Controlling the Intelligibility of Referring Expressions in Dialogue

Authors: Bard E.G.¹; Anderson A.H.²; Sotillo C.¹; Aylett M.¹; Doherty-Sneddon G.²; Newlands A.²

Source: Journal of Memory and Language, Volume 42, Number 1, January 2000 , pp. 1-22(22)

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Abstract:

If speakers articulate clearly enough to meet the perceptual needs of their listeners, clarity should depend on what listeners know about (listener-Given) rather than on what speakers know about (speaker-Given). For words excerpted from spontaneous speech, however, intelligibility to naive adult listeners showed only effects of the speaker's knowledge. Words introducing labeled map landmarks to two successive listeners were less clear on repetition even though the second listener had not heard the original mention (Experiment 1). Repeated mentions became less clear even after the listener reported inability to see the landmark (Experiment 2). Speakers were affected by what they had heard listeners mention: Intelligibility fell equally in coreferential repetitions across and within speakers (Experiment 3), whether or not the repeater could see the referent (Experiment 4). The results are explained via fast priming processes dependent on the speaker's knowledge and slow, optional processes drawing inferences about the listener's. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Keywords: intelligibility; referring expression; dialogue; spontaneous speech; hearer-Given; speaker-Given

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Human Communication Research Centre and Department of Linguistics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 2: Human Communication Research Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Publication date: 2000-01-01