语用学中的语境课件

语境研究概述张建萍201021003010语境研究概述1一、Context

ThetermisderivedfromLatincontextus,whichmeanstoweavetogether.Inanow一obsoleteusage，itreferredtotheweavingtogetherofwordsoracontinuousdiscourseproducedbytheweaving.Italsoreferredtothewordsthathelpdeterminethemeaningofawordorpassagetheysurround.

一、Context2Butthemeaningconcerningusisobviouslybroaderandmuchmoregeneral.Sincethereareanumberofdisciplines，suchas，philosophy，logic，sociolinguisticssemantics，pragmatics，thathavelongbeenassociatedwithitandhavetakenupthecontextasatopicofgreatimportance.Therefore,thecontextismuchtappedintobyscholarsinthesefields.Butthemeaningconc3

Contextisanimportantconceptinthedomainofpragmatics.Contextisaprerequisitetounderstandandinterpretlanguage.Withouttheanalysisofcontext,thestudiesofotherfieldsthatarerelatedtoitwillnotbeall-round.Iwillgiveabriefreviewoftheresearchesoncontextsinceitsproducing.

4二、ForeignScholars’ViewonContext2.1Anthropologicalviewofthecontext

Malinowski,thegreatpolish-bornanthropologist,whoisthefatherofmodernanthropologyfirstputforwardterm“contextofsituation”inhisarticleTheProblemofMeaninginPrimitiveLanguagewrittenin1923,andstressedtheneedtointerpretspeechinitscontextofsituation:“Exactlyasintherealityofspokenorwrittenlanguages,awordwithoutlinguisticcontextisamerefigmentandstandsfornothingbyitself,sointherealityofaspokenlivingtongue,theutterancehasnomeaningexceptinthecontextofsituation”(Malinowski1923:307).二、ForeignScholars’ViewonCo52.2LondonSchool’sviewofthecontextMalinowski’snotionofcontextofsituationwasacceptedandelaboratedbyoneofhiscolleaguesFirthwhotookoverMalinowski’scontextofsituationandextendedittolinguistics.Hebelievedthatitisneeessarytoplacetheutteranceinthe“socialcontext”，andtogeneralizethemeaningsinspecified“socialcontexts”.Hestated:“voicesshouldnotbeentirelydisassociatedfromthesocialcontextinwhichtheyfunction(Firth1957:226)andsuggestedthatcontextofsituationisbestusedas“asuitableschematicconstructtoapplytolanguageevents.2.2LondonSchool’sviewof6In1950,hemadeadetailedexpositionaboutcontextinhisbookPersonalityandLanguageinSociety.HefurtherpointedoutthatMalinowski’sconceptionofthecontextofsituationwasnotquiteadequateforthepurposeoflinguistictheory,becauseitwasnotgeneralenough.Heclassifiedcontextintolinguisticcontextandcontextofsituation.Firth’sownlinguistictheorywasbuiltintobyfurtheringthestudyofcontext.In1950,hemadeadet7

2.3FunctionalviewofthecontextAsoneofFirth’sstudents,M.A.KHallidayfurtherdevelopsthetheoryofsituationintowhatisknownasregistertheory,whichcanbedescribedasaframeworkofthreedimensions:fieldofdiscourse,tenorofdiscourse,modeofdiscourse.Heproposeshisownopiniononthenotion.Thefieldofdiscoursereferstowhatishappening,includingthesocialaction,languageuserandtheprocessoftheinteraction.Tenoristherelationbetweenparticipants,or“whoaretakingpart”.Modemeanswhatitisthattheparticipantsexpectthelanguagetodofortheminthesituation.2.3Functionalviewoftheco8

Hallidayclaims,“itrequiresaninterpretationnotonlyofthetextitselfbutalsoofitscontext,andofthesystematicrelationshipbetweencontextandtext”(Halliday2000:41).Hallidayemphasizedtheimportanceofcontextstudy,hesaid:“thecontextofculturedeterminesthenatureoftheCode.Asalanguageismanifestedthroughitstext,acultureismanifestedthroughitssituation;sobyattendingtotext-in-situationachildconstruesthecode,andbyusingthecodetointerprettextheconstruestheculture.Thusfortheindividual,thecodeengenderstheculture;andthisgivesapowerfulinertiatothetransmissionprocess”(Halliday2000:57).Hallidayclaims,“i92.4Sociolinguisticviewofthecontext

TheAmericansociallinguistHymesfurtherdevelopedthetheoryof“context”.Hymesconsidersacontextconstructedof16componentsin8“categories”inModelsoftheInteractionofLanguageandSocialSetting.Hymes(1972)devisedhisownsetoffactorstodescribethecontextofsituationforthespeechevent.HenamedthemusingtheacronymsSPEAKINGasthefollowing:actsituation,participants,ends,actsequence,keys(mannerofspirit),instrumentalities,normsandgenres.2.4Sociolinguisticviewof10

Hymes(1962)states:“Theuseofalinguisticformidentifiesarangeofmeanings.Acontextcansupportarangeofmeanings.Whenaformisusedincontext,iteliminatesthemeaningspossibletothatcontextotherthanthosetheformcansignal:thecontexteliminatesfromconsiderationthemeaningspossibletotheformotherthanthecontextcansupport”.Hymes’notionofthecontexthavesomesimilaritieswiththatofHalliday.Itisconcernedwithwhatdeterminestheappropriatenessoftheutterancesintheparticularcontext.Hymes(1962)states:“Th112.5SemanticviewofthecontextLyonsputforwardthatcontextistheoreticalconcept,allkindsoffactorsthatconstructcontextisabstractfromspecificcontextbylinguists,whichsystematicallydecidetheformofdiscourse,appropriatenessofdiscourseormeaningofdiscourseofinfluenceonparticipantsoflanguageactivity(He2002:180-205).Languagesystemitselfisanobjectiveexistencewhichprovidesaseriesoflanguageformforlanguageuser,includingallkindsofphonologicalforms,syntacticformandlexicalforms.Thelanguageabilitytolanguageuserdecideshimtomastertheseforms.Lyonsthoughtthataspeakercanjudgeappropriatenessofdiscoursecorrectlyliesinhisknowledge,whichisspecificreflectionofcontext,orwhichconstructscontext.2.5Semanticviewoftheconte12

Lyonsillustrateshisnotionofthecontextbyintroducing6kindsofknowledgeinhisSemantics（1977）.Heliststhecomponentsofcontextareasfollows:

(1)Eachoftheparticipantsmustknowhisroleandstatus.(2)Theparticipantsmustknowwheretheyareinspaceandtime.(3)Theparticipantsmustbeabletorecognizethesituationintermsofitsdegreeofformality.Lyonsillustrateshis13(4)Theparticipantsmustknowwhatmediumisappropriatetothesituation.(5)Theparticipantsmustknowhowtomaketheirutterancesappropriatetothesubjectmatter.(6)Theparticipantsmustknowhowtomaketheirutterancesappropriatetotheprovinceordomainthesituationbelongsto.语用学中的语境ppt课件14

Itisseenthatthe6factorsareactuallyalanguagespeaker’scompetence,whichdeterminesparticularphonological,grammaticalandlexicaloptionswithinthelanguage-systeminparticularcontextsoflanguageuse,andwhich,thereforehaveabearingonthesituationalappropriatenessoftheutterances.

152.6PragmaticviewofthecontextPragmaticscameintobeinginthelaterhalfof20thcentury.WiththedevelopmentofPragmatics,itfindsthattheinadequacytheoryofthecontexthashindereditsstepsmoreandmore.DuetothecloserelationshipbetweenPragmaticsandthecontext,theformerurgestheadvanceofthecontexttheory,whichshouldprovidebetterservicetoPragmatics.2.6Pragmaticviewofthecont16

Leechoncedefinedpragmaticsinabroadsensea“thestudyofhowlanguageisusedincommunication”(1983).Communication,aswehavenoted,cannottakeplaceinavacuumbutinacontext.Contextisthereforeanindispensablenotionthatmakespragmaticsasitis.

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Levinsonisoneofthepragmatistswhoareactiveonthesceneofthenewlyarisingdiscipline.HisPragmatics(1983)isaclassicworkwhichsketchestheframeworkforthenewdisciplineandisacceptedbythelaterresearcherseversince.InPragmatics,thenotionofcontextisnotexplicatedseparatelyindetailsbutinterrelatedwithothertopics.

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Inthisbook,Levinson(1983)claims“contextisunderstoodtocovertheidentitiesofparticipants,thetemporalandspatialparametersofthespeechevent,andthebeliefs,knowledgeandintentionsoftheparticipantsinthatspeechevent,andnodoubtmuchbesides.”

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Levinson’scontextdoesnotlabelalltheactualsituationsofutteranceinalltheirmultiplicityoffeatures,butonlythosefeaturesthatareculturallyandlinguisticallyrelevanttotheproductionandinterpretationofutterances.(vanDijk,1976)InspiredbyLyons,heconsidersthecontextastheparticipants’knowledgeof6aspects:

20a.Knowledgeofroleandstatus:b.Knowledgeofspatialandtemporalloaction;e.Knowledgeofformalitylevel:d.Knowledgeofthemedium:e.Knowledgeofappropriatesubjectmatter:f.Knowledgeofappropriateprovince·(Levinson，1983)a.Knowledgeofroleandstatu21

Meyisoneofthewell-knownlinguisticswhoareactiveonthesceneofthenewlyarisingdiscipline.InhisbookPragmatics:An

Introduction(2001),hepointsouttheveryimportanceofcontext,“contextisthequintessentialpragmaticconcept;itisbydefinitionproactive,justaspeopleare.”(Mey2001:14)Adynamiccontextisanenvironmentthatisinsteadydevelopment,promptedbythecontinuousinteractionofthepeopleengagedinlanguageuse.Thedynamicdevelopmentofpeople’sconversation,whichgivesusthecluetoanunderstanding,cannotbepredicted,asitdependsentirelyontheindividualsandtheirindividualchoicesateverymoment.Meyisoneofthewel22

Meytakescontextasadynamicconcept,“contextisadynamic,notastaticconcept:itistobeunderstoodasthecontinuallychangingsurroundings,inthewidestsense,thatenabletheparticipantsinthecommunicationprocesstointeract,andinwhichthelinguisticexpressionsoftheirinteractionbecomeintelligible.”(Mey2001:39)

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Meyisalsoagainsttheviewofpragmaticsthatlimitsthecontexttowhatisgrammaticallyexpressed,totheexclusionofanywider,‘extralinguistic’contexts.Foriteliminatesanumberofpotentiallyirrelevantfactorsfromthescopeofourinvestigation.Heholdsthatcontextismorethanjustreference,contextisaction,contextisaboutunderstandingwhatthingsarefor,anditisalsowhatgivesourutterancestheirtruepragmaticmeaningandallowsthemtobecountedastruepragmaticacts.Meyisalsoagainstt24

In1986,Sperber&Wilson’sworkRelevance:CommunicationandCognitioncameoffthepressandmadeahitinthepragmaticcircle.Inthisbook,theco-authorsexplicatecommunicationfromtheangleofcognitionandbringforththetheoryofrelevance.Owingtotheirtheory,cognitionhasbecomeanewstartingpointandtheoreticfocusforpragmaticresearch.OneoftheimportantcontributionsofRelevancetheoryadvancedbySperberandWilsonisitsviewpointofcontext.In1986,Sperber&Wilson’25

Accordingtotheirpointofview,contextisapsychologicalconstructincludingnotonlytheco-textofanutterancebutalsothecontextualfactorssuchastheimmediatephysicalenvironment,theparticipants’backgroundknowledgelikealltheknownfacts,assumptions,beliefs,andcognitiveabilities.Inverbalcommunication,significanttotheinterpretationoftheutteranceisnottheimmediatespecificenvironmentbutaseriesofassumptionsthatmakeupofthecognitivecontext.Accordingtotheirpoi26

ToSperber&Wilson,cognitivecontextisafundamentalconcept.Itisbecauseofthediversityofthecognitivecontextthatmakestheinterpretationofutterancedifficult.Althoughsomepeopleliveinthesamephysicalworld,derivinginformationfromthiscommonenvironmentandconstructingthebestpossiblementalrepresentationofit,notwoindividualsconstructidenticalrepresentationduetodifferencesinmanyaspectsespeciallyinourcognitiveabilities.Perceptualabilitiesvaryineffectivenessfromonepersontoanother.ToSperber&Wilson,cog27Inferentialabilitiesalsovary,andnotjustineffectiveness.Peoplespeakdifferentlanguages,theyhavemastereddifferentconcepts;asaresult,theycanconstructdifferentrepresentationsandmakedifferentinferences.(Sperber&Wilson,1995)Moreover,peoplehavedifferentmemoriesthattheybringtobearintheirexperienceindifferentways.Hence,eventhoughtheyhavethesamephysicalenvironment,thecognitiveenvironmentwouldstillbedifferent.Cognitiveenvironmentisstillnotthegenuinetocontextofcommunicationbutonlyapotentialoneneededtobefiltered.Inferentialabilities28

SperberandWilson’sconsiderationofcognitivecontextdiffersdramaticallyfromthetraditionalviewoncontextwhichusedtothinkthatcontextkeepsconstantandexitsinthemindofparticipantsinadvance.Traditionalcontextisstatic,andcognitivecontextisdynamic,whichischangingwiththedevelopmentofthecommunication.Inthisway,SperberandWilsonprovideusanewapproachtotheinvestigationofcontextandpragmatics.SperberandWilson’s29

Verschuerenisanotherimportantpragmatistwhomakescontributiontotheresearchoncontext.Inhisbook:UnderstandingPragmatics,heproposedafundamentalnotionthatusinglanguageconsistsofcontinuousmakingoflinguisticchoices(Verschueren,1999:55).Itmeansthatduringcommunicationtheuttererandhearerareunderchoicemaking,eitherconsciouslyorunconsciously,forlanguageinternal(i.e.structural),and/orlanguage-externalreasons.Linguistically,thesechoicescanbesituatedatanylevelofform:phonetic,phonological,morphological,syntactic,lexical,andsemantic.Verschuerenisanoth30

Accordingly,theymayrangeovervariousinternaloptions,ortheymayinvolveregionally,sociallyorfunctionallydistributedtypesofvariation.Thesechoicesaremadebothinproducingandininterpretinganutteranceandbothtypesofchoicesareofequalimportanceforthecommunicationflowandthewayinwhichmeaningisgenerated.Alanguageuserhasnoabsolutefreedominmakingchoicesbutcanmakeinter-adaptabilitywiththecontext.Accordingly,theymayr31

ContextisclassifiedintotwotypesbyVerschueren:communicativecontextandlinguisticcontext.Asforthecommunicativecontext,itselementsincludethelanguageusers,thementalworld,thesocialworld,andthephysicalworld.Languageusersnotonlyrefertotheuttererandhearerbutalsothosewhoarerelatedtothecommunication.Verschuerenputlanguageusersatthefirstplacebecauseinthecommunicativecontexttheyactivateandcognizethecontextualelementsfromthemental,socialandphysical“reality”andmakethemfunctioninverbalcommunication.Contextisclassifiedi32

Asforthementalworld,itcontainscognitiveandemotiveelements.Incommunication,theutterernotonlymakeshisutteranceinter-adaptedwithhisownmentalworld,butalsoletsthechoiceadapttothehearer’smentalworld.Sothejudgmentsofthehearer’spersonalitytraits,emotionalinvolvement,patternsofbeliefs,wishesanddesires,motivationsandintentionsmayallenterthepicture.Asforthementalworl33

Thesocialworldreferstosocialsettings,institutions,typesofprinciplesandrulesoflinguisticacts.Linguisticchoiceismadeinter-adaptablewithsocialfactorssincetheyimposemanytypesofprinciplesorrulesuponthewaysinwhichcertaintypesoflinguisticactscanbeperformed.Inthesocialworld,cultureisalsohighlyfocused.Culturewithitsinvocationofnormsandvaluesisalsoregardedasasocialworldcorrelatedtolinguisticchoices.Thesocialworldrefers34

Itisveryeasytounderstandwhatthephysicalworldrefersto.Justasthetermimplies,itreferstothephysicalsurroundingsconstrainingtheverbalcommunication.Thephysicalworldcanbeanalyzedfromtwoangles:temporalandspatial.Temporalreferencecanbedividedintoeventtime,timeofutteranceandreferencetime.Similarly,spatialreferencecanbedividedintoabsolutespaceandspacerelativetoaperspective,whichcontainsbothutteringspaceandreferencespace.Itisveryeasytoun35

Besidescommunicativecontext,Verschuerenalsoconcentratedhimselfonlinguisticcontext.Itisknownastheco-textinastrictsense.Inaddition,Verschuerenpointedoutthreefeaturesoflinguisticcontext:featuresofcohesion,inter-textualityandsequencing,andthengivesexplanationstothem.

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Thelabelcohesionisgenerallyusedtodesignatetheovertmarkingofrelationswithinadiscourseortext:thetextualpropertyofthelinguisticcontextmakesitpossibletoorganizeadiscourseunderthetopicsofdiscussion，genreestablishedandstyleinuse;thesequencingfeaturedeterminestheconsiderationoflogicalandsemanticorderingwhilelinguisticutteranceisbeingconstructed.Thelabelcohesionis37

Verschuerenfoundthatcontextisgeneratedinlanguageuseandkeepschangingwithcommunication.Thatmeanscontextiscreatedbythedynamicinteractionbetweenuttererandhearerinrelationtowhatis“outthere”.Sincecontextiscreatedinlanguageusewiththeinterventionoftheparticipants’mentalfactors,itcanbemanipulatedbythelanguageusersbymeansofmovinginandoutofwhatiscommonlyreferredtoasmentalspacesVerschuerenfoundthat38三、ContextinChina

Inasearlyas1930sChenWangdaoclaimedthatrhetoricshouldadapttothesituationandthetheme.Theterm‘situationherereferstothevariouskindsofparticularsituationswithinwhichwritingorspeakingoccurs.Eachoftheseparticularsituationsconsistsofsix‘whatandhowelements’(why，what，where，who，whenandhow).The‘situation’andthe‘theme’hererefertocontext，however，hedidn’tfurtherdiscussit.(西棋光正，1992:9)三、ContextinChina39

Inearly1960sWangDechunpresentedhisnotionofcontext.Heclaimsthatcontextisthesituationoflanguageusewhichconsistsofsuchsubjectivefactorsastime，Place，occasion，object，etc.andsuchobjeetivefactorsaslanguageusers，identity，thought，personality，occupation，selfeultivation，situation，mind，etc.(西棋光正，1992:10)

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HeZhaoxiongillustratescontextastwokindsofknowledge:inner一linguisticknowledgeandextra一linguisticknowledge.(HeZhaoxiong1989:22)Inner一linguisticknowledgeherereferstotheknowledgeofasetofrulesthatformsthebasisofpeople’sabilitytospeakandunderstandhislanguage.语用学中的语境ppt课件41

Extra一linguisticknowledgeincludestheknowledgesharedbythespeakerandthehearerandthetotalnon一linguisticbackgroundofanutterancesuchastheimmediatesituationinwhichitisused.Italsoincludestheawarenessbythespeakerandthehearerofwhathasbeensaidearlierandofanyrelevantexternalbeliefs.

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HuzhuanglinpresentshisviewoncontextinhisbookDiscourseCohesionandCoherence.Inhisview，contextcanbeclassifiedintothreeparts:linguisticcontext，whichreferstotheintra一discoursesurroundings:situationalcontext，whichreferstothephysicalsituationinwhichthediscoursetakesplace，includingthenatureofthesocialaction，therolesoftheparticipants，thetime，theplace，themode，etc;andculturalcontext，whichreferstothesocialculturalconventionsofthelanguagecommunitywherethespeakeris.(HuZhuanglin，1994:182)Huzhuanglinpresentsh43

HeZirantouchesuponcontextwhiletalkingaboutlanguageinterpretation.Accordingtohim，contextistheenvironmentinwhichtheverbalcommunicationoccurs，whichincludes:1.Linguisticcontext,withreferencetotheco--textinwhichatopicappears.2.Themutualsocial一intercoursecontext，includingtheparticipant’personalstatus，socialposition，culturalbackgroundandtherelationshipbetweenthem.HeZirantouchesuponc44

3.Theparticipants’respectivecognitivecontext，withreferencetotheparticipants’lifeexperiences，beliefsandknowledgethatwouldinfluencethecognitionofanintercourse.

(HeZiran，1997:209一210)

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XiongXueliangholdsaviewofcognitivecontext.Heclaimsthattheinferenceoftheoverloadedpartofinformationbylanguageusersdoesnotalwaysrelyontheconcretecontext，becauselanguageusers，throughexperience，haveinternalizedtherelevantcontext.Thatistosay，themainpartofcontextisthecognitivecontextthatcontainsthepragmaticknowledgethathasbeensystemizedbylanguageusers.Whenthespecificphysicalenvironmentisnotclear，languageuserscanconsciouslyorsubconsciouslyinferwithhisknowledgethemeaningofutterances.Itisthiscognitivecontextthatthisinferencedependsmainlyon.XiongXueliangholdsa46

Cognitivecontextconsistsofsituationalknowledgeinvolvedinlanguageuse(Physicalsurroundings)，linguisticcontextualknowledge(workingstore)andbackgroundknowledge(knowledgeconstruction)andcollectiveconsciousnesssharedbylanguagecommunities.(XiongXueliang，1999:115)

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LiuSenlin(2000)hasastudyaboutthestructurizationofcognitivecontext.Heclaimsthatthemanipulationofcognitivecontextisbase