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context,theory(一)
THE CONTEXT THEORY IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE《傲慢与偏见》中的语境运用
龙源期刊网 .cn
THE CONTEXT THEORY IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE《傲慢与偏见》中的语境运用 作者：董雪
来源：《外语学法教法研究》2014年第09期
【摘要】对于世界名著《傲慢与偏见》，自它出版以来，就得到了无数学者的分析与好评。简·奥斯丁以她女性的细腻视角，写出了当时的乡村生活的平静，她对婚姻的见解。在众多的人物当中，柯林斯这一形象更是深入人心，他在不同的语境下对待不同人物的方式使得充分的体现出了作者的写作水平。在此篇文章中，运用语言学中的语境观点来阐述简·奥斯丁是如何对于他的形象塑造不同的语境。同时对于语言学中语境的知识进行简要的概诉。
【关键字】《傲慢与偏见》 ;柯林斯 ;语言学 ;语境
【Abstract】Pride and Prejudice gained so much popularity ever since it was published. Many scholars have analyzed it and complemented it. As a woman writer， Jane Austen described her quite country life and her point of view about marriage. Among all her characters， Collins draws a lot of attention; the writer’s great competence of writing was perfectly reflected in her building different contexts for him. In this essay， the theory of context， a brand new branch of linguistic， was applied to analyze how Jane built the characteristics under different contexts. In the mean time， the theory of context will be explained.
【Key words】Pride and Prejudice; Collins; Linguistics; context
【中图分类号】G64 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）09-0028-02 ChapterⅠ Literature review
1.1 About Pride and prejudice
Pride and Prejudice rocked the entire English literature world ever since it had been published. Being different from the trend of exaggerated and artificial romance back then， this novel won its popularity by the fresh， accurate setting of the bourgeoisie class’s actual living picture. Of course lots of professors did researches about it， for example the translation comparison， the feminism point view of this novel and the cultural background of this novel. All in all， this classic book draws the word’s attention through its accurate setting of that period， the precise structure of character， the peaceful yet never boring life and the humorous language.
1.2 Linguistic study of Pride and Prejudice
context,theory(二)
The Theory of Context(ppt)
The Theory of Context
——the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation and discourse.
Structural ambiguity:
"You have a green light"
you are holding a green light bulb. you have a green light to drive your car. you can go ahead with the project. your body has a green glow.
"Sherlock saw the man with binoculars"
Sherlock observed the man by using binoculars;
Sherlock observed a man who was holding binoculars.
the context and the speaker's intent
A sentence is an abstract entity — a string of words divorced from non-linguistic context — as opposed to an utterance, which is a concrete example of a speech act in a specific context.
The cat sat on the mat. (A sentence)
“The cat sat on the mat”, she said. (an unterance)
Context may refer to:
situation that influence language use, language variation and discourse
software program
archaeological record Context may also be used for:
Context analysis, analysis of the environment in which a business operates ability for computers to adjust to the natural environment Context Sensitive Solutions, transportation development should relate to its context used in regards to Bible translations context or flesh), the mass of non-hymenial tissues that composes the
mass of a fungal fruiting
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning.
Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics.
It studies how the transmission of meaning depends not only on the linguistic knowledge (e.g. grammar, lexicon etc.) of the speaker and listener, but also on the context of the utterance, knowledge about the status of those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker, and so on. In this respect, pragmatics explains how language users are able to overcome apparent ambiguity, since meaning relies on the manner, place, time etc. of an utterance. Semantics
Pragmatic competence——The ability to understand another speaker's intended meaning is called pragmatic competence. An utterance describing pragmatic function is described as metapragmatic. Pragmatic awareness is regarded as one of the most challenging aspects of language learning, and comes only through experience.[citation needed]
Pragmatics is that branch of linguistics, which deals with the study of meaning, its transmission of words by manner, place, time, etc.
Traditional View on Context【context,theory】
Bronislaw Malinowski——the initiator of context
context of situation and context of culture
J.R.Firth：
introduces the term sociological linguistics: the meaning of “context” from the sentence before and after a particular sentence to the relation between language (the linguistic context) and social environment (context of situation).
“meaning” is to be regarded as a complex of textual relations, and phonetics, grammar, lexicography, and semantics (Firth 1957:192).
According to this idea, the meaning of any sentence consists of the following five parts：(Firth,1991: 187-223)
(1) The relationship of each phoneme to its phonetic context;
(2) The relationship of each lexical item to the others in the sentence ;
(3) The morphological relations of each word;
(4) The sentence type of which the given sentence is an example;
(5)
Halliday
takes a functional approach to view language as an instrument of social interaction
greatest contribution——“register语域” （in Language as Social Semiotic， 1978）
“A register can be defined as the configuration of semantic resources that a member of a culture typically associates with the situation type. It is the meaning potential that is accessible in a given social context. The register is recognizable as a particular selection of words and structures. In a word, register is defined as (1978:111).
In the words of Halliday, “the category of register is postulated to account for what people do with their language. When we observe language activity in the various contexts in which it takes
place, (Basil Hatim & Ian Mason 2001:46). That is to say, register is the term employed for the kind of variety which is distinguished in terms of use.
Field，Tenor，mode
Dell Hymes（an American sociolinguist）
He concerned with what determines the appropriateness of the utterances in particular context. He put forward the eight components of speech situation, which are usually called SPEAKING model, namely,
act situation (setting and scene which refer to the time and place of a speech act, and the psychological setting or cultural definition of a scene, respectively),
participants (speaker/sender, addressor, addressee, hearer/receiver/audience),
ends(purposes/outcomes, or goals of the discourse),
act sequences (message form, message context),
keys ( which denotes the cues that establish the tone of the speech act), instrumentalities (forms and styles of speech, including channels, oral or written, etc),
norms(norms of interaction, norms of interpretation, or social rules governing the event and the participants’ actions), and genres (which include assorted categories such as poem, myth, tale, proverb, riddle, oration, lecture etc). In addition, he explored the role of context in interpretation: “The use of a linguistic form identifies a range of meanings. A context can support a range of meanings. When a form is used in a context it eliminates the meanings possible to that context other than those the form can signal: the context eliminates from consideration the meanings possible to the form other than those the context can support (Gillian Brown& George Yule, 1987:38). In other words, context can limit the range of possible interpretations as well as support the intended interpretation.
John Lyons
the components of context as follows:
(1) knowledge of role and status;
(2) knowledge of spatial and temporal location;
(3) knowledge of formality level;
(4) knowledge of medium;
(5) knowledge of appropriate subject matter;
(6) knowledge of appropriate province(1977:574-585).
Sperber and Wilson ——Cognitive Context
“the set of premises used in interpreting an utterance (apart from the premise that the utterance in question has been produced) constitutes what is generally known as the context.
A context is a psychological construct, a subset of the hearer’s assumptions about the world, which affects the interpretation of an utterance” (Dun Sperber & Deirdre Wilson, 2004:15-24).
information that can be retrieved from memory
The cognitive context is generally made up of three elements:
logical information, encyclopedic information, and lexical information.
Chinese experts:
Chen Wangdao
Wang Dechun
Hu Zhuanglin
Classification of Context
(1) Subjective context and objective context (王建平，1989)
(2) Linguistic context and non-linguistic context (何兆熊, 2000)
(3) Linguistic context, situational context, and cultural context (胡壮麟，1994:182)【context,theory】
(4) Cognitive context (Sperber and Wilson, 2004:15-24)【context,theory】
(5) The original context factors and the target context factors in the translation (彭利元，2001：106-108).
context,theory(三)
Gardner’s Motivation Theory in SLA Context in China
2009—2010学年论文
Gardner’s Motivation Theory in SLA
Context in China
姓名：赵海秀
学号：0801081030
指导老师：孙平华 教授
Gardner’s Motivation Theory in SLA Context in China Abstract: This paper explores Gardner's socio-educational model and the significance of motivation as a contributing factor in second language (L2) acquisition. Motivation is defined as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language. Motivation is divided into two basic types: integrative and instrumental. Integrative motivation is characterized by the learner's positive attitudes towards the target language group and the desire to integrate into the target language community. Instrumental motivation underlies the goal to gain some social or economic reward through L2 achievement, thus referring to a more functional reason for language learning. Both forms of motivation are examined in light of research which has been undertaken to establish the correlation between the form of motivation and successful second language acquisition. Motivation in Chinese Foreign Language Learning context is then discussed and studies which have been conducted in the field investigated.
Key Words: Motivation, Integrative and Instrumental, Context
1. Instruction about Gardner's Socio-Educational Model
The work conducted by Gardner in the area of motivation was largely influenced by Mowrer (an American born psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Illinois), whose focus was on first language acquisition. Mowrer proposed that a child's success when learning a first language could be attributed to the desire to gain identity within the family unit and then the wider language community. Using this as the basis for research, Gardner went on to investigate motivation as an influencing factor in second language acquisition.
Before examining the effect of motivation on second language learning it is first important to realize that it is one variable, which, combined with other factors, influences a learner's success. Gardner (1982), in his socio-educational model, identified a number of factors which are interrelated when learning a second language. Unlike other research carried out in the area, Gardner's model looks specifically at second language acquisition in a structured classroom setting rather than a natural environment. His work focuses on the foreign language classroom. The model attempts to interrelate four features of second language acquisition. These include the social and cultural milieu, individual learner differences, the setting or context in which learning takes place and linguistic outcomes (Gardner 1982).
The social or cultural milieu refers to the environment in which an individual is situated, thus determining their beliefs about other cultures and language. It is these beliefs which have a significant impact on second language acquisition. An example of this can be seen in the mono-cultural setting of Britain, where many believe it is not necessary to learn another language and that minority groups should assimilate and become proficient in the dominant language of the country. The same can be said of many other predominantly mono-cultural communities throughout the world. However, in other countries such as Canada, bilingualism and biculturalism are often encouraged within society (Ellis 1997). Gardner (1979, cited in Skehan 1993) suggests that expectations regarding bilingualism, combined with attitudes towards the target language and its culture, form the basis of an individual's attitude towards language learning.
The second phase of Gardner's model introduces the four individual differences which are believed to be the most influential in second language acquisition. These include the variables of intelligence, language aptitude, motivation and situational anxiety (Giles and Coupland 1991). Closely interrelated with these variables is the next phase of the model, referred to as the setting or context in which learning takes place. Two
contexts are identified, namely formal instruction within the classroom and unstructured language acquisition in a natural setting. Depending upon the context, the impact of the individual difference variables alters. For example, in a formal setting intelligence and aptitude play a dominant role in learning, while exerting a weaker influence in an informal context. The variables of situational anxiety and motivation are thought to influence both settings equally.
The final phase of the model identifies linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes of the learning experience. Linguistic outcomes refer to actual language knowledge and language skills. It includes test indices such as course grades or general proficiency tests. Non-linguistic outcomes reflect an individual's attitudes concerning cultural values and beliefs, usually towards the target language community. Ellis (1997) reasons that individuals who are motivated to integrate both linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes of the learning experience will attain a higher degree of L2 proficiency and more desirable attitudes.
Within the model, motivation is perceived to be composed of three elements. These include effort, desire and affect. Effort refers to the time spent studying the language and the drive of the learner. Desire indicates how much the learner wants to become proficient in the language, and affect illustrates the learner's emotional reactions with regard to language study (Gardner 1982).
1.1 Integrative Motivation
Motivation has been identified as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language (Crookes and Schmidt 1991). It is thought that students who are most successful when learning a target language are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which the language is used. This form of motivation is known as integrative motivation. When someone becomes a
resident in a new community that uses the target language in its social interactions, integrative motivation is a key component in assisting the learner to develop some level of proficiency in the language. It becomes a necessity, in order to operate socially in the community and become one of its members. It is also theorized that “integrative motivation typically underlies successful acquisition of a wide range of registers and a native like pronunciation” (Finegan 1999:568).
In an EFL environment such as China, it is important to consider the actual meaning of the term “integrative.” As Benson (1991) suggests, a more appropriate approach to the concept of integrative motivation in the EFL context would be the idea that it represents the desire of the individual to become bilingual, while at the same time becoming bicultural. This occurs through the addition of another language and culture to the learner's own cultural identity. As China is predominantly a mono-cultural society, opportunities to use the target (L2) language in daily verbal exchanges are relatively restricted. There is also limited potential for integrating into the target language community.
1.2 Instrumental Motivation
In contrast to integrative motivation is the form of motivation referred to as instrumental motivation. This is generally characterized by the desire to obtain something practical or concrete from the study of a second language (Hudson 2000). With instrumental motivation the purpose of language acquisition is more utilitarian, such as meeting the requirements for school or university graduation, applying for a job, requesting higher pay based on language ability, reading technical material, translation work or achieving higher social status. Instrumental motivation is often characteristic of second language acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a community using the target language takes place, or in some instances is even desired.
context,theory(四)
The Application of Intercultural Communication Context Theory in Oral English Teaching
Absract The fostering of intercultural communicative awareness， that is， full comprehension and mastering of the target culture background， values， customs and life styles on the basis of acquired language skills， is necessary in oral English teaching. A framework of intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching is designed. Two classes are involved in the study：one as the experimental class instructed with the intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching method； the other as the control class taught with the traditional teaching method.
The results of the independent T-test indicate that intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching method can improve students’ oral proficiency. Moreover， the results of the questionnaire survey indicate that intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching method can increase students’ interest in oral English learning， promote their active learning and improve their intercultural communicative ability.
Key words： Intercultural communication； Context theory； Oral English teaching
INTRODUCTION
People learn foreign languages in order to communicate. Therefore， communication is the ultimate goal of a foreign language learning and teaching. Everyone agrees that the purpose of the learning and teaching of a second or foreign language is to communicate effectively in certain situations.
Although college students in China have been studying English for many years， most of them still cannot express themselves well and their oral performance in English is rather poor. The knowledge of knowing quite a lot about what the rules of English grammar are， and how to form sentences in English can only provide an important foundation， but it is not enough to enable learners to speak English fluently. Moreover， the teaching of oral English in college is relatively uninteresting， which bores students and frustrates their enthusiasm. Students are required to recite the useful patterns and to do the exchange exercises that cannot remain in their memories for long. Little interaction is realized through this way， so more and more attention should be devoted to oral English and its teaching.
With the globalization， international communication is becoming frequent. Globalization brings people from different cultures into direct contact. In China， since the reform and opening up， the contact with outside world is happening with increasing frequency. Also， after China’s entry into WTO， English is more widely used in commercial negotiation， acquiring professional knowledge， etc. These activities require good oral expression of English users. So， on the one hand， oral English is poorly mastered， on the other hand， it is being attached increasing importance. These two sides require us to put more emphasis on oral English teaching. Based on the literature review and some relevant theories， a framework of intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching is designed. The thesis also explores intercultural communication context-based oral language teaching model， its theoretical basis， and the teaching principles. 1. MAJOR PROBLEMS IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Appropriateness is a term， which has been frequently used in sociolinguistics， pragmatics and communication. Inappropriateness is simply the opposite of appropriateness. Appropriateness has a wide range of application when it has ‘suitableness’ or ‘harmony’ as its equivalent or substitution in meaning. In communication， it frequently appears to mean whether the communicator’s behavior is suitable for or in harmony with the communicator himself and the situation in which the behavior occurs. Although behavior can be bifurcated into verbal behavior and nonverbal behavior， what we are mainly concerned with is the former. Then， by inappropriateness we mean that the speaker’s verbal behavior does not fit to （1） the speaker himself （e.g. his sex， age， social status， race and religious belief）， and （2） the situation in which the utterances occur. In our daily communication and interaction， inappropriate behavior tends to occur everywhere and at any time. It is not unusual that inappropriate behavior can result in misunderstanding. Compared with native speakers of a language， foreign learners are more likely to conduct inappropriate communication. This is， of course， partially because of their limited linguistic competence， but mainly due to the cultural differences.
Pragmatics is a newly-reclaimed realm of linguistics， which has obtained its independence just for one and a half decade. It was first introduced by Charles Morris， an American philosopher， in his Foundations of the Theory of Signs published in 1938. Since then pragmatics has been developing very rapidly， especially in the United States. Although it seems rather difficult or even impossible to give a definition unanimously agreed by all， Geoffery Leech’s viewpoint （1983） that “Pragmatics can be usefully defined as the study of how utterances have meanings in situations” has been widely accepted and has been broadened to include the study of the two aspects―performing and interpreting a speech act.
The concept of pragmatic failure was first introduced by Dr. Jenny Thomas， a senior linguist and member of the editorial staff of Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English （2nd ed， 1987）. He defines that “pragmatic failure is an area of cross-cultural communication breakdown...” （Thomas， 1983， p. 91）. In intercultural communication， people from different cultures may speak the same language， but their communication may break down due to pragmatic differences in ways of thinking， rules of speaking， social values， lexical connotation and other factors. Pragmatic failure refers to inappropriately used language in a given context. It is the inability to convey one’s intention or the illocutionary force with what is said in intercultural communication. In the process of intercultural communication， pragmatic failure occurs so often that the necessity for attaching great importance to it is pressing. Thomas （1983， p. 96） comments on the seriousness of pragmatic failures. According to her idea， grammatical failure may impede communication. But once the hearer is alert to the fact that the speaker is not fully grammatically competent， native speakers seem to have little difficulty in making allowances for it. But pragmatic failures are otherwise. If a non-native speaker appears to speak fluently， a native speaker is likely to attribute the apparent impoliteness not to any linguistic deficiency， but to ill will.
No matter it is inappropriateness or pragmatic failure leading to misunderstanding or breakdown in intercultural communication， the deep reason behind them is invariably the lack of knowledge about cultural awareness between two languages. In this sense， we can say intercultural communicative competence is the combination of communicative competence and cultural awareness.
2. NEW FRAMEWORK
Intercultural communication context-based language teaching is absolutely not the kind that the focus is only on language while ignores the learner. It’s the approach that puts the students’ actual desire at the first place. To meet the needs of improving the students’ ICC competence and oral language ability， it requires the language learning to be set up on the basis of the anxiety in exchange of information and emotion between teachers and students. Therefore the creation of relaxed and harmonious atmosphere in class， the use of authentic language materials， activities on solving problems， role-play principles result from the communications in exchange of emotions and information. Under this kind of language teaching framework， the objective is to help learners not only to improve the oral proficiency but also to foster the intercultural communicative awareness by interacting listening， reading and writing with speaking. In general， it is to help learners to output efficiently according to different situations.
From a communicative， pragmatic view of the language classroom， listening and speaking materials are closely connected. Oral practice can and should be integrated with listening， either through pre-speaking or follow-up activities.
Because of the lack of opportunity in foreign language settings to interact with native speakers， the need for exposure to many kinds of situations is particularly critical. This need can be met by audiovisual materials， such as videotapes， appropriate films， and soap operas. “They can provide （a） the motivation achieved by basing lessons on attractively informative content material； （b） the exposure to a varied range of authentic speech， with different registers， and （c） language used in the context of real situations， which adds relevance and interest to the learning process” （Carrasquillo， 1994）. Through these materials， students can observe interaction between people from different cultures， compare their cultures with students’ own culture， and practice diverse interaction skills which help students to cope successfully in another culture. Subsequent practice of dialogues， role-play activities， and dramatizations will lead to deeper learning. In designing activities for cultural instruction， the basic consideration should be： to what extent the study of culture and the study of language are integrated. The following principles are the major concerns：
1） Cultural lessons and activities should be carefully planned and presented in conjunction with related thematic units. Use cultural contexts for language-practice activities.
2） Use a variety of techniques for teaching culture that involve speaking， listening， reading， and writing skills. Do not limit to lecture.
3） Use small-group activities， such as discussions， brainstorming， and role-play， for cultural instruction.
4） Use the target language whenever possible to teach cultural content.
5） Test cultural understanding as carefully as language is tested.
Students and the teacher together make the evaluation of the activities and the discussion about the topic.
What’s more， it is important for teachers to correct mistakes made during speaking activities in a different way from the mistakes made during a reading exercise. When students are repeating sentences trying to get their pronunciation exactly right， then the teacher will often correct （appropriately） every time there’s problem. But if the same teacher does the same thing while students are involved in a passionate discussion， the effect might well be to destroy the conversational flow. Constant interruption from the teacher will destroy the purpose of the speaking activity.
Many teachers watch and listen while speaking activities are taking place. They note down things that seem to go well and times when students couldn’t make themselves understood or made important mistakes. When the activity has finished， they then ask the students how they thought it went before giving their own feedback. They may say that they like the way Student A says this and the way Student B is able to disagree with her. They will then say that they does hear one or two mistakes and they can either discuss them with the class， with them on the board or give them individually to the students concerned. In each case， they will ask the students to see if they can identify the problem and correct it. As a result， the theme of the topic is appreciated naturally by the students themselves.
In sum， the framework of intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching mainly includes the following steps：
1st. Integrating listening work with oral English teaching； 2nd. Constructing the knowledge of context for the teaching activities；
3rd. Integrating the cultural factors through interactions；
4th. Discussion and improvement.
3. A SAMPLE LESSON
After the presentation of the methods of oral language teaching， a sample lesson is designed accordingly.
First， in the preparation part of the textbook New College English， one situational scene was designed for students to organize and have a role-play. For example， when I teach “Culture” （New College English， Book1， Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press）， the teaching and learning process are carried out in the genre of role-play.
Scene 1. Visiting a foreign teacher in China. Then the teacher sets aside 10 minutes for each group to discuss what kind of manner is appropriate for the scene and get ready for the performance. Different students play the roles of the student and the teacher. The following is one group’s performance：
Student A------the visiting student
Student B-----the foreign teacher
S： （knocks at the door） Teacher， may I come in？
T： （Opens the door） Hi， Wang. Come in please. （The student begins to untie his shoes）.
T： No need. Just come in with your shoes on.
S： But-but you’ve got a carpet on your floor.
T： Doesn’t matter. Please come in.
（Half an hour later， they begin to dine together.）
T： Wang， would you like some drink？ Tea or coca-cola？
S： Tea， please. Thank you！
T： You are welcome. Help yourself with some beef.
S： Thank you. （At the end of the dinner， the student leaves some tea in his cup and some beef on his plate.）
People in different countries have different standards for appropriate manners. In China， it is considered appropriate manners to take off one’s shoes before entering a house or leaving something in one’s cup or bowl when drinking or eating at a friend’s place. But these rules of behavior are not observed by their European counterparts， who are expected to keep their shoes on even though they are very muddy， and always finish their drink or food to show their hosts that they have enjoyed them. In this scene， we can feel the Chinese student unconsciously follows the Chinese good manners.
After the class， a written summary about the text is handed in. In the further development part， a discussion is held about the learning of the whole unit. Such a teaching arrangement can greatly arouse the interest of language learning and avoid the boredom caused by the traditional grammar-translation method. On the one hand， students practice their oral English in a very relaxed way. On the other hand， students understand the cultural differences and similarities of the target culture and their own culture， and they are also creating a new culture. 4. METHODOLOGY
Two classes are involved in the study： One as the experimental class instructed with the intercultural communication context-based oral English teaching method； the other as the control class taught with the traditional teaching method.
Tools Used
Two instruments are employed in the present study. They are the oral English tests and the questionnaire for students. The experiment involves four parts， the pretest， the teaching treatment， the posttest and the questionnaire survey.
Results from the analysis of the post-test indicate that there is significant difference in the achievement of oral English between the students in intercultural communication context-based teaching class and those in the traditional teaching class （T=-2.581， P=0.012）. It is believed that intercultural communication context-based language English teaching has improved students’ achievement of oral English significantly.
In order to see the difference more specifically， close analysis about the pretest and the posttest of the two classes was made from the three aspects of the assessment criteria： accuracy and range， size and discourse management as well as flexibility and appropriacy.
The results indicate that there is significant difference between the experimental class and the control class in the three aspects. We also did the questionnaire survey during this period. The purpose of the questionnaire survey is to investigate students’ perceptions of the oral English teaching in their classes. The subjects of the questionnaire are the 71 students from the two classes.
The questionnaire consists of four parts. The first part includes students’ improvement of oral proficiency and interest （Q1-Q5）. The second part concerns students’ active participation in the oral English class （Q6-Q9）. The third part focuses on the interaction and cooperation in oral English class （Q10-Q11）. The fourth part is about the teaching methods on students’ improvement of learning abilities （Q12-Q13）. The fifth part covers the other elements in oral English teaching， such as meaningful activities and teaching environment （Q14-Q15）.
All the questions are on five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire is written in Chinese， because it is easier for students to read in their native language. Thus completion of the questionnaire will take less time， and misunderstanding of the questions can also be avoided.
CONCLUSION The present study is of an application of intercultural communication context theory in college oral English teaching. It employs pre- and post-tests. A questionnaire is given to investigate the effects of the intercultural communication context-based teaching on students’ oral English learning compared to the traditional teaching. 34 students in the experimental class and 37 students in the control class are involved in this study. The major findings are summarized as follows：
1） Intercultural communication context-based language teaching is helpful to the promotion of learners’ oral English proficiency.
2） Intercultural communication context-based language teaching improves learners’ interest and motivation.
3） Intercultural communication context-based language teaching model promotes students’ active learning.
4） Intercultural communication context-based language teaching model helps to improve students’ intercultural communicative ability.
REFERENCES
Chomsky. N. （1965）. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge： M. I. T. Press.
Claire Kramsch. （1993）. Context and Culture in language Teaching. Oxford University Press.
Hadley， Alice. （2003）. Teaching Language in Context. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Halliday， M.A.K. （1975）. Learning How to Mean： Explorations in the Development of Language. London： Edward Arnold.
Hymes D. H. （1967）. Models of Interaction of Language and Social Setting. Journal of Social Issues， 23， 2.
Kramsch， C. （1993）. Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford： Oxford University Press.
Krashen， S. （1982）. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford： Pergamon Press.
Leech， G.N. （1983 ）. Principles of Pragmatics. London： Longman.
Littlewood， W. （1981）. Communicative Language Teaching. CUP.
Stern， H. H. （1992）. Issues and Options in Language Teaching. Oxford： Oxford University Press.
Tarone， E. （1983）. On the Variability of Interlanguage System. Applied Linguistics， 4， 142-163.
Thomas， J. （1983）. Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Failure. Applied Linguistics， 4， 91-112.
context,theory(五)
Interpretation Context From the Perspective of Adaptation Theory
[a]Changchun University of Science and Technology， China.* Corresponding author. Received 6 September 2013； accepted 2 December 2013
Abstract
The adaptation theory that came up in 1971 argued that people react to good and bad events in their life， but they eventually return to a stable level of well-being. Adaptation to context is a very important subject that attracts much attention from many branches of linguistics. we should do deep study about the paper.
As Malinowski suggests that utterance “becomes only intelligible when it is placed within its context of situation.” Interpretation， in essence， a communicative activity， also only takes place in the special context. Due to its extemporariness， interpretation is more dependent on the context. Study of the relation between context and interpretation should gain its due attention in this field.
Interpretation is dynamic contextual communication. Inspired by Vershueren’s adaptation theory from the viewpoint of pragmatics， which involves the issue of language choices， this paper attempts to study on interpretation context from the perspective of adaptation theory in this thesis.
Key words： Adaptation interpretation； Interpretation； Context； Communication
KANG Qiang （2013）. Interpretation Context From the Perspective of Adaptation Theory. Studies in Literature and Language， 7（3）， 125-128. Available from： http：//www.cscanada. net/index.php/sll/article/view/j.sll.1923156320130703.2883 DOI： http：//dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.sll.1923156320130703.2883
INTRODUCTION
The paper mainly study a point that is on interpretation context from the perspective of adaptation theory. The adaptation theory that came up in 1971 argued that people react to good and bad events in their life， but they eventually return to a stable level of well-being. Adaptation to context is a very important subject that attracts much attention from many branches of linguistics.
The theory of adaptation contains four angles of investigation， i.e.， contextual correlates of adaptation， structural objects of adaptation， dynamics of adaptation， and salience of the adaptation process. Nonetheless， not much research work has been made on the introduction of“theory of adaptation” into interpretation. For that reason， this paper attempts to probe into how interpreters are supposed to adapt to various contexts in interpretation.
Interpretation is dynamic contextual communication. During interpreting， interpreters will inevitably encounter the problem of language choices in lines with different contextual factors in order to transfer original message accurately and achieve smooth communication. Context， as an important linguistic concept， has attracted much attention in various fields without exception in interpretation. Context plays avital role in interpretation performance. Context adaptation is always mentioned in translation as well as in interpretation.
1. DEFINITION OF ADAPTATION AND CONTEXT
1.1 Introduction to Adaptation Theory
The adaptation theory that came up in 1971 argued that people react to good and bad events in their life， but they eventually return to a stable level of well-being. Researchers from Michigan State University， University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign， France and England confirmed this theory based on a study conducted to evaluate the effects of marital transitions on life satisfaction. 24，000 individuals were followed for 15 years and were frequently questioned about their life satisfaction.
As what have been stated above， the nature of interpretation is a kind of special communication. But in the process of communication， the components of communication， such as stimulus， temporal factors， spatial factors， and personal factors are always changing. In Larry A. Samovar and Richard E. Porter’s “Communication between Cultures， four reasons are put forward to support this point. In order to adapt to these new communicative situation， language users （communicators） have to make choices. They choose the topics purpose techniques of communication. Since interpretation is a kind of communication， this dynamic process also is true to the process of interpretation. The interpreter inevitably meets with all kinds of language choices in the process of interpretation： Adaptation theory is most applicable in analysis and study of communication. It is the same with the study of interpretation. So we can also apply it in the study of interpretation. In this paper， it will be mainly applied into study of contextual analysis in interpretation.
1.2 What is Context ？
Context is the environment in which language exists， develops and is used. It limits the use of language and decides on the fate of language. Many linguists have done researches on it. As to its definitions， different schools also hold different opinions about it. In “A Dictionary of Chinese Grammar and Rhetoric” （1988， p.505）， it says： Context： a. The context in a passage. Every word， phrase， sentence all can has its respective context； b. The environment in which a conversation or text takes place， including all kinds of relative background information， such as the traditions and customs， personal information， purpose of communication， and so on. 2 . C O N T E X T A D A P TAT I O N I N INTERPRETATION
2.1 Adaptation to Linguistic Context in Interpretation
2.1.1 Adaptative Ways to Realize Coherence
First we’ll discuss how to adapt to the linguistic context at the phrase level. We have known if the linguistic context exists in a phrase， we call it the linguistic context at the phrase level.
For example， when we interpret these two phrases：“伟大而艰巨的任务” and “心有余而力不足”， it should be noticed that the same word “而” appears in these two phrases. How to interpret it appropriately in these two phrases？ At this time， this word obviously is only affected by the different linguistic contexts existing in these two phrases. So we must firstly analyze the different linguistic contexts in these two phrases before we begin interpretation： Although the two phrases have the same word “而”， it connects different words so as to generate
different meanings. In the first phrase， it connects two adjectives to moth a noun and the two adjectives just describe the two kinds of quality belonging to the noun. So it expresses the relationship of juxtaposition between these two words， whose function is similar to that of “and”in English. However， in the second phrase， it connects two phrases， which can stand independently. So firstly we have to understand meaning of these two phrases. “心有余” means “someone hopes to do something”， while“力不足” means “someone can not do something lack of strength”. So the same Chinese word “而” has different meanings “and” and “but” in the two phrases due to different linguistic contexts at the phrase level. The second example， when we interpret these two phrases“和为贵” and “君子和而不同”， it should be noticed that they share the same Chinese word “和”. The first phrase 27 should be interpreted as Peace is precious. But sometimes people will put forward a series of Chinese phrases all together in a speech like “以诚为本，以和为贵、以信为先”. This is a special rhetoric way of expression. Hence， the interpreter cannot utter “贵”， “先”one by one， because it is really redundant. Thus， it should be interpreted as “Honesty， peace and good faith are the most prized values”. As for the second phrase， it should be interpreted in a totally different way. Here it should be interpreted as “Gentlemen seek harmony but not uniformity”. Of course， on various occasions， “和” may have many different interpretation versions， especially when is used as adjective.
Through the analysis of these four examples， we notice the linguistic context at the phrase level is the minimal unit in the analysis of linguistic context. This is also the first stage when we attach greater importance to the linguistic context. a. At the text level
If the interpretation of the target unit is affected by certain text， we think it is in the charge of linguistic context at the text level. Here I will firstly define the “text”. In a form of written communication like interpretation， the text can refer to some chapter in a passage or a book， or refer to the whole passage without the division of chapters. As the text consists of many paragraphs， it is more complex for us to analyze the linguistic context at the text level. But first of all， we should have the consciousness to pay attention to it.
A case in point is：
1998年，面对复杂严峻的国内经济环境，全国人民在党中央的正确领导下，认真贯彻落实增加投入，扩大内需为主的一系列力一针政策，努力克服亚洲金融危机和特大洪涝灾害造成的重重困难，深化各项改革.促讲经济改革.取得了举世瞩目的成绩。
Here the underlined sentence should be interpreted as “Various reforms were further deepened and economic growth was promoted， resulting in remarkable achievements.”
b. At the vocabulary level Adaptation to linguistic context at the vocabulary level， here， attaches importance to the accurate interpretation of vocabulary including numbers and abbreviation， based on the interpreter’s solid language knowledge. Besides fundamental vocabulary mastery， the interpreter has to pay attention to conventional expressions for the same concept in different languages. For example， “母乳喂养”15 “breast-feeding” rather than “mother-feeding”， “基层” “grass-roots” rather than “base level”， “基础设施”“infrastructure” rather than “basic facility”， to name a few.
As we know， as there is quite a difference in the number expression in English and Chinese， number interpretation sometimes produces big obstacles for interpreter. Incorrect number interpretation will lead to misunderstanding and even serious results， especially on the occasions of foreign affairs activities and trade negotiation. As practice makes perfect， number interpretation can be accurate and fluent through constant practices. In addition， abbreviation is popular not only in the written form of magazines and newspaper， but also in the verbal channel like interpretation. The widespread of abbreviation requires interpreters a good mastery of abbreviation updated with times.
To name a few just for example：
NATO （North Atlantic Treaty Organization）北大西洋公约组织
WMD （Weapons of Mass Destruction）大规模杀伤性武器
ASEAN （Association of South-East Asian Nations）东南亚国家联盟
2.2 Adaptation to Non-Linguistic Context In Interpretation
Verschueren classifies context into three kinds： social， mental and physical world. But he does not specify the detailed content in the three kinds of context. I think this kind of classification is very reasonable and scientific and relatively complete. 2.2.1 Adaptation to Social Context
Adaptation of social context is most frequently discussed in interpretation. Social Verschueren once said： “The social world has much to do with properties settings and institutions （Jef. Verschueren， 2000， p.91）.” The social context include many aspects related to society that I cannot list them all. Here in this thesis I just pick out the most representative one in interpretation among the aspects of it for discussion.
In the first chapter， we have already talked about the classification of context. We just divide physical context into two parts： time and topic. Each utterance is produced audience， in a special physical environment by the place； specific speaker to a group of in a definite setting relating to a special topic， and also with the nonverbal information of both the speaker and the audience to show different emotional effects. All these factors， which make up the so-called situational context， play their roles in interpreter’s understanding the original message and in achieving an appropriate and accurate interpretation.
The social world includes person deixis， attitudinal deixis， social settings or institutions and culture. Person deixis helps identify utterers and interpreters and position people in a social world. Attitudinal deixis affects forms of address， pronoun choices， matter of style and content. When we translate the English elliptical constructions， in most cases， we need to refill the elliptical sentences or clauses. Social settings and institutions impose many types of principles and rules on the ways in which certain types of linguist are acts can be performed. In the pragmatic literature， culture has its invocation of norms and values， and has been a favourite social-world correlate to linguistic choices. The adaptation of language to the social world is indeed pervasive. In a nutshell， social world provides the prescribed norms and principle for language users.
The physical world contains the temporal reference and spatial reference. It also includes the utterer’s body postures， gaze， physical appearance （including clothing）， physical conditions （exhaustion， illness or drunkenness） and biological property. In many cases， all these ingredients are important in determining certain linguistic choices Aspects of physical， social， and mental reality get “activated” by the utterer and interpreter in their respective choice-making practices and that is how they become part of language use as elements with which the making of choices is inter-adaptable and their meanings. Interpretation has considerable requirements for adapting various situations. We all know that interpretation covers many areas， such as meeting， conversation， speech， press， negotiation， visiting， amusement， shopping and daily life etc. On different occasions， the interpreter should adapt himself to the situational context and do perfect interpretation. Here we have several examples to show how the interpreter adapts to the situational context.
Example 1： 在这个问题上我们的态度没有改变。
Script 1： We have not changed our view on this issue.
Script 2： On this issue， our position remains unchanged.
Here we have two version of this sentence interpretation. And it is obvious that the second version is much more formal if it is used in a diplomatic situation. Therefore， interpreter should adapt himself to the proper occasion and make the right choice.
Example 2：
朱熔基： 但是，不管前面是地雷阵还是万丈深渊，我将勇往直前，义无反顾，鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已。
朱彤 （Interpreter）： But no matter what is waiting for me in front of me ，being land mines or an abyss， I will blaze my trail and I have no hesitation and no misgivings and I will do all my best and contribute， devote all myself to the people and the country until the last day of my life.
“勇往直前” normally will be translated as “advance bravely” and “义无反顾” should be translated as “be duty-bounded not to turn back"； and the explanation for“鞠躬尽瘁，死而后己” is “give one’s all till one’s beat stop beating”. However， if the interpreter just interprets Premier Zhu Rongji’ words like this， she cannot not express Premier’s meaning and strong determination clearly. In this formal foreign situation， she should adapt herself to this situational context and interpret this sentence like the above-mentioned paragraph. By doing so， we can easily notice the image of our greatest Premier Zhu Rongji and feel his strong and firm determination， which moves all the people present.
Example 3：
朱熔基： 如果你要求我把它说得具体一点的话，那我可以概括一下。就本届政府现在面临着要干的几件事情可以概括为：“一个确保、三个到位、五项改革”。
（Interpreter）： If you expect me to give you some specifics， then I can just make a generalization of the tasks that this government is expected to accomplish. One assurance， three put-into-place and five reforms. The interpreter adapt herself to interpret three Chinese phrases“确保”，“到位”，“改革” into three English nouns： assurance， put-into-place and reform. Later on she also explain what is main contents for each phrase in detail.
CONCLUSION
Interpretation， as an important means for international exchanges and cooperation， has aroused more and more attention of researchers since 1950s. Interpretation research has developed more interdisciplinary-oriented both at home and abroad. Discussions have been made on many influential factors in the process of interpretation， such as noise， cultural difference， extra linguistic knowledge， interpreters’ mental adjustability， etc. Therefore， from a linguistic-adaptation perspective， this thesis explored the role of context m interpretation. This paper has made a review of Verschueren’s theory of adaptation. From the point of view of theory of adaptation， the process of language use amounts to that of language selection. Language users may make constant selection of the language under different salience. Language possesses the characters of variability， negotiability and adaptability， while adaptability is the core in the process of language use. A language user is supposed to make a dynamic adaptation in the process of language use. Under the framework of “adaptation”， interpretation is to make a dynamic adaptation to the context of source language and linguistic structures. An interpreter should rest on the linguistic structures and context to identify the intent of the communicators of source language and make a best choice of words and phrases to convey the meaning of the original speakers.
Based on the theory of adaptation and the analysis on the linguistic-adaptive nature of interpretation as a way of communication and information processing and a review of studies on context by different scholars， this thesis discussed the role of context in interpretation theoretically and experimentally. The roles that linguistic context， nonlinguistic context play in each phase of interpretation have all been discussed within the frameworks of adaptation theory with abundant illustrations.
In order to confirm the role of context in interpretation， a case study was carried out to verify how interpreters adapt themselves in different situations. Context is a very complex concept.
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