（华工）Michał Paradowski博士学术讲座通知

主    题：Why does Language Need a Body?

主 讲 人：Dr. Michał B. Paradowski

主 持 人：杜可君 讲师

时    间：2015年1月6日（周二）下午14:30-16:30

地    点：外国语学院502室

欢迎全体教师、研究生、本科生参加！

讲座摘要：

    In the ‘traditional’ view, going back to René Descartes, cognition has been seen as manipulation of symbolic, mental representations, with the brain conceived of as an input-output processor running abstract, generalized computational programs which enable us to process incoming data into a perception/interpretation of the outside world. The talk will start out with a depiction of this dualistic Cartesian approach that has characterized much of even twentieth-century thought.

Language, too, has for a long time been treated across scientific domains as a system operating largely independently from the body (articulatory-perceptual organs notwithstanding). This could lead one into believing that to emulate linguistic behavior, it suffices to develop ‘software’ operating on abstract representations that will work on any computational machine.

     A rich and diverse inventory of heterogeneous evidence against such a view will be presented, addressing the issue of the link between cognition, language, body, and environment. Without taking into account both the architecture of the human brain, and embodiment, it is unrealistic to replicate accurately the processes which take place during language acquisition, comprehension, production, or during non-linguistic actions. I will end by drawing conclusions for language teaching and robotics.