问答题
Answer the following questions:
问答题
How do you compare the traffic light system with a human linguistic system?
【正确答案】
【答案解析】Both the traffic light system and human linguistic system can symbolize some information in communication whereas the linguistic system is more complicated. However, the linguistic system has several distinctive features that no other systems have, including the traffic light system.
(1) Language is arbitrary which means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. But in traffic light system, there are direct logical connections between the light signals and their meanings.
(2) Language is hierarchical, that"s to say linguistic system has two levels of structures, the units of the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization. However, the traffic light system has no hierarchical system and the structure is composed by a single level.
(3) Language is creative. By "creativity" we mean language is resourceful because of its duality and its excursiveness. Because of duality, speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences, most of which are never before produced or heard. But there is no recursive nature in traffic light system which means that it can not produce new meaning.
(1) Language is arbitrary which means that there is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. But in traffic light system, there are direct logical connections between the light signals and their meanings.
(2) Language is hierarchical, that"s to say linguistic system has two levels of structures, the units of the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization. However, the traffic light system has no hierarchical system and the structure is composed by a single level.
(3) Language is creative. By "creativity" we mean language is resourceful because of its duality and its excursiveness. Because of duality, speaker is able to combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences, most of which are never before produced or heard. But there is no recursive nature in traffic light system which means that it can not produce new meaning.
问答题
What is the aim of IC (immediate constituent) analysis? Make an IC analysis of the following sentence by means of either brackets or a tree diagram?
My mother said Mary liked the handbag.
My mother said Mary liked the handbag.
【正确答案】
【答案解析】The goal of immediate constituent analysis is to analyze a linguistic expression into a hierarchically defined series of constituents. It is to break a syntactic unit and to describe these constitutes according to their forms and functions. Verbal structural descriptions, especially when we are dealing with longer syntactic units, such as sentences, can be rather lengthy and can vary in forms and styles. Therefore, linguists developed various ways to represent structural descriptions graphically, depicting constituent structure in a uniform and easily readable manner.
问答题
What is your comment on the following paragraph? Rewrite it and explain why you want to rewrite it that way.
One winter morning when Father left the Riding Club on horseback, Father"s horse fell with Father. Not only did the stupid animal fall but the animal landed on Father"s foot. Father pulled Father"s foot out from under, got the horse up, and went on to the Park for Father"s ride. But Father found later that one of Father"s toes had been bent and that Father couldn"t straighten the toe out.
One winter morning when Father left the Riding Club on horseback, Father"s horse fell with Father. Not only did the stupid animal fall but the animal landed on Father"s foot. Father pulled Father"s foot out from under, got the horse up, and went on to the Park for Father"s ride. But Father found later that one of Father"s toes had been bent and that Father couldn"t straighten the toe out.
【正确答案】
【答案解析】The above paragraph is too loose in structure, lacking coherence. It is wordy, not concise, not good at using pronoun.
It can be rewritten as the following:
One winter morning when father left the Riding Club on the horse back, but the horse fell with him and not only did the stupid animal fall but it landed on Father"s foot. Father pulled his foot out from under, got the horse up, and went on to the park for his ride. But he found later that one of his toes had been bent and that he couldn"t straighten the toe out. The text can be rewritten in such way by the theory of coherence in discourse analysis. Coherence means that one sentence moves into the next logically and smoothly within paragraphs and from paragraph to paragraph. It refers to the unity created between the ideas, sentences, paragraphs and sections of a piece of writing. Coherence is what gives a piece of writing its flow. It also gives the reader a sense of what to be expected and, therefore, makes the readers easier to follow as the ideas appear to be presented in a natural, almost automatic way. When writing lacks coherence, the reader is forced to stop and reread. Generally speaking, the coherence can be achieved via four different ways: 1) using appropriate transition words/phrases and conjunctions; 2) using referent words or phrases that stand for previously mentioned words/ideas; 3) the repetition of key words; 4) arranging sentences and paragraphs in logical order.
The coherence of this piece of writing can be also achieved through these four different aspects:
Firstly, the employment of conjunctions. Many different types of conjunctions can be used in the passage, namely "although", "and", "or", and "nevertheless". "Although" is employed to express the meaning of concession, "and" serves as the addition, and "nevertheless" is used to show the change or transition of the meaning.
Secondly, the reference. In this short passage, we can identify the anaphoric pronouns serve as the reference. For example, "it" can refer to "the animal", "his" can refer to "Father"s" in this text, which has contributed to the smooth transition of the plot.
Thirdly, the repetition of keywords. The hero of the text, the pronoun "he", is constantly emphasized.
Last but not the least, arranging sentences and paragraphs in logical order. The logic of this passage is actualized through the development of plot and the employment of conjunctions.
In a word, the employment of these four different ways has greatly contributed to the coherence of the short text, without which we would have great difficulties in understanding what the text is about.
It can be rewritten as the following:
One winter morning when father left the Riding Club on the horse back, but the horse fell with him and not only did the stupid animal fall but it landed on Father"s foot. Father pulled his foot out from under, got the horse up, and went on to the park for his ride. But he found later that one of his toes had been bent and that he couldn"t straighten the toe out. The text can be rewritten in such way by the theory of coherence in discourse analysis. Coherence means that one sentence moves into the next logically and smoothly within paragraphs and from paragraph to paragraph. It refers to the unity created between the ideas, sentences, paragraphs and sections of a piece of writing. Coherence is what gives a piece of writing its flow. It also gives the reader a sense of what to be expected and, therefore, makes the readers easier to follow as the ideas appear to be presented in a natural, almost automatic way. When writing lacks coherence, the reader is forced to stop and reread. Generally speaking, the coherence can be achieved via four different ways: 1) using appropriate transition words/phrases and conjunctions; 2) using referent words or phrases that stand for previously mentioned words/ideas; 3) the repetition of key words; 4) arranging sentences and paragraphs in logical order.
The coherence of this piece of writing can be also achieved through these four different aspects:
Firstly, the employment of conjunctions. Many different types of conjunctions can be used in the passage, namely "although", "and", "or", and "nevertheless". "Although" is employed to express the meaning of concession, "and" serves as the addition, and "nevertheless" is used to show the change or transition of the meaning.
Secondly, the reference. In this short passage, we can identify the anaphoric pronouns serve as the reference. For example, "it" can refer to "the animal", "his" can refer to "Father"s" in this text, which has contributed to the smooth transition of the plot.
Thirdly, the repetition of keywords. The hero of the text, the pronoun "he", is constantly emphasized.
Last but not the least, arranging sentences and paragraphs in logical order. The logic of this passage is actualized through the development of plot and the employment of conjunctions.
In a word, the employment of these four different ways has greatly contributed to the coherence of the short text, without which we would have great difficulties in understanding what the text is about.
问答题
In what way are language and computer related, and how has their relationship affected language learning?
【正确答案】
【答案解析】With the development of the computer technology and internet system, more and more people touch upon the computer field. Computer has been used in the classroom for foreign language teaching and learning. CAI stands for computer-assisted instruction, which means the use of a computer in a teaching program. CAL stands for computer-assisted learning, which means the use of computer in both teaching and learning. Following CAI and CAL, CALL, acronym for Computer Assisted Language Learning, refers to the use of a computer in the teaching or learning of a second or foreign language, If CAI or CAL deals with teaching and learning in general, then CALL deals with language teaching and learning in particular. CALL provided a beneficial and convenient approach for language learners to improve their abilities. For example, students can gain a quick access to any materials on the internet. The computer is not an individual resource for each student any more, instead, it is a trigger for interaction between the students and it is the focus for group work which allows some activities, such as the activity role-play interaction. The use of multimedia technology enables different information types to be simultaneously available on the computer, as a result, spoken language and moving video is produced other than mere presentation of written sentences.