语言学论述题答案.doc

1、 How is Saussures distinction between langue and parole similar to Chomskys distinction between competence and performance?Saussures distinction and Chomskys are very similar in that they both think that language can be divided into two levels, one level is abstract (e.g. langue; competence) and the other concrete (e.g. parole; performance). And they also think that what linguists should deal with is the abstract level which can reveal the real nature of language. At the same time, they differ at least in that Saussure took a sociological view of language and his notion of language is a matter of social conventions, and Chomsky looks at language from a psychological point of view and to him competence is a property of the mind of each individual.2、 What is a phone? How is it different from a phoneme? How are allophones related to a phoneme? A phone is a phonetic unit or segment. The speech sounds we hear and produce during communication are all phones.A phoneme is not any particular sound, but rather it is represented or realized by a certain phone in a certain phonetic context. The different phones which can represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of that phoneme. For example, the phoneme /p/ in English can be realized as p and ph, which are allophones of the phoneme /p/.3、 What are the major views concerning the study of meaning?(1) The naming theory proposed by the ancient Greek scholar Plato. According to this theory, the linguistic forms or symbols, in other words, the words used in a language are simply labels of the objects they stand for. So words are just names or labels for things.(2) The conceptualist view has been held by some philosophers and linguists from ancient times. This view holds that there is no direct link between a linguistic form and what it refers to (i. e., between language and the real world); rather, in the interpretation of meaning they are linked through the mediation of concepts in the mind. (3) The contextualist view held that meaning should be studied in terms of situation, use, context elements closely linked with language behaviour. The representative of this approach was J.R. Firth, famous British linguist.(4) Behaviorists attempted to define the meaning of a language form 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.4、 What are the five types of illocutionary speech acts Searle has specified? What is the illocutionary point of each type?(1) representatives: stating or describing, saying what the speaker believes to be true(2) directives: trying to get the hearer to do something (3) commissives: committing the speaker himself to some future course of action(4) expressives: expressing feelings or attitude towards an existing(5) declarations: bringing about immediate changes by saying somethingThe illocutionary point of the representatives is to commit the speaker to somethings being the case, to the truth of what has been said, in other words, when performing an illocutionary act of representative, the speaker is making a statement or giving a description which he himself believes to be true. Stating, believing, sweating, hypothesizing are among the most typical of the representatives.Directives ate attempts by the speaker to get the hearer to do some- thing. Inviting, suggesting, requesting, advising, wanting, threatening and ordering are all specific instances of this class.Commissives are those illocutionary acts whose point is to commit the speaker to some future course of action, i.e. when speaking the speaker puts himself under a certain obligation. Promising, undertaking, vowing are the most typical ones.The illocutionary point of expressives is to express the psychological state specified in the utterance. The speaker is expressing his feelings or attitudes towards an existing state of affairs, e.g. apologizing, thanking, congratulating.The last class “declarations” has the characteristic that the successful performance of an act of this type brings about the correspondence between what is said and reality.5、How do bilingualism and diglossia differ, and what do they have in common?The language acquisition theories mentioned in this chapter have different emphasis on different aspects. Behaviorists view sounds reasonable in explaining the routine aspects, the innatist accounts most plausible in explaining childrens acquiring complex system, and the interactive description convincing in understanding how children learn and use the language appropriately from their environment. In my opinion, behaviorists view is more reasonable and convincing because language acquisition is a process of enforcing and reinforcing. Only through this process can a person learn a language well. Bilingualism refers to the situation that in some speech communities, two languages are used side by side with each having a different role to play; and language switching occurs when the situation changes. But instead of two different languages, in a diglossic situation, two varieties of a language exit side by side through out the community, with each having a definite role to play.The two languages of bilingualism and the two varieties of diglossic each has different role to play as situation changes.6、 Based on your own learning experiences, please illustrate how important it is to learn its culture when learning a foreign language?Based on my own learning experiences, I find it is very important to learn its culture when learning a foreign language, A typical example of these is that when greeting acquaintances, we tend to say Have you eaten?, which will cause misunderstanding to a foreigner.7、 Among the language acquisition theories mentioned in this chapter, which one do you thi