User:Lewbrianna/sandbox

Article Evaluation: Speech Act

The article that I evaluated is called "speech act". Everything is relevant in the article. However, one thing that did distract me was the part about finance. It did not seem as relevant as the other components. The article is neutral and there are claims, but as a reader, the claims help better explain the concept. For example, at the very beginning of the article, it states what speech act is according to Kent Bach. I did notice that the points did come from credible sources. Just to be sure I did check some links and they directed me right to the source. However, some of them date back to the 60s. I believe that there has been even more research on the topic since then and it should included to give readers a better explanation. I felt like the article was very informative. I liked that it gave three ways/levels to which speech acts can be analyzed. Then, it breaks down each level. However, There is not a link for each definition of these levels to get background information.

While reading the talk page, I noticed readers saying that it was "too technical". They were using words that even some of us linguist may not understand of which could also be confusing. They feel like it should be rewritten using simpler terms. Who would be best fit to write rewrite this article?

Homework 5b: Hello world! I plan on editing this article by first adding more to the synopsis of the article. That way readers have more of an insight on what they are going to be reading. Also, since it is a bibliographical page, I would like to add more about Ms. Barabara. More than just her research. Maybe have a section about her childhood and more in depth about her education, leading up to her linguistics careers. When researching more about her, I saw her email. It would be cool if I could email her personally to ask her to answer a few questions. If that wouldn't be creepy (lol). http://degruyteropen.com/people/babbott/

HW5: While reading the article, I did find things that could be added and/or taken out (Listed above in HW5b). I have come up with an outline of how I personally would rearrange the article:

Synopsis -Birthdate/hometown -Field of research -Summary of big accomplishments Childhood/Background -Hometown -Family -Early/Secondary education -College Education Research -What area of research-semantics -What her book says about semantics Job as Professor -What classes taught & where -Awards/accomplishments -Speaking engagements Books Journals Retirement -Volunteering in ShareCare -Hobbies

Since there is not a lot of information about Ms. Abbott, I would definitely do my best to keep searching. However, for the Journals and Books section of the article, I would look into her own personal work for more details. I am still interested in emailing her and asking her questions about her childhood, schooling, etc.

Peer-Review
I like your outline. It's definitely hitting all the major points you would want in a biography and reorganizes the information in an easy to read format. I'm concerned you might not be able to find everything you want, but if you at least add or improve one thing in each section of your article I think it would work nicely. For the last section, Books/Journals/Retirement, I think it would be easier if you left this last as it seems not as important as your other sections. However, if you have the time and the information go ahead and include it in the article as it would definitely be a nice touch.CA108017 (talk) 05:06, 4 March 2018 (UTC)

Peer-Review
The outline is very good it is a good idea to have organization and to plan out what you want to add. Although I am not sure you can add everything for the assignment, but you can always continue to add more after the assignment is due. I would try to focus on a few sections, but if you come across all the information put it in the article. I don think that everything you want to add is important. The article will look great once all this information is added. BobLee4 (talk) 03:51, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Peer-Review
Great start! You'll need more for her background which might be hard since I am finding that problem with my person too. Also might want to consider putting in hyperlinks for the books if they have their own wiki pages. The third sentence in the 'Career' section is confusing to me. I'm not clear of what the book is about. The sentence at the end in the 'Hobbies' section seems a little unnecessary since it doesn't really relate to her retirement. Maybe talk about how she is involved in the organization her parents started. Also, if you find more detailed information on the books and journals themselves then you might want to make separate sections that give brief summaries for each one. Arkoeneke (talk) 21:04, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

Background
Barbara Kenyon Abbott (born 1943) is an American linguist. Abbott grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and currently resides in Michigan with her husband of 23 years, Larry Hauser.

Career
Abbott received her PhD in linguistics from The University of California at Berkeley in 1976. She was a professor at Michigan State University where she taught linguistics and philosophy from 1976-2006. Her main concentrations are semantics and pragmatics Abbott is a renowned linguistics author, and is recognized for her book titled Reference which focuses on the issue of how far reference is and if it is a two-place or three-place relation. Abbott is also known for her other published works which include Natural Language Semantics, Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, Journal of Pragmatics, and Mind. She has also released a wide range of articles beginning in 1974 with an article titled Some Problems In Giving An Adequate Model-Theoretic Account of Cause to her most recent article, titled Some Remarks on Referentiality, in 2011. In 1993 at Michigan State University, Abbot received the Outstanding Faculty & Staff Award. Students with disabilities nominate the person they feel that amplifies learning and extracurricular opportunities.

Research
Abbott has done an extensive amount of research; below are her publications from 1974-2011.

(2011) Some remarks on referentiality. Paper prepared for Taller de Teoría de la Referencia, UNAM, Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas, August 15-17, Mexico City.

(2011) Out of control: The semantics of some infinitival VP complements. In Etsuyo Yuasa, Tista Bagchi, & Katharine P. Beals, eds., Pragmatics and Autolexical Grammar: In honor of Jerry Sadock. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 229-241.

(2011) Support for individual concepts. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations 10, 23-44.

(2011) (With Laurence R. Horn)  Nonfamiliarity and indefinite descriptions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Pittsburgh.

(2010) Conditionals in English and first order predicate logic. In Dingfang Shu & Ken Turner, eds., Contrasting meaning in languages of the east and west. Oxford: Peter Lang, 579-606.

(2010) Pragmatics. In Kirsten Malmkjær, ed., The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia, 3rd edition. London: Routledge, 418-426.

(2008) Presuppositions and common ground. Linguistics and Philosophy 31:5, 523-538.

(2008) Issues in the semantics and pragmatics of definite descriptions in English. In Jeanette Gundel & Nancy Hedberg, eds., Reference: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 61-72.

(2006) Where have some of the presuppositions gone? In Betty J. Birner & Gregory Ward, eds., Drawing the boundaries of meaning: Neo-Gricean studies in pragmatics and semantics in honor of Laurence R. Horn. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1-20.

(2006) Definite and indefinite. In Keith Brown, ed., the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd ed., vol. 3. Oxford: Elsevier, 392-399.

(2005) Proper names and language. In Greg Carlson & Francis Jeffry Pelletier, eds., Reference and quantification: The Partee effect. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications, 63-81.

(2004) Some remarks on indicative conditionals. In Robert B. Young, ed., Proceedings from Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 14. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications, 1-19.

(2004) Definiteness and indefiniteness. In Laurence R. Horn & Gregory Ward., eds., Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford: Blackwell, 122-149.

(2003) A reply to Szabó’s "Descriptions and uniqueness". Philosophical Studies 113, 223-231.

(2003) Some notes on quotation. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 17, 13-26.

(2002) Donkey demonstratives. Natural Language Semantics 10, 285-298.

(2002) Definiteness and proper names: Some bad news for the description theory. Journal of Semantics 19, 191-201.

(2001) Definiteness and identification in English. In Németh T. Enikö, ed., Pragmatics in 2000: Selected papers from the 7th International Pragmatics Conference, Vol. 2. Antwerp: International Pragmatics Association, 1-15.

(2000) Fodor and Lepore on meaning similarity and compositionality. Journal of Philosophy 97, 454-455.

(2000) Presuppositions as nonassertions. Journal of Pragmatics 32, 1419-1437.

(1999) Support for a unique theory of definite descriptions. In Tanya Matthews & Devon Strolovitch, eds., Proceedings from Semantics and Linguistic Theory IX, 1-15. Ithaca: Cornell University.

(1999) Water = H2O. Mind 108, 145-148.

(1999) The formal approach to meaning. Journal of Foreign Languages (Shanghai) 119:1, 2-20.

(1997) Models, truth, and semantics. Linguistics and Philosophy 20:2, 117-138.

(1997) A note on the nature of 'water'. Mind 106, 311-319.

(1997) Definiteness and existentials. Language 73:1, 103-108.

(1996)  Doing without a partitive constraint. J. Hoeksema, ed. Partitives: Studies on the syntax and semantics of partitive and related constructions (Groningen-Amsterdam Studies in Semantics (GRASS) 14), Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 25-56.

(1995) Thinking without English. Behavior and Philosophy 23:2, 49-55.

(1995) Some remarks on specificity. Linguistic Inquiry 26:2, 341-347.

(1994) Referentiality, specificity, strength, and individual concepts. WCCFL (Proceedings of the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics) 12, 473-484.

(1993) A pragmatic account of the definiteness effect in existential sentences. Journal of Pragmatics 19, 39-55.

(1993) Some remarks on a causal theory of word meaning. CLS (Papers from the Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society) 29, vol. 2: The Parasession, 1-10.

(1992) Definiteness, existentials, and the 'list' interpretation. C. Barker and D. Dowty, eds., SALT II: Proceedings of the Second Conference on Semantics and Linguistic Theory, Columbus: The Ohio State University, 1-16.

(1974) Some problems in giving an adequate model-theoretic account of CAUSE. Charles Fillmore, George Lakoff, & Robin Lakoff, eds., Berkeley Studies in Syntax and Semantics (BS3), volume I. Berkeley, CA: Department of Linguistics and Institute of Human Learning, University of California, I-1 - I-14.

Hobbies
After putting in years of work in the linguistic field, Abbott is putting in work for the community. Abbott's parents started the ShareCare of Leelanau, which is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1993. Abbott and her husband inherited a farmhouse from her parents. Then, they soon retired to Lake Leelanau in 2006. The organization provides assisted living services for residents that is also affordable. She is currently a board member. In her spare time, she sings in the Leelanau Community Choir, playing the piano, and playing cello in the Benzie Area Symphony Orchestra.