Contrasting instructions: from grammar to layout
Judy DelinUniversity of Stirling &
Information Design Unit
John BatemanUniversity of Bremen
Ghent, Saturday 22 September 2001; CoLLaTE
Overview of Talk
• Instructions: a contrastive view and some contrastive discourse-functional results
• But what is the “text”?
• An approach to multimodal text
• Uses
• Outlook
Why instructions?
Instructional texts provide a body of linguistic products where one can be very sure that many similar functional goals will need to be achieved...
regardless of exact content, regardless of language and regardless of culture.
Why instructions?
1994 onwards:
several projects with the goal of producing instructional texts automatically using the technology of
Natural Language Generation
NaturalLanguageGeneration
System
Multilingual Grammars,Semantics and Discourse Strategies
InstructionalTexts
Target language independent
specification of content and
style
NaturalLanguageGeneration
System
Multilingual Grammars,Semantics and Discourse Strategies
InstructionalTexts
Target language independent
specification of content and
style
Drafter Project (EU)Gist Project (EU)
Agile Project (EU)Drafter-II (UK EPSRC)
NaturalLanguageGeneration
System
Multilingual Grammars,Semantics and Discourse Strategies
InstructionalTexts
Target language independent
specification of content and
style
Multilingual Grammars,Semantics and Discourse Strategies
InstructionalTexts
functional motivationfor the particular grammatical and semantic selections made in any instructional text
?
Method• A collection of instructional texts were
collected in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese...
• ‘Functional’ categories were proposed for utterances in the texts
• The texts were annotated for the functional categories
• The range of linguistic realisations of a category were considered
Directives
Asking/telling the user to perform actions or not perform them
Very widespread and very varied:
English (8page document): 136 tokens / 14 typesJapanese (91page document): 285 tokens / 37 types
Examples (English)(1) Lift at sides of lid and remove. Lift out dust
bag.(2) ...please contact your nearest Electrolux
Service Centre.(3) To check the bag first disconnect the hose
coupling.(4) These warning are provided in the interest of
safety. You must read them.(5) Ensure that the lengths of wire inside the plug
are prepared correctly.(6) The suction control will normally be kept fully
closed to maintain maximum suction.(7) Release the hinged right-hand part of the Grille
by moving the left-hand part a little to the left.
Examples (English)(1) Lift at sides of lid and remove. Lift out dust
bag.(2) ...please contact your nearest Electrolux
Service Centre.(3) To check the bag first disconnect the hose
coupling.(4) These warning are provided in the interest of
safety. You must read them.(5) Ensure that the lengths of wire inside the plug
are prepared correctly.(6) The suction control will normally be kept fully
closed to maintain maximum suction.(7) Release the hinged right-hand part of the Grille
by moving the left-hand part a little to the left.
Directives overview (English)
All directives 136 tokensstraight imperative 59
- please 52+ please 7
ensure/take care/makecertain + passive
14
indirect 40agent deletion (passive) 23presupposed in by-clause 11presupposed in when-clause 9inference from state of affairs 1nominalisation 3
let’s 0
Motivations?Previous work (e.g. Ervin-Tripp) mention:
• face-work• giving the directed room to manoever• power relations• speaker/writer as beneficiary
Motivations?Previous work (e.g. Ervin-Tripp) mention:
• face-work• giving the directed room to manoever• power relations• speaker/writer as beneficiary
But these issues are not relevant in instructions,
... or if relevant, are the same within all instructions and so cannot be source of variation
Directive motivations (English)
All directivesstraight imperative
- please+ please
ensure/take care/makecertain + passiveindirect
agent deletion (passive)presupposed in by-clausepresupposed in when-clauseinference from state of affairsnominalisation
let’s
Directive motivations (English)
All directivesstraight imperative
- please+ please
ensure/take care/makecertain + passiveindirect
agent deletion (passive)presupposed in by-clausepresupposed in when-clauseinference from state of affairsnominalisation
let’s
Main body of instructions
Directive motivations (English)
All directivesstraight imperative
- please+ please
ensure/take care/makecertain + passiveindirect
agent deletion (passive)presupposed in by-clausepresupposed in when-clauseinference from state of affairsnominalisation
let’s
Outside main body of task
Directive motivations (English)
All directivesstraight imperative
- please+ please
ensure/take care/makecertain + passiveindirect
agent deletion (passive)presupposed in by-clausepresupposed in when-clauseinference from state of affairsnominalisation
let’s
Uncertainty about actor
Directive motivations (English)
All directivesstraight imperative
- please+ please
ensure/take care/makecertain + passiveindirect
agent deletion (passive)presupposed in by-clausepresupposed in when-clauseinference from state of affairsnominalisation
let’s
task logical structure
Directive motivations (English)
All directivesstraight imperative
- please+ please
ensure/take care/makecertain + passiveindirect
agent deletion (passive)presupposed in by-clausepresupposed in when-clauseinference from state of affairsnominalisation
let’s toopatronising?
Summary of Motivations• sensitive to whether the required action is
considered outside the set of acts that the user is committed to by buying the device
• dependent on location in document structure
–warnings/recommendations–critical instructions–genuine indeterminacy of actor
• interaction of semantic/rhetorical constraints
Directives overview (Japanese)Request
-te kudasai (please V)-o V kudasai (honorific-polite please V)
Gerund / conjunctionV- te (V and ... / by V-ing)V (-masu form) (V and ...)
Declarative-u / -ru ending (plain affirmative)-masu ending (polite affirmative)
Collective/tentative address-shiyou (plain let’s)-shimashou (polite let’s)
Summary of Variation (Japanese)
• interaction of semantic/rhetorical constraints
• dependent on location in document structure
–warnings/recommendations–critical instructions–TEXTUAL SIGNPOSTING
• sensitive to how much of an imposition an action is on the user
Example of very finely balanced estimation of ‘imposition’
• Hoshoukikan-chu wa ... hanbaiten ga shuuri sasete itadakimasuWithin the guarantee period ... the shop will repair it.
• Hoshoukikan-ga sugite iru toki wa ... gokibou ni yori yuuryou shuuri itashimasuWhen the guarantee has expired... if you wish, we will repair it for a charge
Example of very finely balanced estimation of ‘imposition’
• Hoshoukikan-chu wa ... hanbaiten ga shuuri sasete itadakimasu“we will receive the favour of your allowing us to repair it”
• Hoshoukikan-ga sugite iru toki wa ... gokibou ni yori yuuryou shuuri itashimasu“repair[polite] it for you”
Genre-specificy of form/function matches across languages
• -te kudasai : please
–but occurs throughout main body of instructions
• -te itadaki / itashimasu : respect
–in situations of imposition
An interim conclusion...
Contrastive accounts that involve functional motivations of construction use need to be carried our relative to
genre
We consider that it would be a mistake to treat this as some cute feature of Japanese instructions irrelevant for the linguistic analysis.
The information to be presented
differs in its modality assignment
in the two languages in this genre.
“One example will do for thousands, one complex type for hundreds of possible types. I select from Paiute, the language of the Indians of the arid plateaus of southwestern Utah. The word wii-to-kuchum-punku-rügani-yugwi-va-ntü-m(ü) is of unusual length even for its own language, but it is no psychological monster for all that. It means ”they who are going to sit and cut up with a knife a black cow (or bull)”, or, in the order of the Indian elements, ”knife-black-buffalo-pet-cut-up-sit (plur.)-future-participle-animate-plural”. The formula of this word, in accordance with our symbolism, would be (F)+(E)+C+d+A+B+(g)+(h)+(i)+(0). It is the plural of the future participle of a compound verb ”to sit and cut up” – A+B. The elements (g)—which denotes futurity—(h)—a a participle unit—and (i)—indicating the animate plural—are grammatical elements which convey nothing when detached. The formula (0) is intended to imply that the finished word conveys, in addition to what is definitely expressed, a further relational idea, that of subjectivity; in other words, the form can only be used as the subject of a sentence, not in an objective or other syntactic relation. The radical element A (”to cut up”), before entering into combination with the coordinate element B (”to sit”), is itself compounded with two nominal elements or element-groups—an instrumentally used stem (F) (”knife”), which may be freely used as the radical element of noun forms but cannot be employed as an absolute noun in its given form, and an objectively used group—(E)+C+d (”black cow or bull”). This group in turn consists of an adjectival radical element (E) (”black”), which cannot be independently employed..., and the compound noun C+d (”buffalo-pet”). ...
... appended to B alone, but to the whole basic complex as a unit—and that the elements (h)+(i)+(0) transform the verbal expression into a formally well-defined noun.”
(Sapir. Language. 1921:31-32)
Sapir’s analysis into ‘immediate
constituents’ drawn as a tree
wii-knife to-
blackkuchum
buffalopunku
pet
rüganicut up
yugwisit
va-future
ntü-participle
m(ü)-animate-plural
0-subject
(F) (E) C d
(h)
(i)
(0)
A
B
(g)
Research Goal:
to investigate the use of different modes of information presentation across genres and languages
• the GeM project:‘Genre and Multimodality’– http://www.gem.stir.ac.uk
The GeM model
• Content structure• Rhetorical structure• Layout structure• Navigation structure• Linguistic structure
• Canvas constraints• Production constraints• Consumption constraints
Stages in Analysis
• Content analysis: what ‘facts’ are being communicated?
• Rhetorical analysis: what is the RST structure?
Stages in Analysis
• Content analysis: what ‘facts’ are being communicated?
• Rhetorical analysis: what is the RST structure?
• Layout analysis: – what layout elements are there?– what is their hierarchical structure?
Stages in Analysis
• Content analysis: what ‘facts’ are being communicated?
• Rhetorical analysis: what is the RST structure?
• Layout analysis: – what layout elements are there?– what is their hierarchical structure?
• Does the layout support the rhetoric?
Content Analysis
quality of vision how the eye workswhere it is quality of hearingfunction of ear spots appearance of ear spotsappearance of coat function of appearance of coatfunction of canine teeth function of molarsfunction of claws behaviour of claws when walking
RST analysis
Tiger: picbody parts
Tiger: mouth(pic)
canines molars
elaboration
elaboration
back of ears(pic)
white spotsfunction
backgroundhearing
coat
purpose
functionof stripes eyes
means
coating
claws(pic)
claws retract why
purpose
attributes
weightheight
dietlength
maturityseason
lifespanyoung
gestationbodytail
relationships comparisons
elaboration
background background
joint
joint
joint
joint
Stages in Analysis
• Layout analysis: – what layout elements are there?– what is their hierarchical structure?
Layout Structure
A
A1 A2 A3 A6 A7 A8A4 A9
a a a a a ab b b b b b
A5
DrawingIntermediateCaptionTextblock
Types of element:
Layout Structure
A
A1 A2 A3 A6 A7 A8A4 A9
a a a a a ab b b b b b
A5
DrawingIntermediateCaptionTextblock
Types of element:
Layout Structure
A
A1 A2 A3 A6 A7 A8A4 A9
a a a a a ab b b b b b
A5
DrawingIntermediateCaptionTextblock
eyes ears coat mouth teeth claws
Types of element:
Layout Structure
A
A1 A2 A3 A6 A7 A8A4 A9
a a a a a ab b b b b b
A5
DrawingIntermediateCaptionTextblock
eyes ears coat mouth teeth claws
Types of element:
Layout Structure
A
A1 A2 A3 A6 A7 A8A4 A9
a a a a a ab b b b b b
A5
DrawingIntermediateCaptionTextblock
eyes ears coat mouth teeth claws
Types of element:
An XML-compatible annotation scheme consists ideally of...
• a single ‘base’ element annotated file
• several ‘stand-off’ layers of annotation
• a Document Type Definition (DTD) for each layer of annotation
Initial Corpus Target (English)
• 5 newspapers
• 5 website versions of newspapers
• 10 instructional texts
• 10 wildlife guides
Initial Corpus Target (English)
• 5 newspapers
• 5 website versions of newspapers
• 10 instructional texts
• 10 wildlife guides
Further target: the same across languages
Contrastive...
Modalities
Languages
GenresGenresGenres
GenresGenresGenresGenresGenresGenresGenresLanguagesLanguagesLanguagesLanguagesLanguages
TimeTimeTimeTimeTime
Modalities
A conclusion...For a useful ‘contrastive rhetoric’, not only linguistic resources, but also the social and cultural context of text production and interpretation must be taken into account.
A conclusion...For a useful ‘contrastive rhetoric’, not only linguistic resources, but also the social and cultural context of text production and interpretation must be taken into account.
Differences permeate every level of representation, from the knowledge to be communicated right through to its layout and typography.
A conclusion...For a useful ‘contrastive rhetoric’, not only linguistic resources, but also the social and cultural context of text production and interpretation must be taken into account.
Differences permeate every level of representation, from the knowledge to be communicated right through to its layout and typography.
Any theory that aims at achieving pragmatic equivalence between two languages must include both text and graphics within its semiotic resources