CHAPTER8语言学和英语教学.docx
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CHAPTER8语言学和英语教学
Chapter8:
LinguisticsandForeignLanguageTeaching
1.Therelationoflinguisticstoforeignlanguageteaching
SinceLinguisticsisdefinedasthescientific/systematicstudyoflanguage,itseemsobviousthatsuchastudywouldhelpalotinlanguageteachingandlearning,whichaimsatitsultimatemastery,althoughtherearemanydifferencesbetweenthemintheirattitudestowardslanguage,theirgoals,andtheirmethods.Logicallyspeaking,L2teachersteachwhatlinguistshavedescribed.
Languageisviewedasasystemofformsinlinguistics,butitisregardedasasetofskillsinthefieldoflanguageteaching.Linguisticresearchisconcernedwiththeestablishmentoftheorieswhichexplainsthephenomenaoflanguage,whereaslanguageteachingaimsatthelearner’smasteryoflanguage.
Tobridgethegapbetweenthetheoriesoflinguisticsandthepracticeofforeignlanguageteaching,APPLIEDLINGUISTICSservesasamediatingareawhichinterpretstheresultsoflinguistictheoriesandmakesthemuser-friendlytothelanguageteacherandlearner.
Appliedlinguisticsisconductivetoforeignlanguageteachingintwomajoraspects:
Firstly,appliedlinguisticsextendstheoreticallinguisticsinthedirectionoflanguagelearningandteaching,sothattheteacherisenabledtomakebetterdecisionsonthegoalandcontentoftheteaching.Whenfacedwiththetaskofdesigningasyllabus,theteacherhasanumberofchoices.Shouldhesetouttoteachthelanguageusedinliteraryworks,orthatindailycommunication?
Shouldheteachthegeneralsystemofthelanguage,orapartofthissystem?
Whataretheprinciplesofcompilingorchoosingtextbook?
Whatkindofexercisesaremostsuitable?
Toanswerthesequestions,theteacherisconsciouslyorunconsciouslyusinghisunderstandingofthenatureoflanguagelearning.Appliedlinguisticsprovidestheteacherwithaformalknowledgeofthenatureoflanguageandlanguagesystem,andthusincreaseshisunderstandingofthenatureoflanguagelearning.Asaresult,theteachercanmakemoreinformeddecisionsonwhatapproachtotake,hencewhattoteach.
Secondly,appliedlinguisticsstatestheinsightsandimplicationsthatlinguistictheorieshaveonthelanguageteachingmethodology.Oncethegoalandcontentoftheteachingaresettled,theteacherhastoconsiderquestionsofhowtoteach.Shouldtheteaching-learningprocessbeteacher-centred,textbook-centred,orlearner-centred?
Howshouldthelearner’serrorsbetreated?
Whattechniquesshouldbeadoptedintheclassroom?
Sinceappliedlinguisticsdefinesthenatureoflanguagelearninginconnectionwithvariouslinguistictheories,ithelpstheteachertochooseteachingmethodsandtechniques.
However,theirrelationshavevariedalongwiththedevelopmentoflinguisticsandL2teachinginthepast120years.
Appliedlinguistics,initsnarrowsense,referstothestudyofsecondandforeignlanguagelearningandteaching.Initsbroadersense,itreferstothestudyoflanguageandlinguisticsinrelationtopracticalproblems,suchaslexicography,translation,speechpathology,ect.Appliedlinguisticsusesinformationfromsociology,psychology,anthropology,andinformationtheoryaswellasfromlinguisticsinordertodevelopitsowntheoreticalmodelsoflanguageandlanguageuse,andthenusesthisinformationandtheoryinpracticalareassuchassyllabusdesign,speechtherapy,languageplanning,stylistics,ect.
2.Variouslinguisticviewsandtheirsignificancein(relationwith)languagelearningandteaching
2.1StageI(1880-1940):
implicitinfluence
Itiscustomarytoassigngrammarsbeforethebeginningofmodernlinguisticsin1916,generallyconsideredtobemarkedbythepublicationofCourseinGeneralLinguisticsbySaussure,the“fatherofmodernlinguistics.LinguisticswasfullyacknowledgedasascienceafterWorldWarII(Stern,1983).However,modernL2hasahistoryofmorethan100years,longbeforelinguisticsobtaineditsscientificstatus.Logicallyspeaking,linguistictheoriescouldnotbesystematicallyappliedtoL2teachingwhenitwasnotascienceitself.Therefore,beforethe1940s,L2teachingwasprimarilybasedonintuitionofteachersaboutwhatwasbestforlanguageteaching.Traditionalgrammarprevailedduringthisperiod.TheoreticallinguisticsdidnotexertanexplicitandsystematicinfluenceonL2teaching.
ATRADITIONALGRAMMARisapre-20thcenturylanguagedescriptionwhichisbasedonearliergrammarsofGreekorLatin.Asaproductofthepre-linguisticera,itlaysemphasisoncorrectness,literaryexcellence,theuseofLatinmodels,andthepriorityofthewrittenlanguage.
Inlanguageteaching,textbooksbasedontraditionalgrammarstakeprominentwritersofthepreviouscenturiesaslanguagemodels.Theyfavorthepast“purest”languageformratherthanthepresent“degenerated”form;theypreferthewrittenlanguagetospokenlanguage;theyconcentrateondetailedpointsinsteadoftheconstructionofthewholetext.Undertraditionallanguageteaching,studentslearntoknowmanytaboos.Forexample,inEnglishonecannotuse“splitinfinitives”orendsentenceswithprepositions,becausethesearenotallowedinLatingrammar.Thetraditionalapproachtolanguageteachinginvolvesthepresentationofnumerousdefinitions,rulesandexplanations,anditadoptsateacher-centeredgrammar-translationmethod,i.e.themainteachingandlearningactivitiesaregrammarandtranslationstudy.Intheviewofmanymodernlinguists,suchanapproachisdamagingtolanguagelearning.Theyarguethatoneshouldteachthelanguage,notteachaboutthelanguage.Incommunication,oneshouldlearnfirstto“speak”thelanguage,notto“read”thelanguage.
Doyouknowthefollowingsentencesareincorrectaccordingtotraditionalgrammarandhowtocorrectthem?
⑴Whoareyoutalkingwith?
⑵Noneofthemwereabletocome.
⑶Willwegetananswersoon?
⑷Thetwomenlookedatoneanotherinsurprise.
⑸Wouldyoumindmesittinghere?
⑹Itismehere.
⑺Galileosaidthattheearthtravelsroundthesun.
⑻SwitzerlandisbetweenFrance,Germany,AustraliaandItaly.
⑼Thefieldsturngreener.
⑽Thecityisveryfulloflife.
⑾IwanttovisitwithTom.
However,agroupofscholarsdidshowgreatinterestinlanguageteaching.Sometriedouttheirinsightfulideasinpracticesuccessfully,otherslargelycarriedouttheirdiscussionsinwordsHerearesomesuchscholarsandtheireffortsintheuselinguistictheoryinL2teaching.
2.2.1FrancoisGouin’sinitialattempt
FrancoisGouin,aFrenchteacherofLatin,bycontrastinghisownunsuccessfulexperiencesoflearningGermanwithhis3-year-oldnephew’ssuccessfulexperiencesoflearningFrench,madeacloseexaminationofthesecretoflanguagelearninganddiscoveredthat⑴utterancesandthoughtsarerelatedtoeachother.Inotherwords,averbalexpressionisusedtoexpresswhatapersonhasbeenthinking.Sincethoughtsoccurinsequence,sentencesspokencouldalsobeinaseries.⑵Thekeyelementinasentenceistheverbratherthanthenoun.Hisremarkablediscoverieseventuallyresultedinanewteachingmethodentitled“SeriesMethod”or“DIRECTMETHOD”
Directmethodisamethodofforeignorsecondlanguageteachingwhichhasthefollowingfeatures:
⑴Onlythetargetlanguageshouldbeusedinclass
⑵Meaningshouldbecommunicateddirectly(hencethenameofthemethod)byassociatingspeechformswithactions,objects,mime,gestures,andsituations.
⑶Readingandwritingshouldbetaughtonlyafterspeaking.
⑷Grammarshouldonlybetaughtinductively,i.e.grammarrulesshouldnotbetaughttothelearners
Thedirectmethodwasdevelopedinthelate19thcenturyasareactionagainsttheGRAMMARTRANSLATIONMETHOD.
2.1.2HenrySweet’slinguisticapproach
UnlikeGouin,HenrySweet(1845-1912)begunwithlinguisticthoughtsandthenappliedlinguistictheorytoL2teaching.HerearehisprinciplesofL2teaching,resultedfromascientificanalysisoflanguageandastudyofpsychology.
Carefulselectionofwhattobetaught
Imposinglimitsonwhatistobetaught
Arrangeteachingcontentintermsoffourskillsoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting
Gradingmaterialsfromsimpletocomplex.
2.1.3HaroldPalmerasFatherofBritishappliedlinguistics
Palmer(1877-1949)isoftenregardedasthefatherofBritishappliedlinguisticssinceheisthefirstpersontoexplicitlymadesystematicandconvincingargumentsontheimportanceoflinguisticsinL2learning.
Accordingtohistheory,languagelearningistolearnsounds,phonemes,letters,theoriginofword,semanticmeaningsandsyntacticalunits.Followingwhatshouldbelearnedbythestudents,teachersshouldhaveasetofcorrespondingtechniquestoteachthesedifferentunits.
2.2StageII(1940-1960):
positiveandpowerful
Theperiodform1940to1960witnessedexplicit,extensiveandpowerfulinfluenceoflinguisticsonL2teachingduetotherapidgrowthofstructurallinguisticsinAmericaandtheurgentneedsofL2teachingduringtheSecondWorldWar.
Structuralistlinguisticsdescribeslinguisticfeaturesintermsofsystemsorstructures.Dissatisfiedwithtraditionalgrammars,structuralistgrammarsetsouttodescribethecurrentspokenlanguagewhichpeopleuseincommunication.Forthefirsttime,structuralistgrammarprovidesdescriptionofphonologicalsystemswhichaidsthesystematicteachingofpronunciation.However,liketraditionalgrammars,thefocusofstructuratistgrammarisstillonthegrammaticalstructuresofalanguage.Structuralistteachingmaterialsarearrangedonabasisofunderlyinggrammaticalpatternsandstructures,andorderedinawaysupposedtobesuitableforteaching