/library/oar/handle/123456789/5429 Sat, 27 Dec 2025 04:30:30 GMT 2025-12-27T04:30:30Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/141214 Title: TextFocus : assessing the faithfulness of feature attribution methods explanations in natural language processing Authors: Mariotti, Ettore; Arias-Duart, Anna; Cafagna, Michele; Gatt, Albert; Garcia-Gasulla, Dario; Alonso-Moral, Jose Maria Abstract: Among the existing eXplainable AI (XAI) approaches, Feature Attribution methods are a popular option due to their interpretable nature. However, each method leads to a different solution, thus introducing uncertainty regarding their reliability and coherence with respect to the underlying model. This work introduces TextFocus, a metric for evaluating the faithfulness of Feature Attribution methods for Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks involving classification. To address the absence of ground truth explanations for such methods, we introduce the concept of textual mosaics. A mosaic is composed of a combination of sentences belonging to different classes, which provides an implicit ground truth for attribution. The accuracy of explanations can be then evaluated by comparing feature attribution scores with the known class labels in the mosaic. The performance of six feature attribution methods is systematically compared on three sentence classification tasks by using TextFocus, with Integrated Gradients being the best overall method in terms of faithfulness and computational requirements. The proposed methodology fills a gap in NLP evaluation, by providing an objective way to assess Feature Attribution methods while finding their optimal parameters. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/141214 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140766 Title: Speech act theory : between narrow and broad pragmatics Authors: Assimakopoulos, Stavros Abstract: Speech act theory has been foundational in establishing pragmatics as an independent field of inquiry; yet, recent pragmatic research appears to have drifted away from the theoretical investigation of speech acts. This Element explores the reasons why this is so, focusing on the difference of perspective that emerges when the scope of the discipline is viewed through a narrow versus a broad lens. Following an overview of the initial exposition of speech act theory by Austin, it tracks its evolution, through subsequent Searlean and Gricean elaborations, to the currently received view. This view is then found to have diverged substantially from Austin’s original vision, largely due to its alignment with the narrow conception of pragmatics. Against this backdrop, it is suggested that embracing the broad take on the discipline can allow for a reintegration of Austin’s vision into the way we theorise about speech acts. Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140766 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140765 Title: Context selection and relevance Authors: Assimakopoulos, Stavros Abstract: Relevance Theory (Sperber &Wilson 1986, 1995) has been widely accepted as one of the most comprehensive frameworks in pragmatics. However, as in the case of most theories, it has faced criticism on several occasions. On one of them, Chiappe & Kukla (1996) argued against the relevance-theoretic framework on the grounds that it provides no solution to the Fodorian view of the Frame Problem (Fodor 1987) and accused Sperber & Wilson of disregarding the essential issue of context selection in communication. Sperber & Wilson's response to Chiappe & Kukla (1996) was that Relevance does not provide a solution to this problem because it does not need to do so: in their view, Fodor was wrong to formulate the frame problem in the first place. In this paper, I revise this view and present an argumentation against the Fodorian thesis on the matter. I suggest that his idea on the irrationality of the human cognitive system when it comes to context selection was rightly formulated in the first place; yet, Relevance Theory can help address this problem and account for a “rational” pattern of context selection, both with a view to general cognitive processing and in terms of utterance interpretation. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140765 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140764 Title: Soft hate speech : critical perspectives from discourse and argumentation studies Authors: Serafis, Dimitris; Assimakopoulos, Stavros Abstract: In recent years, the significant proliferation of hate speech in several facets of the public sphere has triggered the renewal of scholarly interest in the phenomenon across disciplinary areas. Within this picture, it is often observed that hate speech may nowadays be realised in real-life communication via more implicit or indirect forms, which do not meet the legal threshold. Theoretically, the introduction of the term ‘soft hate speech’ has been aimed at capturing all these cases of implicit, covert or indirect realisations of hate speech. Adopting a combination of critical perspectives from discourse and argumentation studies, the present special issue zooms in on the discursive strategies and lines of argumentation that end up subtly justifying discriminatory hatred within this remit. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT /library/oar/handle/123456789/140764 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z