From December 14 to 16, 2018, International Symposium on the Cognitive Neural Mechanism of Language was held at School of Translation Studies, Qufu Normal University, and one of the key topics was “Neuro-psychological Studies on Chinese Non-literal Language Processing”,a major project of the National Social Science Fund of China led by Prof. Wang Xiaolu from Zhejiang University.
Members of the conference
Prof. Wang Xiaolu, chief expert of the project, Prof. Zhang Xuexin from Fudan University, responsible person of the sub-project, Prof. Wang Huili from Dalian University of Technology, Prof. Li Degao and Prof. Zhou Tongquan from Qufu Normal University were present at the conference. What’s more, the symposium attracted distinguished experts from more than 50 universities and institutions such as Northwestern University, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Zhejiang University, Beijing Normal University, Nanjing Normal University, Qufu Normal University, Ningbo University, Chinese Academy of Sciences and University System of Taiwan. Doctoral students, graduates and some undergraduates from domestic universities of China also took an active part in the group discussion of parallel sessions, showing academic inheritance and vitality of cognitive neuroscience.
Chief experts and responsible persons of sub-project
The opening ceremony was hosted by Prof. Lu Weizhong, Dean of School of Translation Studies, Qufu Normal University. Xia Yunjie, Vice President of Qufu Normal University, Prof. Yang Yiming, Chairman of Neurolinguistics Institute, Prof. Xia Jing, Dean of College of Chinese Language and Literature, Qufu Normal University and Prof. Zhou Tongquan, Director of Institute for Language and Brain Science of School of Translation Studies, Qufu Normal University delivered a speech respectively. Later, Prof. Wang Xiaolu addressed a keynote speech titled “The Salience of Meaning and Comprehension of Chinese Puns: An Eye-tracking Study” and Prof. Li Degao, “The Status of Chinese Characters in the Recognition of One- and Two-character Words”, showing the latest progress of the project.
In the parallel session of “Neuro-psychological Studies on Chinese Non-literal Language Processing” hosted by Prof. Ma Lijun, Prof. Wang Xiaolu made her criticism on the research reports, including “The Role of Motor System in Action-based Metaphorical Language Comprehension in L1 and L2”, “The Processing Mechanism of Chinese Verbal Jokes: Evidence from ERP and Neural Oscillations”, “Tone Sensibility Neural Mechanism of Those Who Learn Chinese as Second Language” and “Function of Homophones in the Understanding of Chinese Paronomasia Allegorical Saying”, and heated discussions were developed on relevant topics.
Representatives from the parallel session of Neuro-psychological Studies on Chinese Non-literal Language Processing
The symposium was another direct dialogue between the research team and the international academic community after an international conference of “Containment, Brain and Cognition” held last year at Dalian University of Technology, which unfolded a broad academic vision of this project. The seminar not only provided team members with the opportunities of communication and cooperation with domestic and overseas experts, but furthered the influence of the team in cognitive neurolinguistics.
Photoed and Written by Zheng Wei
Translated by Liu Liu and Shang Xiaoyi
Edited by Xu Xueying
