• Maillat Didier

Meaning is arguably the most elusive aspect of the language faculty. While many linguistic processes are directly observable, meaning isn't. In this seminar, students will familiarise themselves with the semantic and pragmatic methodologies and concepts used in the linguistic analysis of meaning production and comprehension. Specifically, we will focus on the application of experimental approaches to these issues. We will observe how experimental designs can be used to test the validity of a scientific hypothesis regarding linguistic meaning. Different semantic and pragmatic components of meaning will serve as a basis for our investigations: ambiguities, metaphors and figurative meaning, indirect uses, reference assignment, inferential meanings, among others. Students will be invited to make suggestions regarding the type of meaning they wish to investigate.

• methodological and practical approach to carrying empirical and experimental research with linguistic data in English
• theoretical and methodological tools used to analyse semantic and pragmatic meaning
• knowledge of the current relevant issues in the field
• critical evaluation of scientific paper

A bibliography and a list of assigned readings will be made available in the first week of the semester.