Linguistics and English Language

Language evolution seminar

Speaker: Jia Loy (CLE, University of Edinburgh)

Title: Adaptation may depend on perceived linguistic knowledge: Evidence from priming with native and nonnative interlocutors

Abstract: It has been proposed that languages with more nonnative speakers are simpler due to native speakers' adjustments towards nonnative interlocutors. However, experimental evidence of the adaptive mechanisms at play in natural language is lacking. In this talk I present a set of experiments investigating the degree of adaptation in native English speakers towards their nonnative conversation partner. I discuss two mechanisms that have been attributed to speaker adaptation -- priming, which emphasises an automatic, unconscious tendency to repeat recent information; and listener-oriented processes, which propose that speakers strategically adapt to specific interlocutors. Our results suggest that native speakers exhibit greater adaptation towards nonnative interlocutors only when the communicative context induces an inference about their partner’s linguistic ability. I discuss the implications of these results with respect to the two mechanisms.

Contact

Seminars are organised by the Centre for Language Evolution

Andres Karjus

Centre for Language Evolution

Feb 26 2019 -

Language evolution seminar

2019-02-26: Adaptation may depend on perceived linguistic knowledge: Evidence from priming with native and nonnative interlocutors

Room G32, Psychology Building, 7 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ