C9184 - LANGUAGE MIND AND COMMUNICATION

Learning outcomes

The course will provide students with the knowledge and intellectual tools to study and reflect on the nature of the human mind, the role of language both in structuring our knowledge and as tool to communicate, and the multimodal, interactive, fuzzy workings of communication. By the end of the semester, students should be able to offer informed opinions and cogent insights to answer questions such as How do we remember and understand? Does language have an influence on the way we think? Where is meaning? Can all bilinguals translate? What do we learn when we learn how to translate? What are the differences between translating and interpreting? What is the impact of computers on the way we think, talk, write, and communicate?

Course contents

The course is organized into two parts. The first half introduces cognitive approaches to mind, language, and communication, providing the conceptual framework and analytical tools for the second half. After the midterm, the course examines how these principles apply to translation, interpreting, and emerging language professions in technologically mediated environments.

 

Weekly topics

1. Language & thought: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

2. Language & thought: Thinking & metaphors

3. Language & multimodality

4. Meaning & comprehension

5. Context & prediction. Intentions, inference & theory of mind

6. Communication & professionalism

7. Translation, interpreting & emerging tasks

8. Human-computer interaction and ergonomics

9. Learning & entrenchment

10. Group presentations

Week 10 will be devoted to group presentations on one emergent professional profile that students feel it a natural option for graduates from this program.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Language & thought: The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis

Core reading

• Slobin, Dan I. 1996. From “thought and language” to “thinking for speaking” @ J. Gumperz & S. Levinson, eds. Rethinking Linguistic Relativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 70–96.

Further reading

• Lucy, John A. 1997. Linguistic relativity @ Annual Review of Anthropology 26: 291–312. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.26.1.291

• Levinson, Stephen C. 2003. Language and mind: Let’s get the issues straight! @ D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow, eds. Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 25–46. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/4117.003.0007

Videos

Does your language change how you see the world?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqM7Q_Y2M7E

Does the language you speak change how you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmZdGo6b5yA

The language myth that won't die
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs5j94wlz00

The science of Arrival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIPi3OiaG3I

Does language determine how you think? Linguists say no
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOz5h8N3fsY

2. Language & thought: Thinking & metaphors

Core reading

• Reddy, Michael J. 1979. The conduit metaphor: A case of frame conflict in our language about language @ A. Ortony, ed. Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 284–310.

Further reading

• Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Gibbs, Raymond W. Jr. 2008. Metaphor and thought: The state of the art @ R. W. Gibbs Jr., ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 3–14.

Videos

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYcQcwUfo8c

Metaphor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BYLpwSM6E

A course in Cognitive Linguistics: Metaphor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BYLpwSM6E

A course in Cognitive Linguistics: More about metaphor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZwk_098bTs

Metaphors We Live By: George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYcQcwUfo8c

3. Language & multimodality

Core reading

• Adami, Elisabetta & Gunther Kress. 2014. Introduction: multimodality, meaning making, and the issue of “text” @ Text & Talk 34 (3): 231–237. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2014-0007

Further reading

• Jewitt, Carey. 2014. An introduction to multimodality @ C. Jewitt, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, pp. 15–30.

• Bateman, John A., Janina Wildfeuer & Tuomo Hiippala. 2017. Introduction: the challenge of multimodality @ Multimodality: Foundations, Research and Analysis. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110479898

Videos

More than words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBP-Dfp-eAQ

Multimodal Communication – Summary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XDHk5bzQQk

Multimodal communication 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xirOA8iJ8rY

A grammar of multimodal meaning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7hmHwaLyqI

Cognitive linguistics: multimodal communication
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIg9jomCpMY

What is Multimodality?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgMveyvF5ow

4. Meaning & comprehension

Core reading

• Muñoz Martín, Ricardo & Ana María Rojo López. 2018. Meaning @ S.-A. Harding & O. Carbonell, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Culture. London: Routledge, pp. 61–78.

Further reading

• Barsalou, Lawrence W. 2008. Grounded cognition @ Annual Review of Psychology 59: 617–645. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093639

• Clark, Herbert H. 1996. Common ground @ Using Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 92–121.

Videos

Language & meaning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmwgmt7wcv8

Meaning & language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6hoDNZoV5g

Minds & machines: The Turing test and the Chinese room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrTqmWbYD3Q

5. Context & prediction. Intentions, inference & Theory of Mind

Core reading

• Tomasello, Michael, Malinda Carpenter, Josep Call, Tanya Behne & Henrike Moll. 2005. Understanding and sharing intentions: The origins of cultural cognition @ Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28 (5): 675–691. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X05000129

Further reading

• Schell, Vanessa & Mark Sabbagh. 2018. Theory of mind and communication: Developmental perspectives @ E. Dattner & D. Ravid, eds. Handbook of Communication Disorders: Theoretical, Empirical, and Applied Linguistic Perspectives. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614514909-014

• Frith, Chris D. & Uta Frith. 2006. The neural basis of mentalizing @ Neuron 50 (4): 531–534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2006.05.001

Videos

Inferences and conclusions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDi66yKKxDM

Rethinking thinking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJLqOclPqis

What is context?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSZbqbVqnwY

Semantic networks and spreading activation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gG6GcFZq78 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gG6GcFZq78&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

How we read each others' minds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOCUH7TxHRI [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOCUH7TxHRI&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

The theory of mind test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGSj2zY2OEM [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGSj2zY2OEM&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

6. Communication & professionalism

Core reading

• Pym, Anthony. 2011. What technology does to translating @ Translation & Interpreting 3 (1): 1–9.

Further reading

• Alonso, Elisa & Lucas Nunes Vieira. 2020. The impact of technology on the role of the translator in globalized production workflows @ E. Bielsa & D. Kapsaskis, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Globalisation. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 391–405. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003121848-32

• Vieira, Lucas Nunes. 2020. Automation anxiety and translators @ Translation Studies 13 (1): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2019.1696063

Videos

What is communication?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m_u-GSvkPE [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m_u-GSvkPE&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

The Toolmakers' paradigm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2n29-ugaAE [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2n29-ugaAE&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

7. Translation, interpreting & emerging tasks

Core reading

• Dam, Helle V. & Karen Korning Zethsen. 2024. Professionals’ views on the concepts of translation: the challenge of categorisation @ The Translator 30 (3): 388–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2024.2320953

Further reading

• Moorkens, Joss. 2021. Translation in the neoliberal era @ E. Bielsa & D. Kapsaskis, eds. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Globalisation. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 323–336. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003121848-27

• O’Hagan, Minako. 2020. Introduction: translation and technology: disruptive entanglement of human and machine @ M. O’Hagan, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Technology. London: Routledge, pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315311258-1

Videos

Jobs for language students
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCd-Iukgg_M [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCd-Iukgg_M&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

Communications Major
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeEOfHhFVw0 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeEOfHhFVw0&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

8. Human–computer interaction & ergonomics

Core reading

• Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen. 2019. Ergonomics and the translation process @ Slovo.ru: Baltic Accent 10 (1): 37–51. https://doi.org/10.5922/2225-5346-2019-1-3

Further reading

• O'Brien, Sharon. 2012. Translation as Human–Computer Interaction @ Translation Spaces 1: 101–122. https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.1.05obr

• Kappus, Martin & Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow. 2020. The ergonomics of translation tools: understanding when less is actually more @ The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14 (4): 386–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2020.1839719

• O'Brien, Sharon, Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow, Marcel Hasler & Megan Connolly. 2017. Irritating CAT tool features that matter to translators @ Hermes—Journal of Language and Communication in Business 56: 145–162. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v0i56.97229

• Hvelplund, Kristian Tangsgaard. 2016. Cognitive efficiency in translation @ R. Muñoz, ed. Reembedding Translation Process Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 149–170. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.128.08hve

Videos

The future of Human-Computer Interaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_ZzhadA3DY [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_ZzhadA3DY&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

Enter the cult of extreme productivity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2paoNvG5Nmo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2paoNvG5Nmo&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

The efficiency paradox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJpez7rvc0 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJpez7rvc0&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

A more human approach to productivity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REFh5TMOoS0

9. Learning & entrenchment

Core reading

• Ellis, Nick C. & Fernando Ferreira-Junior. 2009. Construction learning as a function of frequency, frequency distribution, and function @ The Modern Language Journal 93 (3): 370–385. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00896.x

Further reading

• Ellis, Nick C. 2002. Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition @ Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24 (2): 143–188. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263102002024

• Pulvermüller, Friedemann. 1999. Words in the brain's language @ Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22 (2): 253–336. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X9900182X

Videos

Learning how to learn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96fE1E-rf8 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96fE1E-rf8&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

What if schools taught us how to learn?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtQzuwnyW6E [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtQzuwnyW6E&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

After watching this, your brain will not be the same
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNHBMFCzznE [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNHBMFCzznE&utm_source=chatgpt.com]

Practice makes perfect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RO0m37K1is

Teaching methods

Due to the didactic methods and activities in this course, attending it requires that students complete before, in e-learning mode, Modules 1 and 2 of the training program on safety in the workplace. More information, here [https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/] .

The course will hinge on the instructor's introductory presentations and students' brainstorming and presentations. The students are expected to prepare for the following week's topic and prepare their debate interventions. In order to do so, the students will watch the relevant videos suggested below as examples prior to meeting to discuss their contents. The Socratic method will be used to challenge the students' received views and to prompt critical thinking and active participation.

Each group will present one emerging professional profile and provide the class with an annotated bibliography of at least ten scholarly references. Graphic presentations are recommended, but not a must.

Assessment methods

1. Disabilities. Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) or with disabilities that can affect their ability to attend courses are invited to contact the University service for students with disabilities and SLD at the earliest opportunity—ideally before the start of the course. The University service will suggest possible adjustments to the course work and/or exam, which must then be submitted to the course leader so they can assess their feasibility, in line with the learning objectives of the course. Please note that adjustments to the exam must be requested at least two weeks in advance.

2. Exam dates. Students need to plan their trips taking into account class schedule and official exam dates, which will not be changed to accommodate personal choices.

3. Artificial Intelligence. Use of LLMs and other digital tools is strictly forbidden in all work for this course, except for the graphics in the final group presentations. Failure to comply with this policy may incur in disciplinary action.

4. Assessment options. Students may opt for formative (class grades) or summative assessment (exam). In order to qualify for formative assessment, students need to:

- choose that option from the beginning of the semester
- attend at least 80% of the course sessions
- participate in one group presentations
- turn in a midterm and a final paper (min. 1200-word long each)

Students who meet the above specifications and choose formative assessment will not need to take ANY exams on the first call. Students who choose a summative assessment (exam only) or do not meet the requirements for formative assessment will take it in the official date and place determined by the DIT.

Formative assessment

• Group presentation: 20%

• Class participation: 10%

• Midterm paper: 35%

• Final paper: 35%

Please note: Presentations need to be turned in before the topic is addressed for class debate. The final essay needs to be turned in the day of the last session of the course.

 

Alternatively, the exam is 100%

Learning assessment scale (for both assessment options)
30-30L Excellent. The candidate applies excellent logical and analytical skills, with a very high level of independent and original thinking, resourceful access to pertinent information, and an adequate, realistic integration thereof.

27-29 Above average. The candidate makes only minor errors and shows solid logical and analytical skills, very good access to pertinent information, and an adequate, realistic integration thereof.

24-26 Generally good. The candidate shows some gaps, indicating reasonable mastery of logical and analytical skills, good access to pertinent information, and a basically correct integration thereof.

21-23 Adequate. The candidate shows significant deficiencies and only minimal mastery of the required logical and analytical skills. Access to pertinent information seems limited and is linked to problem in understanding it.

18- 20 Minimum. The candidate meets only the minimum required level and shows minimal understanding and mastery of the required skills.

< 18 Failed. The candidate does not meet the required standard and shows totally inadequate understanding and mastery of the required skills.

Office hours

See the website of Ricardo Munoz Martin