随着对 英语 文化 学习的不断深入,随着英语重要地位的不断确立,英语语言学的研究工作也越来越深入。下文是我为大家整理的关于英语语言学论文 范文 参考的内容，欢迎大家阅读参考!
关于英语语言学论文范文参考篇1
浅探英语语言学中的幽默话语
幽默是指在人类交际的过程中，能够引人发笑的话语、动作和表情等，其内容丰富多彩，表现形式多种多样，比例幽默话语、幽默动作、幽默音乐等等。因为人们的交际活动多依赖于语言，所以幽默也多来源于话语当中。
一、英语语言学中的幽默话语
在繁忙的生活中，幽默是一剂强力润滑剂。幽默话语是借助于语言手段来表述幽默的。它是以语言为媒介，根据特定的情境下，以轻松诙谐的语调，机智、风趣、戏谑的话语风格，通过讽刺、夸张、映射、双关等手法，来表达话语者自己的思想和观点，并使受话者不知不觉地接受，达到“随风潜入夜，润物细无声”的效果和境界。幽默话语往往带有一些意味深长的色彩，对揭露生活中的丑恶或不公平现象，还可以起到发人深省的作用。而对于受话者来说，要把话语和当时具体的语境线索结合起来，利用自己既有的语言知识和社会认知，去发现说话者的言外之意和要表达的真实意图，才能真正的理解幽默，并从中获得愉悦。
例如，“Mr Zhou have a sharp tongue，look out，it doesn’t cut your throat.”这句话看起来是像是在说舌头，但是，我们把这句话放到语境中，就可以想到，这里的“a sharp tongue”并不是什么锋利的舌头，而是牙尖嘴利、毒舌的意思，是发话者幽默、含蓄、间接的表达方式。
二、幽默话语与合作原则
(一)合作原则
胡范畴认为，所谓幽默话语是语言的各要素通过变异和创造而出来的。而美国语言哲学家Grice则认为，幽默话语的作用是为了确保交际活动顺利进行。Grice认为，在人们运用语言进行交际时，交际的双方(发话者和受话者)还要遵守一些先决条件和原则，例如使用双方都能熟练运用的语言、交谈内容是双方都熟悉的话题，还有最重要的合作原则(cooperative principle，CP)。合作原则包括四个范畴，即数量准则、质量准则、关联准则和方式准则。在合作原则下，要求发话者和受话者者要端正态度，在谈话中做到“一唱一和”，避免造成“鸡同鸭讲”“话不投机半句多”的情况。
(二)合作原则与幽默话语的关系
如果说要遵循“数量准则、质量准则、关联准则和方式准则”的合作原则是一位西装革履、步态稳健的中年人，那么幽默话语就是一位穿着休闲时尚、语态随意轻松的新新人类。合作原则与幽默话语的结合，就是传统沉稳美与时尚活力没的结合，在这种结合中，传统的合作原则难免要接受新的挑战，甚至在一定程度上被打破。以下，本文以数量准则和质量准则为例，对合作原则与幽默话语进行举例分析。
(1)幽默话语与数量准则
合作原则之质量准则要求说话者和听话者之间交谈的内容要包含适当的信息量。但是在实际的语言环境中，我们常常需要打破这一数量原则，来起到幽默话语的喜剧效果。例如：
Jack：I saw Mr Green having lunch with a woman the day before yesterday.
Eason：Oh my god!Is she beautiful?
Jack：Yes，she is not only beautiful，but also young.
Eason：Dose Mrs Green know about it?
Jack：Of course.She was the young and beautiful woman.
在这段对话中，Eason理解的和Mr Green共进午餐的年轻貌美的女人应该是除了Mrs Green以外的其他女人，同时也不是Mr Green家里的其他女性亲戚。而Jack如果不想引起误会的话，应该直接说他前天看到Mr Green和Mrs Green共进午餐，但是为了引起Eason的好奇心，促使他进一步追问，就在第一句话中只说看到Mr Green与一位女性共进午餐，这虽然是违反了数量准则的，但也就此产生体现了幽默话语的有趣、逗乐原则。而Eason心理期待与实际情况之间的落差导致其认知的突然重构，给交谈双方带来乐趣，达到愉悦和反讽的效果。
(2)幽默话语与质量准则
合作原则之质量准则要求说话者不说自知是虚假的话，不说无稽之谈，但是在幽默话语中，说话者经常会采用诸如反语、夸张的休息手法。这样虽然会打破“质量准则”，但是带来的幽默效果也是非常显著的。在上世纪90年代即被引入中国并风靡十几年的美国NBC情景剧《老友记》中就存在很多这样的例子。例如：
Phoebe：You do not want to wine the lottery?
Rose：Uh surely I do，and I want to be the king of my own country.
通过思考并分析这段对话，我们得出Phoebe问Rose，你是否对有意买彩票，有没有兴趣去试一下自己的运气，通过片中的特点情景和人物关系，我们可以看出Rose对彩票不感兴趣，但是她没有直接了当的说“没兴趣”，而是采用了幽默话语说“想啊，我当然想，我还想当国家元首呢。”因为一个平民是几乎没有可能成为国家元首的，所以Rose的话语是违背了质量准则的。但是，这种“有意违背”和“夸大其词”正是这段对话的笑点所在。
三、幽默话语与指称语
指称语(indexicals)就是具有指称功能的语言结构形式，是日常生活中常见的语言现象。是发话人与受话人，在共同的知识环境、语言环境下，可以彼此理解的，映射出话语的，潜在的指称义和指称关系。当指称语所指示的信息不明确或者出现谬误，发话人的意思就是变得令人费解，幽默话语很可能就此产生。同时，指称语还受到人文背景、社会文化、交际距离、环境等多种因素的影响。指称语可以分为人称指称语、时间指称语、地点指称语等等，其中以人称指称语最为常见。我本文就以人称指称语为例，幽默话语和指称语之间的关系。
人称指称语可以分为第一人称、第二人称和第三人称，是对话参与者角色关系的客观体现。第一人称是发话人、第二人称是受话人、第三人称是话语谈及的对象。在话语中，如果这种规则被打破，就会出现人称指称语不相对应的现象，可能会起到幽默效果。例如：
Jim was down the local pub with his mate Mark.
Jim：Do you know，Mark，I never kissed my wife before we were married.What about you?”
Mark：I don’t know，What was her maiden name?”
这段对话是Jim与Mark之间的酒后之言。Jim的提问，真正的意思是“Have you ever kissed your wife before you were married?” 在指称语中，第二人称是针对受话人而言的，谈及的是隐私或伤痛，所以受话人Mark就采用了幽默话语来回避问题，轻描淡写地将这一问题带过去了，其机智幽默值得我们参照和学习。
四、关联理论与幽默话语
从关联理论的角度来看，受话者会故意曲解发话者的意图，到处与发话者截然相反的信息，产生意外的幽默效果。例如：
Teacher：Tom，there were three peaches，ate one，how many would you have?
Tom：Three，tow outside and one inside.
Tom作为孩子，其对事物的思考方式不同于成人，因为无法认清老师出题的意图，而给出出人意料的答案，起到了幽默的效果。
结语：
从上述讨论中，我们可以看出，在不同语境中，人们会对对话意义、指称语、 语言意义等的理解产生偏差或者错位。幽默话语具有深层次的、含蓄的、深沉的、巧妙的作用，避免交际中的尴尬或难堪，增强语言表达的效果，可以起到愉悦交流、点缀生活的作用。
关于英语语言学论文范文参考篇2
浅谈从建构主义角度探析英语语言学教学
21 世纪 教育 的基点是终身学习，是不断提出问题、解决问题的学习，是敢于打破狭隘的专业界限面向真实复杂任务的学习。在英语课程学习过程中，学生普遍认为英语语言学这门课更加的枯燥，无味和吃力。英语语言学课程涉及面广、内容多、概念多、理论多，理论性和实践性都很强;同时英语语言学课时少，而语言学的发展引起的教学内容不断扩充，暴露出和教学时数有限之间日益严重的矛盾。因而继续沿用传统的教学理念和教学模式进行教学已经不能适应新形势下的教学过程，必须用一种更好的教学方式，使学生和老师尽快适应新形势的要求。
随着建构主义学习理论的出现，提出了建构主义的教学设计。建构主义强调情境、协作、会话和意义建构四大要素，倡导以“学”为中心的理念。将建构主义的教学理论引入到英语语言学教学过程中，进行了许多有益的尝试，取得了显著的效果。
1 建构主义的四大要素
在 学习 方法 上建构主义提倡的是教师指导下的以学生为主体的学习,在学习环境上要求是开放的、充满意义解释和建构性的,理想的学习环境主要有情境、协作、会话和意义建构四大要素构成。
1.1“情境”：学习环境中的情境必须有利于学习者对所学内容的意义建构。这就意味着在建构主义学习环境下，要把为学生创设建构意义的情境问题看作是教学设计的主要内容之一。“在课堂教学中播放有助于理解教学内容的录像、录音、参与 社会实践 、向学生提供网络的丰富的学习资源等等，凡是有助于学习者理解掌握学习内容的情境，都属于情境创设的范畴。”
1.2“协作”：协作发生在学习过程的始终。协作在一定意义上是协商的意思。协商主要有自我协商和相互协商。
1.3“会话”：会话是协作过程中的不可缺少环节。学习小组成员之间通过会话来商讨如何完成规定的学习任务达到意义建构的目标，怎样更多地获得教师或他人的指导和帮助等等，推进学习进程。在会话的过程中，每个学习者的思维成果(智慧)为整个学习群体所共享 ，因此会话是达到意义建构的重要手段之一。
1.4“意义建构”：这是整个学习过程的最终目标。在学习过程中帮助学生建构意义就要帮助学生对当前学习的内容所反映事物的性质、规律以及该事物与其他事物之间的内在联系达到较深刻的理解。
2 建构主义环境下对英语语言学教学启示
2.1强调以学为中心的设计
在建构主义学习环境下，师生的地位、作用与传统的教学发生了很大的变化。学生由知识的被动接受者转变为信息加工的主体、知识意义的主动建构者。教师也不再是知识的灌输者，而是教学环境的设计者、学生学习的组织者和指导者、知识的管理者，是学生的学术顾问。因此，教师要从前台退到幕后，从“演员”转变为“导演”。在建构主义的语言学教学中，学习环境中要充分发挥学生的主动性，教师要为学生创设尽可能真实的情境去应用他们所学的知识。具体来说,英语英语语言学课程教学应该激发教学主体的主动性和积极性,强调教学任务的适合性和针对性,注重教学环境的互动性和趣味性。
2.2强调学习环境的设计
建构主义教学设计的重心便是学习环境的设计。这里的学习环境是一个支持和促进学习者自主探索、自主学习的场所。学习环境的设计应围绕支持学习者开展有意义的学习来创设支持条件。它主要包括基于问题的学习环境的设计、合作学习环境的设计、真实情境的设计等。建构主义学习环境的设计的宗旨是通过支持学习者的有意义学习，促进学习者的发展。
例如，在讲授语言的任意性时，不少学生对于语言中音和义之间没有必然的联系这一属性存在疑惑，原因是在语言中的确存在一些音和义有一定联系的语言现象，如拟声词，对于这种问题，教师可以在深入讲解之前，给学生布置一些任务，让他们课前收集英语中的拟声词，并让其与汉语中对应的拟声词相比较，然后以 报告 的形式在课上做出来，教师则在这一过程中起着引导、监督、组织的作用，在学生做完报告后，教师做出归纳 总结 。
2.3教学任务的适合性和针对性
语言教学中任务的设置必须以学生的实际情况为前提,任务太困难或太容易都不利于学生主动建构知识。在选择英语语言学课程教学内容时，应适当减少课堂教学内容的广度和深度。所选课堂教学内容如下:语言、语言学、语音学、音系学、句法学、语义学、语用学、二语习得、语言与文化。明确学习任务,选择训练方式,使学生有足够的机会进行练习。教师应懂得如何控制自己的情绪,并通过积极的语言来激励学生。应及时地对正确回答问题,出色完成学习任务的学生进行表扬。如:Well done!Very good!Good job! Excel lent!这些词语看似简单,却能给学生以信心和动力。同时,对学生的缺点和不足要多指导,少批评少责备。
3 建构主义的教学评价
建构主义评价观具有几个方面的特征。首先，诊断性和 反思 性是建构主义学习评价的重要组成部分。这就意味着，学习者必须从事自我监控、自我测试、自我检查等活动，以诊断和判断他们在学习中所追求的是否是自己设置的目标。其次，建构主义评价观认为评价是评价者和被评价者“协商”进行的共同心理建构过程，评价受“多元主义”价值观所支配。因此，建构主义注重评价主体的多元化和评价方式的多样化。再次，建构主义认为，评价是学习者活动过程中的一个必然组成部分，而不是教学后的评价，它是一个持续性和实时性的镶嵌过程。因此，建构主义强调过程性评价，倡导“质性”的方法。所谓过程性评价是在某项教学活动的过程中，为使活动效果更好而不断进行的评价，它能及时了解阶段教学的结果和学生学习的进展情况、存在问题等，以便及时反馈，及时调整和改进教学工作。可见，建构主义评价观提倡以学为中心的理念，更加关注学生的发展。
4 结束语
建构主义教学观为课堂教学提供了新模式,为习惯于被动式接受的学生阐释了学习的新理念,从而为英语语言学课堂的教与学带来了新的启示和体验。在英语语言学课堂教学中教授学习策略,引导学生自主学习及改进 教学方法 。这些方面有助于学生建构知识,形成能力。
参考文献
[1]陈莉.社会建构主义与外语教学[J].外语论坛, 2003(1).
[2]胡壮麟.对中国英语教育的若干思考[J].外语研究, 2002(3).
[3]盛群力、__强.现代教学设计论[M].浙江教育出版社，2000
论语言和交际的关系
[摘 要] 语言是一种特殊的社会现象，是人类的思维工具和最重要的交际工具，是一种音义结合的符号系统。语言在社会交际中具有非常重要的作用，是人类社会的最重要的交际工具。人们通过使用用语言进行交际，交流思想，以便在认知现实、改造现实的过程中协调相互之间的行为，以取得最佳的效果。
[关键词] 语言 交际
当你面对与他人复杂的人际关系的时候;当你需要拒绝他人无理请求的时候；当你调解纠纷，化干戈为玉帛的时候;当你想要说服别人同意你观点的时候；……有一样东西能为你实现目标，那便是------语言。
现实中，语言存在于说话和所说出来的话中，说明语言在社会交际中具有非常重要的作用，因为不会说话人就失去了它的本质，与动物无异。人们用语言进行交际，交流思想，以便在认知现实、改造现实的过程中协调相互之间的行为，以取得最佳的效果。所以，语言是人们的一种交际工具。
“虽然人类的交际工具不止语言一种，其它如文字、手势、表情等也都能实现交际的任务，也是交际工具，但它们与语言相比重要性就要差多了。根本上说人类各种辅助性交际工具，都是在语言基础上制定的，没有语言基础，这些工具也就失去了存在的意义。总之，语言是人类最重要的交际工具。其他交际工具，可以说是语言的补充，是用来辅助语言交际的。”
那么什么是语言？
一、语言的概述
“按照常人的理解，语言就是说话。”[1]然而这是一个比较狭隘的定义。语言不是说话，也不是所说的话。说话是运用语言跟人们交流思想的行为，是语言能力的外在表现形式，本身不等于语言。
“语言是说话和表达思想、交流思想的工具，而说话是运用语言进行思想交流的行为，说出来的话则是人们运用语言工具生产出来的‘产品’”。
（一）语言的定义：“语言是一种特殊的社会现象，是人类的思维工具和最重要的交际工具，是一种音义结合的符号系统”。 [2]
（二）语言的组成部分:语言是由语音、语法、词汇三部分组成。
（三）语言的特性:社会性、全民性、符号性。
（四）语言的起源:“语言是从劳动中并和劳动一起产生出来的，这个解释是惟一正确的解释……”——恩格斯语。
（五）语言发展的特点：语言发展是缓慢的、渐变的，语言随着社会的发展而发展，语言各个部分的发展是不平衡的，语言成分发展中的一致性，语言成分由具体到抽象的发展。
学者曹志希、何玲梅认为“语言具有无限的表达和理解功能 主要原因之一是 ,与其它文际形式相比 ,它最具有系统化的特征语言学家认为 ,语言之最惊人的特点是它能够帮助编造或理解以前从未有过的句子。” [3]
二、语言与交际的关系
现代社会是一个竞争与合作的社会，有的人在竞争中失败，有的人在合作中成功，这其中奥妙何在？生意场上有“金口玉言”，“ 利言攸先”之说；政治场上有“领导过问了”，“ 一言定升迁”之说；文化界有“点睛之笔”，“破题之语”，生活中常有生死荣辱系于一言之说。可见，在现代交际中，能否成功运用语言的影响力，实在影响着一个人的成功和失败。
在社会上，人们的能力有高有低，快速了解他们，不妨看看他们语言运用能力的高低，其主要表现是说话的艺术，语言的力量能征服世界上最复杂的东西——人的心灵，通过成功的口才这一媒介，不熟识的人可以熟识起来，长期形成的隔阂可以消失，甚至单位之间，社会集团之间，国家之间的矛盾有时也可以通过它得到解决，若是语言运用不当，也可能交际失败，甚至损害自身的形象。我国是文明古国，礼仪之邦，不仅有四大发明，万里长城，唐诗宋词等等所代表的辉煌的传统文化，而且在口才与交际艺术上也是世界上高度发达，首屈一指的，历史上，孔子运用口语艺术开展教育；苏秦以雄辩之才挂起六国相印；张仪四处游说建功立业；范睢说秦王；蔺相如“完璧归赵”；诸葛亮联吴抗曹，舌战群儒……到了近代和现代，也出了梁启超、孙中山、鲁迅、毛泽东、周恩来、闻一多等等许多能言善讲的大师巨擘。 “听君一席话，胜读十年书。”的确，跟那些有知识且具有口才的人交谈，比喝了壶酒更令人兴奋，比听交响乐更能振奋精神，良好的话语可以带给人愉悦和欢畅，帮助你增加知识和修养，激发你的创造力，也可以增进人们感情的融洽。
语言的运用能力确实是我们提高素质，开发潜能的至要途径，确实是我们驾驭生活、改善人生、追求事业成功的无价之宝，通观古今中外，凡是有作为的人，都把口才作为必备的修养之一，如古罗马共和国末期的政治家西塞罗，是一们雄辩家，我们敬爱的周恩来总理，美国总统林肯等等，毫不夸张地说，口才是一门语言的艺术，是用口语表示思想感情的一种巧妙的形式，懂得语言艺术的人，懂得相处之道的人，他不会勉强别人与自己有相同的观点，而巧妙地引导他人到自己的思想上来，那些善于用口语准确、贴切、生动地表达自己思想感情的人、办事往往圆满，反之，不懂得语言艺术的人，最后自己也会陷入困境。
大文豪莎士比亚说过：“世间有一种成就可以使人很快完成伟业，并获得世人的认识，那就是讲话令人喜悦的能力”[4]，人才也许不是口才家，但有口才的人必定是人才，口才是现代智能型人才的基本素质、思维敏捷、能言善辨是事业成功的保证，一个善于说话的人，首先必定具有敏锐的观察力，能深刻认识事物，只有这样，说出话来才能一针见血，准确地反映事物的本质；其次，还必须有严密的思维能力，懂得怎样分析，判断和推理，说出话来才能滴水不漏，有条有理，最后，还必须有流畅的表达能力，间接来说，知识渊博，话才能说的生动通顺，正因为口才具有综合能力的特征。
语言是人类社会的最重要的交际工具，语言与交际相互影响，语言与社会的相互依存。
其表现在：
第一、交际中用语言打破尴尬
美国前总统里根第一次访问加拿大的时候，遭到了反美的人群示威反对，他的演说不得不时时中断，让陪同的加拿大总理觉得很难堪。
可是，面对如此难堪的场面，一向幽默的里根总统却仍是一脸的轻松，他满面笑容的说：“这种事在美国时有发生。我想这些人一定是特意从美国来到贵国的，他们想使我有一种宾至如归的感觉。”
第二、交际中用语言捍卫尊严
周恩来总理接待记者来访。一美国记者发觉总理拥有一支派克钢笔。便问：“请问总理阁下，连您也拥有一支派克钢笔，是否说明中国人都喜欢我们美国的钢笔呢？”
周恩来一听，顺手拿起派克钢笔，意味深长地笑了一笑：“ 这支钢笔是一位朝鲜朋友送给我做纪念的，他说这是抗美战争的战利品。它让我们想起那并肩战斗的年代。这样，我便有了一支贵国的钢笔。”
第三、“语言是组成社会的不可缺少的因素。”人类的生活、劳动、社会斗争、人际关系协调、文化知识的积累和传授等等，都离不开语言，没有语言，社会就要解体。
第四、“语言一视同仁地为社会全体成员服务。”无论什么阶级、阶层、团体，语言同样地为之服务。语言在人们的使用中会发生变异，出现种种社会方言。
第五、“个体学习和运用语言均受到社会的制约。”其一，人离开社会无法掌握语言；其二，人生长在不同的社会就能掌握不同的语言；其三，个人使用语言必然打上特定社会的烙印。
第六、“语言依赖社会而存在。”其一，不同的社会形成不同的语言；其二，语言随着社会的发展变化而发展变化，社会如果消亡，语言也随之消亡。[2]
我认为，交际是人们社会生活的重要内容之一，自我的发展、心理的调适、信息的沟通、各种不同层次需求的满足、人际关系的协调，都离不开交际。每一个人，都希望善于交往、都希望通过交际建立起和睦的家庭关系、亲属关系、邻里关系、朋友关系、同学、同事关系….而这些良好的社会关系可以使个人在温馨怡人的环境中愉快地学习、生活和工作。那么如何有效的运用我们的语言来达到良好的交际，是一个值得我们思考和学习的问题。我们应该积极探索语言与交际的关系，从而形成良好的社会人际关系。
[参考文献]
[1]伍铁平.普通语言学概要（第二版）.高等教育出版社,1993年5月
[2]叶蜚声,徐通锵.语言学纲要.北京大学出版社,1997版
[3]曹志希 何玲梅.解放军外语学院学报.1997年第6 期 总第90 期
[4]杨茂平.感悟生活:帮你能说会道.九州出版社,2008年10月
Language and Thought
Language and Thought
by Dan Slobin of the University of California, Berkeley
No one would disagree with the claim that language and thought interact in many significant ways. There is great disagreement, however, about the proposition that each specific language has its own influence on the thought and action of its speakers. On the one hand, anyone who has learned more than one language is struck by the many ways in which languages differ from one another. But on the other hand, we expect human beings everywhere to have similar ways of experiencing the world.
Comparisons of different languages can lead one to pay attention to 'universals'--the ways in which all languages are similar, and to 'particulars' --the ways in which each individual language, or type of language, is special, even unique. Linguists and other social scientists interested in universals have formulated theories to describe and explain human language and human language behavior in general terms as species-specific capacities of human beings. However, the idea that different languages may influence thinking in different ways has been present in many cultures and has given rise to many philosophical treatises. Because it is so difficult to pin down effects of a particular language on a particular thought pattern, this issue remains unresolved. It comes in and out of fashion and often evokes considerable energy in efforts to support or refute it.
Relativity and Determinism
There are two problems to confront in this arena: linguistic relativity and linguistic determinism. Relativity is easy to demonstrate. In order to speak any language, you have to pay attention to the meanings that are grammatically marked in that language. For example, in English it is necessary to mark the verb to indicate the time of occurrence of an event you are speaking about: It's raining; It rained; and so forth. In Turkish, however, it is impossible to simply say, 'It rained last night'. This language, like many American Indian languages, has more than one past tense, depending on one's source of knowledge of the event. In Turkish, there are two past tenses--one to report direct experience and the other to report events that you know about only by inference or hearsay. Thus, if you were out in the rain last night, you will say, 'It rained last night' using the past-tense form that indicates that you were a witness to the rain; but if you wake up in the morning and see the wet street and garden, you are obliged to use the other past-tense form--the one that indicates that you were not a witness to the rain itself.
Differences of this sort have fascinated linguists and anthropologists for centuries. They have reported hundreds of facts about 'exotic' languages, such as verbs that are marked or chosen according to the shape of an object that is being handled (Navajo) or for the relative ages of speaker and hearer (Korean). Such facts are grist for the mill of linguistic relativity. And, indeed, they can be found quite readily in 'nonexotic' languages as well. To cite a fact about English that is well known to linguists: It is not appropriate to say Richard Nixon has worked in Washington, but it is perfectly OK to say Gerald Ford has worked in Washington. Why? English restricts the present perfect tense ('has worked') to assertions about people who are alive. Exotic!
Proponents of linguistic determinism argue that such differences between languages influence the ways people think--perhaps the ways in which whole cultures are organized. Among the strongest statements of this position are those by Benjamin Lee Whorf and his teacher, Edward Sapir, in the first half of this century--hence the label, 'The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis', for the theory of linguistic relativity and determinism. Whorf proposed: 'We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way--an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language' (Whorf, 1940; in Carroll, 1956, pp. 213-4). And, in the words of Sapir: 'Human beings...are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. ...The fact of the matter is that the "real world" is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group' (Sapir, 1929; in Manlbaum, 1958, p. 162).
Investigating Language and Thought
How can such bold claims be substantiated beyond examination of individual languages themselves? If one takes the hypothesis seriously, it should be possible to show that Turks are more sensitive to evidence than are Americans, but that Americans are more aware of death than Turks. Clearly, the hypothesis cannot be supported on so grand a level. Rather, experimental psychologists and cognitive anthropologists have sought to find small differences, on controlled tasks, between speakers of various languages. Maybe Navajos are somewhat more sensitive to shapes of objects, for example.
The results have been mixed. In most cases, human thought and action are overdetermined by an array of causes, so the structure of language may not play a central causal role. Linguistic determinism can best be demonstrated in situations in which language is the principal means of drawing people's attention to a particular aspect of experience. For example, if you regularly speak a language in which you must pick a form of second-person address (you) that marks your social relationship to your interlocutor--such as Spanish tu ('you' for friends and family and for those socially subordinate) vs. usted ('you' for those socially above in status or for those with whom you have no close connection) or French tu versus vous--you must categorize every person you talk to in terms of the relevant social dimensions. (As a thought experiment of linguistic determinism, think of the categorizations of social relationships that would have to be made if Spanish became the common language of the United States.)
Going beyond thought experiments, some of the most convincing research demonstrating some degree of linguistic determinism is being conducted under the direction of Stephen C. Levinson at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Levinson and his collaborators distinguish between languages that describe spatial relations in terms of the body (like English 'right/left', 'front/back') and those that orient to fixed points in the environment (like 'north/south/east/west' in some aboriginal Australian languages). In a language of the second type one would refer, for example, to 'your north shoulder' or 'the bottle at the west end of the table'; in narrating a past event, one would have to remember how the actions related to the compass points. Thus, in order to speak this type of language, you always have to know where you are with respect to the compass points, whether you are speaking or not. And Levinson's group have shown, in extensive cross-linguistic and cross-cultur studies, that this is, in fact, the case.
Much more research needs to be done, but it is not likely that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis will be supported in the strong form quoted above. For one, language is only one factor that influences cognition and behavior. For another, if the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis were really true, second language learning and translation would be far harder than they are. However, because language is so pervasive--and because we must always make cognitive decisions while speaking--weaker versions of the hypothesis will continue to attract scientific attention. (For a lively debate on many of these issues, with much new evidence from several fields, read Gumperz and Levinson 1996.)
Suggested Readings
Gumperz, J. J., and Levinson, S. C. 1996. Rethinking linguistic relativity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lucy, John A. 1992. Language diversity and thought: A reformulation of the linguistic relativity hypothesis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sapir, E. 1929. "The status of linguistics as a science". Language 5. 207-14. Reprinted in The selected writings of Edward Sapir in language, culture, and personality, ed. by D. G. Mandelbaum, 160-6. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Whorf, B. L. 1940. "Science and linguistics". Technology Review 42: 227-31, 247-8. Reprinted in Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf, ed. by J. B. Carroll, 207-19. Cambridge, MA: The Technology Press of MIT/New York: Wiley. 1956.
Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition Strategies
二语词汇习得策略
[摘 要] 词汇是构成语言的基本单位，词汇习得在语言学习中占有重要地位。
英国著名语言学家D.A. Wilkins (1972) 说过：“没有语法，人们不能表达很多东西；而没有词汇，人们则无法表达任何东西。”这就说明了词汇在学习中的重要性。本文旨在分析二语词汇习得策略并应用于不同水平的学习者。学习者根据自己的水平选择正确的习得方法和策略学习词汇，从而提高学习效率和习得效果。
关键字： 二语词汇习得 词汇习得策略 元认知策略 认知策略
Abstract
Vocabulary is the basic unit of a language. Language acquisition plays an important role in language learning. Famous linguistics D. A. Wilkins said, “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed (Lewis, 1993:16).” It speaks volumes for the importance of vocabulary in language learning. This paper aims to analysis the second language acquisition strategies and applies to different levels of learners. According to the different levels, the learners should choose the proper methods and strategies to promote learning efficiency and acquisition effect.
Key words: Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition； Vocabulary
Acquisition Strategies； Metacognitive strategy； Cognitive strategy
Introduction
With economic globalization and multi-polarization of the world, especially the population of the internet, English becomes more and more important, because it is considered as the tool for absorbing and communicating information. As we all known, vocabulary acquisition is one of the most noticed-question of the second language learners. “Vocabulary” appears in the area of linguists’ study. Nowadays, researchers still can not give a complete and reasonable definition of vocabulary. Since 1970s, the second language vocabulary acquisition research has gradually become the hot point and important subject in the second language vocabulary acquisition research area. These researches aim to discuss the efficiency vocabulary memory strategies to promote the memory skills and vocabulary levels. Then how to acquire vocabulary become popular among the researchers. Wenden &Rubin (1987), O’Malley& Chamot (1990) refer to the content of vocabulary acquisition strategies; Rubin (1987) and Oxford (1990) classify the memory strategy to the direct cognitive strategies. Especially, CohenAphek (1981), Porte (1988), O’Malley (1990), Vann (90), Cohen (1990), etc made a basic searching of vocabulary acquisition. In a word, there are various opinions in how to acquire vocabulary. Firstly, it talks about the importance of vocabulary. Secondly, what does it mean to “acquire” a word? This paper mainly aims to the detail analysis of the vocabulary acquisition from three aspects：Meta-cognitive Strategy; Cognitive Strategy and Social or Affective Strategy. Especially, it highlights the effect of the context and rending to vocabulary acquisition. This paper talks about the applications of the vocabulary acquisition strategies. And it puts forward some problems and difficulties of vocabulary acquisition. This paper also discusses the influencing factors to the acquisition. It includes the mother tongue, age, language contact, logical thinking ability, identity degree, and academic motivation .
The purpose of this paper is to rise the awareness of English learners that the importance of vocabulary in language learning and the vocabulary acquisition strategies can not be neglected, and each strategies is deeply rooted in its language. Through the analysis of the theory of study, the paper tries to draw the learner’s attention to the strategies of the second language vocabulary acquisition and using the vocabulary in communication. In order to improve the acquisition efficiency, some strategies put into practice are introduced.
The first presents the importance of vocabulary, some basic concepts of vocabulary and vocabulary learning, the second part tells what does it mean to know a word, the third part deals with the theory of vocabulary acquisition and presents the factors and differences influencing the vocabulary acquisition. The fourth part is detailed discussion of vocabulary acquisition strategies in different levels of learners. The last part is conclusion.
Literature review
1. The importance of vocabulary
As the first time, when we go to school and our English teacher will tell us that vocabulary is of great importance in learning English. After several years, we understand words gradually, especially when we study in high school. If we know a little about vocabulary, we may have poor English. That is because the listening, speaking, reading and writing show the necessary of learning vocabulary.
Many researchers agree that lexis is at least as important as structure, because it is using wrong words and not wrong grammar that usually breaks down communication. Mistakes in lexis much more often lead to misunderstanding and may be less generously tolerated outside classroom than mistakes in syntax. (Carter, 1987). As Stephen Krashen remarked, “When students travel, they don’t carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries.
A significant role of vocabulary in both teaching and learning processes was first stated by Stephen Krashen in The Natural Approach (1985):
“Vocabulary is basic for communication. If acquirers do not recognize the meaning of the key words used by those who address them they will be unable to participate in the conversation.”
Words are basic tools in human communication; therefore they determine the main part of people’s life-relationships between people and associations with the surrounding world that people live in. The larger one’s vocabulary, the easier it is to express one’s thoughts and feelings.
In real communication, correctly and idiomatically used vocabulary can even decrease some structural inaccuracy and grammar errors. (Zhang Jiying, 2002). So learners should enrich and expand their knowledge of words as much as possible in order to communicate effectively in a foreign language.
2. What does it mean to “know” a word?
Knowing a word is not a simple phenomenon. In fact, it is quite complex and goes far beyond the word’s meaning and pronunciation. (Zhang Jiying, 2002). Richards (1976) think knowing a word means also knowing the frequency of words and their likely collocates; being aware of the functional and situation limitations that apply; knowledge of the “syntactic behavior”; derivational forms and word class; associative and connotative knowledge; semantic value-breaking down words into minimal units as with componential analysis (see Katz&Fodor1963or Leech1974); knowing the other (possible) meaning associated. Nagy and Scott (2000) identify several dimensions that describe the complexity of what it means to know a word. First, word knowledge is incremental, which means that readers need to have many exposures to a word in different contexts before they “know” it. Second, word knowledge is multidimensional. This is because many words have multiple meanings and serve different functions in different function in different sentences, texts, and even conversations. Third, word knowledge is interrelated in that knowledge of one word connects knowledge of other words.
What all of this means is that “knowing” a word is a matter of degree rather than an all-or-nothing proposition (Beck&Mckeown, 1991; Nagy&Scott, 2000). The degree of knowing a word are reflected in the precision with which we use a word, how quickly we understand a word, and how well we understand and use words in different modes and different purpose.
The memory strategy, cognitive strategy, social strategy and metacognitve strategy are used more frequently than the affective strategy and compensative strategy.
Conclusion
This paper has attempted to provide some theories of second language vocabulary acquisition and some strategies. Such as metacognitive strategy, cognitive strategy, and social strategy. However, this paper also put forward some microcosmic strategy. As a matter of fact, vocabulary acquisition should combine the context. In addition, this paper hasn’t mentioned that culture is also an important factor in vocabulary acquisition. In the study of second language vocabulary acquisition, we should pay attention to the process and the acquiring results. This paper focuses on the study of the second language vocabulary acquisition strategies.
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