认知语言学考试

The definition of Cognitive Linguistics:
In linguistics, cognitive linguistics (CL) refers to the branch of linguistics that interprets language in terms of the concepts, sometimes universal, sometimes specific to a particular tongue, which underlie its forms. It is thus closely associated with semantics but is distinct from psycholinguistics, which draws upon empirical findings from cognitive psychology in order to explain the mental processes that underlie the acquisition, storage, production and understanding of speech and writing. Cognitive linguistics goes beyond the visible structure of language and investigates the considerably more complex backstage operations of cognition that create grammar, conceptualization, discourse, and thought of itself. It is cognition oriented, meaning-centered, explainable-aimed and universal linguistics.
The background of Cognitive Linguistics:
Cognitive Linguistics is a branch that study language from the point of view of cognition which grows up in 1980s. Its theoretical background lies in the second generation of cognitive science and embodied philosophy. It was born on against for the mainstream linguistics of transformational generative grammar and mold during the 1980s and 1990s.
The earliest thinking about Cognitive Linguistics began with Talmy(1978). The symbols of the emergence of Cognitive Linguistics are the publications: M. Johnson <The Body in the Mind>（1987）, （G. Lakoff）<Women, fire and dangerous things>（1987）and R. Langacker <Cognitive Grammar>（1987）. In 1989, the first conference on Cognitive Linguistics was organized in Duisburg, Germany, by Rene Dirven. After the conference, < Cognitive Linguistics> was published and ICLA：International Cognitive Linguistics Association was also founded and a series of books of Cognitive Linguistics Research appeared. Then the magazine <Pragmatics and Cognition> is published by John Benjamins Publishing Company in 1993. From the later period of 1980s, Cognitive Linguistics developed vigorously in the western countries as a new approach to explain the Language phenomenon, especially in America.
The main figures of Cognitive Linguistics:
George Lakoff, Mark Johnson and Ronald Wayne Langacker are generally considered the main figures of Cognitive Linguistics.
The main schools of Cognitive Linguistics:
1.Fillmore——Frame Semantics(框架语义学)
koff，Talmy…——Cognitive Semantics(认知语义学)
ngcker——Cognitive Grammar(认知语法)
4.S. Lamb——Neurocognitive Linguistics（神经认知语言学）
The viewpoint of Cognitive Linguistics：
1.experiential view: conceptual experience(经历观)
2.prominence view: prominence is the result of cognition.(凸显观)
3.attention view: (关注观)
a.Cognitive linguistics is characterized by adherence to three central positions. First, it denies that there is an
autonomous linguistic faculty in the mind; second, it understands grammar in terms of conceptualization; and
third, it claims that knowledge of language arises out of language use.
b.Cognitive linguists deny that the mind has any module for language-acquisition that is unique and
autonomous. This stands in contrast to the stance adopted in the field of generative grammar. Although
cognitive linguists do not necessarily deny that part of the human linguistic ability is innate, they deny that it
is separate from the rest of cognition. They thus reject a body of opinion in cognitive science which suggests
that there is evidence for the modularity of language. They argue that knowledge of linguistic phenomena —
i.e., phonemes, morphemes, and syntax —essentially conceptual in nature. However, they assert that the
storage and retrieval of linguistic data is not significantly different from the storage and retrieval of other
knowledge, and that use of language in understanding employs similar cognitive abilities to those used in
other non-linguistic tasks.
c.Departing from the tradition of truth-conditional semantics, cognitive linguists view meaning in terms of
conceptualization. Instead of viewing meaning in terms of models of the world, they view it in terms of mental
spaces.
d.Finally, cognitive linguistics argues that language is both embodied and situated in a specific environment.
This can be considered a moderate offshoot of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, in that language and cognition
mutually influence one another, and are both embedded in the experiences and environments of its users. Cognitive Linguistics and other schools of Linguistics:
1.Against with Formal Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics holds that human capacity is not independent but closely
related to people’s general cognitive ability.
2.Against with Formal Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics thinks that cognitive syntax which is one part of language
structure is not self-sufficient. Syntax and the vocabulary and semantic parts of language are closely related and the latter is more important.
3.Different from Formal Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics persists that meaning is not only the truth condition of
objective but also combine objective and subjective together. The study of meaning is always concerned with people’s subjective view or mental factor.
4.Different from Formal Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics persists that the unit categories of language are
non-discrete and the boundary is not clear like most of the established categories.
5.Different from Formal Linguistics, Cognitive Linguistics pays more attention to different national cognitive
character’s influence to language expression on the basis of admit the communalities of human cognition.
The definition of Cognitive Semantics:
Cognitive semantics which dealing mainly with lexical semantics, separates semantics (meaning) into meaning-construction and knowledge representation. It is the central content of Cognitive Linguistics. Lakoff & Johnson（1999：497 ）think that Cognitive Semantics mainly studies human conceptual system, meaning and inference. Cognitive Semantics descripts conceptual structure that is the result of cognitive process. Cognitive is closely related with human psychological experience, cognitive modal and knowledge structure which constitute the basis of Cognitive Semantics. They emphasize human experience and knowledge capacity and there are no meaning and objective truth independent of cognition. They strongly against the truth value of corresponding of objectivism and they hold that meaning is a kind of mental phenomenon. Meaning construction is at the same time with human conceptualization. Meaning is closely related with concept, function and human knowledge. Meaning construction is conceptualization which is based on the process of body experience. Concept is formed by body, mind and world experience and only through that can be understood.
Logical Semantics and Cognitive Semantics:
Logical Semantics is also called truth conditional semantics or objective semantics which is a major research method of semantic studies before Cognitive Semantics. Logical Semantics applies Logistics to semantic analysis which holds that semantic is the sufficient and necessary condition to make the proposition true, or we call it” truth condition”.
Logical Semantics concludes the true value of corresponding and condition. Truth value lies in the correspondence between symbols and things. If the utterance is correspondent with the situation, it is true, or else it is false. Logical Semantics belongs to objectivism essentially which get rid of the influence of psychological factors when descripting meaning and meaning has no relationship with any kinds of concept formation and cognitive process. While Cognitive Semantics holds that meaning is not only the truth condition of objectives but also has a direct relationship with human’s conceptual structure and its formation process. Lakoff & Johnson reject descripting meaning by formalism and semantic elements analysis. They hold that meaning has great relationship with human knowledge, and they propose encyclopedia type of semantic analysis method. And meaning is dynamic, variable and uncertain because of the certain Ambiguity and uncertainty in category division. Cognitive Semantics interface something objective and subjective, so it has more explainable force than the traditional one.
The principles of Cognitive Semantics:
1.Conceptual structure is embodying.
2.Semantics structure is conceptual structure.
3.Meaning representation is mind representation and multidimensional.
4.Meaning construction is conceptualization.
The main approaches of Cognitive Semantics:
bine cognition with language;
2.Apply encyclopedia, multidimensional and multidisciplinary study point;
3.Study meaning in the process of conceptualization;
4.Apply metaphor view
5.Start from non-objectivism and emphasize human-centered;
6.Explain the complex language phenomenon through embodiment view;
7.Observe meaning construction from the dynamic view;
8.Pay more attention to intergradation of multiple space and emergence and development of innovation structure;
9.Emphasize the prominence of meaning and cognition.
Encyclopedia view of meaning:
Meaning is encyclopedia knowledge at root which is a major hypothesis of Cognitive Semantics. This hypothesis includes two aspects: one is that linguistic units (word) provide an access point to encyclopedia knowledge rather than bring the meaning which was packed previously. According to this, the meaning of word cannot exist independently without the encyclopedia knowledge attaches to it. People can know the structure knowledge through meaning structure. The other is encyclopedia knowledge roots in the interactive between human and social experience and the surrounding world (physical experience). This view of meaning has fundamental difference with the traditional dictionary view. This view provides us a total new standpoint for understanding the essence of meaning. And also provides the instructive significance to English vocabulary teaching. Encyclopedia knowledge is a kind of world knowledge and it should not be the object which semantics studies. This view is correspondent to the modularity hypothesis of formal linguistics.
ICM:
It is short for Idealized Cognitive Models, which was proposed by Lackoff. It is a kind of abstract, unified and idealized understanding of speakers experience and knowledge of certain fields with special culture background. We organize the knowledge through ICM. And category structure and prototype effect are the results of it. ICM is a kind of relative stable relational model between conceptions according to people’s experience. The most important character of ICM is that the gestalt structure is always bigger than the elements added together simply.
Prototype theory:
Prototype category theory is always called prototype theory or typical theory. It originates from Wittgenstein’s family resemblance. It is a new conceptual building model which was proposed by American psychologist Eleanor Rosch when the sufficient and necessary conditions in the traditional category model face the shortness in actual using. This theory has a great influence on many levels of language studies. It is different with the Classical theory of Aristotle period. It is based on priori guess but not the result of experience. Prototype theory is an inside psychological schema which is guided by the daily use of language. It holds that meaning is the experience of human body. According to prototype theory, word meaning is given by actual language use but linguists and philosophers. What prototype theory studies is the flesh and blood of language and its user. It pays more attention to language user’s experience to meaning category.
The shortcomings of prototype theory：
1.Prototype theory can solve part of semantic problem like the vagueness of semantic. People’s knowledge about
many things in the world is clear because of not all the things in the world are vague. So in language, not all the semantic domains are vague. The prototype theory is not better than the traditional way of component analysis in the analysis of unequivocal semantic domain. Even if in the study of semantic domain, the prototype theory’s applicable scope is narrow. Beyond the scope, the prototype theory will lost its advantage.
2.The second problem of prototype semantics is its overlook of the rational content of semantic domain which is
showed by Wittgenstein’s analysis of “spiel”. Wittgenstein ho lds that the category like “spi e l” has no common attribute at all which is obviously wrong. Labov and Rosch inherit this wrong ideas which persist that not only the “spi e l” category but the daily categories which include cup, furniture, desk, chair and sofa and so on are build up on the family resemblance and have no common attribute at all. The studies didn’t withstand the test of human common sense and intuition. The members of one category do exist some common attribute (though very few) to distinguish it from other categories.
3.The prototype of semantic domain and its basic level category has the cultural basis or we can say that the
prototype analysis of semantic domain should take culture implication into consideration and unite the analysis of
cultural factors of semantic domain changes. The prototype and basic level theory is changing with the cognitive and culture model. But so far, the prototype analysis of semantic domain always ignored the pragmatic culture analysis of semantic.
The advantages of using Cognitive Semantics in foreign language teaching:
1.In foreign language teaching, Cognitive Semantics provides more effective learning method to help students to
remember word and meaning of word phrases.
2.Cognitive Semantics brings a new development thought and creates more effective teaching modals and the
theoretical supports for teaching method.
3.Prototype theory using in foreign language teaching is accordant with the rule that prototype members can be
recognized and studied and remembered or acquisition earlier. Study along with this regulation is correspondent with the human cognition rule which help the acquisition of language. And students can understand the problem of language transfer. Knowing about this, students can learn language actively and access to positive transfer.
4.The basic level vocabulary is the shortest and is used very frequently in communication, so it can be learnt by
learners.
ing Cognitive theories like image schema, prototype theory and metaphor views to polysemous words teaching
can help students connect the meanings of the same word together and analysis from the basis to use the word flexible.
6.Foreign language learning is the process of frame study. Understanding and using idioms through the study of this
special frame can help students to improve the language capacity.
7.From the associative and family resemblance theory, learners can test the word meanings from the word net
which are connected. They can think of insect, wings, fly and moth and so on when they come across the word “butterfly”.
The advantages of using Cognitive Linguistics to foreign language teaching:
Cognitive Linguistics plays the role of theoretical tool in foreign language teaching.
1.The experiential view, prototype theory, and hierarchical category theory have the instructive significance in
foreign language teaching. The target of experiential view is to combine the teaching content with the experience that students already had and from that they can acquire new language and culture. Then new language cultural knowledge consolidates on the known knowledge and language cognitive space is expanded. Typical reference theory requires teachers find out and apply typical case to make meaning be understood sufficiently. Hierarchical category theory of language is good for students to grasp the range and difficulty.
2.Prominence view in language teaching, using and actual operation has great importance.
3.Attention view: it is the main content which can improve students’ grasping, operating and using language
capacity and skills. According to the theory, students can pay attention to text, sentence and case of language statements and describes to improve actual language capacity through study and grasp different level, angle and viewpoint which can open students’ range of mind and nurture acute insight.
Cognitive Linguistics pays more attention to human nature. Teacher can organize classroom teaching centered on cognitive process which includes communication features and meaning construction. Explicit and formal teaching (grammar teaching) methods are important in foreign language teaching. Image schema theory applies to listening and reading can give background knowledge. Iconicity of distance has great advantage in vocabulary teaching.
Constructivism model in translation helps students get familiar with common features and differences of bilingual concept system and possess intercultural competence to construct text in diversity of context.
The complementary of Pragmatics and Cognitive Linguistics reflect in what aspects? Give some examples.
Pragmatics and Cognitive Linguistics all belong to science socialist ideological trend of modern western philosophy, Classic socialist philosophy, Britain and American analytical philosophy, Pierce semiotics and linguistics that studies mental activity and Physiological activities of language from the internal aspect of organisms. The theoretical base of pragmatics and cognitive linguistics is Pierce’s semio tics and through which can be explained.
1.Psychological context in Cognitive Linguistics and physical context in Pragmatics are closely related. Pragmatics
proceeds logical reasoning on language motivation (the intention of speaker) according to specific situation (physical context). Cognitive Linguists give explanation of language cause and process of psychological activities. In
communication, addressee explains utterances according to his psychological context (mind, experience and cognition). While in cognitive communication, the logical reasoning on language motivation and explanation based on psychological context are always alternate and complementary.
2.‘Speaker and hearer’in background and context is similar to the ‘background’ in Cognitive Grammar. In these two
concepts, speaker and hearer both are the most important component. In Cognitive Linguistics and Pragmatics, speaker and hearer is the “explainer” in Pierce semiotics which is the subject of cognition and plays important role in it.
3.Relevance theory transfers the importance of pragmatic inference to Cognitive psychology or we can say that it is
the combination of Pragmatics and Cognitive Linguistics. From reference, we can see that in reference or analysis, physical and psychological context like logical reasoning and cognition based on experience are closely related. No matter metaphor and metonymy, the conceptual rejecting which can be easily activated between the two cognitive domains provides the necessary bridge to pragmatic reference. Pragmatic reference and cognitive analysis are complex and comprehensive and cannot be separated.
4.According to Cognitive Linguistics, preference is not only semantic and pragmatic phenomenon but also a kind of
cognition process.
5.The experiential view provides pragmatic reference study new perspective and theoretical reference point.
The theories of Cognitive Semantics that can be used in intensive reading teaching:
1.Prototype theory using in foreign language teaching is accordant with the rule that prototype members can be
recognized and studied and remembered or acquisition earlier. Study along with this regulation is correspondent with the human cognition rule which help the acquisition of language. And students can understand the problem of language transfer. Knowing about this, students can learn language actively and access to positive transfer.
2.Foreign language learning is the process of frame study. Understanding and using idioms and phrases in reading
through the study of this special frame can help students to improve the language capacity.
ing Cognitive theories like image schema to intensive reading teaching can help students connect the meanings
of the expressions with the specific situations and analysis from the basis to use the word flexible.
4.According to metaphor view, students can learn the figure of speech of the articles which will help understand the
passage better. And students also can learn writing method through study the writing style or specific expressions of professional articles of many kinds.
5.According to meaning construction view, students can reference human psychological experience based on
conceptual system.
6.Meaning is encyclopedia knowledge at root which is a major hypothesis of Cognitive Semantics. According to this,
the meaning of word cannot exist independently without the encyclopedia knowledge attaches to it. From intensive reading, students can learn the detail knowledge of certain fields which will expand their vision. This view of meaning has fundamental difference with the traditional dictionary view. This view provides us a total new standpoint for understanding the essence of meaning.
The inspirations of Cognitive Semantics to Chinese study:
Inflectional change is the main field of western language study, but it is neglected in Chinese study. According to Tamly’s work Toward Cognitive Semantics, he gives some ideas of Cognitive Semantics and inflection and uses symbol theory to distinguish grammatical items and lexical items. He proposes that grammatical units have internal meaning and are closed but lexical items are open. Language plays roles based on lexical items and conceptual content by itself. According to Tamly, the conception that expressed by lexical forms is infinite because of the endless of human experience and knowledge and comprehension. But the conception that expressed by grammar forms has an end. From Tamly’s analysis, Chinese linguistics began to study the inflection of Chinese lexical item change and pay more attention to grammar. They
re-definite the meaning of inflection according to Chinese character attributes that different from western countries and conclude the characteristics and clarification of Chinese inflection. They also talk about the effect of inflection to meaning of Chinese character and other factors which deepen the study of Chinese.
It is probably not accurate to say that contrastive analysis was replaced by error analysis and that error analysis was replaced by performance analysis, etc., but rather that each respective analysis subsumed that earlier one. Please discuss about it.
CA appeared in 1950s and flourished in 1960s which held that the difficulty the L2 language learner face is the interference of L1. The solution to this problem is to descript and contrast L1 and L2. The target of CA is to predict the learning difficulty in L2 learning through difference contrast. But studies show that the difficulties that CA predicted do not ex ist at all in learner’s actual language use. CA began to decline in the earlier 1970s. It faced the challenge not only on theories but practice. Studies showed that the difficulty cannot predict from the difference of two languages directly and the difficulty cannot fully lead to errors. Its formula doesn’t accord with the fact. EA took place of CAs because of its declines in 1960s and flourished in 1970s. On the basis of CA, EA pays more attention to leaner’s language system which is considered an accurate start for SLA. EA is the inheritance and development of CA. It promoted the development of SLA and its studies provided feedback to teaching design, classroom teaching, teaching materials compiling and test. But it had many problems in method which includ e: take learner’s language competence as homogeneous and cannot explain the variation in language errors. It only investigated learner’s errors but the whole process of SLA. And EA is static and cannot distinguish errors in different stages. And it cannot observe the avoidance of error of learners. EA declined after 1970s. PA uncovers several perspectives on a problem. It pays more attention to the actual language use analysis and finds problems through communication and other aspect which is relatively comprehensive than EA.
In what sense are inter-actionist theories more powerful than mentalist or environmentalist theories?
Environmentalism holds that learner is the machine to produce language and language environment is the determiner. Language input has direct relationship with output. Learning took place when learners had the opportunity to practice making the correct response to a given stimulus-response connection. Learners imitated models of certain language forms and sentence patterns from speakers and then to internalization. Mentalism emphasizes the black box of learners which is called Language Acquisition Device that language learner possess innately. Although language input is necessary, its function is only to trigger internal language processing mechanism. Students cannot materialize the internalization of language rules only depend on language input process. Environmentalist theory tried to explain language learning from external factors, while mentalists emphasize the internal factors. Both of them are unilateral. Inter-actionist theory takes language acquisition as the result of interaction of learner internal thinking ability and outside environment. Language process mechanism determines the nature of language input and is determined by the nature of language input. Also the quality of language input influence the nature of internal mechanism. It is obviously observed the inter-action in internal and external factors in the discourse between learner and others.
Define and give some examples of learning strategies. How to train learning strategies.
Learner strategies are the particular approaches or techniques that learners employ to try to learn an L2. They can be behavioral or mental. They are typically problem-oriented.
Different kinds of learning strategies have been identified:
1.Cognitive strategies: are those that are involved in the analysis, synthesis, or transformation of learning materials.
An example is ‘recombination’, which involves constructing a meaningful sentence by recombining known elements of the L2 in a new way.
2.Metacognitive strategies: are those involved in planning, monitoring, and evaluating learning. An example is
‘selective attention’, where the learner makes a conscious decision to attend to particular aspects of the input.
3.Social\affective strategies: concern the ways in which learners choose to interact with other speakers. An example
i s ‘questioning for clarification’.
In vocabulary learning, training students to use strategies that involving target words has generally proved successful. For example, the key word method requires learners to form two kinds of associations. First, learners associate the target word with a word which is the same or similar to an L1 word. Second, the L1 word is linked to a mental image that incorporates the meaning of the target word. In listening teaching, students can learn to predict and select answers. Teacher must help students use many kinds of strategies and change them flexibly according to different stages or tasks. The most important thing is that students must form autonomous learning ability and find their own ways of learning. Please explain the roles of input in L2 acquisition.
Input, itself, includes all the language signals, i.e. words, phrases and sentences of one particular language, and。