LANGUAGE IN PSYCHOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE (ONE)

In general, language has a very important role in human life, not only because language
differentiates humans from animals in this life, but also because humans are considered a
civilized society with the language they use (Carroll, D.W. 2008). From a psycholinguistic
point of view, language is a very interesting object to observe because almost everyone in this
world knows and can use the language they know to communicate, but only a few of them
understand what they know in the sense that most humans have ability to use language, but
they don't know how the ability occurs. In other words, we may say that humans mostly know
languages to be used for their daily interactions, but they are not fully aware of this knowledge
(Carroll, D.W. 2008). In relation to this issue, Carroll, D.W. (2008) explains that humans are
basically able to communicate using language because of two types of knowledge, namely tacit
knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge refers to the knowledge possessed by
humans to carry out various kinds of actions as a form of language use, for example; reading,
speaking, listening, and writing. All of these actions can be performed by anyone who has
obtained linguistic resources such as pronunciation (Phonological rules), vocabulary
(Morphological rules), grammar (Syntactical rules), meaning (Semantical rules), and language
use conventions (Pragmatical rules). Meanwhile, explicit knowledge refers to knowledge of
the process or knowledge of the mechanisms of how all language use actions are carried out.
For example, when we speak, most of us only know how to speak, but only a few of us know
the processes that occur in our minds when we are speaking.
In short, in every moment of using language, two important things always take place,
namely the act of using language (tacit knowledge) and the process by which the action occurs
(explicit knowledge). What psycholinguistics tries to explain is not only the process by which
the act of using language occurs in our mind, but also to explain how tacit knowledge and
explicit knowledge connect each other. According to Rączaszek-Leonardi, J., & Kelso, J. S.
(2008), the use of language from the perspective of psycholinguistic includes three key main
areas, namely, language production, language perception, and language acquisition. These
three things will be discussed sequentially in the following discussion:
1. Language Production
To understand this sub-section, it's a good idea to first understand what is meant by
Language Production. According to Dey, M. (2021), Language Production is a series of
processes that occur in producing language products in the form of utterances and expressions.
In this context, it is important to know that when psycholinguists study language production,
the discussion will focus more on spoken language and leave aside discussions about written
language production and the production of sign languages (Griffin, Z. M., & Ferreira, V. S.
2006). In this regard, Levelt, (1989) is of the opinion that the stages of language production
can logically be grouped into three main stages namely;
a. The conceptualization stage (the stage for determining what intentions will be
conveyed),
b. The formulation stage (the stage for determining what should be used and how to
express the intentions that exist at the conceptualization stage),
c. The articulation stage (the stage for conveying intentions formed in the form of
utterances and expressions).
Lavelt's opinion is in line with Warren's view which says that language production always
begins with the presence of an intention (message) in our minds. The next, our minds will work
to plan and to choose words and sentence structures to represent the intention. Finally, the
intention represented in the form of vocabulary or sentences is articulated in the form of a series
of speeches or utterances. In analysing language production, psycholinguistics focuses on the
formation of a single utterance by which an utterance consists of one or several words spoken
together to express an idea (Griffin, Z. M., & Ferreira, V. S. 2006). Therefore, to carry out these
three stages, humans need knowledge of language which Chomsky calls as “Linguistic
Competence” which consists of semantical knowledge, syntactical knowledge and
phonological knowledge, by which each knowledge will function at each stage, as shown in
the figure 1 below:

Figure 1
Language production stages and linguistic competence

A detailed explanation concerning the relationship between language production stages and
linguistic competence in shaping the ability to use language can clearly be seen in the following
discussion:
a. The Conceptualization Stage and Semantical Knowledge
The first stage of language production is conceptualization which can be understood as
a process of bringing concepts, ideas or intentions into our minds as an initial preparation before
we start speaking. Psycholinguists use various terms to name this stage, for example; Garret
(1982) calls it as “pre-linguistic or language neutral" stage, Slobin (1996) calls this stage as the
stage of "thinking for speaking", Griffin, Z. M., & Ferreira, V. S. (2006) call this stage as
"message planning", and so forth. To be able to carry out this stage, we need semantic
knowledge, that is the knowledge possessed by a person so that he/she is able to formulate and
determine the meaning or message to be conveyed before speaking. In psycholinguistics, such
knowledge is also known as an abstract idea in the form of a purpose or a concept. Warren, P.
(2013) argues that when we want to speak, we will start the speaking process with a notion or
an abstract idea about what we are going to say in our minds before we choose and use words
and sentence structures to express the idea. This process is then called as conceptualization,
which is a process initiates our ability to talk about our experiences, the current situations, and
about our lives in this world. Therefore, it is emphasized that anyone who wants to speak
(produce meaningful speech) will definitely start the process of speaking by presenting an
underlying meaning (abstract idea) in his/her mind. The underlying meaning (abstract idea) is
the representation of humans’ semantical knowledge that is the knowledge triggering the initial
production of speech which does not contain any language properties. Kaharuddin (2021)
defines it as a concept formulated in a speaker’s head. With regard to semantic knowledge,
Warren, P. (2013) argues that semantic knowledge in the human mind is influenced by several
rules, including:
- Decision about what situation to say
- Facts about the situation
- Consideration of the special aspects of the message that need highlighting.
To understand more clearly how the three rules work in presenting semantic knowledge in a
speaker's mind before producing an utterance, let's take look at the following example:

Figure 2.
Source: https://pixabay.com

From figure 2, we can see the following situations:

- The little girl is planning to express a concept from a situation that “a cat is catching a
mouse” This refers to the first rule namely the speaker’s decision about what situation to
say.
- However, before the little girl verbalizes the situation, she initiates the speech production
concerning the situation by conceptualizing what she sees in the form of intention (abstract
idea). The conceptualization process occurs by involving three types of concepts, namely;
the first is the concept of catching as an Action (to stop a mouse that is trying to escape),
the second is the concept of a cat as a Subject (an animal doing the act of catching), and
the third concept is the concept of a mouse (an animal on which the action of catch is
carried out). The existence of these three concepts will turn into facts because they are a
truth witnessed by the little girl. Zerilli, L. M. (2020) is of the opinion that a fact is a thing
that is known or proved to be real (reality) or true (truth). This refers to the second rule,
that is the facts of the situation.
- Finally, the little girl is also in need of including information concerning which facts (prior
concepts) need to be highlighted whether she needs to focus on highlighting the cat as the
subject or the mouse as the object. This refers to the third rule that is Considering the
special aspects of the message that need highlighting.
Additionally, Warren. P. (2013) believes that the semantic knowledge used in the
conceptualization stage can be categorized into two types of knowledge, namely semantical
macro-planning and semantical micro-planning. Semantical macro-planning refers to the
actions of a speaker to determine what types of speech acts can be used to express concepts
(abstract ideas) in his mind effectively. A speech act means an action chosen by someone to
express a message (concept) whether by asking, requesting, explaining, comparing, etc. (Clark,
1996). Meanwhile, semantical micro-planning is an action taken by a speaker in determining
and using the type of speech act used to communicate messages in his mind and which facts
will be used as the main focus to be highlighted so that they can be conveyed to the other party.
The important thing to underline is that both types of semantic planning are still not languages,
but are still concepts in the mind and still require a process to turn them into language products.
Brain area for conceptualization
In this case, we not only need to understand the conceptualization process theoretically,
but we also need to understand which of the various brain’s areas perform the conceptualization
function. To understand this, Chow, H.M., et.al. (2023) provide an explanation of the areas of
the brain that play important roles in speech and language, as indicated in figure 2 as follows:

Figure 2
Brain areas for speech and language
Source: https://thebrain.mcgill.ca

Three areas of the brain have crucial roles in speech and language i.e., Wernicke’s area, Broca’s
area, as well as Angular Gyrus’ area. Each of the area performs different function in language
production.
- Wernicke's area is the area of the brain involved in language processing, from
conceptualization to formulation. This section starts pre-linguistic activities
(determining concept and choosing appropriate words and sentence structures) then
sends pre-linguistic information to Broca's area.
- Broca's area is the part of the brain playing a role in producing speech. Therefore, the
articulation stage is carried out by this part of the brain.
- Angular Gyrus' area performs the function of receiving language products up to the
language comprehension stage.
In short, by observing Figure 2, we can see directly that pre-linguistic processes occur in
Wernicke's area. Wernicke's area carries out two functions, namely conceptualization and
formulation. Then, the results of conceptualization and formulation are followed up by Broca's
area whose role is to carry out the function of articulation or speech production as indicated by
Figure 3 as follows:
 Figure 3.
Flow of conceptualization, formulation and articulation in the brain
Source: https://directindia.org

Key Source of Conceptualization

In trying to understand the stage of contextualization, there is one important thing to be
explained, namely the key source of conceptualization (a sign indicates that the
conceptualization process is taking place). According to Gumperz, J. J. (1992), the sign to know
that the contextualization process is taking place is the pattern of pause (a temporary stop in
speech) produced by someone when speaking with other people. Warren, P. (2013) adds that
when someone pauses while communicating verbally, it means that a mental process is
occurring in that person's mind. It is this mental process that produces intentions (messages)
before someone starts speaking. So, the more someone pauses, it is a sign that the person is
planning to convey more intentions (concepts). However, we need to know that not all pauses
are pauses. There is a moment of silence that is not intended for thinking, but is silent because
of the demands of articulation. For example, we are going to pronounce the phoneme bilabial
stop /p/, of course, to pronounce this sound, we have to close our lips tightly which will cause
us to pause for a moment to hold back the flow of air so that a plosive sound can be produced.
It turns out that the pause used for the conceptualization stage has a main characteristic,
and this main characteristic can be known from the duration of the pause. Many studies show
that the minimum duration of a pause counted as a pause for conceptualization (pause for
thinking) is 200 milliseconds or equals to 2 seconds (Warren, P. 2013). Pause which is used for
conceptualization process is also called as Psychological Pause. However, pause is not the only
source for conceptualization, sometimes, some people do conceptualization by slowing down
their rate of speaking without producing silence at all. Warren, P. (2013) refers to this as the
change in rhythm. Change in rhythm also performs a function similar to a pause, which is to
give someone the opportunity to conceptualize. The following figure illustrates speech
waveform containing psychological pause with duration of pause 200 milliseconds.
 Figure 4
Speech waveform containing psychological pause
Source: Tsiaras, V., Panagiotakis, C., & Stylianou, Y. (2009)

Therefore, pauses that are not intended for thinking cannot be categorized as Psychological
Pauses, for example filled pauses such as 'eee', 'uh', 'umm', ‘you know’. Several studies have
shown that filled pauses have different functions from psychological pauses. According to the
studies, there are at least three reasons why someone makes a filled pause, including: to gain
time to search for and find the right words, to show that the speaker has not finished speaking,
(Clark and Tree, 2002) and to delay speaking time (Tree, J. E. F. 2007). After completing the
discussion on the stages of conceptualization and semantic knowledge, we move on to the next
sub-topic regarding the stages of formulation and syntactic knowledge as explained in the
following discussion.