Catherine Emmott

Bio: Catherine Emmott is an academic researcher from University of Glasgow. The author has contributed to research in topics: Narrative & Foregrounding. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 41 publications receiving 715 citations.

Narrative Comprehension: A Discourse Perspective

Abstract: PART I: COGNITION AND DISCOURSE 1. Narrative Comprehension: Text, Knowledge, and Inference-Making 2. Key Topics in Processing Research 3. A Discourse Perspective: Understanding Full, Real Texts PART II: NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND PROCESSING 4. Creating Functional Texts 5. Modifying, Switching, and Recalling Texts 6. Characters and Texts PART III: IMPLICATIONS: LINGUISTIC THEORY AND NARRATIVE THEORY 7. Mental Representations, Inference-Making, and Reference Theory 8. Distinguishing Narrative Types 9. Conclusion Bibliography

Shallow processing and attention capture in written and spoken discourse

Abstract: Processing of discourse seems to be far from uniform with much evidence indicating that it can be quite shallow The question is then what modulates depth of processing? A range of discourse devices exist that we believe may lead to more detailed processing of language input (Attention Capturers), thus serving as modulators of processing enabling some parts of discourse to be processed more than others We list some of these and describe two in detail We introduce the text-change procedure in which texts are presented twice in succession with a possible change to a word on the second presentation By analogy with visual change-blindness, text change provides a method of tracking attention capture and depth of processing in text In Experiment 1, the effect of italicization in writing was investigated Italicization led to an increase in change detection In Experiment 2, we investigated focus-driven word stress in speaking Once again, focus-driven stress led to increases in change detection These examples show how word stress increases depth of processing We discuss the findings in terms of the Granularity account of focus, in which deeper processing is characterized as a more detailed semantic specification

Mind, Brain and Narrative

Abstract: Narratives enable readers to vividly experience fictional and non-fictional contexts. Writers use a variety of language features to control these experiences: they direct readers in how to construct contexts, how to draw inferences and how to identify the key parts of a story. Writers can skilfully convey physical sensations, prompt emotional states, effect moral responses and even alter the readers' attitudes. Mind, Brain and Narrative examines the psychological and neuroscientific evidence for the mechanisms which underlie narrative comprehension. The authors explore the scientific developments which demonstrate the importance of attention, counterfactuals, depth of processing, perspective and embodiment in these processes. In so doing, this timely, interdisciplinary work provides an integrated account of the research which links psychological mechanisms of language comprehension to humanities work on narrative and style.

Capturing the attention of readers? Stylistic and psychological perspectives on the use and effect of text fragmentation in narratives*

Abstract: This article brings together researchers from Stylistics and Psychology to study whether text fragmentation, which appears often to be used by writers as a foregrounding device (Mukařovský 1964), is able to capture the attention of readers of narratives We examine two types of text fragmentation: sentence fragments and mini-paragraphs Firstly, we study the stylistic functions of fragmentation, including its cumulative use at plot crucial moments and its use for local rhetorical purposes We then turn to psychological research on depth of processing (eg Sanford and Sturt 2002) and introduce a new method of testing, the text change detection method (Sturt et al 2004) We report an experiment using this method to examine whether text fragments and very short sentences can increase the amount of detail that readers notice in a text, and then discuss the results in relation to potential applications The work provides both a case study of the empirical analysis of foregrounding devices, and also, more generally, a case study of inter-disciplinary research across the Humanities and Social Sciences

They're digging up the road again: The processing cost of Institutional They

Abstract: It is commonplace to use the pronoun they to refer to agents in certain situations without ever providing a referent, as in On the train, they served really bad coffee. Such an example we call "Institutional They", because such defaults typically represent the actions of some agent tied stereotypically to a situation. These cases represent an important subset of unheralded pronouns (Gerrig, 1986), pronouns without any explicit antecedent. While in many situations, the occurrence of referential pronouns without explicit antecedents entails a processing cost, an eye-tracking experiment revealed no reliable detectable costs associated with Institutional They. However, there were for singular pronouns without antecedents in the same situations. We argue that Institutional They cases result from properties of plural pronouns (they and them). These will accept underspecified type-referents, while singular pronouns require specified token-referents. Failure to identify token-referents results in disruption of processing in the case of singulars, but not in the case of the plurals.

Situations and Attitudes.

Abstract: In this provocative book, Barwise and Perry tackle the slippery subject of \"meaning, \" a subject that has long vexed linguists, language philosophers, and logicians.

Style in Fiction:A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose

Abstract: 《小说文体分析》(Style in Fiction)是运用现代语言学的最新成果,对文学作品进行系统的文体分析的一部精采的教科书。随着语言学的日益发展,人们越来越多地把现代语言学的研究成果运用到文体学分析中来。1969年,利奇(Geoffrey N.Leech)发表了《英语诗歌语言分析入门》(A Linguistic Guideto English Poetry),用现代语言学的观点对

Basic elements of narrative

Abstract: List of Illustrations. The Elements. Preface . The Scope and Aims of This Book. Storytelling Media and Modes of Narration. Acknowledgments . 1. Getting Started: A Thumbnail Sketch of the Approach Developed in This Book. Toward a Working Definition of Narrative. Profiles of Narrative. Narrative: Basic Elements. 2. Background and Context: Framing the Approach. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Narrative and Narrative Theory. Major Trends in Recent Scholarship on Narrative. 3. Back to the Elements: Narrative Occasions . Situating Stories. Sociolinguistic Approaches. Positioning Theory. The Narrative Communication Model. Conclusion. 4. Temporality, Particularity, and Narrative: An Excursion into the Theory of Text Types. From Contexts of Narration to Narrative as a Type of Text. Text Types and Categorization Processes. Narrative as a Text-Type Category: Descriptions vs. Stories vs. Explanations. Summing up: Text Types, Communicative Competence, and the Role of Stories in Science. 5. The Third Element: Or, How to Build a Storyworld . Narratives as Blueprints for Worldmaking. Narrative Ways of Worldmaking. Narrative Worlds: A Survey of Approaches. Configuring Narrative Worlds: The WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN Dimensions of Storyworlds. Worlds Disrupted: Narrativity and Noncanonical Events. 6. The Nexus of Narrative and Mind . The Consciousness Factor. Consciousness Across Narrative Genres. Experiencing Minds: What It's Like, Qualia, Raw Feels. Storied Minds: Narrative Foundations of Consciousness?. Appendix . Reproduction of Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" (1927). Transcript of a Story Told during Face-to-Face Interaction: UFO or the Devil. Pages from Daniel's Clowes's Graphic Novel Ghost World (1997). Screenshots from Terry Zwigoff's Film Version of Ghost World (2001). Glossary . References. Index

Automated Evaluation of Text and Discourse with Coh-Metrix

Abstract: Coh-Metrix is among the broadest and most sophisticated automated textual assessment tools available today. Automated Evaluation of Text and Discourse with Coh-Metrix describes this computational tool, as well as the wide range of language and discourse measures it provides. Section I of the book focuses on the theoretical perspectives that led to the development of Coh-Metrix, its measures, and empirical work that has been conducted using this approach. Section II shifts to the practical arena, describing how to use Coh-Metrix and how to analyze, interpret, and describe results. Coh-Metrix opens the door to a new paradigm of research that coordinates studies of language, corpus analysis, computational linguistics, education, and cognitive science. This tool empowers anyone with an interest in text to pursue a wide array of previously unanswerable research questions.