Abstracts of Papers in This Issue

s of Papers in This Issue

Socio-cognitive pragmatics: A critique of Kecskes’ approach to pragmatics(p. 1)

JIANGWangqi(Institute of Linguistics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Kecskes argues that communication is a complicated process, which involves many social, cognitive and pragmatic factors such as cooperation, egocentrism, intention, attention, relevance, salience, actual situational context and prior context. These factors are interwoven and interact with each other, and no one can be ignored. This is the strong side of Kecskes’ approach. But by the “social” Kecskes mainly means the “collective”, opposite to the “individual”, without taking the emotional part into consideration, which is a weak point of his theory.

Classifications and textual functions of vague anaphora(p. 7)

WANGJun(School of Foreign Languages, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China)

In terms of heterogeneity, many types of anaphora bears the feature of vagueness, which include evolving anaphora, indirect anaphora, abstract entity anaphora and anaphoric repair. Vague anaphora has two major functions: cohesion and theme shift. The cohesion function is not simply a kind of reference relation at the linguistic formal level, but, more important, a kind of transition of the concept expressed by the antecedent to the place where the anaphor is located. All types of vague anaphora indicate theme shifts, which vary in degree according to the types of vague anaphora.

An interactive modeling of constructs in foreign language courses and its application(p. 13)

MAOJiguang(School of Foreign Studies, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China)

Based on a CL-inspired approach, a hypothesis of using instructional concepts in the process of teacher’s cognition and its projection onto students’ way of thinking is proposed for the course calledAdvancedEnglish. The mechanism consists of three constructs: concept-driven, cognition-friendly, and output-induced. In the construction of modeling, its anchor points and relations are diagrammed. The paper concludes that doing contrasts between Eastern and Western philosophy for the relative conceptualization and schematizations is cognitively possible and applicable for compiling textbooks, text interpretation, language work, test design, and course assessment.

The cultivation of instructor pragmatic competence through the use of humorous instructor discourse(p. 18)

PANXiaobo(International Business Department， Guangdong Teachers College of Foreign Language and Arts, Guangzhou 510640, China)

The majority of extant researches on pragmatic competence are based on students, neglecting instructors, who are the same as the students as foreign language learners. The cultivation of pragmatic competence mainly depends on linguistic practice, so instructor discourse in classroom could be tapped into as a practical way for instructor pragmatic competence development. Aimed at bringing students into laughter, humorous instructor discourse is a complex and demanding speech act involving linguistic, social and cultural, and situational context. In order to cultivate instructor pragmatic competence through the use of humorous instructor discourse, two steps could be followed: the accumulation and processing of material, and the classroom practice.

Research method of the Grounded Theory in Applied Linguistic(p. 25)

MIAOJia(Language School, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, China)

The Grounded Theory Method, overcomes the problems such as the lack of strict and regular methodology, the difficultly reviewed and checked studying process, the weak conclusion, etc. in Applied Linguistic study caused by other precious research methods. This paper, after demonstrating the basic views and ideas of Grounded Theory, mainly analyzes several questions when adopting the method in the research of Applied Linguistics in China, which are research questions, data collection and the differences between the method and others, in order to guide the future researches within this field.

An analysis of Qian Guanlian’s thoughts on the Opposite-Accord Theory and its significance(p. 32)

LUODijiang(Foreign Languages College, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, China)

The Opposite-Accord Theory proposed by Qian Guanlian, is a way of thinking of wisdom towards the logical dialectics of Lao Zi’s “The Well Opposite-accord” and a way of thinking of philosophy towards the laws of change and motion in thoughts and things between the Western philosophy and Chinese philosophy. In a sense, Qian Guanlian not only defends the ontological status of the Opposite-Accord Theory, but also lays more emphasis on the dialectical complemetarity. This reflects the extension and improvement of the analytic perspectives of the Opposite-Accord Theory and has an important theoretical significance.

A study on the realization of textual metaphor: English clausal ellipsis(p. 38)

LUOLisi(School of Foreign Languages, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China)

Based on Halliday’s and Martin’s grammatical metaphor models, this paper explores realization of textual metaphor by focusing on English clausal ellipsis defined by Halliday & Hasan. It finds that except zeugma, all other types of clausal ellipses are textual metaphors. This paper’s double categorizations of these clausal ellipses depend on Halliday’s and Martin’s different views of cohesion, especially their views of clausal ellipses. The status of this study is thus justified not only in the exploration of textual metaphor realization, but also in the context of theorizing delicacy of grammatical metaphor.

On the functions of language sound: Iconicity, distinction, and logicality(p. 47)

MAZhixin(Common Required English Department, Shengda Trade Economics & Management College of Zhenzhou, Xinzheng 451191, China)

This paper considers the phonologic motivation as the root of linguistic motivation. Words can be divided into two parts: one-syllable words and multi-syllable words. Among one-syllable words we can find proto speech roots, which produce word roots, which produce countless compound words. The sound function in the language development is changing: proto speech root sounds bear the iconicity of sound and meaning, word root sounds bear the distinction of meanings, and compound word sounds bear the national logic.

On polyphonic narrative art ofTheGoldenNotebook(p. 53)

SHIYunbo(School of Foreign Languages, Changzhou Institute of Technology, Changzhou 213002, China)

TheGoldenNotebook, the contemporary British writer Doris Lessing’s masterpiece, has received both appreciation and criticism since its publication. The controversy focuses on its extraordinary writing form, which is in line with the former Soviet Union scholar Bakhtin’s theory of “polyphony”. This essay tends to analyzeTheGoldenNotebookfrom the perspective of “polyphony”, including polyphonic voices, structure and chronotope, to reveal Lessing’s polyphonic narrative art.

In commemoration of the 50thanniversary of Flannery O’Connor’s death: An overview of O’Connor studies in China(p. 58)

XIAOMingwen(School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330031, China)

Flannery O’Connor is one of the most celebrated Southern writers in America. In commemoration of the 50thanniversary of her death, this article sketches out the evolution of O’Connor studies in China. However, weaknesses still exist in China’s O’Connor studies, manifesting chiefly in the inadequacy of depth and lack of originality in the criticism. The O’Connor scholarship with Chinese characteristics may help Chinese critics engage in dialogs with their counterparts in the rest of the world.

On “revenge” plots in Conrad’s fiction from the perspective of ethics(p. 65)

LIChangting(Faculty of International Cooperation, Pingdingshan Industrial College of Technology, Pingdingshan 467000, China)

The article, by employing the ethic theory, focuses on the avengers’ mind of progress as well as the passivity and rationality of the behaviors if ever, with the difference of the traditional revenge. It thus further explores the ideological implication and the value orientation in Conrad’s works. The contradiction between ethical behaviors and individual responsibilities is what Conrad puts more emphasis on.

ReturntoPandwrud: Inquiries about the meaning of life(p. 72)

YANJiqing(College of Foreign Languages, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China)

The historical novelReturntoPandwrudis written by the contemporary Russian writer Andrey Volox. Through poetic traceability and reflection of his own unhappy fate, the author tries to convey the deep comprehension and philosophical thinking about the nature of life. The hero’s spiritual transformation and soul sublimation indicate that the suffering is the necessary condition for the survival of metaphysics and the penance is the way of pursuit of meaning by active suffering. Once the spiritual practices are regarded as a form of penance, one transcends the realm of passive acceptance of the suffering and enters the pure spirit of living space.

Subjectivity in C-E poetry translation(p. 78)

ZHANGZhizhong(College of Foreign Languages, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China)

Poetry is untranslatable, yet with the theory of creativity for the loss, the appeal and images in the original poems can be reproduced. The translatability of poetry speaks for the translator’s subjectivity and creativity. When creativity lacks in the translator, poetry is what gets lost in translation; but when the translator brings creativity into full play, poetry is what gets obtained in translation by the translator. Therefore, creativity is the life of poetry translation; meanwhile, if the translator’s creativity exceeds the limit, the life of poetry translation is doomed. Translating at will within the limit is what a poetry translator shall bear in mind.

A pragmatic probe into the translator’s processing and producing the procedural meanings of discourse markers(p. 84)

LIZhanxi(College of Foreign Lauguages, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China)

This paper adopts a Relevance-Adjustability Theoretic Approach to probe into how the translator’s mind works when he is conveying the procedural meanings of the source discourse markers. The translator’s pragmatic thinking should focus on conveying the contextual effects produced by those procedural meanings. To that end, he is expected to process correctly the logical relations indicated by these discourse markers and to find the optimal relevance to the author’s communicative intention. Then, the translator makes a flexible choice of target discourse markers according to the audience’s avenue of thinking and target utterance-building principles to achieve a successful cross-cultural communication.

On the translation of deviant use of color words inRedSorghum: Based on the theory of “Foregrounding” (p. 89)

WANGWenqiang(Department of Basic Courses, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu 233030, China)

LIUTingting(Department of Basic English Teaching of Qindao College, Qingdao Technological University, Qingdao 266106, China)

Mo Yan is a master in using the imaginative and deviant words on color and the “foregrounding” expressions. This defamiliaration of writing produces a unique sense of aesthetic feeling. Based on Howard Goldblatt’s translation version ofRedSorghum, we probe into his translation methods of “foregrounding” languages, and find in most cases, Howard Goldblatt manages to restore the special function by literal translation. And on the other hand, taking account of the readability of the translation and understanding of target readers, the translator utilizes the method of changing colors and semi-standardization, but the omission weakens the turbulent mood of the original novel, and the narration is also impaired to some extent.

On “Nida Paradox” from tacit knowledge theory(p. 94)

ZHANGLing(Department of Foreign Languages, Northwest Sci-Tech University of Agriculture and Forestry, Yangling 712100, China / College of Foreign Languages, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China)

FUJiangtao(College of Foreign Languages, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China)

Eugene A. Nida’s translation theory once enjoyed popularity in China, hence “Nida Phenomena”. With the development of Nida’s thinking concerning translation theory, however, there came a term “Nida paradox” in China. Is Nida a paradox? This paper, based on Polanyi’s Tacit Knowledge Theory and Nida’s works on translation, argues that Nida makes consistent progress in his thought about translating; translating is essentially a kind of tacit knowledge.

FromLinguisticSemioticstoModernLinguisticSemiotics(p. 99)

LVHongzhou(Research Center for Linguistic Semiotics, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Tianjin 300204, China)

SHANHong(Binhai School of Foreign Affairs, Tianjin Foreign Studies University, Tianjin 300270, China)

Linguistic Semiotics as a rising interdisciplinary field is the necessary demand for Semiotics and Linguistics and the continuation and development of Saussure’s behest, which is also a major contribution to the semiotic studies in the world. FromLinguisticSemioticstoModernLinguisticSemioticsare the results of unremitting exploration of the author in this field.