Job description
Reference is one of the most basic functions of language and therefore, all languages in the world have reference systems that allow conversational partners to coordinate on an intended referent. Demonstratives, for example words like ‘this’ and ‘that’ in English, are a universal reference system that is used together with pointing to orient the addressee’s attention towards an element in the speech situation. Because of their fundamental function to establish joint attention, demonstratives are linked to human social cognition. Definite articles and pronouns, on the other hand, are used to signal referents that are familiar to the addressee (e.g., ‘We finally bought the house, but it was really expensive’). Therefore, these reference systems also rely on social cognition. This research project will investigate referential communication from a cross-linguistic perspective, adopting an integrated production and comprehension perspective and a multimodal approach that integrates speech, gesture and attention to understand which aspects of social cognition they tap into an whether and how this varies cross-linguistically.
The main questions to be addressed in the project are i) how do speakers of different languages integrate the use of reference systems and pointing gestures when referring to objects in different locations, ii) how do speakers of different languages monitor joint attention when producing/interpreting referential expressions. While the project does not aim to study any specific language, it will investigate potential cross-linguistic differences. For example, both Portuguese and Turkish have a 3-way demonstrative system that distinguishes proximal, medial and distal forms, but the Turkish medial demonstrative ‘şu’ is often used together with pointing to redirect the listener’s attention to the correct referent – unlike the medial form in Portuguese.
The above questions will be investigated using different methodologies. A corpus of naturalistic dialogue interactions will be compiled as a basis for analyzing the use of reference systems in speech as well as concurrent gestural and eye gaze behavior, for instance via kinematic and mobile eye-tracking data. This corpus will also serve as a basis for development of targeted AR and VR studies that experimentally test specific theoretical claims in mobile setups that combine experimental control with ecological validity.
The project will be led by an interdisciplinary team including Prof. Asli Özyürek
(https://www.mpi.nl/people/ozyurek-asli), an expert in human cross-linguistic multimodal language use and processing at the Multimodal Language Department of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and Dr. Paula Rubio-Fernández (https://www.mpi.nl/department/multimodal-language-department/23/people)an expert in experimental cross-linguistic pragmatics and social cognition, and Dr. David Peeters
(https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/persons/david-peeters/), an expert in the study of multimodal communication using experimental methods, including virtual reality.
If you have questions about the position that you wish to discuss before you apply, please email the Department Director Prof. Asli Özyürek at asli.ozyurek [at] mpi.nl.
Requirements
Candidates should have:
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