Affect (linguistics)

Abstract: Emoticons are graphic representations of facial expressions that many e-mail users embed in their messages. These symbols are widely known and commonly recognized among computer-mediated communication (CMC) users, and they are described by most observers as substituting for the nonverbal cues that are missing from CMC in comparison to face-to-face communication. Their empirical impacts, however, are undocumented. An experiment sought to determine the effects of three common emoticons on message interpretations. Hypotheses drawn from literature on nonverbal communication reflect several plausible relationships between emoticons and verbal messages. The results indicate that emoticons’ contributions were outweighed by verbal content, but a negativity effect appeared such that any negative message aspect—verbal or graphic—shifts message interpretation in the direction of the negative element.

Abstract: Chatbots are computer programs with which one can have a conversation. In this article, the authors describe how the GPT-4 chatbot, which has been given a general education, could affect the practice of medicine.

Abstract: The present paper identifies anddescribes various speech styles of English äs marked by stance. By stance we mean the lexical and grammatical expression of attitudes, feelings, judgments, or commitment concerning the propositional content of a message. In an earlier paper (Biber and Finegan, 1988), we limited our investigation to the adverbial marking of stance; here we extend the analysis to include adjectival, verbal, and modal markers of stance. All occurrences of a large sei of stance markers are identified in 500 texts, drawn principally from the LOB and London-Lund corpora (of written and spoken British English). The stance markers are divided into 12 categories basedon semantic and grammatical criteria, and thefrequency of occurrence for each category in each text is computed. The twelve categories are (1) affect markers (adverbs, verbs, and adjectives); (2) certainty adverbs; (3) certainty verbs; (4) certainty adjectives; (5) doubt adverbs; (6) doubt verbs; (7) doubt adjectives; (8) hedges; (9) emphatics; (10) possibility modals; (11) necessity modals; and (12) predictive modals. Using a statistical technique called düster analysis, texts that are maximally similar in their exploitation of stance markers are sorted into clusters. We Interpret each düster äs a stance style by consideration of the predominant stance jeatwes in the düster, the situational characteristics of the texts constituting the düster, and a functional analysis of individual texts. Overall, six stance styles are identified, among which are 'Emphatic Expression of Affect', 'Expository Expression of Doubt', and 'Faceless'.

Abstract: The most recent research in composition has given us important insights into the composing process. This research has revealed that composing is a non-linear, exploratory, and generative process whereby writers discover and reformulate their ideas as they attempt to approximate meaning. A study of the composing processes of advanced ESL students was undertaken to investigate the extent to which these students experience writing as a process of discovering and creating meaning and the extent to which second language factors affect this process. The findings indicate that skilled ESL writers explore and clarify ideas and attend to language-related concerns primarily after their ideas have been delineated. Since it is believed that the teaching of composition should be informed by and based upon what writing actually entails, an understanding of the composing process calls into question approaches that are prescriptive, formulaic, and overly concerned with correctness. Instead, it suggests the importance of instruction that gives students direct experiences with the composing process, that establishes a dynamic teaching/learning relationship between writers and their readers, and that enhances further linguistic development in the context of making and communicating meaning.