1. |
2. |
3. On the Italian Molto and Tanto and the differences with the Slovenian Precej and Veliko : lecture at the 48. Incontro di Grammatica Generativa, IGG48, Dilef, University of Florence, 16. 2. 2023Greta Mazzaggio, Penka Stateva, 2023, unpublished conference contribution Abstract: The present work is based on a previous study in which Stateva and Stepanov (2017) compare speakers’ comprehension of two Slovenian m(any)-words, veliko and precej. S&S argue for a degree analysis of the two quantifiers suggesting that they are semantically equivalent but subject to different mechanisms of pragmatic enrichment. We present the results of two experiments that use the S&S protocol in order to assess i) the comprehension of two Italian translational equivalents of these m-words, namely, molti and tanti, and ii) potential crosslinguistic influence in the context of Italian-Slovenian bilingualism. Our results suggest that Italian m-words have the same numerical bounds even in direct competition in contrast to their Slovenian counterparts. Italian L2 speakers of Slovenian fail to differentiate between the two m-words in Slovenian which suggests that this aspect of L2 acquisition is subject to negative transfer. Keywords: amount quantifier, Italian, bilingualism, negative transfer, pragmatic enrichment Published in RUNG: 27.03.2023; Views: 2102; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
4. |
5. |
6. Pragmatic aspects in multilingual communication : what experimental research tells usGreta Mazzaggio, 2022, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: This course will discuss how communicating in two or more languages might impact multiple cognitive domains and how this can have an effect on pragmatic abilities. We will move from studies in the field of Experimental Pragmatics, discussing the most recent theories in the field and examining the apparently discordant empirical data. We will discuss the pragmatic advantages and disadvantages of bilinguals and we will analyze the different methodological choices that we must consider when designing a study with this population. Is it enough to speak about “bilinguals”? Does proficiency play a role? How to test L2 proficiency? We will answer these kinds of questions and we will discuss potential future directions in the field. At the end of the course you will understand that there are many aspects yet to be defined and studied on the topic of bilingualism and pragmatics, a topic that is becoming more and more important in this multicultural and multilingual world we live in. Keywords: experimental pragmatics, multilingualism, bilingualism Published in RUNG: 06.09.2022; Views: 1971; Downloads: 9 Link to full text This document has many files! More... |
7. |
8. Explicit gender stereotyping in bilingualismGreta Mazzaggio, 2021, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: A gender stereotype is a mental representation related to gender, according to which certain characteristics are attributed without direct experience (Allport 1954). Many ordinary words present a negative connotation when applied to women compared to men (Lakoff 1973). Do linguistic stimuli influence our bias towards gender stereotypes? We want to exploit the foreign language effect (FLE) to see whether explicit linguistic gender stereotypes are reduced
in a second language (L2) compared to a first language (L1). We asked Italian native speakers (213), English native speakers (105) and Italian/English bilinguals (192) to evaluate words as neuter, masculine or feminine. We presented
a total of 58 words divided into four categories: 14 Power words vs. 14 Weak words and 15 Warm words vs. 15 Cold words. As expected, overall, participants judged Power words much more masculine than Weak words and Cold words much more masculine than Warm words (Rudman et al. 2001). Running a two-way MANOVA (Group*Gender), there was a statistically significant effect of group for Weak words and of Gender for both Weak words and Warm words. Post-hoc analyses revealed that L2 participants behave differently from the L1 ones, with lower masculine scores for Power words, lower feminine scores for Weak words and Warm words. We demonstrated that when presented with words in a L2 participants are less prone to judge them in a gender-biased way. Our results seem to confirm the FLE:
a L2 might trigger cognitive and emotional distance, leading to a lesser gender-biased semantic behavior and language might (mildly) affect how we perceive reality. The take home message is that linguistic behavior might affect our inner beliefs and, thus, how women are represented in everyday language should reflect better equality standards. Gender- free language policies (e.g., gender-neutral language) might be useful in the long run. Keywords: linguistic sexism, gender, stereotype, psycholinguistics, bilingualism Published in RUNG: 22.09.2021; Views: 2519; Downloads: 88 Link to full text This document has many files! More... |
9. |
10. Developmental aspects of Maximize Presupposition : a view from SlovenianPenka Stateva, 2021, published scientific conference contribution abstract (invited lecture) Abstract: In this talk I present the results of an experimental study of young children's acquisition and use of the principle Maximize Presupposition (MP) in the context of the propositional attitude predicates (equivalent to) know and think. MP operates in the domain of pragmatics in order to distinguish among semantically equivalent propositions which have different presuppositional load in a given context (Heim 1991, Sauerland 2008). Given its nature, demonstrating a speaker’s sensitivity to MP is contingent on knowledge about presuppositional content within a relevant set of alternatives. We use a felicity judgement task to test the ability of 5- and 7-year-old Slovenian-speaking children to derive the factive presupposition of know and the pragmatic inference trigerred by think in accord with MP. The older group of children outperformed the younger group in both conditions manifesting a ceiling performance, while the younger group showed a more mixed pattern. Our results suggest that the anti-factivity inference is mastered on a par with the ability to derive the presupposition of factivity, as predicted by contemporary pragmatic theories. The discussion will also include questions about the influence of bilingualism on developing pragmatic abilities, negative transfer in the domain of pragmatics and its dependence on cross-linguistic morpho-syntactic variation among translational equivalents. Keywords: Maximize Presupposition, implicated presupposition, early bilingualism, language acquisition, attitude verb Published in RUNG: 15.09.2021; Views: 2923; Downloads: 51 Link to full text This document has many files! More... |