La fonction argumentative des marques de la langue

The present paper reports a set of experimental studies concerning the comprehension of French argumentative operators and connectives. The first part is a presentation of the theoretical framework, the methodological problems and some of the most general results. Experiments were carried out in the perspective of the linguistic theory of argumentation developed by Anscombre and Ducrot. According to this theory, a number of devices in language are mainly defined by their argumentation function, i.e. by the types of discursive sequences and conclusions they involve. Three categories of such devices were examined: (1) operators like “presque” (almost), “à peine” (hardly), “au moins” (at least), etc. which give an argumentative orientation to the statement; (2) co-orientation connectives, like “même” (even), which relate two statements oriented towards the same conclusion; (3) counter-orientation connectives, like the concessive ones (“mais” (but), “quand même” (even so), etc.), which relate two statements oriented towards opposite conclusions. The data shed light on issues such as: What is the nature of the relationship between the informative and argumentative functions of different operators? Is there a hierarchical relation between the argumentative processes of “co-orientation” and “counter-orientation”? What is the role of negation in the processing of argumentative sequences? The second part of the paper focuses specifically on the study of how 8 and 10 year-old children process “counter-oriented” statements. Five concessive connectives were studied: “mais”, “pourtant”, “quand même”, “même si”, “bien que”. The test was composed of two successive completion tasks: in one task the children had to choose the relevant context of complex sentences involving concessive connectives; in the other task they had to choose their relevant conclusion. Main results show a clear evolution in the performance of children between 8 and 10, suggesting that concessive strategies are not completely mastered at the age of 8. Differences among the concessive connectives studied were brought out: the item “quand même” obtained much better results than the other items with 8-year-old subjects; statements with “mais” seemed to be better processed in the conclusion task than in the context task, especially by 10-year-old subjects. These results are compared with other data obtained in some of the numerous studies on the production and comprehension of concessive connectives in various languages, and discussed from the point of view of argumentative theory.     

Developing the Cyber Victimization Experiences and Cyberbullying Behaviors Scales

The reported prevalence rates of cyber victimization experiences and cyberbullying behaviors vary. Part of this variation is likely due to the diverse definitions and operationalizations of the constructs adopted in previous research and the lack of psychometrically robust measures. Through 2 studies, the authors developed (Study 1) and evaluated (Study 2) the cyber victimization experiences and cyberbullying behaviors scales. Participants in Study 1 were 393 (122 boys, 171 girls) and in Study 2 were 345 (153 boys, 192 girls) 11–15-year-olds who completed measures of cyber victimization experiences, cyberbullying behaviors, face-to-face victimization experiences, face-to-face bullying behaviors, and social desirability. The 3-factor cyber victimization experiences scale comprised threat, shared images, and personal attack. The 3-factor cyberbullying behaviors scale comprised sharing images, gossip, and personal attack. Both scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and convergent validity.     

我与另一个我:网络自我与现实自我的关系辨析

与现实自我相对,网络自我是个体在网络世界中的自我。在网络生活日益普及的今天,探讨网络自我与现实自我之间的关系具有重要意义。综合自我身份、外形及人格等方面的研究,可以得知网络自我在一定程度上是现实自我的虚拟投射,但对于一些容易受到社会评价的特征,个体会对网络自我进行适度的理想化。同时,网络平台属性以及用户个人特征都会影响网络自我与现实自我之间的关系。未来研究可以结合不同平台与场景、多种研究方法、在不同文化背景下对网络自我与现实自我之间的关系进行进一步探索。     

Cyber bullying among children with neurodevelopmental disorders: A systematic review

Children and young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) are at increased risk of bullying compared to typically developing peers. It is still unclear to what extent they are involved in cyber bullying. This systematic review aimed at studying the prevalence of cyber bullying as perpetrators, victims, or both (“bully-victims”) among students with ND in a school setting and in need of special education. The Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMED, and Cochrane databases were searched including a manual search of reference lists, until February 24, 2018. Eight studies conducted in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Australia were included reporting a prevalence of cyber-victimization among students with ND of 0%–41%, a prevalence of cyber-perpetration of 0%–16.7%, and a prevalence of bully-victims of 6.7%. Three out of five studies using control groups showed that students with ND might be more involved in cyber bullying overall compared to typically developing students. Students in segregated school settings report slightly higher prevalence rates of cyber bullying compared to students with ND in inclusive school settings, especially among girls. When comparing prevalence rates among studies using the same definition, we found similar prevalence rates. There was a tendency towards students with ND being more involved in cyber bullying compared to typically developing students, but this needs to be confirmed in future studies that should include control groups with typically developing students as well as validated and standardized measurements of cyber bullying and ND diagnoses.     

Interpolation and Amalgamation; Pushing the Limits. Part II

This is the second part of the paper [Part I] which appeared in the previous issue of this journal.