Chapter 1
1. How do you interpret the following definition of linguistics: linguistics is the scientific study of language?
Linguistics studies not any particular language,but it studies languages in general.It is a scientific study because it is based on the systematic investigation of linguistic data,conducted with reference to some general theory of language structure.In order to discover the nature and rules of the underlying language system, what the linguist has to do first is to collect and observe language facts,which are found to display some similarities ,and generalizations are made about them,then he formulates some hypotheses about the language structure .But the hypotheses thus formed have to be checked repeatedly against the observed facts to fully prove their validity.
6. How is Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance?
Both Saussure and Chomsky make the distinction between the abstract language system and the actual use of language. their purpose is to single out the language system for serious study
They are similar in two aspects: the definition and the content of study.
On one hand, Saussure defines langue as the abstract linguistic system shared
by all the members of a speech community, and parole as the realization of langue in actual use. Chomsky defines competence as the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language, and performance the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. We can see that langue and competence both refer to the abstract issue, conventions and knowledge, and parole and performance both are their actual realization, the concrete use.
On the other hand, in Saussure’s opinion, what linguists should do is to abstract langue from parole as parole is too varied and confusing. And this is the same as Chomsky. He thinks linguists should study the ideal speaker’s competence, not his performance, which is too haphazard to be studied.
Two linguists idea differ in that Saussure took a sociological view of language, Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view, competence is a property of the mind of each individual.
8. What are the main features of human language that have been specified by C.Hockett to show that it is essentially different from animal communication system?
1) Arbitrariness: this means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. A good example is the fact that different sounds are used to refer to the same object in different language.
2) Productivity: Language is productive in that it makes possible the
construction and interpretation of new signals of its users.
3) Duality: language is a system, which consists of two sets of structures, or two levels. At the lower or the basic level there is a structure of sounds, which are meaningless. But the sounds of language can be grouped and regrouped into a large number of units of meaning, which are found at the higher level of the system.
4) Displacement: Language can be use to refer to things which are present or not present, real or imagined matters in the past ,present or future, or in far-away places. In other words, language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker.
5) Cultural transmission ：Language is passed on from one generation to next through teaching and learning rather than by instinct.
Chapter 5
1. What are the major views concerning the study of meaning?
1) The naming theory命名论 was proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. The linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are taken to be labels of the objects they stand for; words are just names or labels for things. The semantic relationship holding between words and things is the relationship of naming.
2) The conceptualist view概念论: This view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to; rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. This is best illustrated by the semantic triangle suggested by Ogden and Richards:
3) Contextualism语境论: Representatively proposed by the British linguist J. R. Firth who had been influenced by the Polish anthropologist Malinowski and the German philosopher Wittgenstein.It holds that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context – elements closely linked with language behavior. … the meaning of a word is its use in the language.
4) Behaviourism行为主义论: Based on contextualist view by Bloomfield who drew on behaviorist psychology in defining “meaning”. Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language from as the “ situation in which the speaker utters it and the response it calls forth in the hearer.” This theory, somewhat close to contextualism, is linked with psychological interest.
6. In what way is componential analysis similar to the analysis of phonemes into distinctive features?成分分析和把音位分析区别性特征有何相似之处？
Componential analysis is a way proposed by the structural semanticists to analyze word meaning. The approach is based on the belief that the meaning of a word can be dissected into meaning components, called semantic features. And that is similar to the analysis of phonemes into distinctive features.
Chapter 6
5. According to Austin, what are the three acts a person is possibly performing while making an utterance. Give an example.
答： According to Austin's new model, a speaker might be performing three acts simultaneously when speaking: locutionary act, illocutionary act, and perlocutionary act.
A locutionary act is the act of uttering words, phrases, clauses. It is the act of conveying literal meaning by means of syntax, lexicon and phonology. An illocutionary act is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention; it is the act performed in saying something. A perlocutionary act is the act performed by or resulting from saying something; it is the consequence of, or the change brought about by the utterance; it is the act performed by saying something. Let's look at an example:
You have left the door wide open.
The locutionary act performed by the speaker is his utterance of the words “you”, “have”, “door”, “open”, etc. thus expressing what the words literally mean.
The illocutionary act performed by the speaker is that by making such an utterance he has expressed his intention of speaking, i.e. asking someone to
close the door, or making a complaint, depending on the context.
The perlocutionary act refers to the effect of the utterance. If the hearer gets the speaker's message and sees that the speaker means to tell him to close the door, the speaker has successfully brought about the change in the real world he has intended to; then the perlocutionary act is successfully performed.
8. What are the four maxims of the CP? Try to give your own examples to show how flouting these maxims gives rise to conversational implicature?
答： Cooperative Principle, abbreviated as CP. It goes as follows:
Make your conversational contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.
To be more specific, there are four maxims under this general principle:
(1) The maxim of quantity
① Make your contribution as informative as required (for the current purpose of the exchange).
② Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
(2) The maxim of quality
① Do not say what you believe to be false.
② Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
(3) The maxim of relation
Be relevant.
(4) The maxim of manner
① Avoid obscurity of expression.
② Avoid ambiguity.
③ Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity).
④ Be orderly.
Chapter11
1、To what extent is second language learning similar to first language learning? Can you list some proof from your own learning experience?(please list your own experience.)
The studies on the first language acquisition have influenced enormously those on the second language acquisition at both theoretical and pratical levels. Theoretically the new findings and advances in first language acquisition in learning theories and learning process are illuminating in understanding second language acquisition. The techniques used to collect and analyze data in first language acquisition also provide insights and perspectives in the study of second language acquisition. Just as Littlewood summarizes, the first language study has served as a backcloth for perceiving and undrerstanding new facts about second language learning.
名词解释
1、applied linguistics: the application of linguistic theories and principles to language teaching, especially the teaching of foreign and second languages.
2、prescriptive: If linguistic study aims to lay down rules for “correct and standard” behavior in using language, ,it is said to be prescriptive.( i.e. to tell people what they should and should not say).
3、parole :Parole refers to the realization of langue in actual use.
4、performance : The actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.
5、duality（double articulation）: Language consists of two sets of structure,
with lower lever of sound, which is meaningless, and higher lever of meaning.
6、reference : Reference means what a linguistic form refers to in the real, physical world. It deals with the relationship between the linguistic element and the non-linguistic world of experience
7、predication analysis: a way, proposed by British linguist G. Leech, to analyze sentence meaning.
8、illocutionary act: The act of expressing the speaker’s intention and performed in saying something.
9、regional dialect: A variety of language used by people living in the same geographical region.
10、intercultural communication: It is communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbols are distinct enough to alter the communication event.
11、language acquisition device (LAD): A hypothetical innate mechanism every normal human child is believed to be born with, which allow them to acquire language.
12、Critical Period Hypothesis:.LAD works successfully only when it’s stimulated at the right time-a specific and limited time period for language
acquisiton.
13、CA contrastive analysis: It compares comparable features of the native language and target language to spot mismatches or differences to predict learners’s difficulty.
14、cross-association: some words are similar in meaning as well as spelling and pronunciation. This internal interference is called cross-association.
15、neurolinguistics: It is the study of relationship between brain and language. It includes research into how the structure of the brain influences language learning, how and in which parts of the brain language is stored, and how damage to the brain affects the ability to use language.
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