语言学期末论文

2010-2011-2 语言学作业

自拟题目，用英语写一篇与语言学相关的文章，不少于600字。内容包括：题目、中英文摘要、正文和参考文献。

Active Learning Strategy of Advanced English Vocabulary

Abstract: Vocabulary acquisition is of particular importance to a second language learner whichever level he is at. However, study shows that the language competence gap is not in proportion to the language knowledge. So the English majors, be it graduate or post-graduate, are expected to take their advantage and learn more vocabulary in a scientific way. This article is to set goal for them from the view of internal vocabulary and brief the definition of lexical approach with the hope of giving advice to high-level English learners.

摘要：不管二语习得者处于什么水平，词汇的学习都占有举足轻重的地位。但是，研究表明，并不是语言知识差距越大，语言驾驭能力的差距就越大。所以，不管是本科生还是研究生阶段的英语专业的学生都应该利用自己的语言知识优势，以更加科学的方法积累词汇。这篇文章从内部语言知识入手，确立了词汇习得目标，并简要陈述词汇法的定义，旨在给高阶英语学习者提供建议。

Key words: vocabulary acquisition, internal vocabulary, lexical knowledge, lexical approach.

Internal vocabulary

Internal vocabulary, to put it easier, is the vocabulary of the language learner that stored in his long-term memory. It has two subtypes, namely receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary. The former means those words that the learners can recognize and understand while reading or listening the moment they appear. The latter means those words that the learners can use in oral or written expressions when they practicing speaking, writing and more advanced, translating and interpreting.

If an English major with sound specialized knowledge can not feel his sharp edge when compete with a non-English major in an oral English competition, although he can come out first among all the candidates if there is a written examination. It high time he came to realize that reading original English newspapers and magazines and listening to VOA or BBC do not guarantee that he can perform excellent while producing English, in spit of the fact that it dose mean he has a superior command of receptive vocabulary.

To distinguish the two aspects of internal vocabulary is the first thing to do for advanced English learners. The second thing is to bear in mind the two require different logics and thus retrieval mechanism. Lexical approach

It has long been assumed by the structuralists that syntactic rules are the major factor in language acquisition. However the lexical approach has introduced a new definition to the lexis and advocators hold that lexical phrases, not traditional grammar, should be the basis that learners internalize the language. The lexis is given a new concept, in which it is not only exclusive to single word. Word combinations or word phrases in the learners’ brain broaden the category of vocabulary. It is also called “prefabricated chunks”.

According to Michael Lewis, the above-mentioned new concept, lexical phrases, falls into four sub-categories. Firstly, words and those phrase whose meaning is as a single word and will

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班级：英语083 姓名：郭思悦 学号：2008141090

change if any word of the phrase is changed. In short, they are like word in many perspectives. For example, “by the way”and“so far so good”. The second is collation between words that often appear together in actual using. This type is more or less attached to the learning of single words and draws the attention of English majors who should understand a word in the dictionary in deeper and broader sense. The third is conventional expressions like“A watched pot never boils”. There is a strong touch of social and cultural distinctions within each language community and this is a vital part of lexical knowledge, the absence of which will lead to the failure of communication. The fourth is the phrase that can form fixed sentence pattern. Examples are“the more… the more ”and“would you please…”. Revelations

Quantity is far from enough. Quality calls for comprehensive understanding of each word and word phrase. For the high-level English learners who feel at lost in their vocabulary acquisition, several suggestions are made with reference to the formerly discussed issues as the outline.

As is stated in the text-book of linguistics, a word has three senses. Except for its physical appearance, we can make full use of context and association to deal with the semantic and grammar knowledge of a word. Study has shown that context is more efficient that a dry glossary. Take the word “fast” for example. In fast woman, fast color, fast friend, fast day, fast food, fast conclusion, fast talk, its meaning is respectively 放荡的女人， 不易褪的颜色， 忠实的朋友， 斋戒日， 快餐， 一成不变的结论 and 花言巧语. Without context, it is of great difficulty of remember all the different meanings of“fast”. When learning the collocations, special attention should be attached to some simple and frequently-encountered words, like some prepositions, adverbs and monosyllabic verbs.

Association of a person to a certain word can be used as a criterion testing his language competence, which indicates its vital role in language acquisition. Also from the perspective of the three senses of word, Association of a word includes semantic association, word formation association and usage association. The former two has been studied before but usage association is a new one. As for adverbs and adjectives, this concept mainly means collocation, whereas nouns and verbs are main objects of usage association. If the principles of this association are revealed in spite of the arbitrariness of language, the establishment of second language mechanism in terms of psycholinguistics will be easier and so will be the produce of it.

Being conventional and idiomatic are the characteristics of most of the word phrases, so to deal with this the suggestion is to learn them with the assistance of pragmatics knowledge. That means using the newly acquired word or phrases as more as possible. Productive vocabulary is what mattes and it is concerned with speaking, writing, translating and interpreting, with each practicing a different level and all combined to be the whole. Conclusion

Rivers hold that the accumulation of vocabulary rests upon the active and strategic learning of the students not upon the teachers. Language, just as other human behaviors, is a habit. In the cultivation of this habit, those fixed and semi-fixed word chunks play an important role. With the goal being accurate production and the effective retrieval mechanism to be established, the above discussed is expected to be of help. Reference

[1] Liu Hong, The Lexical Approach— a New Perception on Nature of Language Acquisition, Dept. of Foreign Language, Beijing, 2006.

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班级：英语083 姓名：郭思悦 学号：2008141090

[2] Zhu Xiao-qin, Internal Vocabulary and Vocabulary Acquisition, Foreign Language Department, Western University, Yongchuan, 2003.

[3] Li Xiao-ping, Understanding and Practice in the English Teaching Reform for Graduate Students, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, NUAA, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 2003. [4] Wang Chun, Lexical Approach and Active Lexical Teaching.

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