Localisation and linguistic anomalies

Interactive systems may seek to accommodate users whose first language is not English. Usually, this entails a focus on translation and related features of localisation. While such motivation is worthy, the results are often less than ideal. In raising awareness of the shortcomings of localisation, we hope to improve the prospects for successful second-language support. To this end, the present paper describes three varieties of linguistic irregularity that we have encountered in localised systems and suggests that these anomalies are direct results of localisation. This underlines the need for better end-user guidance in managing local language resources and supports our view that complementary local resources may hold the key to second language user support

Neurobiology of dyslexia : A reinterpretation of the data

Theories of developmental dyslexia differ on how to best interpret the great variety of symptoms (linguistic, sensory, motor) observed in dyslexic individuals. One approach views dyslexia as a specific phonological deficit, which sometimes co-occurs with a more general sensorimotor syndrome. The present review of the neurobiology of dyslexia shows that neurobiological data are indeed consistent with this view, explaining both how a specific phonological deficit might arise, and why a sensorimotor syndrome should be significantly associated with it. This new conceptualisation of the aetiology of dyslexia may generalise to other neuro-developmental disorders, and may further explain heterogeneity within each disorder and co-morbidity between disorders

Tools for second language support

The second language problem is the context in which non-native English speakers are required to interact with English-based computer systems. In other papers, we have characterized this setting and proposed methods of supporting such users. The present paper details several tools that we have developed to assist in our work with second language support. A prime consideration in such tool development is to facilitate easy management of alternative language resources. The need for criteria to direct second language support and the role of such tools in helping to evaluate such criteria is detailed here

Optimising content clarity for human-machine systems

This paper details issues associated with the production of clearly expressed and comprehensible technical documentation for domestic appliances and human-machine systems, and describes an approach to optimising the clarity of such content. The aim is to develop support for authors in checking the likely comprehensibility of chosen forms of expression by reference to an external measure of 'likely familiarity'. Our DOcumentation Support Tool (DoST) will assist in identifying words and expression forms that are likely to be unfamiliar to end users

From local Creoles to global Creoles : insights from the Seychelles

In this paper, Seychellois society is discussed from the perspective of a small island society whose smallness and insulation in its early formation contributed to the emergence of a very distinctive type of creole culture and identity. This is symptomatic of other island creole societies in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean, which have been described as culturally hybrid populations, as a result of 17th-19th Century colonialism and slavery. Political connections between these societies have led to the construction of a wider creole identity, based on their shared history. More recently, these plantation types of creole societies have come to realise that they must share their creole identity more widely since, as a result of globalisation and the acceleration of migration, the metropoles of the world are becoming centres of creolisation in the sense of mixing and hybridity. Is this the same process that occurred in places like Seychelles and Martinique, and is this what is happening in Europe, with the advent of immigration from the Global South? Or, should the term ‘creolisation’ be reserved for a particular historical and sociocultural situation resulting from plantation slavery? In other words, is creolisation a global or localised phenomenon? Furthermore, can these new metropolitan centres of creolisation learn anything from the way small creole island states and territories have adapted to their social environment, or should they continue to be seen as the core from which modernity and progress flow to the periphery?peer-reviewe

Language in genetic syndromes and cognitive modularity

In recent years, research into the impact of genetic abnormalities on cognitive development, including language, has become recognized for its potential to make valuable contributions to our understanding of the brain–behaviour relationships underlying language acquisition as well as to understanding the cognitive architecture of the human mind. The publication of Fodor’s ( 1983 ) book The Modularity of Mind has had a profound impact on the study of language and the cognitive architecture of the human mind. Its central claim is that many of the processes involved in comprehension are undertaken by special brain systems termed ‘modules’. This domain specificity of language or modularity has become a fundamental feature that differentiates competing theories and accounts of language acquisition (Fodor 1983 , 1985 ; Levy 1994 ; Karmiloff-Smith 1998 ). However, although the fact that the adult brain is modularized is hardly disputed, there are different views of how brain regions become specialized for specific functions. A question of some interest to theorists is whether the human brain is modularized from the outset (nativist view) or whether these distinct brain regions develop as a result of biological maturation and environmental input (neuroconstructivist view). One source of insight into these issues has been the study of developmental disorders, and in particular genetic syndromes, such as Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS). Because of their uneven profiles characterized by dissociations of different cognitive skills, these syndromes can help us address theoretically significant questions. Investigations into the linguistic and cognitive profiles of individuals with these genetic abnormalities have been used as evidence to advance theoretical views about innate modularity and the cognitive architecture of the human mind. The present chapter will be organized as follows. To begin, two different theoretical proposals in the modularity debate will be presented. Then studies of linguistic abilities in WS and in DS will be reviewed. Here, the emphasis will be mainly on WS due to the fact that theoretical debates have focused primarily on WS, there is a larger body of literature on WS, and DS subjects have typically been used for the purposes of comparison. Finally, the modularity debate will be revisited in light of the literature review of both WS and DS. Conclusions will be drawn regarding the contribution of these two genetic syndromes to the issue of cognitive modularity, and in particular innate modularity

The neurocognitive processing of plausibility and real-world knowledge:A cross-linguistic investigation

Our knowledge about concepts and meanings is at the very heart of human cognition. In everyday life, we have to interact with our environment in a variety of different ways. Our actions are guided by what we know and believe about the world and this knowledge derives primarily from previous sensory and perceptual experiences. The fact that we are capable of engaging with our environment in an appropriate and efficient way means that we have learnt (how) to make sense of the events and entities we are faced with in day-to-day life. We are thus able to recognise and name both physical objects and abstract concepts, to categorise and associate them based on their specific properties, to interpret other people’s intentions, and to judge cause and effect of their actions as well as our own. Moreover, the ability to represent this wealth of knowledge about the real world in the conceptualised and symbolic form of language is believed to be exclusive to humans. Our language capacity allows us to communicate with others about past and future events or to describe fictitious scenarios by combining previously acquired concepts in a novel way without the need for external stimulation. Thus language forms a primary means of interacting with those around us by allowing us to express our own thoughts and comprehend those of others. As long as language processing proceeds in an undisturbed manner, we are largely unaware of the underlying mechanisms that support the seemingly effortless interpretation of linguistic input. The importance of these processes for successful communication, however, becomes all the more apparent when language processing is disrupted, for example, by brain lesions that render semantic analysis difficult or impossible. Scientific research that aims to uncover and define cognitive or neural mechanisms underlying semantic processing is inevitably faced with the complexity and wealth of semantic relationships that need to be taken into account. In absence of noninvasive neurocognitive methods and insights gleaned from modern neurobiology, early research had a limited impact on our understanding of how semantic processing is implemented in the human brain. Traditional neurological models of language have been based primarily on lesion-deficit data, and thus supported the view that certain areas of the brain were exclusively dedicated to the processing of language-specific functions (Geschwind, 1970; Lichtheim, 1885; Wernicke, 1874). Furthermore, classical theories of sensory processing viewed the brain as a purely stimulus-driven system that retrieves and combines individual low-level aspects or features in an automated, passive and context-independent manner (Biederman, 1987; Burton & Sinclair, 1996; Hubel & Wiesel, 1965; Massaro, 1998). After a recent paradigm shift in the cognitive neurosciences, current theories of sensory processing are now based on the concept of the brain as a highly active, adaptive and dynamic device. In this sense, language comprehension, like many other higher-cognitive functions, is shaped by a flexible interaction of a number of different processes and information sources that include so-called bottom-up signals, i.e., the actual sensory input and processes related to their forward propagation, and top-down processes that generate predictions and expectations based on prior experience and perceived probabilities. Therefore, accounts that view semantic processing as a dynamic and active construction of meaning that is highly sensitive to contextual influences seem most probable from a neurobiological perspective. Results from electrophysiological and neuroimaging research on semantic analysis in sentence and discourse context have provided evidence for top-down influences from the very beginning. In addition, recent ERP results have suggested that the interaction between topdown and bottom-up information is more flexible and dynamic than previously assumed. Yet, the importance of predictions and expectations has long been neglected in models of semantic processing and language comprehension in general. Neuroimaging data have provided us with a long list of brain regions that have been implicated in different aspects of semantic analysis. We are only beginning to understand the role(s) that these regions play and how they interact to support the flexible and efficient construction of meaning. The aim of the present thesis is to gain a more comprehensive view on the computational mechanisms underlying language processing by investigating how bottom- up and top-down information and processes interactively contribute to the semantic analysis in sentences and discourse. To this end, we conducted a total of five studies that used either event-related potentials or functional neuroimaging to shed light on this matter from different perspectives. The thesis is divided into two main parts: Part I (chapters 1-5) provides an overview on previous results from electrophysiology and neuroimaging on semantic processing as well as a description and discussion of the studies conducted in the present thesis. Part II (chapters 6-9) consists of three research articles that describe and discuss the results of five experimental studies. In Part I, Chapter 2 gives a brief introduction to the event-related potential and functional neuroimaging techniques and reviews the most relevant results and theories that have emerged from studies on sentence and discourse processing. Chapter 3 highlights the research questions targeted in each of the experimental studies and describes and discusses the most relevant findings against the background established by Chapter 2. Chapters 4 and 5 conclude Part I by placing the presented results in a broader context and by briefly outlining future directions. Part II begins with a survey of the three studies reported in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 7 highlights the results of the first study, a German ERP experiment that investigated the impact of capitalisation, i.e., a purely form-based and contextually independent bottom-up manipulation, on the processing of semantic anomalies in single sentences. Chapter 8 comprises three ERP experiments that used both easy and hard to detect semantic anomalies in German and English to corroborate the assumption that the weighting of top-down and bottom-up information cues might be determined in a language-specific way. Chapter 9, the final chapter of the thesis, describes and discusses the results of the third study, in which the impact of embedding context on the required depth of semantic processing was examined using functional neuroimaging

Evidence from neurolinguistic methodologies: can it actually inform linguistic/ language acquisition theories and translate to evidence-based applications?

This special issue is a testament to the recent burgeoning interest by theoretical linguists, language acquisitionists and teaching practitioners in the neuroscience of language. It offers a highly valuable, state-of-the-art overview of the neurophysiological methods that are currently being applied to questions in the field of second language (L2) acquisition, teaching and processing. Research in the area of neurolinguistics has developed dramatically in the past twenty years, providing a wealth of exciting findings, many of which are discussed in the papers in this volume. The goal of this commentary is twofold. The first is to critically assess the current state of neurolinguistic data from the point of view of language acquisition and processing—informed by the papers that comprise this special issue and the literature as a whole—pondering how the neuroscience of language/processing might inform us with respect to linguistic and language acquisition theories. The second goal is to offer some links from implications of exploring the first goal towards informing language teachers and the creation of linguistically and neurolinguistically-informed evidence-based pedagogies for non-native language teaching

Street slang and schizophrenia

We report the case of a 26 year old streetwise young postman who presented with a six month history of reduced occupational and social function, low mood, and lack of motivation. He complained of feeling less sociable and less interested in his friends and of being clumsy and finding it harder to think. He was otherwise fit and healthy, with no physical abnormalities, neurological signs, or objective cognitive impairments. There was no history of a recent stressor that might have precipitated his symptoms. He was referred to a specialist service for patients in the prodromal phase of psychotic illness for further assessment after he had seen his general practitioner and the local community mental health team. The differential diagnosis at this stage was depression, the prodrome of schizophrenia, or no formal clinical disorder. His premorbid occupational and social function had been good. There was no history of abnormal . social, language, and motor development and he left school with two A levels. After three years of service at the post office he had been promoted to a supervisory role. He had a good relationship with his family and had six or so good friends. There has been a number of previous heterosexual relationships, although none in the past year. Aside from smoking cannabis on two occasions when he was 19, there was no history of illicit substance use. Detailed and repeated assessment of his mental state found a normal affect, no delusions, hallucinations, or catatonia, and no cognitive dysfunction. His speech, however, was peppered with what seemed (to his middle class and older psychiatrist) to be an unusual use of words, although he said they were street slang (table).Go It was thus unclear whether he was displaying subtle signs of formal thought disorder (manifest as disorganised speech, including the use of unusual words or phrases, and neologisms) or using a "street" argot. This was a crucial diagnostic distinction as thought disorder is a feature of psychotic illnesses and can indicate a diagnosis of schizophrenia. We sought to verify his explanations using an online dictionary of slang (urbandictionary.com). To our surprise, many of the words he used were listed and the definitions accorded with those he gave (see table). We further investigated whether his speech showed evidence of thought disorder by examining recordings of his speech as he described a series of ambiguous pictures from the thematic apperception test, a procedure that elicits thought disordered speech. His speech was transcribed and rated with the thought and language index, a standardised scale for assessing thought disorder. Slang used in a linguistically appropriate way is not scored as abnormal on this scale. His score was 5.25, primarily reflecting a mild loosening of associations. For example, he described a picture of a boat on a lake thus: "There’s a boat and a tree. There seems to be a reflection. There are no beds, and I wonder why there are no beds. There’s a breeze going through the branches of the tree." His score was outside the normal range (mean for normal controls 0.88, SD 1.15) and indicates subtle thought disorder, equivalent to that evident in remitted patients with schizophrenia (mean in remitted patients 3.89, SD 2.56) but lower than that in patients with formal thought disorder (mean 27.4, SD 8.3). Over the following year his social and occupational functioning deteriorated further, and he developed frank formal thought disorder as well as grandiose and persecutory delusions to the extent that he met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia. His speech was assessed as before, and the thought and language index score had increased to 11.75. This mainly reflected abnormalities on items comprising "positive" thought disorder, particularly the use of neologisms such as "chronocolising" and non-sequiturs. To our knowledge this is the first case report to describe difficulties in distinguishing "street" argots from formal thought disorder. It is perhaps not surprising that slang can complicate the assessment of disorganised speech as psychotic illnesses usually develop in young adults, whereas the assessing clinician is often from an older generation (and different sociocultural background) less familiar with contemporary urban slang. Online resources offer a means of distinguishing street argot from neologisms or a peculiar use of words, and linguistic rating scales may be a useful adjunct to clinical assessment when thought disorder is subtle. Differentiating thought disorder from slang can be especially difficult in the context of "prodromal" signs of psychosis, when speech abnormalities, if present, are usually subtle. Nevertheless, accurate speech assessment is important as subtle thought disorder can, as in this case, predate the subsequent onset of schizophrenia, and early detection and treatment of psychosis might be associated with a better long term clinical outcome