Neuropragmatics and Language Comprehension

How does the brain process communicative acts in language?

Project coordinator: Dr. Rosario Tomasello

 

Although the main function of language is to achieve communication, most psycho- and neurolinguistic models do not address the question of how language can be used to carry out linguistic actions in communication. However, experimental neurocognitive research bears ample opportunity to tackle important linguistic-pragmatic issues. Recent work has started to address questions raised by, and controversies between linguistic-pragmatic, psycho- and neurolinguistic theories, but several novel results are subject to criticisms and call for more detailed investigation. The present project aims to (1) clarify whether pragmatic information processing in language understanding occurs at the end of a sequential cascade of linguistic information processing or rather occurs early and in parallel with grammatical and semantic access; (2) examine the spatio-temporal brain signatures of communicative functions more broadly than before, by widening the scope to speech acts from Searle’s categories of assertives, directives, expressives and commissives; and (3) assess neurocognitive similarities and differences within speech acts falling into the same Searlean category, so as to work towards a biological validation of these categories. By bridging linguistic theory with neurocognitive approaches, the project aims not only to validate existing models but also to refine and expand them, thereby advancing a more comprehensive understanding of the biological foundations of pragmatic language processing. By using cutting-edge EEG and behavioral methods, along with approaches for analyzing representational similarities, I hope to significantly advance with the present project the field of linguistic pragmatics in general and neuropragmatics in particular.