Are Cross-Linguistically Frequent Semantic Systems Easier to Learn? The Case of Evidentiality

It is often assumed that cross-linguistically more prevalent distinctions are easier to learn (Typological Prevalence Hypothesis - TPH). Prior work supports this hypothesis in phonology, morphology and syntax but has not addressed semantics. Using an Artificial Language Learning paradigm, we explore the learnability of semantic distinctions within the domain of evidentiality (i.e. the linguistic encoding of information sources). Our results support the TPH, since the most prevalent evidential system was learned best while the most rare evidentiality system yielded the worst learnability results. Furthermore, our results indicate that, cross- linguistically, indirect information sources seem to be marked preferentially (and acquired more easily) compared to direct sources. We explain this pattern in terms of the pragmatic need to mark indirect, potentially more unreliable sources over direct sources of information

Words don't come easy: Linguistic analysis of vocabulary in Magic Books

The present study focuses on the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) coursebooks Magic Book 1 and Magic Book 2 that have been designed and developed for third graders in the Greek state primary schools under the PEAP project. It aims to examine the lexical items selected for those coursebooks and set out the criteria that render them a useful tool for teaching EFL to young learners. More specifically, this paper aims to: (a) examine the frequency of the vocabulary included in the two books by using the frequency data of the British National Corpus (BNC), (b) compare the vocabulary of the books with the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP) issued by Cambridge University Press, and (c) examine the thematic areas covered in these books in order to investigate the extent of their continuity with the interests and needs of the target age group

Dionysia Saratsli's Quick Files

The Quick Files feature was discontinued and it’s files were migrated into this Project on March 11, 2022. The file URL’s will still resolve properly, and the Quick Files logs are available in the Project’s Recent Activity

Pragmatic Bias and the Learnability of Semantic Distinctions

Cross-linguistically prevalent semantic distinctions are widely assumed to be easier to learn, due to the naturalness of the underlying concepts. Here we propose that pragmatic pressures can also shape this cross-linguistic prevalence, and offer evidence from evidentiality (the encoding of information source). Languages with grammatical evidential systems overwhelmingly encode indirect sources (reported information or hearsay) but very rarely mark direct, visual experience. Conceptually, humans reason naturally about what they see, however, on pragmatic grounds, when encoding a single source, reported information is more informative because it is potentially unreliable and consequently more marked. In two Artificial Language Learning experiments, we directly compared the learnability of two simple evidential systems, each marking only a visual or reportative source. Across experiments, participants learned more easily to mark reportative information sources. Our results provide support for a pragmatic bias that shapes both the cross-linguistic frequency and the learnability of evidential semantic distinctions

Pragmatic Bias and the Learnability of Semantic Distinctions

Cross-linguistically prevalent semantic distinctions are widely assumed to be easier to learn, due to the naturalness of the underlying concepts. Here we propose that pragmatic pressures can also shape this cross-linguistic prevalence, and offer evidence from evidentiality (the encoding of information source). Languages with grammatical evidential systems overwhelmingly encode indirect sources (reported information or hearsay) but very rarely mark direct, visual experience. Conceptually, humans reason naturally about what they see, however, on pragmatic grounds, when encoding a single source, reported information is more informative because it is potentially unreliable and consequently more marked. In two Artificial Language Learning experiments, we directly compared the learnability of two simple evidential systems, each marking only a visual or reportative source. Across experiments, participants learned more easily to mark reportative information sources. Our results provide support for a pragmatic bias that shapes both the cross-linguistic frequency and the learnability of evidential semantic distinctions

Pragmatics and social cognition in learning and remembering words

Both children and adults can use sophisticated pragmatic inferences to acquire word meanings. An intriguing hypothesis is that words actively acquired via pragmatic inference (as opposed to simpler and more direct word-to-world mapping) might be better retained over time. On this hypothesis, to the extent that socio-cognitive skills support pragmatic computation, such socio-cognitive skills should also support inferentially-driven word learning outcomes. In the current study, we compared adults’ immediate attainment and later retention of novel word meanings acquired through either direct mapping or pragmatic inference. We found that pragmatic inference facilitated the retention of novel words compared to direct mapping (Experiment 1). Moreover, better socio-cognitive skills, measured by the Mind-in-the-Eyes task, were associated with better retention specifically for meanings that were inferred but not for meanings acquired through direct mapping (Experiment 1). Furthermore, when social cognition was taxed before word learning, the advantage of pragmatic inference for meaning retention in the same paradigm was diminished (Experiment 2). In conclusion, pragmatic processes supported by social cognition affect both encoding and memory consolidation of novel word meanings