2015年北京外国语大学815语言学考研真题及参考答案

考试科目：外国语言学及应用语言学

I. Briefly explain the following terms. (50 points, 5 points each)

1．displacement

【答案】Displacement is one of the design features of language which refers to the concept that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of communication. Displacement benefits human beings by giving them the power to handle generalizations and abstractions.

2．blending

【答案】Blending is a kind of word formation. It means a process in which two words are blended by joining together the initial part of the first word and the final part of the second word, or by joining the initial parts of the two words, such as faction (fact+fiction), flare (flame+glare), etc.

3．constituent analysis

【答案】a. Definition: Constituent analysis (also called Immediate constituent analysis or IC Analysis) refers to the analysis of a sentence in terms of its immediate constituents—word groups (or phrases), which are in turn analyzed into the immediate constituents of their own, and the process goes on until the ultimate constituents are reached.

b. Advantages: Through IC analysis, the internal structure of a sentence may be demonstrated clearly, and ambiguities, if any, will be revealed.

c. Problems:

①It is not always possible to cut any construction, at any level into two parts.

②Discontinuous constituents will be hard to deal with in IC analysis and there are structural ambiguities which cannot be revealed by IC analysis.

4．hyponymy

【答案】Hyponymy is a kind of sense relation which involves inclusiveness or a matter of class membership. The upper term in this sense relation, i.e. the class name, is called superordinate, and the lower terms, or the members, are called hyponyms. Take “banana” and “fruit” as an example, since fruit includes banana, their relationship is called hyponymy; “fruit” is the superordinate of “banana”, and “banana” is the lower term and is called hyponym.

5．politeness

【答案】Politeness refers to the conversation principle of successful conversations, which is put forward by Geoffrey Leech. To remedy Grice’s Cooperation Principle, Leech puts forward six maxims of the Politeness Principle which runs as follows:

(1) Tact Maxim: Minimize cost to hearer; maximize benefit to hearer.

(2) Generosity Maxim: Minimize benefit to speaker; maximize cost to speaker.

(3) Approbation Maxim: Minimize dispraise of hearer; maximize praise of hearer.

(4) Modesty Maxim: Minimize praise of speaker; maximize dispraise of speaker.

(5) Agreement Maxim: Minimize disagreement between speaker and hearer; maximize agreement between speaker and hearer.

(6) Sympathy Maxim: Minimize antipathy between speaker and hearer; maximize sympathy between speaker and hearer

6．telegraphic speech

【答案】Telegraphic speech refers to the speech of incomplete sentences represented by two-word utterances, which is often used by children of 18 months. They are so called because they sound like language in telegrams in which the telegrapher leaves out the important information to save money. For example, “gimme toy” often uttered by a child belongs to telegraphic speech.

7．vocalization

【答案】Vocalization refers to the phenomenon that a vowel sound is used to replace a liquid sound (/l/, /r/...), which can often be found in the speech of children or certain linguistics groups. With vocalization, “water” becomes “wato” and “people” becomes “peopo”.

8．prototype

【答案】Prototype is instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes, which is often found in the prototype theory. It is viewed as a schematic representation of the most salient or central characteristics of a category. For example, a sparrow is the prototype of the bird while a penguin is not.

9．movement

【答案】Movement refers to the mechanism in syntax that a constituent in a sentence moves out of its original place to a new place governed by transformational rules. It is used to account for sentences whose surface structures are different but have the same meaning. With different constituents in a sentence, there are NP-movement, WH-movement, AUX-movement and ADJ-movement.

10．metonymy

【答案】Metonymy is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, “Washington”, as the capital of the United States, can be used as a metonym (an instance of metonymy) for the United States government.

II. Read the following passage and the two extracts and then answer questions. (40 points, 10 points each)

Much applied linguistics research now places interaction of one sort or another at the center of language teaching and learning. Rivers (1987, p. 4) observes that interaction is the key to teaching language for communication, noting that, through interaction “students can increase their language store as they listen or read authentic linguistic material, or even the output of their fellow students.” Then how are interactions operated in language classrooms? The interaction continuum (see Table 1) characterizes the tension already noted between teacher-controlled and learner-managed classrooms (Kramsch, 1987). At one end of the continuum, teacher control is maintained via “instructional discourse”, where teacher and learner roles and statuses are fixed and predictable; tasks are teacher-focused and involve the conveying and receiving of information; and linguistic accuracy is important. At the other end of the continuum, “natural discourse” is sustained through flexible and negotiated teacher and learner roles; tasks are group-oriented and meaning-focused; and interaction itself is the focus of learning (i.e., the learning opportunity). Kramsch’s model suggests that “natural discourse” creates or allows for more uncertainty in all aspects of classroom practice. Thus, classroom discourse and interaction is less predictable in more learner-centered and meaning-focused L2 classrooms. Of course, while specific classrooms might draw upon one discourse more than another, most L2 teaching and learning draws upon both as teachers and learners establish “convivial discourse” somewhere in the middle of the continuum (Kramsch, 1987). Indeed, instructional and natural discourse are “neither mutually dependent nor mutually exclusive, though they interrelate and interact in complex ways to provide organizational structure [to the lesson]” (van Lier, 1988, p. 155), with the balance of classroom discourses, interaction and control changing between and within lessons according to the particular aims and needs of the class at that time.

Now look at the extracts from two different English language classrooms below, and discuss the differences between the two sequences.

1．What role(s) does the teacher take in each, for example instructor, evaluator, guide, or resource?

2．What classroom interaction features can you identify in terms of teaching focus (forma or meaning), IRF (initiate, response, feedback) exchanges, giving instructions and explanations, eliciting learner language, question types, and repair?

3．How would you assess their interaction characteristics by referring to Kramsch’s Interaction continuum?

4．Do L2 learning opportunities arise during each exchange? Please specify your opinions with concrete examples.

Extract 1: from a Norwegian primary school, focusing on the language point ‘have got’:

1．T: Now I want everybody to listen to me, and when I say ‘you are going to say after me’, you are going to say what I say. We can try...

2．T: I’ve got a lamp - a lamp. Say after me ‘I’ve got a lamp’

3．LL: I’ve got a lamp

4．T: I’ve got a glass, a glass. Say after me ‘I’ve got a glass’

5．LL: I’ve got a glass

6．T: I’ve got a vase, a vase. Say after me ‘I’ve got a vase’

7．LL: I’ve got a vase

…

8．T: I’ve got a hammer. What have you got, Tjartan?

9．L1: I have a hammer

10．T: Can everybody say ‘I’ve got’?

11．L1: I’ve got

12．T: Fine. I’ve got a belt. What have you got, Kjersti?

13．L2: Hmm - I’ve got a telephone

...

14．T: And listen to me again - and look what I’ve written. I’ve got a hammer - just listen now-have you got a hammer?

15．L: Yes

16．T: Raise your hand up now Bjorn

17．L3: Yes

18．T: I’ve...

19．L3: I’ve got a hammer

20．T: You’ve got a hammer and then you answer ‘yes, I have’ - ‘Yes, I have’. I’ve got a belt. Have you got a belt, Vegard?

21．L4: Er ... no

22．T: You only answer with ‘yes’

23．L4: Yes

24．T: Yes...

25．L4: I...have

26．T: I have ... fine ... I’ve got a trumpet. Have you got a trumpet, Anna?

27．L5: Ah ... er ... erm ... yes, I have

Extract 2: From a primary school in Abu Dhabi, in which a learner comes to the front of the class to share his experience with the rest of the class:

1．L1: Before on Wednesday I went to a trip in Dubai because my father’s work they gave him a paper that we could go to a free trip to Dubai

2．T: Ah ...

3．L1: Ya, and on the paper it said we could stay in a hotel for any days you want so I said to my father for two days and when I was going to Dubai Mark called me

4．T: He called you?

5．L1: Ya, and we were talking and then when we finished talking ... er ... on Thursday my father took me to Burjuman, ya, there was something like this big just twenty dirhams, ya, I bought it and it ...

6．T: ... What is this ... something like this ... it’s big?

7．L1: It’s like a penguin but not a penguin. It’s a bear, ya, not very big like this

8．T: Uhu...

9．L1: Like me, ya, I press a button, it moves like this, and it carries me up like this and puts me down

10．T: Are you serious?

11．L1: And also in the hotel I saw the tallest man in the world and the shortest man in the world

12．T: Really? Ha! Where do they come from?

13．L1: Er ... I don’t know. One is from China, I don’t know, Japan and one is from here. The tall man, he’s like this [extending his right hand up] bigger than the short man

14．T: Is he the same one that came to school?

15．L1: No, bigger than that one

16．T: Oh really? Even taller?

17．LI: [nods]

18．T: Jeez! OK, thank you Arash for sharing

【答案】1. In the first extract, the teacher acts as a controller. On the whole, s/he gives direct orders and asks students to follow him/her closely, as can be seen “now I want everybody to listen to me”. By saying this, the teacher obviously becomes the focus and dominant of students and the class. Then, to be more specific, s/he asks students to repeat after him/her and expects the exact reply from them, allowing no deviation. When one student accidentally gives a “no” answer, s/he immediately corrects him or her by saying “You only answer with ‘yes’”, though the answer is nothing wrong. In this way, both the output and “interaction” mechanism is controlled between the teacher and the students. Thirdly, the teacher controls the pace of the class and ensures each student has an equal chance. S/he asks students to answer the question in turn.

While in the second extract, the teacher becomes a facilitator and a participant. Instead of controlling students’ responses, s/he lets the student take the lead and contribute most of the content to the conversation. The teacher himself or herself becomes a facilitator by occasionally participating in the conversation to keep the talk going and elicit more information. For example, s/he raises a question of “something like this big?” and the student continues to explain. Besides, the relationship between the teacher and the student is more friend-like and less formal, which is exhibited from the fact that the teacher thanks the student for his sharing.

2．1) In Extract 1, the teaching focus is on the forma in that the teacher either asks students to repeat after him or her or demands the exact answer from students. The focus is on structures and patterns instead of function, since there is no much difference in the answer. There is no communication involved. While in Extract 2, the focus is on meaning and content. Actual communication is taking place. 2) In Extract 1, the teacher initiates the conversation and the student simply follows him or her. No feedback is provided. While in Extract 2, the student initiates the conversation and contributes most of the information to the conversation, with the teacher being a listener and an occasional participant. Feedback is provided by the teacher’s words like “Ah...” and “Uhu... ”. 3) In Extract 1, the teacher gives definite and strict instructions but leaves out the explanations. Student is made to offer the required answer. While in Extract 2, the teacher gives neither instruction nor explanation. Student is encouraged to explain with the teacher acting as a helper. 4) In Extract 1, the teacher doesn’t provide stimulus to elicit answer from students but simply expects students to make up for the unfinished sentence. While in Extract 2, the teacher occasionally raises doubts about students’ words to elicit more learner language. 5) In Extract 1, with respect to questioning students, the teacher asks questions directly without negotiation and demands for the definite answer from the students. S/he gives the definite answer expected when the answer deviates. While in Extract 2, the teacher raises doubts instead of asking the question directly. Negotiation of meaning is involved. The teacher doesn’t correct the formal problems of the student to allow for smooth conversation.

3．The interaction involved in the first extract is close to instructional discourse. The teacher becomes the focus of the class, as is shown from his or her much contribution. Besides, the teacher and the students are in fixed statuses: the teacher is much of the controller and dominator while the students are in the subordinate position, simply following the directions. The answers are predictable. Thirdly, the focus is on linguistic accuracy and deviance from the fixed answer is corrected.

However, the interaction in the second extract is more like natural discourse. There are no definite statuses but negotiated roles. Meaning and content become the focus of the conversation. The information in the conversation becomes more unpredictable. It’s more group-oriented instead of teacher-oriented or student-oriented. Both the teacher and the student contribute to the running of the conversation.

4．In Extract 1, no learning opportunities arise in the interaction. The teacher controls students’ output by stressing “say after me” and specifying the answer from time to time. Students must give the exact answer expected by the teacher. When one student answers “no”, which is appropriate and acceptable, the teacher immediately corrects by saying “You only answer with ‘yes’”. This limits students’ thinking and eliminates opportunities.

In Extract 2, learning opportunities do arise in the exchange of information. The teacher listens to the student and encourages him to continue his talk by expressing approval with words like “Ah...” and “Uhu...”. Besides, the teacher asks questions to elicit more information. For example, the teacher asks “He called you?” and “Are you serious?” to confirm certain specific information. With the approving feedback and questions, learning opportunities take place.

III. Read the following extracts and answer the following questions. (60 points, 20 points each)

Kaplan, a successful French learner recalls her way of learning French as follows:

In Switzerland, I always had five or six new words on a personal in-progress-list. Each time I heard one of the words on my list, I would notice the context and try to figure out the meaning. When I thought I had the meaning I would wait for the word to come up again, so I could check if my meaning was still right. Finally, I’d try the word out to see if a strange look came over the face of the person I was talking to. If it didn’t, I know I was home free. I had a new word.

I went into the village in search of French. I went to the train station. I bought tickets to Geneva, ‘aller et retour à Geève’—that is what you had to say to get a round trip ticket. I loved to let it roll off my tongue, ‘alleret-retour’ in one drum roll, ‘to go and return.’ I bought tickets just to say it. Most of what I did, in town, I did in order to speak. Complicated conversations at the Tabac, the newsstand, the grocery.

In an early investigation, Rubin (1975) identified seven characteristics of “good language learners”:

● are willing and accurate guessers who are comfortable with uncertainty;

● have a strong drive to communicate, or to learn from communication, and are willing to do many things to get their message across;

● are often not inhibited and are willing to appear foolish if reasonable communication results;

● are prepared to attend to form, constantly looking for patterns in the language;

● practice, and also seek out opportunities to practice;

● monitor their own speech and the speech of others, constantly attending to how well their speech is being received and whether their performance meets the standards they have learned;

● attend to meaning, knowing that in order to understand a message, it is not sufficient to attend only to the grammar or surface form of a language.

Questions to answer:

1．What kind of language learner is Kaplan? Please state your view with evidence.

2．What role does a language learner play in the process of successful language learning? Please state your view with evidence.

3．Do you think it is possible to train less successful learners to be more like successful learners? Please state your view with evidence.

【答案】1. Kaplan is an active language learner with strong motivation to learn a language. Firstly, Kaplan has a clear idea of himself. He doesn’t follow blindly others’ learning methods but selects or works out the strategy that best suits himself—keeping an in-progress-list. Secondly, he has a good learning habit: he keeps a list and works out the meaning of the words by guessing and creating opportunities of using it. Thirdly, he is active in that he never waits for the meaning of the word to come out by itself but sets out to find the meaning by himself. He weighs, tries, fails, retries and makes conclusions. With the meaning at hand, he creates opportunities of using the word of expression, say, by going to the station to practise “alleret-retour”. Last but not the least, he is brave to try and is not afraid of making mistakes, since he tries to use the word to confirm the meaning of the word.

2．In the process of successful language learning, the learner plays an active role of problem solver. Usually, students learn new words from textbooks with the long word list. Meaning and use of new words are acquired through memorization and recitation. While in the example of Kaplan, he keeps several new words in the list and tries to detect them in daily conversations. He attends to the conversation to weigh the context so as to find out the meaning of the specific word. In this way, he is active in learning the meaning of new words. Besides, he creates opportunities to practise the new words. He goes to the station not to buy the ticket but to practise the French saying of “round-trip ticket”. In this way, he is active in learning to use the new words.

3．It is possible to train less successful learners to be more like successful learners. Based on the behaviorist view, language acquisition is the acquisition of a set of habits. To train a less successful learner to become a more successful learner like Kaplan is to cultivate in him or her the learning habits of Kaplan. In the first place, s/he should be encouraged to take the initiative and take risks, for example, s/he devotes part time to language learning and is brave at guessing the meaning of new words without being afraid of losing face. Then, s/he should find the appropriate learning strategies for himself or herself and stick to them, say, keeping a new-word list. Finally, s/he should be trained to seek opportunities to communicate and get messages across. Certainly, to achieve the successful training, strong motivation of language learning should be cultivated, which can start from students’ learning needs or interest.