My-Understanding-of-the-Theories-of-Language-and-l

1MyUnderstandingoftheTheoriesofLanguageandlanguageLearningContents21.Introduction2.MainTheoriesofLanguage2.1DefinitionofLanguage2.2Designfeaturesoflanguage2.3Theoriesoflanguage3.Theoriesoflanguagelearning3.1Theoriesoffirstlanguagelearning3.1.1Behavioristictheory3.1.2Nativisttheory3.1.3Cognitive/Functionaltheory3.2Theoriesoffirstlanguagelearning3.2.1TheMonitorModel3.2.2TheUniversalGrammarModel3.2.3TheCompetitionModel4.MyUnderstanding5.ReferenceAbstract3Forseveralyears,thelinguistshavepaidmuchattentiontothelanguageanditslearning.Inthepaper,Iwillprovidemyunderstandingofthetheoriesoflanguageandlanguagelearning.Therearefourpartsinthispart.Thefirstpartistheintroductionsomeabouttheappliedlinguistics.Thesecondpartissomethingaboutthelanguagesuchasitsdefinition,designfeaturesandtheories.Asweknow,themainpurposewestudythingsoflanguageistoprovidethemethodsortoolwiththelanguagelearning.Sothethirdpartinvolvesthetheoriesoflanguage,theircontributionsandthecriticismstheyhavegonethrough.Andthelastpartismyunderstandingfromthosetheories.1.Introduction4Somepeoplesaythatthelearningandteachingofforeignlanguagesisreferredtoasappliedlinguistics,andotherpeoplearguethatthelearningandteachingofforeignlanguagesisonlyoneofmanysub-areasofappliedlinguistics.Then,therearedifferentkindsofdefinitionsaboutappliedlinguisticsbecauseresearchershavedifferentopinions.Generally,appliedlinguisticscanbedefinedinabroadsenseorinanarrowsense.Broadlyspeaking,appliedlinguisticscoversmorethantheteachingandleaningoflanguages.Itincludesspeechpathologyandtherapy,translation,lexicography,machinetranslation,contrastivelinguistics,sociolinguistics,psycholinguisticsandlanguagepolicy,etc.Inoneword,itincludesanythingtowhichlinguisticscouldbeapplied.Inanarrowsense,appliedlinguisticsmeansthescientificstudyoftheprinciplesandpracticesofsecondandforeignlanguageteaching;theapplicationoflinguisticfindingstolanguageteachingandlearning.Itisconcernedwithapproachestolanguageteachers,withlanguagelearning,withsyllabusdesign,withmaterialsdevelopmentandwiththeassessmentandtestingoflanguagelearning(LiuRunqing,etal1990),withtheeducationalpolicyingeneralandlanguagelearningandteachingpolicyinparticularofacountry.Theterm'appliedlinguistics'wasfirstusedin1870byayoungPolishlinguist,J.BandouindeCourtenaytodistinguishappliedlinguisticsfrompureortheoreticallinguistics.Anditreacheditspeakof5developmentin1960s.Fromthenon,moreandmorearticles,booksandjournalshavebeenpublishedtodiscussappliedlinguistics.Thestudyofappliedlinguisticsdevelopedinthe1980sinChina.Itis40yearslaterinChinathaninothercountries.2.Maintheoriesoflanguage2.1DefinitionoflanguageWhattheoryisthereaboutthedefinitionoflanguage?Theansweristhattherearemany,manysuchtheories,andeachisprobablyrightinitsownlittleway,too,butnoneaccountsforeverythingsatisfactorily.Themostcommonlyaccepteddefinitionis:Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication(Wardhaugh1972:3,1977).Otherdefinitionssuchas:LongmanDictionaryofLanguageTeaching&AppliedLinguisticsdefineslanguageasthesystemofhumancommunicationwhichconsistsofthestructuredarrangementofsounds(ortheirwrittenrepresentation)intolargerunits,e.g.morphemes,words,sentences,utterances.AccordingtothedescriptioninTheNewOxfordDictionaryofEnglish1998:1035,languageisthemethodofhumancommunication,eitherspokenorwritten,consistingoftheuseofwordsinastructuredandconventionalway,andthesystemofcommunicationusedbyaparticularcommunityorcountry.Takeanotherexample,Webster’sThirdInternationalDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguagedescribeslanguageasasystematicmeansof6communicatingideasorfeelingsbytheuseofconventionalizedsigns,sounds,gestures,ormarkshavingunderstoodmeanings.2.2Designfeaturesoflanguage1)ArbitrarinessLanguageisarbitraryinthesensethatthewordisnotnecessarilytiedwiththethingthatitstandsforinthephysicalworldaroundus.Forinstance,whiletheChinesesay'zhuozi',Englishspeakingpeopleuse'table'.2)DualityDualityofstructurereferstothefactthattwolevelsofstructurecanbefoundinalllanguages.Atthehigherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,words,etc.);atthelowerlever,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.Languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures:oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.3)CulturaltransmissionItmeansthatlanguageisnotgeneticallypasseddownfromonegenerationtoanother.Rather,languagehastobelearned.4)CreativityPeoplehavetheabilitytounderstandandconstructanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesincludingthosetheyhaveneverheardbefore.7Languageisproductive.Thismarvelouscreativityisachievedbyanumberofingeniouslexicalandgrammaticaldevicesoflanguage.5)DisplacementLanguagecanbeusedtorefertocontextsremovedfromtheimmediatesituationsofthespeaker;abletotalkaboutsomethingthatisnotpresent,e.g.inthepastorfuture--notsubjecttotheimmediatecontext.6)InterchangeabilityAnyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandreceiverofmessages.Onecanbebothaproducer(addresser)andareceiver(addressee)ofmessages.2.3TheoriesoflanguageThereareseveraltypesofthetheoryoflanguage