Do we need dynamic semantics?

I suspect the answer to the question in the title of this paper is no. But the scope of my paper will be considerably more limited: I will be concerned with whether certain types of considerations that are commonly cited in favor of dynamic semantics do in fact push us towards a dynamic semantics. Ultimately, I will argue that the evidence points to a dynamics of discourse that is best treated pragmatically, rather than as part of the semantics

The Effectiveness of Numbered Heads Together in Teaching Readingviewed From Students' Locus of Control

This writing applied an experimental design. The population of the research was the eighth graders of Senior High School academic year of 2011/2012 consisting of three classes. Two out of the three classes, consisting of 40 students, were used as the sample using the technique of cluster random sampling. The experimental group was taught using the NHT strategy, while the control group using expository strategy. A questionnaire and test of reading were used to collect the research data. The result of analysis shows that NHT is proved as an effective teaching strategy to teach reading for the eighth grade. The effectiveness is affected by students' level of Locus of Control

Argument Strength is in the Eye of the Beholder: Audience Effects in Persuasion

Americans spend about a third of their time online, with many participating in online conversations on social and political issues. We hypothesize that social media arguments on such issues may be more engaging and persuasive than traditional media summaries, and that particular types of people may be more or less convinced by particular styles of argument, e.g. emotional arguments may resonate with some personalities while factual arguments resonate with others. We report a set of experiments testing at large scale how audience variables interact with argument style to affect the persuasiveness of an argument, an under-researched topic within natural language processing. We show that belief change is affected by personality factors, with conscientious, open and agreeable people being more convinced by emotional arguments.Comment: European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL 2017

Effects of Theory of Mind Training on the False Belief Understanding of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Prekindergarten and Kindergarten

Data from a growing number of research studies indicate that children with hearing loss are delayed in Theory of Mind (ToM) development when compared to their typically developing, hearing peers. While other researchers have studied the developmental trajectories of ToM in school-age students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), a limited number have addressed the need for interventions for this population. The present study extends the current research on ToM interventions to the PreKindergarten and Kindergarten levels. This study used a single-case multiple-baseline multiple-probe across skills design with replications across classrooms to examine the effects of a ToM intervention on participants’ false belief understanding as well as outcomes on a near generalization measure (i.e., Sally-Anne Task, Baron-Cohen, Firth, Leslie, 1985) and a far generalization measure (i.e., five-task ToM developmental scale, Wellman & Liu, 2004). A thought bubble intervention (i.e., a visual representation of what people are thinking) developed by Wellman and Peterson (2013) was modified in key areas: (a) participants were substantially younger than the population in the original study and thus required a pre-teaching phase addressing vocabulary and materials, (b) manipulable materials were created from the description provided in the Wellman and Peterson (2013) study along with parallel materials used in assessment probes, (c) a certified teacher of DHH children provided direct instruction to participants in a small group setting, (d) study length was increased to 25 weeks, and (e) methodological design change (i.e., group design to single-case design). These modifications addressed the need for evidence-based ToM interventions that are both proactive and easily implemented by teachers in a classroom setting. Results from the single-case design portion of the study indicate a functional relation between the thought bubble intervention and the participants’ acquisition of the targeted skills in each stage, although progress was not uniform. Results from the pre-post assessments indicate that the children did make progress up the scale, however, children who used spoken language tended to proceed faster through the stages than those who used sign language. These results inform the field in regard to the efficacy and feasibility of a ToM intervention for young DHH children

Pragmatic enrichment in language processing and development

The goal of language comprehension for humans is not just to decode the semantic content of sentences, but rather to grasp what speakers intend to communicate. To infer speaker meaning, listeners must at minimum assess whether and how the literal meaning of an utterance addresses a question under discussion in the conversation. In cases of implicature, where the speaker intends to communicate more than just the literal meaning, listeners must access additional relevant information in order to understand the intended contribution of the utterance. I argue that the primary challenge for inferring speaker meaning is in identifying and accessing this relevant contextual information. In this dissertation, I integrate evidence from several different types of implicature to argue that both adults and children are able to execute complex pragmatic inferences relatively efficiently, but encounter some difficulty finding what is relevant in context. I argue that the variability observed in processing costs associated with adults' computation of scalar implicatures can be better understood by examining how the critical contextual information is presented in the discourse context. I show that children's oft-cited hyper-literal interpretation style is limited to scalar quantifiers. Even 3-year-olds are adept at understanding indirect requests and "parenthetical" readings of belief reports. Their ability to infer speaker meanings is limited only by their relative inexperience in conversation and lack of world knowledge

Eye tracking sentences in language education

The present study reports and discusses the use of eye tracking qualitative data (static and dynamic gaze plots and heatmaps) in reading workshops in a middle school and in Generative Syntax and Sentence Processing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Both endeavors take the sentential level as the proper object to be metacognitively explored in language education in order to develop innate science forming capacity and knowledge of language. In both projects non-discrepant qualitative eye tracking data collected and quantitatively analyzed in psycholinguistic studies carried out in LAPEX-UFRJ (Experimental Psycholinguistics Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) were displayed to students as a point of departure, triggering discussions. Active, problem-solving based methodologies were employed with the objective of stimulating student participation. The article also discusses the importance of developing full literacy, epistemic vigilance and intellectual self-defense in an infodemic world.The present study reports and discusses the use of eye tracking qualitative data (static and dynamic gaze plots and heatmaps) in reading workshops in a middle school and in Generative Syntax and Sentence Processing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Both endeavors take the sentential level as the proper object to be metacognitively explored in language education in order to develop innate science forming capacity and knowledge of language. In both projects non-discrepant qualitative eye tracking data collected and quantitatively analyzed in psycholinguistic studies carried out in LAPEX-UFRJ (Experimental Psycholinguistics Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) were displayed to students as a point of departure, triggering discussions. Active, problem-solving based methodologies were employed with the objective of stimulating student participation. The article also discusses the importance of developing full literacy, epistemic vigilance and intellectual self-defense in an infodemic world