语言学和应用2005试卷答案

Timelimit:ThreehoursTotalpoints:150AllthequestionsaretobeansweredinEnglishontheanswersheetsExaminethefollowingtwostatementsaboutlanguage，anddiscussthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthem.Doyouagreewiththetwostatements?Explainyouranswer.(25points)Sapir(1921:Language):“Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas，emotionsanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols”(p.8).BlochandTrager(1942:OutlineofLinguisticysis):“Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichasocialgroupco-operates”(p.5).Whatarephonemes，phonesandallophones?ExplaintheirrelationshipwithexamplesEnglishorChinese.(15Isitpossibletoseparatesemanticsandpragmatics?Whyorwhynot?Whataretheimplicationsofyouranswerforsecondlanguageteaching?(30points)IthasbeennoticedthatChineselearnersofEnglishtendtomakemistakesinthemarkingofpastense，evenattheadvancedlevelofproficiency.Whatdoyouthinkarethepossiblecausesofthisproblem?Howcalllanguageteachershelpsolvethisproblemandwhy?(30points)Lookatthefollowingrealnewsprheadlinesandexplainwhytheyareconsideredambiguous.ThenrevisetheheadlinessothattheyCallexpresstheintendedmeaningsunambiguously.(20MilkDrinkersAreTurningtoTwoSistersReunitedAfter18YearsatCheckoutEnragedCowInjuresFarmerwithSafetyExpertsSaySchoolBusPassengersShouldBeIninterpretingutterancessuchas(1)and(2)，thehearergenerallytreatstheeventsdescribedinthetwosentencesineachgroupascausallyrelatedeventhoughsuchrelationshipisnotencodedinthemeaningsofthesentences.Thatis，thehearertendstoThinkthatHelenfellonthegroundbecauseofTom'spushingandthatthevasebrokebecauseitwasdropped.Explainwhy.(30points)TompushedHelen.HelenfellonthePeterdroppedthevase.It.Examinethefollowingtwostatementsaboutlanguage，anddiscussthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthem.Doyouagreewiththetwostatements?Explainyouranswer.(25points)Sapir(1921:Language):“Languageisapurelyhumanandnon-instinctivemethodofcommunicatingideas，emotionsanddesiresbymeansofvoluntarilyproducedsymbols”(p.8).BlochandTrager(1942:OutlineofLinguistic ysis):“Alanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsbymeansofwhichasocialgroupco-operates”(p.5).Bothdefinitionssticktothefactthatlanguageisprimarilyamatterofspeechbecausetheprimarymediumoflanguageissound.SapirillustratesthisideabyimplyingthattheproducedsymbolsareauditoryandBlochandTragerbyexplicitlyusingtheword‘vocal’.Bothdefinitionsalludetothefactthattheassociationbetweenthewordsandthethingsthattheydenotedisrarelyinherent,Sapirbyusingtheword‘symbols’andBlochandTragerbyplacingemphasison‘arbitrary’and‘symbols’.Sapir’sdefinitionemphasizethatlanguagerelatestocommunicationbetweenhumanbeings.Itisverydifferentfromthecommunicationsystemsofothercreatures,suchasbirdsongsandbeedances.BlochandTragerdonotclearlyindicatethisproperty,onlysayingthatitispossessedbyasocialgroup.Sapiralsoconsidersthatlanguageis‘non-instinctive’and‘voluntarilyproduced’.Thusforhimlanguagedoesnotincludesuchinstinctiveformsofcommunicationassmilingandcriesofpain,etc.However,BlochandTrager’sdefinitiondonotincludethisfeature.Theelement‘system’inBlochandTrager’sdefinitionreflectsthefactthatlanguageprovidesuswiththeframeworkforgeneratingappropriateutterancesratherthanprovidinguswithaninfinitestoreofready-madeutterances.Stillelementsoflacunaearecombinedaccordingtorules.Thefunctionoflanguageisindicateddifferentlyintwodefinitions.Sapirseeslanguageasforcommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesires,whileBlochandTragerconsidersitforasocialgroup’sco-operation.Sapir’sdefinitionproposes‘communication’astheprincipalfunctionoflanguageandspecifieswhatiscommunicated;BlochandTrageronlyvaguelypointsoutthatlanguagecanbeusedforco-operation.Eachofthetwodefinitionshasitsownspecialemphasis,anditnottotallyfreefromlimitations.Wethinkthetwodefinitionsgraspsomedefiningpropertiesoflanguagethatdistinguishitfromanyanimalsystemofcommunication,forexample,‘vocal’,‘arbitrary’,’symbol’,‘purelyhuman’,‘asystem’.Buteitherhassomelimitation.AsforSapir’sdefinition,whetheroneconsiderslanguagetobeinstinctiveornotisanissue.Languageisinstinctiveinsofarasweareallbornwithapredispositiontospeak,weallacquirealanguagewithouttuitionandwhenwespeakwedonotconsciouslyconvertourthoughtsintospeech.Languageis,however,non-instinctiveinthatwecanchoosewhattosayorwhethertosayanythingatall.Boththedefinition’sdescriptionoflanguage’sfunctionisnotprecise.Sapir’sdefinitionconfineslanguageonlytocommunicatingideas,emotionsanddesires,andBlochandTrager’sdefinitiondoesnotpointitoutatall..Whatarephonemes，phonesandallophones?ExplaintheirrelationshipwithexamplesfromEnglishorChinese.(15points)Aphonemeisaminimallydistinctivesetofsoundsinalanguagethatcansignaladifferenceinmeaning.Itisan phonologicalunitrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Aphoneisanindividualphoneticunitorsegmentthatoccursinspeech.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommunicationareallphones.Eachofthesetofphoneswhichcorrespondtoasinglephonemeofalanguageiscalledanallophone.Phonemesareplacedbetweenslantlines(//)andphonesareplacedbetweensquarebrackets([]).Allophonesofthesamephonemegenerallyoccurindifferentcontextsandneverdistinguishonewordfromanother.Forexample,whenwepronouncethetwowordspeakandspeak,weareawarethatthesound[p]ispronounceddifferently,inthewordpeak,thesound[p]ispronouncedwithastrongpuffofairstream;butthesamestopsoundispronouncedslightlydifferentlyinthewordspeak,thepuffofairiswithheldalittle.The[p]soundinpeakiscalledanaspirated[ph]andthe[p]soundinspeakisanunaspirated[p=].Thereisaslightdifferenceinthewaytheyarepronounced,butsuchadifferencedosenotgiverisetodifferenceinmeaning.So/p/isaphonemeintheEnglishsoundsystem,anditcanberealizeddifferentlyasaspiratedorunaspiratedindifferentcontexts.Thephoneme/p/inEnglishcanberealizedasaspirated[ph]andunaspirated[p=],whichareallophonesofthephoneme/p/.Isitpossibletoseparatesemanticsandpragmatics?Whyorwhynot?Whataretheimplicationsofyouranswerforsecondlanguageteaching?(30points)Thoughbothsemanticsandpragmaticshavetodowiththemeaningoflanguage,andlinklanguagetotheworld，wethinkitispossibletoseparatesemanticsandpragmaticsinlinguisticstudy.Semanticsisthestudyofliteralmeaningoflinguisticexpressions,particularlymeaningofwords,phrasesandsentencesInusingthetermsenseratherthanreference,thefocusofsemanticsisonthewaypeoplerelatewordstoeachotherwithintheframeworkoftheirlanguage.Pragmaticsstartsfromtheobservationthatpeopleuselanguageto plishmanykindsofacts,broadlyknownasspeechactsthusitisthestudyofhowtodothingswithwordsorofthemeaningoflanguageincontext.Thiskindofmeaninginpragmaticsusuallyreferstoasspeaker’smeaning,utterancemeaning,orcontextualmeaning.Itsinterpretationdependsmoreonwhothespeakerofthesentenceis,whotheheareris,whenandwhereitisused.Thusthedistinctionbetweensemanticsandpragmaticsisclear:theformerismorecloselyrelatedtothewordsused,themoreconstant,inherentsideofmeanings;thelatterismorecloselyrelatedtothecontext,themoreindeterminateside,orsomethingextra.（以下问题较灵活，给出参考答案）Theimplicationforsecondlanguagestudyinvolvestheappropriateuseoflanguage.Theteachingofaforeignlanguageinaclassroominvolvestwotypesofinstruction:oneisinformationalandyticalandcanbediagrammedontheaxisofgeneralsemanticinformationaboutthelanguage.Butlanguagelearningalsohasacruciallyimportantskillcomponent,whichinvolvesthedevelopmentoftheabilitytousethelanguage,activelythroughspeakingandwritingandpassivelythroughlisteningandreading.Thisisthepragmaticturninsecondlanguageteaching.Thelanguageuseshouldbeyzedinrelationtothecontextofcommunication,andthatlanguageteachingandlearningshouldfocusontheappropriateuseofthelanguage,oralandwritten,accordingtosituationalandwidersocialThesecondimplicationisconcernedwithvocabularylearningandtranslation.Thelearningofsecondlanguage’svocabulariesinvolvestheunderstandingandmemoryoftheirmeanings.Sincethedifferencesbetweenthe andsecondlanguage’sculture,theremaybenocorrespondingmeaningunderlyingthesamesayings.Teachersshouldexplainthedifferentusageorimplicationofthelanguage’sitems.Thisisofmuchimportanceforcross-culturaltranslationpractices.IthasbeennoticedthatChineselearnersofEnglishtendtomakemistakesinthemarkingofpastense，evenattheadvancedlevelofproficiency.Whatdoyouthinkarethepossiblecausesofthisproblem?Howcalllanguageteachershelpsolvethisproblemandwhy?(30points)TensesareoneofthemostdifficultaspectsforChinesetomasterbecauseofthenon-inflectednatureoftheChineselanguageInEnglish,thedifferentformsoftheverbcanluswhethersomethingishappeninginthepresentorinthepast.Thisinformationistechnicallytermedastense.Thetenseisshownbyaddingrelatedmorphemesat oftheverb.Sothelearnerscanjudgethetenseeasilybylookingatthedifferentverbforms.However,theChineseverbformdoesnothaveawelldefinedpast,presentorfuturetense.Inwritingorinspeaking,theChineseverbinthesentencedoesnotnecessarilyinformthereaderorlistenerastowhethertheyarereferringtothepast,presentorfuture.Therefore,Chineseoftenplacesprepositional,phrases,aswellasconjunctiveadverbs(e.g.MandarinChinesele,guo)thatindicatetimeatthefrontofthesentencesoastoinformthespeakerorthereaderoftheappropriatetense.ThedifferentwaysofexpressingthetensecauseChineselearnersofEnglishtendtomakemistakesinthemarkingoftense.WhentranslatingintoEnglish,ChinesewriterssometimesfetthatEnglishhasawell-definedpast/present/futureverbtense.Therefore,theunconscioustendencyofplacingseveralprepositionalorotherphrasesthatindicatetimeatthefrontofthesentenceisoftenredundantorneglectusingdifferenttenseformofverb.AnotherfactorwhichcontributestothedifficultiesisthedifferenceintheconceptoftimeofChineseascomparedtonativespeakersofEnglish.Differentconceptsoftimeofnon-nativespeakerswiththoseofnativespeakerscontributetotheirdifficultiesinlearningtheEnglishtenses.Asthelearningoftenses,Chineselearnersarefacedwithatotallynewsetofclassificationoftimesituationsthathavenocounterpartintheirownnativelanguage.SointeachingEnglishtensesteachershavetoexplainEnglishtimeattributesthoroughlyratherthanassumingL2learnerswillunderstandthemaslongastheyhaveacquiredtherules.Forexample,pasttenseisusedforsituationswhicharelessprobable,ormoreremote.AlotofChinesedonothavethisconceptandteachersshouldspendtimeinclarifyingthistothem.TeacherscsoallowlearnerstounderstandthemeaningsofthetwobroadtypesofEnglishandChinesetensesandtheirdifferencesinteachingChineselearners.Throughthecomparisonofdifferentwaysofexpressingtense,theteachercanprovidethestudentsaclearframeworkandthenstudentswilltakespecialnoticeinusingverbassociatedwithtense.Lookatthefollowingrealnewsprheadlinesandexplainwhytheyareconsideredambiguous.ThenrevisetheheadlinessothattheyCallexpresstheintendedmeaningsunambiguously.(20points)MilkDrinkersAreTurningtoTwoSistersReunitedAfter18YearsatCheckoutEnragedCowInjuresFarmerwithSafetyExpertsSaySchoolBusPassengersShouldBeTherearetwokindsofcomprehensionofthisheadline:theis“ComplaintsaboutNBARefereesareGrowingUgly.”thuswithnominalgroupasthesubjectandpresenttenseverbismodifying‘complaints’;thesecondis“ComplaintsaboutNBARefereesWhoAreGrowingUgly”,thusthewholeheadlineisanominalgroupandthepresenttenseverbmodify‘NBAReferees’.Wethinktheinterpretationistheintendedmeaning,thustheoriginalheadlineisrevisedto“ComplaintsaboutNBARefereesAreGrowingUgly”Theword‘powder’isambiguousinmeaninghere,becauseitcanimplythedrugormedicineintheformofpowder.Thusinordertobeclearinmeaning,theoriginalheadlinecanberevisedinto“MilkDrinkersAreTuringtoMilkPowder”Therearetwokindsofinterpretationofthisheadline:theis“twopairofsistersreunitedatcheckoutcounterafter18yearsofseparation.”Thesecondinterpretationisthat“twogirlswhoareapairofsisterreunitedatcheckoutcounterafter18yearsofseparation.”Theintendedmeaningshouldbethesecond,andtheoriginalheadlinecanberevisedinto“APairofSisterReunitedAfter18YearsAtCheckoutCounter”Therearetwokindsofinterpretationsofthisheadline:theis“EnragedCowInjuresFarmerWhoIsWithAx”thustheprepositionalgroupismodifyingthecompliment‘farmer’;thesecondis“EnragedCowWhichIsWithAxInjuresFarmer”thustheprepositionalgroupismodifyingthesubject‘enragedcow’.However,accordingtothecommonsense,thesecondinterpretationdoesn’toccurnaturally,andwethinktheinterpretationistheintendedmeaning.Theoriginalheadlinecanberevisedto“EnragedCowInjuresFarmerwhoiswithAx”.Theword‘belt’isambiguousinmeaningbecauseitcanmeantheactofhittingorblowinghard.Thustheoriginalheadlinecanberevisedinto“SafetyExpertsSaySchoolBusPassengers’SafetyBeltShouldBeTightened”Ininterpretingutterancessuchas(1)and(2)，thehearergenerallytreatstheeventsdescribedinthetwosentencesineachgroupascausallyrelatedeventhoughsuchrelationshipisnotencodedinthemeaningsofthesentences.Thatis，thehearertendstoThinkthatHelenfellonthegroundbecauseofTom'spushingandthatthevasebrokebecauseitwasdropped.Explainwhy.(30TompushedHelen.HelenfellonthePeterdroppedthevase.ItThephenomenondescribedcanbeillustratedbythetheoryofcohesionandcoherenceintextlinguisticsand ysis.Textprocessingrequiresinferencesforestablishingbetweensuccessivesentences.Coherenceisasemanticpropertyofdiscourseformedthroughtheinterpretationofeac