Units

LaDisco : Center of research in linguistics

Person in charge of the Unit : Oui

This Center groups linguists representing the main trends in contemporary linguistics. Research conducted within the Center is organised around four main axes: Language & Cognition, Morphology & Syntaxe, Semantics & Pragmatics and Sociolinguistics & Discours analysis.The first axis, Language & Cognition, highlights the cognitive correlate of linguistic phenomena, using empirical methods from cognitive sciences and experimental and clinical psychology. The Semantics and Pragmatics axis focuses on the interface between conventional meaning and its use in contexte, in close interaction with philosophy of language and mind, but also informed by experimental studies. The Morphology and Syntax axis encourages an in-depth study of linguistic structures, with approaches ranging from French linguistics to Chomskian generatistivism, and including cognitive linguistics. The last axis, Sociolinguistics and Discourse Analysis, studies language in its context of social use and is based on the analysis of corpora as well as on methods derived from sociology or ethnography.

Projetcs

REFER: Cognitive Transparency of semantic contents, pragmatic determination of reference

The aim of this project is to explore the relevance and the potential theoretical advantages of relativist semantics over the classical propositionalist theories within the debates over the cognitive transparency of semantic contents in linguistics, logic, and philosophy.A content is transparent if a competent thinker or speaker is able to identify it and to distinguish it from any other content by introspection alone, without an empirical inquiry.Relativist theories evaluate the contents of our utterances and thoughts at centred worlds, consisting of a possible world w and a centre c in that world. They allow for a distribution of truth-conditional components over two levels: the content and the relevant circumstance of evaluation.What we propose to explore in detail is the original idea that the circumstance of evaluation (rather than the content) may be referential, i.e. centred on a referent. If it is viable, this idea promises to reinstate the thesis that contents are transparent while preserving the new externalist orthodoxies: we can have contents that are never in themselves referential, and remain purely descriptive or qualitative, and at the same time truth-conditions that are externalistic, and depend essentially on the environment. That is the case when the content of an empirical utterance or thought, which bears on a certain environment, must be evaluated relative to that environment, or centred world.This theory, just like the relativist family to which it belongs, will be explored in several directions. Its explanatory success, its theoretical foundations, its domain of application, and its limits will be assessed through linguistic, logical, and philosophical analyses.

BIBI: the impact of bilingualism and bi-dialectalism on cognitive and linguistic development.

The BiBi-project (the impact of bilingualism and bi-dialectalism on cognitive and linguistic development) is a collaboration between language researchers from the Université libre de Bruxelles and University of Cambridge. Together they aim to unravel the impact of speaking two languages or dialects on the cognitive and linguistic development in children. At the moment, the project mainly focuses on speakers of Western Flemish/Dutch, and trilingual Arabic/French/Dutch speakers.

ACTE - Autism in Context: theory and experiment

The project ACTE (Autism in Context: Theory and Experience) started in 2015 at the Université libre de Bruxelles. Our main objective is to contribute to a better understanding of the nature and origins of communication difficulties and language delays in Autism Spectrum Disorder. We bring together investigation techniques from cognitive psychology and linguistics within an ecological research program, whose experimental dimension is geared towards specific sensibilities of children and adults with autism. Current research topics of our team include:· The role of perspective-taking in word learning by young children with autism;· The impact of bilingualism on cognitive and linguistic development in autism;· The management of discourse and conversation by adolescents and adults with autism;· The comprehension of deception and non-literal language in autism;· The role of sleep disorders in language acquisition and emotional regulation in autism;· Multimodal perception in autism.Across all modules of the ACTE project, we take into account the great heterogeneity that characterises the autism spectrum. Whenever possible, we will also attempt to gain insight to children's individual progression and evolution, by designing longitudinal studies.