Cariola, Laura A.

This cross-cultural study assessed differences in the latent linguistic structure and the dimensions of its individual functions in American-English and German written dream memories

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     Edinburgh Research Explorer                                      Analysing the latent linguistic structure of American-English andGerman dream narrativesCitation for published version:Cariola, LA 2011, 'Analysing the latent linguistic structure of American-English and German dreamnarratives' Paper presented at 28th Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study ofDreams, Kerkrade, Netherlands, 24/06/11 - 28/06/11, . DOI: 10.11588/ijodr.2011.0.9125Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.11588/ijodr.2011.0.9125Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research ExplorerGeneral rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s)and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorercontent complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright pleasecontact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately andinvestigate your claim.Download date: 09. May. 2018Analysing the latent linguistic structure of American-English and German dream narratives  Abstract  This cross-cultural study assessed differences in the latent linguistic structure and the dimensions of its individual functions in American-English and German written dream memories. This was done through the use of frequency counts of linguistic variables and a multi-feature/multivariate approach, in order to explore “empirically and quantitatively linguistic features that co-occur in texts because they work together to mark some common underlying function within the text” (Biber, 1988, p.55).   The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC 2001) text analysis program (Pennebaker, Francis, & Booth, 2001) calculated the percentage of words and semantic content of all American-English (N = 100) and German (N = 100) written dream memories. The results indicated that German dream memories reflected a significantly higher frequency of group-references, articles, positive affect, negative affect, causation words, insight words, certainty words, time references, present tense, spatial words and current concerns references, whereas American-English dream memories used significantly more prepositions, numbers, tentative words, sensory-perceptual processes, past tense, exclusion words and motion words.   An exploratory principal component analysis with an oblimin factor rotation was performed in order to assess the conceptual linguistic function of the factorial dimensions in American-English and German written dream memories. The results identified in total 3 linguistic dimensions that showed partial cross-cultural similarities, for which the factorial dimensions of German dreams included – 1) present tense vs. past tense, 2) exclusion vs. inclusion, 3) spatial references vs. other references. The factorial dimensions of American-English dreams included – 1) first-person singular pronouns vs. first person plural pronouns, 2) spatial references vs. insight, 3) exclusion vs. positive emotion words.  An additional hierarchical cluster follow-up analysis proposed three homogeneous linguistic dimensions within the content of American-English and German dream narratives, including 1) self- and other-references, 2) level of description, 3) space and motion. A cross-cultural difference was identified in the first and second cluster. In German dreams, ‘self- and other-references’ were associated with present tense processes, whereas ‘level of description’ related to past tense processes. Conversely, ‘self- and other-references’ were associated with past tense process and ‘level of description’ related to present tense processes in American-English dreams.  Consequently, the results demonstrated that the frequency of linguistic content and the linguistic structure differed cross-culturally in American-English and German dream narratives, which might indicate that the discursive presentation of dream narratives may be socioculturally moderated (Connor, 1996).   References Biber, D. (1988). Variations across speech and writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.  Connor, U. (1996). Contrastive rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second-language writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.  Pennebaker, J. W., Francis, M. E., & Booth, R. J. (2001). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC): LIWC2001. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.                                        

Analysing the latent linguistic structure of American-English and German dream narratives

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Analysing the latent linguistic structure of American-English and German dream narratives

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