Catherine Emmott

Shallow Processing and Attention Capture in Written and Spoken Discourse

Processing of discourse seems to be far from uniform with much evidence indicating that it can be quite shallow. The question is then what modulates depth of processing? A range of discourse devices exist that we believe may lead to more detailed processing of language input (Attention Capturers), thus serving as modulators of processing enabling some parts of discourse to be processed more than others. We list some of these and describe two in detail. We introduce the text-change procedure in which texts are presented twice in succession with a possible change to a word on the second presentation. By analogy with visual change-blindness, text change provides a method of tracking attention capture and depth of processing in text. In Experiment 1, the effect of italicization in writing was investigated. Italicization led to an increase in change detection. In Experiment 2, we investigated focus-driven word stress in speaking. Once again, focus-driven stress led to increases in change detection. These examples show how word stress increases depth of processing. We discuss the findings in terms of the Granularity account of focus, in which deeper processing is characterized as a more detailed semantic specification.

They're digging up the road again: The processing cost of Institutional They

It is commonplace to use the pronoun they to refer to agents in certain situations without ever providing a referent, as in On the train, they served really bad coffee. Such an example we call “Institutional They”, because such defaults typically represent the actions of some agent tied stereotypically to a situation. These cases represent an important subset of unheralded pronouns (Gerrig, 1986), pronouns without any explicit antecedent. While in many situations, the occurrence of referential pronouns without explicit antecedents entails a processing cost, an eye-tracking experiment revealed no reliable detectable costs associated with Institutional They. However, there were for singular pronouns without antecedents in the same situations. We argue that Institutional They cases result from properties of plural pronouns (they and them). These will accept underspecified type-referents, while singular pronouns require specified token-referents. Failure to identify token-referents results in disruption of processing in the case of singulars, but not in the case of the plurals.

Capturing the attention of readers? Stylistic and psychological perspectives on the use and effect of text fragmentation in narratives*

Abstract This article brings together researchers from Stylistics and Psychology to study whether text fragmentation, which appears often to be used by writers as a foregrounding device (Mukařovský 1964), is able to capture the attention of readers of narratives. We examine two types of text fragmentation: sentence fragments and mini-paragraphs. Firstly, we study the stylistic functions of fragmentation, including its cumulative use at plot crucial moments and its use for local rhetorical purposes. We then turn to psychological research on depth of processing (e.g. Sanford and Sturt 2002) and introduce a new method of testing, the text change detection method (Sturt at al. 2004). We report an experiment using this method to examine whether text fragments and very short sentences can increase the amount of detail that readers notice in a text, and then discuss the results in relation to potential applications. The work provides both a case study of the empirical analysis of foregrounding devices, and also, more generally, a case study of inter-disciplinary research across the Humanities and Social Sciences.

'Situated Events' in Fictional Worlds: The Reader's Role in Context Construction

Focuses on textual strategies which become functionalized for narrative purposes when readers extrapolate contextual readings from them. Discussion on schema theory and the notion of gap-filling in context construction; Definition of text-derived knowledge; Implications for narrative theory.

Sentence Fragmentation: Stylistic Aspects

‘Sentence fragmentation’ is a term covering the use of linguistic expressions that are not grammatically full sentences but that are nevertheless punctuated as sentences. This article first summarizes the study of sentence fragmentation in written texts, including research in stylistics and psychology and the observations of grammar textbooks and punctuation guides. We then present a survey of 16 different types of sentence fragmentation found in our database of examples, mainly from narrative fiction. We then discuss the major stylistic functions of sentence fragmentation in literary texts. Finally, we present some suggestions for future linguistic and stylistic research on fragmentation.

Reference: Stylistic Aspects

This article provides an overview of four key topics in the stylistic analysis of reference items. All these topics are illustrated by examples from narrative texts. Firstly, I discuss how readers use their schema knowledge and text world knowledge in order to make inferences to interpret referring expressions in texts. Then, I examine lexical density, the extent to which referents are referred to by full lexical noun phrases or pronouns. This section includes a discussion of textual and psychological underspecification. Later, I look at how switches between referring expressions can lead to perspective and address shifts. Finally, I look at displaced reference, drawing on transitivity analysis and the theory of mental spaces.

The Observing We in Literary Representations of Neglect and Social Alienation: Types of Narrator Involvement in Janice Galloway’s ‘Scenes from the Life No. 26: The Community and the Senior Citizen’ and Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs

This chapter examines the use of different types of we-narration in two literary stories that portray the theme of neglect and alienation in modern society, Janice Galloway’s ‘Scenes from the life no. 26: The community and the senior citizen’ and Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs. Both texts have an observing we-narrator. Galloway’s short story presents a voyeuristic commentator, apparently watching a staged performance. This we becomes increasingly detached as the narrative progresses, possibly preventing readers from fully empathising. By contrast, McGregor’s we-narrator is highly involved, contributing personal knowledge and memories. The degree of involvement of these we-narrators is quite different, but both texts use their unusual perspectives to provide unsettling views of those who have fallen into a state of neglect and are marginalised by society.