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Scalar implicature processing in deaf and hearing signers of German Sign Language (DGS): Preliminary findings from some-but-not-all scalar implicatures
Poster Session A, Friday, September 12, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Field House
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Elena Georgia Mpadanes1, Agnes Villwock1; 1Rochester Institute of Technology
Scalar implicatures (SI) are derived when statements like “some guests have arrived” are interpreted as a negation of “all guests have arrived”. Scalar implicatures are not explicitly conveyed but are conclusions based on pragmatic inferences, which by some are assumed to be rooted in communication principles such as the ones described by Grice (1975; Spychalska et al., 2016). They have been the subject of extensive investigation in the field of experimental pragmatics (for an overview see Politzer‐Ahles, 2020). However, most behavioral, and so far, all electrophysiological research on the matter has focused on spoken/written language paradigms and hearing monolinguals. Only a few studies have included hearing bilinguals (e.g., Dupuy et al., 2019) or deaf bimodal bilinguals (Davidson, 2014; Davidson & Mayberry, 2015) in their studies. Moreover, only behavioral research has been conducted on scalar implicature processing on the semantic-pragmatic interface in sign languages, focusing on deaf American Sign Language users (Davidson, 2014; Davidson & Mayberry, 2015). This ongoing study investigates how deaf and hearing users of DGS process some-but-not-all scalar implicatures triggered by the scalar quantifier einige (engl. some) in written German. So far, participants include (i) 19 deaf L1 signers of DGS & German, (ii) 18 hearing L1 signers of DGS & German, (iii) 21 hearing L2 learners of DGS, and (iv) 21 hearing non-signers (controls). A truth-value judgment task assesses accuracy and response time across 224 trials, where participants judge the truthfulness of German sentences containing einige/alle (engl. some/all; presented word-by-word with a duration of 500 ms each) in context of a preceding picture. During the behavioral task, the EEG was recorded. Preliminary findings display significant differences in response times between signers and non-signers (p < .01), suggesting that language experience might influence the timing of scalar inference processing. While all groups derive them from quantifier scales, rejection rates for underinformative trials vary depending on language group. Both deaf and hearing DGS users make scalar inferences, which is in accordance with Davidson (2014). This points to the assumption that their processing is shaped by both sensory and linguistic experience, supporting the universality of conversational principles across modalities. Davidson, K. (2014). Scalar implicatures in a signed language. Sign Language & Linguistics, 17(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.17.1.01dav Davidson, K., & Mayberry, R. I. (2015). Do adults show an effect of delayed first language acquisition when calculating scalar implicatures? Language Acquisition, 22(4), 329–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/10489223.2014.962140 Dupuy, L., Stateva, P., Andreetta, S., Cheylus, A., Déprez, V., van der Henst, J.-B., Jayez, J., Stepanov, A., & Reboul, A. (2019). Pragmatic abilities in bilinguals. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 9(2), 314–340. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.17017.dup Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and Conversation. In P. Cole & J. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and Semantics (pp. 41–58). Politzer‐Ahles, S. (2020). What can electrophysiology tell us about the cognitive processing of scalar implicatures? Language and Linguistics Compass, 14(10), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12401 Spychalska, M., Kontinen, J., & Werning, M. (2016). Investigating scalar implicatures in a truth-value judgement task: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(6), 817–840. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2016.1161806
Topic Areas: Signed Language and Gesture,