The Nature of Experimental Data: The Study of Reformulation Through Eye-Tracker in Peninsular Spanish

Abstract

This paper aims at applying some main concepts from Philosophy of Linguistics (López Serena, 2019) to Experimental Pragmatics research. The main focus of the analysis is data nature depending on the theoretical approach adopted. To do so, the form-function trap (Pons 2017) is re-addressed through Pons-Murillo’s polemic (Pons 2013, 2017; Murillo 2016), which has been experimentally addressed recently (Author 2021a, 2021b). Philosophy of Linguistics leads to a more accurate explanation of these data and their role with theory and, specifically, to better describe the linguistic phenomenon addressed. The paper shows how Experimental Pragmatics (as a natural science) needs of this approach to be clearly distinguished from human sciences (and, therefore, other linguistic theories which do not adopt the same methods, techniques and interpretations in analyzing their subject of study).