Event processing for language: An investigation of the relationship between events, sentences, and verbs; using data from 6 people with non-fluent aphasia
This thesis focuses on conceptualisation for language, or event processing, and identifies some of its key aspects. Five tasks were created in order to isolate various layers of conceptual processing; two video tasks requiring no language output; a further video task requiring verbs to be selected from a choice of three; an odd- one-out task with photographs of events; and a sentence judgement task. These tasks were performed by six people with non-fluent aphasia. A major finding was that there are some aspects of processing common to both language and non-language tasks. It is claimed that the linguistic system contains certain organising principles that enable information to be structured so that it is expressible in language. These organising principles can be seen to exert a strong influence on the conceptual system, even in non-language tasks. The results from the tasks also indicated five separable layers of conceptual processing: distinguishing events from non-events; identifying event type; identifying the relationship encoded by the event; identifying the roles played by participant entities; and identifying perspective. These aspects of processing may be selectively impaired in aphasia and methods for their independent assessment are discussed. The implications for the characterisation of conceptual processing and the relationship between conceptualisation and language are considered. In conclusion, the clinical implications of this finding are examined; in terms of stimulus materials for assessment and therapeutic intervention and in relation to functional communication
