This paper is an exploration in the semantics and pragmatics of linguistic feedback, i.e., linguistic mechanisms which enable the participants in spoken interaction to exchange information about basic communicative functions, such as contact, perception, understanding, and attitudinal reactions to the communicated content. Special attention is given to the type of reaction conveyed by feedback utterances, the communicative status of the information conveyed (i. e., the level of awareness and intentionality of the communicating sender), and the context sensitivity of feedback expressions. With regard to context sensitivity, which is one of the most characteristic features of feedback expressions, the discussion focuses on the way in which the type of speech act (mood), the factual polarity and the information status of the preceding utterance influence the interpretation of feedback utterances. The different content dimensions are exemplified by data from recorded dialogues and by data given through linguistic intuition. Finally, two different ways of formalizing the analysis are examined, one using attribute-value matrices and one based on the theory of situation semantics.

Abstract. In natural communication, both speakers and listeners are active most of the time. While a speaker contributes new information, a listener gives feedback by producing unobtrusive (usually short) vocal or non-vocal bodily expressions to indicate whether he/she is able and willing to communicate, perceive, and understand the information, and what emotions and attitudes are triggered by this information. The simulation of feedback behavior for artificial conversational agents poses big challenges such as the concurrent and integrated perception and production of multi-modal and multi-functional expressions. We present an approach on modeling feedback for and with virtual humans, based on an approach to study "embodied feedback" as a special case of a more general theoretical account of embodied communication. A realization of this approach with the virtual human Max is described and results are presented.

Naturalistic mealtime interactions between a child with complex communication needs and her caregiver (focus dyad) and a child without disabilities and her caregiver (comparison dyad) were investigated. An activity-based communication analysis was used to outline the contextual background factors of the dyads' activities, and the dyads' conversational topics were analyzed. For the child and her caregiver (the focus dyad), the natural mode of communication at mealtime was unaided. Communication mostly concerned immediate mealtime issues. Other, shorter, topics were introduced but were also anchored to immediate issues. In contrast, the child and caregiver who comprised the comparison dyad conversed about a variety of personal topics that extended beyond the present. Topic patterns are exemplified using discourse excerpts and are discussed in relation to aided communication and development.

This paper introduces the concept of speech management (SM), which refers to processes whereby a speaker manages his or her linguistic contributions to a communicative interaction, and which involves phenomena which have previously been studied under such rubrics as “planning”, “editing”, “(self-)repair”, etc. It is argued that SM phenomena exhibit considerable systematicity and regularity and must be considered part of the linguistic system. Furthermore, it is argued that SM phenomena must be related not only to such intraindividual factors as planning and memory, but also to interactional factors such as turntaking and feedback, and to informational content. Structural and functional taxonomies are presented together with a formal description of complex types of SM. The structural types are exemplified with data from a corpus of SM phenomena.

Ahlsén, Elisabeth Introduction to Neurolinguistics / by Elisabeth Ahlsén p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. . Neurolinguistics. I. Title.