide comprehensive explanations of chosen actions is a hallmark of intelligence. Lack of this ability impedes the general acceptance of AI and robot systems in critical tasks. This paper examines what forms of explanations best foster human trust in machines and proposes a framework in which explanations are generated from both functional and mechanistic perspectives. The robot system learns from human demonstrations to open medicine bottles using (i) an embodied haptic prediction model to extract knowledge from sensory feedback, (ii) a stochastic grammar model induced to capture the compositional structure of a multistep task, and (iii) an improved Earley parsing algorithm to jointly leverage both the haptic and grammar models. The robot system not only shows the ability to learn from human demonstrators but also succeeds in opening new, unseen bottles. Using different forms of explanations generated by the robot system, we conducted a psychological experiment to examine what forms of explanations best foster human trust in the robot. We found that comprehensive and real-time visualizations of the robot’s internal decisions were more effective in promoting human trust than explanations based on summary text descriptions. In addition, forms of explanation that are best suited to foster trust do not necessarily correspond to the model components contributing to the best task performance. This divergence shows a need for the robotics community to integrate model components to enhance both task execution and human trust in machines.

Computational construction grammar for visual question answering

In order to be able to answer a natural language question, a computational system needs three main capabilities. First, the system needs to be able to analyze the question into a structured query, revealing its component parts and how these are combined. Second, it needs to have access to relevant knowledge sources, such as databases, texts or images. Third, it needs to be able to execute the query on these knowledge sources. This paper focuses on the first capability, presenting a novel approach to semantically parsing questions expressed in natural language. The method makes use of a computational construction grammar model for mapping questions onto their executable semantic representations. We demonstrate and evaluate the methodology on the CLEVR visual question answering benchmark task. Our system achieves a 100% accuracy, effectively solving the language understanding part of the benchmark task. Additionally, we demonstrate how this solution can be embedded in a full visual question answering system, in which a question is answered by executing its semantic representation on an image. The main advantages of the approach include (i) its transparent and interpretable properties, (ii) its extensibility, and (iii) the fact that the method does not rely on any annotated training data.

"Jestem z wami sercem i myślami". O sposobach komunikowania empatii w dyskursie (studium przypadku)

The article is a part of a more extensive linguistic project exploring the concept of ‘empathy’ and its exponents in the present-day Polish (Falkowska 2012, 2017, 2018). The analysis is based on a corpus compiled out of Polish media texts concerning the tragic Nanga Parbat expedition (January 2018). Selected Internet posts and social media comments have also been included. My focus is on empathy understood along the lines set by Kuno (1987), i.e. the speaker’s identification with one of the scene’s participants. The paper aims at depicting the linguistic means that are applied in order to communicate the speaker’s empathy towards a scene participant. The study employs Langacker’s Cognitive Grammar model (1987, 2009) and the cognitive discourse analysis framework (Hart 2014), with special reference to the notions of empathy, empathy hierarchy and point of view.

Hands and faces: The expression of modality in ZEI, Iranian Sign Language

This paper presents a study of modality in Iranian Sign Language (ZEI) from a cognitive perspective, aimed at analyzing two linguistic channels: facial and manual. While facial markers and their grammatical functions have been studied in some sign languages, we have few detailed analyses of the facial channel in comparison with the manual channel in conveying modal concepts. This study focuses on the interaction between manual and facial markers. A description of manual modal signs is offered. Three facial markers and their modality values are also examined: squinted eyes, brow furrow, and downward movement of lip corners (horseshoe mouth). In addition to offering this first descriptive analysis of modality in ZEI, this paper also applies the Cognitive Grammar model of modality, the Control Cycle, and the Reality Model, classifying modals into two kinds, effective and epistemic. It is suggested that effective control, including effective modality, tends to be expressed on the hands, while facial markers play an important role in marking epistemic assessment, one manifestation of which is epistemic modality. ZEI, like some other sign languages, exhibits an asymmetry between the number of manual signs and facial markers expressing epistemic modality: while the face can be active in the expression of effective modality, it is commonly the only means of expressing epistemic modality. By positing an epistemic core in effective modality, Cognitive Grammar provides a theoretical basis for these findings.

Ensinar português no contexto angolano. Os clíticos pronominais: entre a norma gramatical europeia e a variedade angolana

In this study we reflect on the teaching of Portuguese language in the Angolan schools. We assessed primary and secondary students knowledge at the end of their high school, regarding the processing and use of pronominal clitics. We seek to understand the teachers attitude throughout the development of their classes and their influence on student learning. Therefore, we administered a grammar judgment test, a correction of sentences and pronominalization, two questionnaires (one to 62 students and one to 10 Portuguese language teachers) and we observed 10 classes. As a result, it was found that more than a half of the students are unaware of the standard form of pronominal clitics placement and have greater difficulty in processing the mesoclisis, in recognizing elements that favour the occurrence of the proclisis, and in replacing terms with pronouns, in sentences where the verbal form ends in consonant. Even though, teachers use the European grammar model in their lessons as regulated, which further inhibits students’ willingness to participate in classroom discussions. As a methodological suggestion, we use the grammar workshop method proposed by Duarte (1991, 1997, 2008), with the respective adaptations.