Center for Advanced Research on Logic and Sensibility - The Global Centers of Excellence Program, Keio University

Our team aims to clarify the structure, acquisition, teaching and processing of natural language, both independently and in their mutual interaction with non-verbal information processing. By doing so we hope to shed light on the following questions: What are the special characteristics of human language? How are these characteristics acquired? When do they materialize in the minds of language users? What connection do they have in the brain to verbal and non-verbal competence?

We aim to shed light on these problems from a variety of perspectives. By investigating first and second language acquisition, we aim to clarify the stages of language development. By investigating the distribution of resources in linguistic and non-linguistic information processing, we hope to illuminate the ways in which the nature of the information being processed influences processing efficiency. By investigating the process by which Japanese children acquire mimetics (onomatopoeia), we aim to deepen our knowledge of the neural mechanisms underlying linguistic symbolism. Finally, by delving into the formal properties and complexities of reference, we wish to clarify the fundamental path by which language comes to have meaning. The core members of our team are Mutsumi Imai, Yuji Itoh, Yukio Otsu and Christopher Tancredi.