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2017年硕士研究生入学考试试题

科目代码:621 科目名称:语言学及英美文学

本试卷由两个大部分组成:语言学(75分)和英英文学(75分),两个部分共计150分。

PART One: LINGUISTICS (75 points)

Section I. Terminologies in Linguistics (25 points)

Directions: Define each of the following 8 terms in English

1. Displacement (3 points)

2. Allophone (3 points)

3. E-language (of Chomsky) (3 points)

4. Contrastive linguistics (3 points)

5. Illocutionary act (3 points)

6. Cultural competence (3 points)

7. Inter-language (3 points)

8. Deviation (in stylistics) (4 points)

Section Ⅱ. Short-Answer Questions (30 points, 10 for each)

Directions: Read the following three questions carefully and answer or explain them in English.

1. Innateness Hypothesis.

2. Foregrounding in stylistics.

3. Referential Theory of meaning and its demerits. Please explain with examples.

Section Ⅲ. Elaborate on the following two questions (20 points, 10 for each)

Directions: Discuss each of the following two topics in no less tham 300 English words.

1. Connectionism and its contributions to second language acquisition.

2. The Prague School and its contributions to linguistics.

参考答案

SectionⅠ.

1. Displacement: Human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present in time or space at the moment of communication. Displacement benefits human beings by giving them the power to handle generalizations and abstractions. In a word, the intellectual benefits of displacement to us are that it makes it possible for us to talk and think in abstract terms.Displacement allows people, for example, to refer to Confucius, even though he has been dead for over 2500 years.

2. Allophone: refers to the different phones representing a phoneme in different phonetic environments.For example, in English, the phoneme /l/ is pronounced differently in “let” and “tell”. There two phones are allophones.

3. E-language (of Chomsky): It is a language which can be regarded as a set of sentences that a native speaker can use. “E” stands for external/externalized and refers to the observable language outside people’s mind. It’s the language that people actually use.

4. Contrastive linguistics: Contrastive linguistics is a practice-oriented linguistic approach that seeks to describe the differences and similarities between a pair of languages (hence it is occasionally called“differential linguistics”).

5. Illocutionary act: It is one of the three acts in Speech Act theory proposed by Austin and it is the act of expressing the speaker’s intention. It is the act performed in saying something.

6. Cultural competence: Cultural competence is the ability of individuals and systems to deliver effective services to people of all cultures by incorporating awareness, sensitivity and skills in a manner that affirms the worth and dignity of individuals, families and communities. In practice, both individuals and organizations can be culturally competent.

7. Inter-language: the type of language constructed by second or foreign language learners who are still in the process of learning a language is often referred to as inter-language. It is a language system between the target language and the learner’s native language. It is imperfect compared with the target language, but it is not mere translation from the learner’s native language. Inter-language’s three important characteristics are systematicity, permeability and fossilization.

8. Deviation (in stylistics) : Stylistics deviations provide the readers a working criterion for the selection of those linguistic features which are of literary significance. A stylistics deviation is defined by th Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary the act of moving away from what is normal or acceptable.The word “deviated” itself shows the violation of what is principally accepted. Deviation in the poetry means deviation of style in poetry. The deviations in poetry help in creating a style by using language that is different from the normal use.

SectionⅡ.

1. Chomsky believes that language is somewhat innate, and that children are born with what he calls a language acquisition device, which is a unique kind of knowledge that fits them for language learning. This is called Innateness Hypothesis. The Innateness Hypothesis states that there are aspects of linguistic organization that are basic to the human brain and that make it possible for children to acquire linguistic competence in all its complexity with little instruction from family or friends.Chomsky argues that LAD probably consists of three elements: a hypothesis-maker, linguistic universal and an evaluation procedure.

2. Foregrounding is a popular term in stylistics. It is defined as “artistically motivated deviation”. This deviation, or uncommon usage, involves all levels of language: vocabulary, sound, syntax, meaning,graphology, etc.

3. The referential theory was proposed by ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It relates the meaning of a word to the thing it refers to, or stands for. For example, when we say “Noam Chomsky at MIT”, we do use “Noam Chomsky” to mean a particular person and “MIT” to mean a particular institute. But this theory cannot refer to abstract concepts. Not every word has a reference. Grammatical words like“but, if, and” do not refer to anything. And words like “God, ghost, dragon” refer to imaginary things,which do not exist in reality. What is more, it is not convenient to explain the meaning of a word in terms of the thing it refers to. The thing a word stands for may not always be at hand at the time of speaking.

SectionⅢ.

1. Connectionism adopts the perspective that human cognition is an emergent property that is due to the interaction of a large number of interconnected processing units (neurons) that operate simultaneously in a network (thus “parallel”). In addition, connectionism advocates that learning, representation,and processing of information are dynamic and distributed across the network. Learning a language entails complex cognitive and linguistic constraints and interactions, and connectionist models provide insights into how these constraints and interactions may be realized in the natural learning context.

2. The beginning of the Prague School can be dated to 1926. This school practiced a special style of synchronic linguistics, and its most important contribution to linguistics is that it sees language in terms of function.

Of the many ideas developed in Prague School, three points are of special importance. First, they suggested synchronic study of language. Second, there was an emphasis on the systemic character of language. It was argued that no element of any language can be satisfactory analyzed or evaluated of viewed in isolation; assessment can only be made if its relationship is established with the coexisting elements in functional contrast or opposition. Third, language was looked on as functional in another sense, that is, as a tool performing a number of essential functions or tasks for the community using it.

The Prague School made distinctions between phonetics and phonology. Based on the concepts proposed by Saussure, they proposed that phonetics belonged to parole, while phonology belonged to langue. On this basis they developed the notion of “phoneme” as an abstract unit of the sound system as distinct from the sounds actually produced. A phoneme may be defined as the sum of the differential functions. Sounds may be phonemes in so far as they can serve to distinguish meaning. tKCOnL0so9tyEazy2jdJfLXpmCbg0ZvEWxIHWDNaVwqxxrDtwcXHSyRfVjXDa/f6

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