workshop on sentence and discourse processing, Utrecht

[Ted Sanders]

Workshop

FROM SENTENCE PROCESSING TO DISCOURSE INTERPRETATION:
CROSSING THE BORDERS

Utrecht University, Utrecht institute of Linguistics OTS
Utrecht (The Netherlands), 2-3 July 2001


CALL FOR PAPERS

The aim of this workshop is to foster the interaction of two areas in
psycholinguistics that have traditionally been pursued quite independently
of one another: sentence and discourse processing. Discourse processing
research has dealt primarily with issues like relational and referential
coherence - i.e. conceptual issues, whereas sentence processing has
traditionally focused on the analysis of sentence structure. Recently,
however, signs of a movement to-wards convergence can be noticed. In
sentence processing, issues pertaining to interpretation are gradually
assuming a more prominent position on the research agenda. In the field of
dis-course processing, the conviction is gaining strength that in order to
develop adequate models, detailed analyses of linguistic factors, including
grammatical properties of sentences, as "processing instructors" are
necessary. It would seem then, that the traditional border between the
discourse level and the sentence level is being crossed increasingly often
from both sides. Researchers from the two traditions are beginning to
recognize each other's contributions to the field at large, as well as
their interdependence.
The workshop aims at and intends to stimulate and inspire researchers from
both fields to share and discuss their ideas and empirical results.
Particularly, the focus will be on issues that are at the interface of
sentence and discourse processing. A few examples of the kinds of topics
that would fit in the workshop are:
·       Are processing operations at the level of discourse and sentence
processing principally different, or does the same computation system
subserve the two domains?
·       Is Logical Form (the interface between syntax and the conceptual system
in the generative framework) a psycholinguistically viable concept?
·       Does discourse context always interfere with sentence parsing, or are
there examples of genuinely autonomous sentence-level processes?
·       How can linguistic characteristics of discourse (grammatical structure,
connectives, anaphora) be further specified as processing instructions for
discourse processing?

Invited Speakers

Jos van Berkum, University of Amsterdam
Lyn FrazierUMass, Amherst
Alan Garnham, University of Sussex
Ted Gibson,MIT
Leo Noordman, Tilburg University
Tony Sanford, University of Glasgow
Wietske VonkMax Planck Institute


Submission of Papers

The programme of the workshop comprises 10 - 20 slots for oral (25 minutes,
including discussion time) and poster presentations, which will be selected
on the basis of abstracts submit-ted to the organizing committee.

Your abstract should clearly summarize the aim of your study, its
theoretical motivation and the principal results. Abstracts should not
exceed one page (A4 or Letter) in length. Set linespacing to 1.5
(minimally), and use a 12-point font. Add your name, address, affiliation,
e-mail address, and telephone number on a separate page. Send a soft copy
of your abstract by electronic mail to: processing at let.uu.nl, and state
"submission workshop" in the subject header.

The deadline for submissions is: March 30, 2001
Notification of acceptance: April 20, 2001

Organizing committee
Ted Sanders, Frank Wijnen, Sergey Avrutin, Frank Jansen, Gerben Mulder,
Iris Mulders, Eric Reuland
(all UiL OTS)

Utrecht University
Utrecht institute of Linguistics OTS
Trans 10
3512 JK UTRECHT, The Netherlands

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   Ted Sanders
   Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS /
   Opleidingsinstituut Nederlands
   Universiteit Utrecht
   Trans 10
   NL - 3512 JK Utrecht
   The Netherlands

   e-mail: Ted.Sanders at let.uu.nl

   Tel. +31 30  253 60 80 / 80 00
   Fax + 31 30  253 60 00.

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