Report of.docx

Report of.docx

《Report of.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Report of.docx（7页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

Reportof

Reportof“AnIntroductiontoSociolinguistics”

writhenbyRonaldWardhaugh

Peopleoftenaskmeaboutwhatiamstudyingsinceiaminthefirsttermofmypostgraduatelearning.Facedwiththenormalandeasyquestionforamajor,oneshouldansweritquicklyandeasilywithoutanyhesitation.Butattheverybeginning,tobehonest,thequestionisdifficultformebecauseidon’tknowhowtosimplifytheanswerconcisely.Thenithinkaboutthename“Sociolinguistics”.Acompoundingwordofsocialityandlinguistics,somyinitialcomprehensionistostudytherelationshipbetweenourspokenlanguageandthemotivebehinditwithinasociety.Andmostofthetimetheimmediateresponseigetis‘whatisthepointofyourstudying?

Wesaywhatiwanttosay,plusnobodyistooboringastothinkoverthebehindmeaning.’Youdefendwhatyoulove,sociolinguisticsismystudyingfieldandtowhichiamattached.However,icannotgivepowerfulproofssoitwillbeunwisetoargue.Mysilenceseemtobeaslaponme.Thatmakesmedecidetoreadmoretobecomestrongasastudier.Irealizethatthemoreiknowthemoreifindthatsociolinguisticsisofgreatimportanceaswellasofgreatappealing.

Therearelotsmybooksonsociolinguisticsjustastherearelotsofsociolinguists.Andthefirstbookiintensivelyandseriouslyreadisthebook“AnIntroductiontoSociolinguistics”creditedtoRonaldWardhaugh,ofwhichiamwritingthereport.Inthisbook,thewritergiveancomprehensivedescriptionofthegeneralmaterialsincludedinsociolinguisticsfrom---------itgivesmeabigsurpriseforihadneverthoughtaboutthatthewordswespeakindailylifecontainsomuchinformation.Itissomysterious.Inthefollowingreport,iamgoingtorepresentsomekeypointsilearnfromthebook.Meanwhile,iamgoingtogivesomeexampleswhichfitcertainviewpointslistinthebookwhenicombinethemwithbehaviorsinourdaytodaylife.

Individualshaveknowledgeofthevariousnormsorlimitsofalanguage,andthatknowledgeisbothculturallyboundedandunconsciouslyapplied.Speakersinaconversationshouldsharesomeagreementsforefficientcommunication.Becauseaswespeakweneedtomakesureourpurposesrealized,andthebasementisthatthehearerreceivethemeaningweexpress.Forinstance,atpresentthereisanagreementsharedamongusfourroommates.Thatis,weuse“奢侈”tosubstitute”借/给”.Wefourusethesentencelike,”你可以奢侈点热水吗？

”but”你可以给我点热水吗？

”Thesourceofitisacarelessexpressionbyoneofmyroommates.Oneeveningsheaskedantherroomtogivehersomehotwatertowashfeet.Shesaid,”奢侈点水吧？

”Andithappenedtobeheartbyme.Soisaiditrepeatedlytotherestroommatesandtheybothlaughedloudlyandkeptthewordinmind.Initiallyijustthoughttheexpressionwasnothingbutfunny.Butnowadays“奢侈”hasbecomeconsciouslyknowtousfour.Itoccurstomethatmaybethatthenormsorlimitsthatwesticktocomeintousethroughthefamilialmethods.Whenthenumberofholdersofparticularnormsorlimitsgettocertainamountandtherepeatedapplicationtocertaintimesbringaboutsimilarresults.Thenwewillusethemasconventions.

Wegetcertaintyandsatisfactionfromtheactionconductedbythehearer.Wearecertainthatwepasstheintentioneffectively;wearesatisfiedthatthecommunicationabilityisproved.Yetthereexistsmanytimesinwhichwecomplainthatothersdon’tunderstandus.Wefeellonelyifwehavenocompaniestowhomwecouldtalkwithwithouttroublesomeexplanation.Andifthroughgreateffortthehearerstillisatalosswegetfrustrated.Thuswe,atthesametimehearthejudgementthatwecannotunderstandthatthespeakeristalkingabout.Weevendoubtwhetherthespeakerisofclearmind.Thetwosidescomplaintmainlyboilsdowntotheamountofinformationalagreementisblocked.Sosocialcommunicationisnotonlyaboutthewordsweproducebutsoaboutthewordsunspoken,i.e.,thecultureandtheexperienceofeveryindividual.Stillthoughwemayliveinoneculture,theinfluenceitmakesoneveryonevaries,nottomentionthattheexperiencepart.Nobody’sexperienceisquitethesamewithsomeoneelse’s.Eventwopeoplegothroughthesameexperiencetheygetdifferentfeelinganddifferentlessenfromit.Nowonderthesayinggoes“athousandhaveathousandHamlets.”Dosethismeanthatwegiveuptheefforttomakeusacross.Certainlyno.Communicationrequireswetrytofindthepiecesandbitscommontocommunicators.Nowitleavesustheimpressionthatcommunicationiscomplicatedanddemanding.Butonthecontrary,wefindcommunicationisnecessaryandpossible.What’smore,thecommunicationeffectisimprovedwiththetimesweexperience.Soitmaybesafetosaycommunicationisanacuminatingprocess.Wecommunicatewithothers;wereflextheresult.Withtheknowledgeweagaincommunicate,weadapttheskillsweagainlearnsomevaluablelesson.Itisacircle.Communicationislearnedandneedspractice.

Communicationisindispensabletoourlife.Wecommunicatetolive.Withoutanydoubt,everyonemayhavenotforgottenthememoryinchildhoodwhenyouweretoldnottosaysomethingordosomething.Andatthattime,weseemedtohaveunlimitedfreedomtosayordosomething.Thesomethingprohibitediscalledtaboo.Itlivesinanysociety.Tabooshouldbeavoidedbecauseitisconsideredtobeharmfultoitsmembersinthatitwouldcausethemanxiety,embarrassment,orshame.”Taboosubjectscanvarywidely:

sex,death,excretion,bodilyfunction,religiousmattersandpolitics.”Akidisallowedtouse“拉粑粑”insteadof“上厕所”.Whilebothmentiontothesamething--gototherestroom.Asagegoesupwewilllearnbyourselvesortaughtbyothersthat“拉粑粑”isnotappropriate.Weseetheindividualwhousesisnotappreciated.Sowerealizeitandpayattentiontotherulewheneverweneedtouse.Andthissharpobservationgrowsaccordingtotheexperience.WhenyoungchildrenbreakaplateoraspooninSpringFestival,adultsareveryfuriouswhiletheycouldnotscoldorbeattheyouth,sinceitisbelievedtobeunluckytoconductthebehaviorduringthefestival.Youcanalsonoticethatwhentheycleanthebrokenpiecestheysaysomethinglucky.“打发了。

”Itmeansthebreakingbringusfortune.Atlast,theywillputthebrokenpiecesinsomethingredandnotthrowitawayuntilthefestivalends.Thereasonishardtoprove,evenifitisobviousthereisnoconnectionbetweenluckandbrokenpieces.Theydosoformentalcomfort.Thereareremediesfortaboos.Theyareeuphemism.

“Euphemisticwordsandexpressionsallowustotalkaboutunpleasantthingsanddisguiseorneutralizetheunpleasantness.Theyalsoallowsustogivelabelstounpleasanttasksandjobsinanattempttomakethemsoundalmostattractive.”Inwords,euphemismhelpsustotalkabouttaboosinroundaboutways.Onthecompuse,wecallthemanorwomanwhokeepsaneyeonthedormitory“宿管”ratherthan“看门的叔叔或阿姨”.Wecallthecleanerwhocleansthedormitoryofclassroom”清洁工”ratherthan“搞卫生的人”.Andwiththeadvancementofthesociety,webegintopayattentiontothemanywordsusedbeforeandrepresentthemwithpoliteandcivilizedones.Someexamplesare:

“生理缺陷的人”for“残疾人”；“学习成绩不好的学生”for“差生”；“要饭的/叫花子”for“社会流浪的人”.Theeuphemisticuseletusgetridoftheunpleasantemotionandtosomedegreeitshowstherespect.Eachsocietyownsitsowntabooandeuphemism.Theyaffectusall.“Wemaynotbedeeplyconscious.Butweallprobablyhaveafewthingswerefusetotalkaboutandstillotherswedonottalkaboutdirectly...eachsocialgroupisdifferentfromeveryotherinhowitconstrainslinguisticbehaviorinthiswaybutconstrainitinsomesuchwayitcertainlydoes.Perhapsonelinguisticuniversalisthatnosocialgroupuseslanguagequiteuninhibitedly.”Howeverthefactisthattheconventionalrulesarenotbornwith.Theycanbepasseddownfromgenerationtogeneration,yetthisdosenotmeanthattheywon’tchange.Anyway,languagesareusedtoservepeople.Peoplechange,languageschange.

Itisnoneedtosaythatthereexistshundredsoflanguagesandthousandsofdialects.InChinawehavefifty--sixpeoplesandtheyallspeakthelanguage--Chinese,butingeneralweusedtoclassifythevariousdialectsintomajoreightdialectareas.Ineachdialectareapeopletherespeakdifferentlyfromplacetoplace.JusttogivetheexampleofHunan.IntheXiangtanUniversitymostofuscomefromHunanProvince.Whereaswehavetospeakmandarintocommunicate.Itisimpossibleandhardforustointeractwithoneanotherinone’sowndialect.Howcolorfulthelanguageis.Itintriguesaninterestingcommunicationwhenmanystudentssitdowntoexchangeone’sowndialectwithothers.Apracticeioftendoistoaskotherstospeakmynameinhisorherdialectandeverytimeicouldnothelptothinkhowstrangemynamewouldbeifitisspokeninacertaindialect.Accentsofdifferentdialectsareoftenusedtoimplytheplacewherethespeakerscomefrom.Somedialectsareeasiertoidentifythanothers.Forexample:

Sichuandialect,TianjindialectandFujiandialect.Themoreoftenonehearsandconsciouslytodifferentiatethebetterheorshecanmakeajudgement.Theskillscanbeenhancedbyexperience.Soourspeakingwordsexposelotsofinformationaboutourselves.Itisevennotanexaggerationtosaythatyouarewhatyousay.

Ourspeakingwordscangiveacluetoothersaboutourprofession,sex,age,education,religion,classandpoliticalstand.Whenwespeakweareassumedrolesanddifferentroleshavedifferentspeakingstylewhichatmeanwhileisaffectedbythecontext.Ifinaclassroomwehearthespeakersays“welldone”,wemustknowthespeakerisateacher.In