From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language

Jiamei Zeng; Haitao Wang; Harry Bunt; Xinyu Cao; Sylviane Cardey; Min Dong; Tianyong Hao; Yangli Jia; Kiyong Lee; Shengqing Liao; James Pustejovsky; François Claude Rey; Laurent Romary; Jianfang Zong; Alex C. Fang

From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language

Jiamei Zeng (Co-first Author)
, Haitao Wang (Co-first Author)
, Harry Bunt
, Xinyu Cao
, Sylviane Cardey
, Min Dong
, Tianyong Hao
, Yangli Jia
, Kiyong Lee
, Shengqing Liao
, James Pustejovsky
, François Claude Rey
, Laurent Romary
, Jianfang Zong
, Alex C. Fang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Linguistics and Translation

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

Abstract

The study reported in this paper aims to contribute to the development of an annotation scheme for evaluative language, based on Appraisal Theory, that addresses key sources of classification problems. In particular, it aims to develop a unified annotation scheme that proposes (1) a three-component annotation model comprising Appraiser, Appraised and Appraisal Element, (2) the operationalised distinction between Affect and Appreciation governed by a criterion of experiencer salience and a criterion distinguishing personal emotions from evaluations of conduct, and (3) a decision framework for the Judgement-Appreciation distinction structured on the target and lexis types operating through override conditions and substitution tests. The revised framework is illustrated with examples selected from a corpus of news discourse in English and is designed to be replicable across future Appraisal-based studies of evaluative language.
©ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA), 2026

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22)
Editors	Harry Bunt
Publisher	European Language Resources Association (ELRA)
Pages	134-143
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	978-2-493814-64-7
Publication status	Published - 11 May 2026
Event	15th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation - Palau de Congressos de Palma, Palma, Spain Duration: 11 May 2026 → 16 May 2026 https://lrec2026.info/

Conference

Conference	15th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation
Abbreviated title	LREC 2026
Place	Spain
City	Palma
Period	11/05/26 → 16/05/26
Internet address	https://lrec2026.info/

Bibliographical note

Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

Research Keywords

evaluative language
appraisal theory
affect
judgement
appreciation
corpus

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Zeng, J., Wang, H., Bunt, H., Cao, X., Cardey, S., Dong, M., Hao, T., Jia, Y., Lee, K., Liao, S., Pustejovsky, J., Rey, F. C., Romary, L., Zong, J., & Fang, A. C. (2026). From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language. In H. Bunt (Ed.), Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22) (pp. 134-143). European Language Resources Association (ELRA). https://sigsem.uvt.nl/isa22/

@inproceedings{5443bcf79c8944edad049ecafbe16962,

title = "From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language",

abstract = "The study reported in this paper aims to contribute to the development of an annotation scheme for evaluative language, based on Appraisal Theory, that addresses key sources of classification problems. In particular, it aims to develop a unified annotation scheme that proposes (1) a three-component annotation model comprising Appraiser, Appraised and Appraisal Element, (2) the operationalised distinction between Affect and Appreciation governed by a criterion of experiencer salience and a criterion distinguishing personal emotions from evaluations of conduct, and (3) a decision framework for the Judgement-Appreciation distinction structured on the target and lexis types operating through override conditions and substitution tests. The revised framework is illustrated with examples selected from a corpus of news discourse in English and is designed to be replicable across future Appraisal-based studies of evaluative language. {\textcopyright}ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA), 2026",

keywords = "evaluative language, appraisal theory, affect, judgement, appreciation, corpus",

author = "Jiamei Zeng and Haitao Wang and Harry Bunt and Xinyu Cao and Sylviane Cardey and Min Dong and Tianyong Hao and Yangli Jia and Kiyong Lee and Shengqing Liao and James Pustejovsky and Rey, \{Fran{\c c}ois Claude\} and Laurent Romary and Jianfang Zong and Fang, \{Alex C.\}",

note = "Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.; 15th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, LREC 2026 ; Conference date: 11-05-2026 Through 16-05-2026",

year = "2026",

month = may,

day = "11",

language = "English",

pages = "134--143",

editor = "Harry Bunt",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22)",

publisher = "European Language Resources Association (ELRA)",

url = "https://lrec2026.info/",

}

Zeng, J, Wang, H, Bunt, H, Cao, X, Cardey, S, Dong, M, Hao, T, Jia, Y, Lee, K, Liao, S, Pustejovsky, J, Rey, FC, Romary, L, Zong, J & Fang, AC 2026, From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language. in H Bunt (ed.), Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22). European Language Resources Association (ELRA), pp. 134-143, 15th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, Palma, Spain, 11/05/26. <https://sigsem.uvt.nl/isa22/>

From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language. / Zeng, Jiamei (Co-first Author); Wang, Haitao (Co-first Author); Bunt, Harry et al.
Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22). ed. / Harry Bunt. European Language Resources Association (ELRA), 2026. p. 134-143.

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - From Categories to Decisions

T2 - 15th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation

AU - Zeng, Jiamei

AU - Wang, Haitao

AU - Bunt, Harry

AU - Cao, Xinyu

AU - Cardey, Sylviane

AU - Dong, Min

AU - Hao, Tianyong

AU - Jia, Yangli

AU - Lee, Kiyong

AU - Liao, Shengqing

AU - Pustejovsky, James

AU - Rey, François Claude

AU - Romary, Laurent

AU - Zong, Jianfang

AU - Fang, Alex C.

N1 - Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

PY - 2026/5/11

Y1 - 2026/5/11

N2 - The study reported in this paper aims to contribute to the development of an annotation scheme for evaluative language, based on Appraisal Theory, that addresses key sources of classification problems. In particular, it aims to develop a unified annotation scheme that proposes (1) a three-component annotation model comprising Appraiser, Appraised and Appraisal Element, (2) the operationalised distinction between Affect and Appreciation governed by a criterion of experiencer salience and a criterion distinguishing personal emotions from evaluations of conduct, and (3) a decision framework for the Judgement-Appreciation distinction structured on the target and lexis types operating through override conditions and substitution tests. The revised framework is illustrated with examples selected from a corpus of news discourse in English and is designed to be replicable across future Appraisal-based studies of evaluative language. ©ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA), 2026

AB - The study reported in this paper aims to contribute to the development of an annotation scheme for evaluative language, based on Appraisal Theory, that addresses key sources of classification problems. In particular, it aims to develop a unified annotation scheme that proposes (1) a three-component annotation model comprising Appraiser, Appraised and Appraisal Element, (2) the operationalised distinction between Affect and Appreciation governed by a criterion of experiencer salience and a criterion distinguishing personal emotions from evaluations of conduct, and (3) a decision framework for the Judgement-Appreciation distinction structured on the target and lexis types operating through override conditions and substitution tests. The revised framework is illustrated with examples selected from a corpus of news discourse in English and is designed to be replicable across future Appraisal-based studies of evaluative language. ©ELRA Language Resources Association (ELRA), 2026

KW - evaluative language

KW - appraisal theory

KW - affect

KW - judgement

KW - appreciation

KW - corpus

M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)

SP - 134

EP - 143

BT - Proceedings of the 22nd Joint ACL - ISO Workshop on Interoperable Semantic Annotation and Representation (ISA-22)

A2 - Bunt, Harry

PB - European Language Resources Association (ELRA)

Y2 - 11 May 2026 through 16 May 2026

ER -

From Categories to Decisions: A Framework for Attitudinal Analysis of Evaluative Language

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Research Keywords

Access Output

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