Lingformant » Language in society

Want to convince? Use abstract rather than concrete language

Vili Maunula — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:25:44 +0000

When consumers talk to each other about products, they generally respond more favorably to abstract language than concrete descriptions, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Full article: EurekAlert

The Handwriting of Liars

Vili Maunula — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:21:38 +0000

A new study claims the best way to find out if someone is a liar is to look at their handwriting, rather than analyzing their word choice, eye movements and body language.

Full article: Physorg

What makes an accent in a foreign language lighter?

Vili Maunula — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:28:40 +0000

The more empathy one has for another, the lighter the accent will be when speaking in a second language. This is the conclusion of a new study carried out at the University of Haifa by Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim and Dr. Mark Leikin of the Department of Learning Disabilities and Prof. Zohar Eviatar of the Department of Psychology at the University of Haifa. The study has been published in the International Journal of Bilingualism. “In addition to personal-affective factors, it has been found that the ‘language ego’ is also influenced by the sociopolitical position of the speaker towards the majority group,” the researchers stated.

Full article: University of Haifa

Why the #$%! Do We Swear? For Pain Relief

Vili Maunula — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:53:30 +0000

Bad language could be good for you, a new study shows. For the first time, psychologists have found that swearing may serve an important function in relieving pain.

Full article: Scientific American

Multilingualism brings communities closer together

Vili Maunula — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:00:55 +0000

Learning their community language outside the home enhances minority ethnic children’s development, according to research led from the University of Birmingham. The research, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, found that attending language classes at complementary schools has a positive impact on students.

Full article: EurekAlert

Babies who gesture have big vocabularies

Vili Maunula — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:51:43 +0000

Babies who use gestures to communicate when they are 14 months-old have much larger vocabularies when they start school than those who don’t, say US researchers. They say babies with wealthier, better-educated parents tend to gesture more and this may help explain why some children from low-income families fare less well in school.

Full article: ABC Science

Humor Shown To Be Fundamental To Our Success As A Species

Vili Maunula — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:19:55 +0000

First universal theory of humour answers how and why we find things funny. Published June 12, The Pattern Recognition Theory of Humour by Alastair Clarke answers the centuries old question of what is humour. Clarke explains how and why we find things funny and identifies the reason humour is common to all human societies, its fundamental role in the evolution of homo sapiens and its continuing importance in the cognitive development of infants.

Full article: Science Daily

Instant messaging — a new language?

Vili Maunula — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:31:37 +0000

â€œInstant messaging, or IM, is not just bad grammar or a bunch of mistakes,â€ says Dr. Pamela Takayoshi, Kent State University associate professor of English. â€œIM is a separate language form from formal English and has a common set of language features and standards.â€ …

Read the full article at EurekAlert

Animated tutors help remedial readers, language learners, autistic children

Vili Maunula — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:41:24 +0000

Tools developed by researchers exploring language and speech comprehension can become powerful aids for remedial readers, children with language challenges, and anyone learning a second language, according to psychology professor Dominic Massaro of the University of California, Santa Cruz. …

Read the full news release at the University of California Santa Cruz news room

UCSC project aims to provide a virtual speech therapist via cell phone

Vili Maunula — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:40:06 +0000

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have received funding from Microsoft Research to develop a virtual speech therapist, accessible on a cell phone, to aid stroke survivors in Malaysia. The self-contained language rehabilitation program will use a computer-generated talking head that provides realistic speech and mimics the natural movements of lips, tongue, and jaw. …

Read the full news release at University of California Santa Cruz news room

Study about Chat Communication

Vili Maunula — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:24:28 +0000

Dr. Michael BeiÃŸwenger from the Dortmund Institute for German Language and Literature has presented a study about communicative characteristics of chatting in the internet. The book with the title â€œSprachhandlungskoordination in der Chat-Kommunikationâ€ has just been released by the science publishing company de Gruyer. In his study, for which he got his PhD with honors from Culture Studies in March 2007, BeiÃŸwenger examines the differences between chats and oral conversations and the effects they have on the manner in which chatters organize their linguistic exchange. …

Read the full science news release at AlphaGalileo

Words left unspoken – study reveals hidden suffering of children with language difficulties

Vili Maunula — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:31:26 +0000

Children in the UK with speech and language difficulties are prone to loneliness, feelings of frustration and poor self-esteem, a new Department of Health study has revealed. The study is the first scientific examination of quality of life for children with speech and language difficulties (SaLD). …

Read the full news release at the University of Portsmouth News Room

Do Women Really Talk More than Men?

Vili Maunula — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:36:13 +0000

Refuting the popular stereotype that females talk more than men, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found women and men both use an average of 16,000 words each day. …

Read the full news article at the University of Texas at Austin news room

More Difficult For Doctors To Diagnose Complex Sources Of Pain In Women Than In Men

Vili Maunula — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:56:17 +0000

It is more difficult for doctors to diagnose complex sources of pain in women than in men and the reasons for this are rooted in language use. This finding, which is of major importance for both doctors and patients, is revealed by a now completed project by the FWF Austrian Science Fund. The results of this research into how the two genders typically describe pain are to be presented at the 2nd International Congress of Gender Medicine on 2nd and 3rd June in Vienna. …

Read the full news article at Medical News Today

Early Child Care Linked to Increases in Vocabulary, Some Problem Behaviors in Fifth and Sixth Grades

Vili Maunula — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 07:15:36 +0000

The most recent analysis of a long-term NIH-funded study found that children who received higher quality child care before entering kindergarten had better vocabulary scores in the fifth grade than did children who received lower quality care. The study authors also found that the more time children spent in center-based care before kindergarten, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report such problem behaviors as “gets in many fights,” “disobedient at school,” and “argues a lot.” …

Read the full article at National Institute of Child Health & Human Development news centre