POC: For inquiries regarding this work, please contact Dr. Lawrence A. Kuznar (lkuznar@nsiteam.com)

Project Team: Dr. Lawrence A. Kuznar, Mariah Yager, Pamela Toman, Tessa Baker, April Hartman

Description: The Air Force Research Lab, Wirght-Patterson AFB had a need for a variety of language analyses and cultural assessments in support of operational units and their own research activities. NSI conducted a number of studies and developed tools for AFRL from 2009 to 2015. Those projects included:

Analysis of Discourse Accent and Discursive Practices I&W: NSI conducted a discourse analysis of how language is used in Arabic media to convey positive and negative emotions by working with over 40 Arabic-speakers who analyzed about 100 media stories. The study was done to support analytical capabilities at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). This study produce a primer used by NASIC analysts and translators.

Analysis of Pashtun Narratives: NSI conducted a methodology for generating a culturally appropriate understanding of language use for describing in- and out-group affiliations and sentiments, and to demonstrate the method’s effectiveness by producing a database of rhetorical devices that can inform analysis, IO, and feed other social science models. NSI researchers worked with native Pashto speakers from Pakistan to develop a taxonomy of themes by coding 18 Taliban and 27 Mujahideen articles. The study yielded a comparative analysis of similarities and differences between 1980s Afghan fighters and the Taliban, yielding insights into how language is used to mobilize opposition to ISAF forces.

The Expression of Trust in the Persian Language (Farsi): The purpose of this study was to apply a methodology for generating a culturally appropriate understanding of language use pertaining to trust, and to demonstrate the method’s effectiveness on the Persian language (Farsi). A database of themes and rhetorical devices was then produced that can inform analysis, information operations (IO), and feed other social science models. The results of the study demonstrated that the core elements of trust are similarly expressed in Iranian and Western cultures.

The Influence of Persian Worldview on Iranian Leaders’ Expressed Views of their Nuclear Program: In this study, NSI applied its discourse analysis codebook to the systematic analysis of Iranian leaders and their use of language when speaking about their nuclear program to provide insights into how they view adversaries and how justice, notions of truth, time, and religion frame their views of their nuclear program.

Effect of Translation on Iranian Worldview Coding: In this project, NSI did a comparative analysis of how its discourse analysis methodology performed on a Farsi corpus machine-translated into English in order to test experimental machine translation tools being developed at AFRL.

Cultural Assessment Model: NSI researchers developed a software tool to aid NASIC analysts in appreciating the many dimensions of culture and to assist them in creating rapid cultural assessments. NSI held workshops with experts in cultural assessment, developed the software, and provided training to NASIC analysts.