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Linguistics

Selected Works

Cognitive Science and Linguistics

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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Philosophy Of Linguistics, Robert J. Stainton Jun 2014

Philosophy Of Linguistics, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

Rather than attempting to survey the rich array of topics within Philosophy of Linguistics, this article focuses on two questions: “What kind of thing is Linguistics about?” and “What is the proper evidence-base for Linguistics?” After describing various exclusionary answers, it argues for Pluralism on both fronts: the objects of study in Linguistics are metaphysical hybrids, with physical, mental, abstract and social facets; and evidence from every domain should in principle be welcomed.


Revisiting Pragmatics Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorders, Jessica De Villiers, Brooke Myers, Robert J. Stainton Dec 2013

Revisiting Pragmatics Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorders, Jessica De Villiers, Brooke Myers, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

In a 2007 paper, we argued that speakers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) exhibit pragmatic abilities which are surprising given the usual understanding of communication in that group. That is, it is commonly reported that people diagnosed with an ASD have trouble with metaphor, irony, conversational implicature and other non-literal language. This is not a matter of trouble with knowledge and application of rules of grammar. The difficulties lie, rather, in successful communicative interaction. Though we did find pragmatic errors within literal talk, the transcribed conversations we studied showed many, many successes. A second paper reinforced our finding of a …


Pragmatic Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Follow-Up Study, Jessica Devilliers, Brooke Myers, Robert J. Stainton Dec 2012

Pragmatic Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Follow-Up Study, Jessica Devilliers, Brooke Myers, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

Our guiding question, here and in two prior papers, is: Are some pragmatic tasks more difficult than others for people diagnosed with ASDs? For instance, it has been tentatively suggested by Happé (1995) that understanding irony is more difficult for ASD speakers than understanding metaphor is. Or again, our 2007 paper urged, on the basis of corpus examples, that while speakers with ASDs show difficulties with “figurative language” generally – metaphor, irony, conversational implicature (Dennis et al. 2001; Gold et al. 2010; Happé 1995; MacKay & Shaw, 2004) – they are relatively proficient with pragmatic determinants of literal speech act …


Really Intriguing, That Pred Np!, Ileana Paul, Robert Stainton Feb 2010

Really Intriguing, That Pred Np!, Ileana Paul, Robert Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

No abstract provided.


Differential Pragmatic Abilities And Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Case Of Pragmatic Determinants Of Literal Content, Jessica De Villiers, Brooke Myers, Robert J. Stainton Jan 2010

Differential Pragmatic Abilities And Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Case Of Pragmatic Determinants Of Literal Content, Jessica De Villiers, Brooke Myers, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

No abstract provided.


Pragmatic Impairments, Robert J. Stainton Dec 2009

Pragmatic Impairments, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

This review essay addresses the question, "What, properly speaking, is a pragmatic impairment?" Drawing on work from two recent books, it presents three possible answers, and evaluates them.


Pragmatic Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Study In Philosophy And The Empirical, Jessica De Villiers, Robert J. Stainton, Peter Szatmari Dec 2006

Pragmatic Abilities In Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Study In Philosophy And The Empirical, Jessica De Villiers, Robert J. Stainton, Peter Szatmari

Robert J. Stainton

No abstract provided.


Really Intriguing, That Prednp!, Ileana Paul, Robert J. Stainton Dec 2005

Really Intriguing, That Prednp!, Ileana Paul, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

No abstract provided.


Null Complements: Licensed By Syntax Or By Semantics-Pragmatics?, Corinne Iten, M.-O. Junker, Aryn Pyke, Robert J. Stainton, Catherine Wearking Dec 2004

Null Complements: Licensed By Syntax Or By Semantics-Pragmatics?, Corinne Iten, M.-O. Junker, Aryn Pyke, Robert J. Stainton, Catherine Wearking

Robert J. Stainton

No abstract provided.


Communicative Events As Evidence In Linguistics, Robert J. Stainton Dec 2000

Communicative Events As Evidence In Linguistics, Robert J. Stainton

Robert J. Stainton

No abstract provided.