On Path Diagrams and the Neurophenomenal Field in Bilinguals
Languages December 22, 2022 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.3390/languages7040260 via DOAJ
Summary
This paper argues that conversation creates a unique, dynamic subjective experience—a phenomenal field—that governs communicative actions. The author proposes a neurophenomenological approach for studying bilingual speakers, using path diagrams and retrospective experience sampling to capture the richness of this field during conversation. The goal is to link these subjective experiences to large-scale attentional networks in the brain, offering a framework for understanding the neural bases of bilingual conversation.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | A neurophenomenological approach using path diagrams and retrospective experience sampling can capture the phenomenal field of bilingual speakers and relate it to attentional networks. |
Abstract
Conversation is a major site for our use of language. Each conversation elicits a distinct subjective experience: a specific and dynamic phenomenal field, and it is this field that controls our communicative actions. We cannot hope to understand the neural bases of conversation without relating these to the phenomenal field. We need a neurophenomenology of the bilingual speaker. I propose and illustrate an approach involving path diagrams together with retrospective experience sampling to capture the richness of the phenomenal field as a speaker talks through an issue of concern, and relate this process to large-scale attentional networks. The proposal offers a general approach to developing a neurophenomenology of the bilingual speaker and listener.