Context construction as mediated by discourse markers : an adaptive approach / by Thanh Nyan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nyan, T. (Thanh), 1950- author.

Series:

Studies in pragmatics ; 15.

Studies in pragmatics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Context (Linguistics).

Discourse markers.

Pragmatics.

Speech acts (Linguistics).

Physical Description:

xii, 198 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston: Brill, [2016]

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Working Definition of Discourse Markers 2

1.2 Research Background 3

1.3 The Structure of Instructions as Construed by AT: What It Entails for the Way in which DMS Constrain Interpretation 4

1.4 The Personal/Sub-personal Distinction 7

1.5 The Variability of Minds and Its Relevance to this Project 15

1.6 Arguments in Support of the View that an Adaptive Perspective Can Provide the Basis for an Integrated Account of DMS 17

1.7 Key Points 21

1.8 Organization of the Book 22

2 Investigating DMS from an Adaptive Perspective 24

2.1 Darwin's Theory of Evolution 24

2.2 Alternative Theories of Evolution 25

2.3 Issues in Darwinian Evolutionary Biology 26

2.4 The Evolutionist's Task 27

2.5 Theoretical Significance of Darwin's Evolutionary Biology 29

2.6 Functional Explanations 31

2.7 Identifying Potential Adaptations 32

2.8 Identifying Potential Co-options 33

2.9 Viewing Language as a Biological Phenomenon 34

2.10 How Does One Investigate Language as a Biological Phenomenon? 38

2.11 Understanding DMS from an Adaptive Perspective 44

2.12 Research Questions 44

2.13 Mapping Research Questions onto the Investigation Process 45

2.14 Summary 46

2.15 Criteria Arising from a Darwinian Perspective 47

3 Identifying Adaptive Pressures 49

3.1 Identifying Adaptive Pressures in Argumentative Situations at the Personal Level 50

3.2 Identifying a Suitable Lower-level Functional Analogue for the Argumentative Process 52

3.3 Damasio's Decision-making Apparatus 56

3.4 Adaptive Pressures 65

3.5 Summary 74

3.6 Closing Remark: Level of Correlation between Theoretical Entities and Its Significance 75

4 Identifying Pre-existing Solutions (Part 1): The Interpretive Problem 78

4.1 The Interpretive Problem: From Representational to Categorical Interpretation 78

4.2 Divergent Thinking 80

4.3 Arguments in Support of the Co-option of Divergent Thinking 81

4.4 Applying these Criteria to the Situation under Consideration 83

4.5 Interpretive Shortcut Arising from Divergent Thinking 89

4.6 Amenability to Testing 91

4.7 Summary 92

5 Identifying Pre-existing Solutions (Part 2): The Exclusion Problem 93

5.1 Attention and Selection-for-action 94

5.2 Attention and Selection-for-action and Complex Categories 97

5.3 Summary 101

6 Identifying Pre-existing Solution (Part 3): The Interference Problem and the Initial Situation Construction Problem 102

6.1 The CI Model of Text Comprehension 103

6.2 Extending the CI Integrative Strategy to the Interference Problem (P3) 107

6.3 Proposal: An Overview 108

6.4 Edelman's Theory of Neuronal Group Selection (TNGS) 110

6.5 Proposal (Continued) 123

6.6 The Initial Situation Construction Problem (P4) 137

6.7 Conclusion 139

7 DMS' Capacity to Influence Interpretation 141

7.1 Preliminary Considerations 144

7.2 How Does the Brain Process Language? 146

7.3 Damasio's Conception of Memory Encoding 149

7.4 How Does the CDZ Framework Impact on Conceptual Knowledge? 152

7.5 Knowledge Associated with DMS: How Does the Above Account Accommodate It? 154

7.6 Linking DMS' Capacity to Generate a Certain Set of Behaviours to CDZS 162

7.7 Conclusion 166

8 The Acquisition Issue 168

8.1 Word Acquisition and Associative Learning 168

8.2 Skill Learning 171

8.3 Sharing the Same Biological Make-Up 178

8.4 Integrative Skills and the CDZ Model 179

8.5 Arguments in Support of the CDZ Model 181

8.6 Summary 182.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Nyan, T. (Thanh), 1950- author. Context construction as mediated by discourse markers

ISBN:

9789004273825

9004273824

OCLC:

946216263