Theresa Schilhab - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Theresa Schilhab
Aarhus University Press eBooks, Sep 24, 2020
We read e-books and printed books. But are there differences in how and where we read? And what o... more We read e-books and printed books. But are there differences in how and where we read? And what opportunities does a digital reading environment bring for writers and designers? The materiality of reading explores the experience of reading by examining the interaction between the reader and the object of reading. Bringing together an array of disciplinary perspectives such as neurobiology, embodied reading and typography, we aim to understand how the materiality of the text enhances reader engagement with digital and physical books. The papers of this anthology are the result of academic discussions and empirical explorations at universities in Zadar, Vilnius, Reading and Stavanger as the authors are all members of the European research initiative, ‘Evolution of Reading in the Age of Digitisation’ (E-READ).
This chapter begins on the note that pre-linguistic categorisation is central to the furnishing o... more This chapter begins on the note that pre-linguistic categorisation is central to the furnishing of the world. Thus, linguification becomes central only after we are cognitively anchored in reality. Hereafter, I address features central to language acquisition that I claim are crucial parameters in the explanation of abstract knowledge acquisition in derived embodiment processes. I discuss (1) the reality of the phenomenon, event, or object, (2) the attentional focus of the language learner, and (3) the interlocutor. Qualitative shifts in those components seem essential in the transfer from the first stage (concrete level) to the next stage (abstract level). Obviously, the reality of the referent of what one linguistically addresses changes from being immediately present (on-line) to absent (off-line). The off-line condition imputes a challenge to the second parameter, the learner’s imaginative abilities to which he or she must turn in order to understand to what language refers. When the referent is present, the understanding will get external support from perceptual processes. Contrariwise, in the off-line condition, the language learner relies on vicarious internal, self-sustained cues to attain understanding. The chapter deals primarily with the first parameter that leads to considerations about the imagination, the relation between imagination and re-enactments as well as the distribution of non-conscious and conscious processes and thus introduces the concept of first order linguification processes. Since phenomenally experienced imagery may play an important part in abstract language acquisition, space is devoted to further explorations of the question of the phenomenal qualities of re-enactments, which inevitably invites discussions on different notions of consciousness. The chapter closes with a presentation of different attention states and the moderating impact of the interlocutor.
Routledge eBooks, Feb 1, 2022
Contemporary neuroscience seems to suggest that conceptual under- standing as in reading and disc... more Contemporary neuroscience seems to suggest that conceptual under- standing as in reading and discourse at least in part is perceptually and sensory- somatically corroborated. In other words, conceptual knowledge seems to involve reenacting forms of perceptual experiences. However, in many aspects of life we do not have first hand experiences of the concepts we master to perfection. Who has ever had personal experiences with unicorns, the ice ages or Big Bang? In this chapter, I expand on the relation between symbol use as it applies to the linguistic exchange in professional communities and different levels of immersion in the asso- ciated practices to clarify the issue of levels of embodiment from a cognitive point of view.
Frontiers in Psychology, May 3, 2019
Aarhus University Press eBooks, Sep 24, 2020
We read e-books and printed books. But are there differences in how and where we read? And what o... more We read e-books and printed books. But are there differences in how and where we read? And what opportunities does a digital reading environment bring for writers and designers? The materiality of reading explores the experience of reading by examining the interaction between the reader and the object of reading. Bringing together an array of disciplinary perspectives such as neurobiology, embodied reading and typography, we aim to understand how the materiality of the text enhances reader engagement with digital and physical books. The papers of this anthology are the result of academic discussions and empirical explorations at universities in Zadar, Vilnius, Reading and Stavanger as the authors are all members of the European research initiative, ‘Evolution of Reading in the Age of Digitisation’ (E-READ).
This chapter begins on the note that pre-linguistic categorisation is central to the furnishing o... more This chapter begins on the note that pre-linguistic categorisation is central to the furnishing of the world. Thus, linguification becomes central only after we are cognitively anchored in reality. Hereafter, I address features central to language acquisition that I claim are crucial parameters in the explanation of abstract knowledge acquisition in derived embodiment processes. I discuss (1) the reality of the phenomenon, event, or object, (2) the attentional focus of the language learner, and (3) the interlocutor. Qualitative shifts in those components seem essential in the transfer from the first stage (concrete level) to the next stage (abstract level). Obviously, the reality of the referent of what one linguistically addresses changes from being immediately present (on-line) to absent (off-line). The off-line condition imputes a challenge to the second parameter, the learner’s imaginative abilities to which he or she must turn in order to understand to what language refers. When the referent is present, the understanding will get external support from perceptual processes. Contrariwise, in the off-line condition, the language learner relies on vicarious internal, self-sustained cues to attain understanding. The chapter deals primarily with the first parameter that leads to considerations about the imagination, the relation between imagination and re-enactments as well as the distribution of non-conscious and conscious processes and thus introduces the concept of first order linguification processes. Since phenomenally experienced imagery may play an important part in abstract language acquisition, space is devoted to further explorations of the question of the phenomenal qualities of re-enactments, which inevitably invites discussions on different notions of consciousness. The chapter closes with a presentation of different attention states and the moderating impact of the interlocutor.
Routledge eBooks, Feb 1, 2022
Contemporary neuroscience seems to suggest that conceptual under- standing as in reading and disc... more Contemporary neuroscience seems to suggest that conceptual under- standing as in reading and discourse at least in part is perceptually and sensory- somatically corroborated. In other words, conceptual knowledge seems to involve reenacting forms of perceptual experiences. However, in many aspects of life we do not have first hand experiences of the concepts we master to perfection. Who has ever had personal experiences with unicorns, the ice ages or Big Bang? In this chapter, I expand on the relation between symbol use as it applies to the linguistic exchange in professional communities and different levels of immersion in the asso- ciated practices to clarify the issue of levels of embodiment from a cognitive point of view.
Frontiers in Psychology, May 3, 2019