Interdisciplinary Colloquium
Inbal Kupperwasser, Tel Aviv University
As part of the department’s weekly research colloquium,
held every Thursday from 16:15 to 17:45 in the Webb Building (Room 103),
the following lecture by Inbal Kupperwasser (Tel Aviv University) will take place:
Language in social context: the effect of intergroup relations on pragmatic processing
Abstract:
It has been widely shown that speakers' social characteristics are taken into account when processing the meaning of an utterance (e.g., Beltrama & Schwarz, 2021; Colston & Lee, 2004; Fairchild & Papafragou, 2018; Holtgraves, 1994; Katz & Pexman, 1997). However, limited research has explored the impact of interlocutors' social group membership on meaning processing. In this talk, I will briefly review work that considers interlocutors' social relationships as a factor influencing meaning comprehension. I will present findings demonstrating that intergroup interactions (i.e., interactions with individuals from different social groups) interfere with the processing of pragmatic meaning. Specifically, I will present a series of experiments conducted on typical scalar implicatures (i.e., using the word ‘some’), and discuss more preliminary work on double negation. Additionally, I will provide evidence that this interference is mediated by cognitive abilities, particularly Theory of Mind. I will conclude by discussing how these results contribute to and extend current research on Social Meaning in linguistics, as well as their possible broader implications for real-world interactions.
All are welcome!
