Movement Conceptualizations in Graphical Communication

Graphical representations such as maps and diagrams play an important role in everyday communication settings by serving as an effective means of exchanging information. In such communication, graphical representations work not only as “windows” through which we can see the target situations the graphics describe, but also serve as information processing “sites” because we can take advantage of their handiness. Though the final aim of speakers is to exchange information about the target situation, graphical representations are so deeply a part of information processing that they may affect the way people grasp the target situations. This paper presents an empirical investigation of language usage in graphical communication. Drawing on the HCRC Map Task Corpus data, we demonstrate that the existence of graphics affects linguistic expressions of motion when people collaboratively work on a task. This effect demonstrates that the use of graphical representations has an influence on movement event conceptualizations.

Authors and Affiliations

1. ATR, Media Information Science Laboratories, Seika Soraku, 619-0288, Kyoto, Japan

   Ichiro Umata & Yasuhiro Katagiri

2. Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahi Tatsunokuchi, 923-1292, Nomi Ishikawa, Japan

   Atsushi Shimojima

Editors and Affiliations

1. University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

   Mary Hegarty

2. School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Wellington Road, 3800, Victoria, Australia

   Bernd Meyer

3. Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Auburn University, 107 Dunstan Hall, 36849, Auburn, AL, USA

   N. Hari Narayanan

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