Henrik Skov Nielsen’s unnatural narrative theory not just remains at the level of pure formalist description. It also pays attention to the ways of interpreting unnatural narratives. While defining unnatural narrative, Nielsen considers both unnatural narrative’s formalist aesthetics and readers’ interpretation of it at the same time, emphasizing its feature of expanding the boundary of narrative forms. He then proposes“unnaturalizing reading”, advocating that readers should jump out of the existing cognitive frames based on experiential lives and refuse to naturalize fictional texts to the representation of real lives so as to gain fresh critical insights. Nielsen’s unnatural narratology establishes in the broader context that narrative forms undergoes constant expansion. His narrative poetics based unnatural narratives in return can interpret those narrative practices with new rhetorical forms and offer a kind of formalist perspective for understanding the development of literary history.
This study used the ERP（event-related potential） technique to investigate the number attraction effect in L2 agreement processing and its individual differences. Experiment results showed that advanced EFL learners exhibited distinct ERP patterns in different local noun conditions: ungrammatical verbs following singular local nouns elicited a P600 effect relative to their grammatical counterparts, whereas this positivity was replaced by an N400 effect when plural local nouns intervened between the subject head nouns and the verbs. Moreover, advanced EFL learners showed an asymmetrical pattern of attraction effect, in that plural local nouns interfered with the processing of ungrammatical sentences rather than grammatical sentences. Lastly, individual difference analyses revealed that EFL learners exhibited a pattern of N400—P600 continuum, with the number of P600-effect dominant participants being larger than that of N400-effect dominant participants in the singular local noun condition, but the number of N400-effect dominant participants larger than that of P600-effect dominant participants in the plural local noun condition. The overall outcome demonstrated that advanced EFL learners are sensitive to the attraction effect. Moreover, individual differences in the L2 number attraction effect implies that L2 syntactic processing is not restricted to a parsing route of a particular kind.
Diaspora literature has gradually become one of the hot issues in academic circles in the 1980s and 1990s. Franz Kafka is a Jewish writer who writes in German and mainly lives in Prague, the central city of Europe. He is not a typical diaspora writer because he does not have“personal diaspora experience”, and his works do not explicitly“express individual or group diaspora life”. However, not only Kafka’s thought but also his creation embody obvious“diasporality”. Kafka is a writer who was born, grew up and lived in the boom of diaspora, which must have influenced and shaped his unique writing style. In a word, both the tradition of diaspora culture and the source of today’s thriving diaspora literature could be traced back to Kafka.
“Crisis”, such as“burning down of home”, war subjugation and the invasion of history, is the major narrative theme in modern and contemporary Caribbean British diaspora literature.The description of crisis is intertwined with writer’s critical reflections on the secondary diaspora of British Caribbeans after the disintegration of particular communities, writer’s discussion on the important role of empathy mechanism in building an interracial community of destiny, and writer’s emphasis on the historical attributes of home and community life. As far as modern and contemporary British Caribbean diaspora writers are concerned, communities disintegrate or sustain because of crises. Consensus and empathy are not only at the core of the value discourse circulating in community but also the preconditons for the construction of home and community.
Figurative language processing is a highly interdisciplinary research field, which shows a tendency to integrate linguistics with other disciplines. To advance the understanding of the stateof-the-art in this field, this study, using a bibliometric method, explored research fronts and development trends between 2012 and 2021 from three aspects of major specialties, research foci, and emerging trends. It was found that the major specialties in this area over the past decade include the cognitive pragmatic study of metaphor, atypical population, bilingualism, sarcasm,irony, idioms, embodied cognition, conventionality and literary metaphor with research foci such as ERP, fMRI, eye movement, N400, cognitive linguistics and pragmatics. The emerging trends are mainly related to the studies of the modulating effect of familiarity and individual factors,processing of various language types, and interdisciplinary study with pragmatics, cognitive linguistics and corpus linguistics.
Based on the self-built corpus of the Russian Translation of The True Story of Ah Q, this paper makes a comparative analysis of the differences and similarities between Vassiliev’s translation and Rogov’s translation in the lexical and syntactic levels as well as the translation strategies of culture-loaded words. It confirms the conclusion drawn by previous studies that Rogov translated the stories with reference to Vassiliev’s translation. Meanwhile, this paper proves with ample evidence that a small part of the conclusions of the previous studies are still to be discussed. It is found that there are little differences in lexical richness, lexical density and sentence length between the two translation versions as a whole. However, when compared by separate chapters, significant differences are revealed in the lexical richness and lexical density. In terms of the translation strategies of socioculture-loaded words, Vassiliev’s version tends to be domesticated while Rogov’s version is inclined to be foreignized.
Audiovisual-based speaking continuation task can help learners learn and use language in a context-contingent way, making up for some shortcomings of listening and speaking courses,and hence improving the teaching effect. Currently, little is known about audiovisual-based speaking continuation task via mobile platforms, and no action research has been conducted to explore the changes in learners’ affective factors and learning outcomes during the continuation process. This study, by adopting an action research approach, investigated the application of audiovisual-based speaking continuation teaching via mobile-assisted language learning in college English teaching. Specifically, the study explored the changes in learners’ task motivation, learning attitude and oral performance, based on which we reflected on and implemented efficient ways of improving continuation-based teaching practices. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, in-class and on-line observations, self-reported reflections, and language proficiency tests. Results showed that audiovisual-based speaking continuation task enhanced learners’ task motivation and learning attitude, and improved their oral proficiency. The study provides implications on the practice of audiovisual-based speaking continuation teaching and the application of action research in the realm of foreign language teaching.
Semantic prosody is a complex concept with rich meanings, which needs to be defined and examined from multiple perspectives. The present study employs a diachronic corpus approach to exploring the developmental change of semantic prosody over time and the features of concept definition, while taking the semantic preference and collocate connotation as references. Data analysis shows that these aspects of phrasal units centering the same node words tend to change over time. Among them, the change of semantic prosody is more diversified than but not necessarily synchronical with the other two aspects. Further analyses indicate that the polarity of collocate connotation changes largely due to the appearance or disappearance of positive or negative entities or events, semantic preference changes with the appearance or disappearance of certain type（s） of co-occurring entities or events, and semantic prosody changes when the speech community has a different attitude toward the relevant co-occurrence（s）. The above findings illuminate from a diachronic perspective that semantic prosody is defined by the semantic preference to a certain extent, but it has no direct relationship with the collocate connotation. Finally the implications of the findings for further research are also discussed.
Xu Yuanchong has a unique view and understanding of literary translation. He regards literary translation as a process of creating beauty. Based on his understanding of the essential attributes of literary translation, this paper considers the artistry and creativity of literary translation in view of the attributes and dependencies of literary translation and the relationship between the original work and the translated work. At the same time, it focuses on his pursuit and creation of beauty in literary translation and combines his translation practice and theoretical thinking, especially his rich experience in poetry translation. This paper probes into the origin of his“Three Beauties Theory”, explains the profound connotation of“beauty in sense, sound and form”, explores the pioneering significance and value contained in his aesthetic proposition, and analyzes the way of pursuing beauty that he insists on. It points out that the translation art pursued by Xu Yuanchong focuses on“beauty”, and the creation of“beauty”is the fundamental reason.
One defining feature of local grammar research is that it uses functional-semantic terminologies to analyze language used in specialized contexts. This kind of analysis can facilitate the exploration of the discursive representation of specific social events or discourse objects, which indicates that local grammars could have potential value in critical discourse studies. This study therefore employs the local grammar approach to explore the discursive representation of Covid-19 in Chinese and American news media, aiming to enrich the toolkit of critical discourse studies. The study shows that there are both qualitative similarities and quantitative differences in the ways Covid-19 was discursively represented, which points to discrepancies in reporting, preventing, and controlling Covid-19 in the two societies. The study shows that local grammars help to identify the semantic roles of the target social event or discourse object, thereby contributing to the exploration of its discursive representation and the association between language use and social reality. Local grammar can thus be considered a potentially useful and new approach to critical discourse studies.
This paper sets out to offer a systematic review of major corpus linguistic approaches to discourse studies, including the corpus-based discourse studies（CBDS）, corpus-assisted discourse studies（CADS） and corpus-informed discourse studies（CIDS）. We start with identifying distinctive methodological features, common analytical instruments and their alignment with concepts of classical Critical Discourse Analysis, before examining the similarities and differences in ideas and methods of the three different approaches. The article also addresses the challenges discourse studies are now encountering amid current new waves of information technologies and discusses possible prospects for development.
Research articles are important channels for scientific knowledge exchange and communication. With the increasing competition in academic publishing and knowledge transformation,writers seek to employ various linguistic strategies to promote the research methods adopted and the value of what they have found. One of the explicit ways is to use hyperbolic and promotional language to glamorise, publicize, embroider and/or exaggerate aspects of their research — a phenomenon Millar et al.（2019） refer to as“rhetorical hype”. Based on a diachronic corpus of English and Chinese research articles across disciplines, this study sets out to explore the frequency,distribution and hyped target of such a rhetorical practice used in English and Chinese academic prose in recent 50 years. The results show a significant increase in the use of rhetorical hypes, especially in hard sciences. In addition, English articles are inclined to promote the innovative value of research while Chinese texts place more stress on the research significance but less on the previous research outputs by the writers. This study contributes to the way students develop a better understanding of social persuasion in academic discourse and make appropriate choices of rhetorical resources in academic writing.
To date, a plethora of studies have shown significant correlations between metacognitive awareness and L2 listening achievement and MALQ, a self-report measure developed and validated by Vandergrift et al.（2006）, has been widely used to gauge their relationships. However,the findings of relevant studies are incongruent. To bridge this gap, this paper used the software of CMA（2.0） and the metafor package for R to conduct a meta-analytic review of 39 primary studies involving 7997 participants from home and abroad. 182 effect sizes extracted from 47 independent samples were aggregated and analyzed. According to the more field-specific benchmarks of effect sizes proposed by Plonsky and Oswald（2014）, the results of the meta-analysis indicate medium correlations between metacognitive awareness（r = 0.38）, problem solving（r =0.35） and L2 listening achievement while directed attention（r = 0.27）, planning and evaluation（r = 0.22）, person knowledge（r = 0.21）, and mental translation（r =-0.13） are found to be modestly or weakly associated with L2 listening achievement. Moderator analyses show that educational level and target language are the moderator variables that significantly impact the relationship between metacognitive awareness and L2 achievement. Pedagogical implications are discussed.
本文基于Talmy的宏事件理论,通过汉语小说文本及其英译本对比,从认知语义学视角探讨致使性状态变化事件的汉英差异及翻译策略.语料分析发现:1)汉英两种语言的注意视窗开启机制有所不同,使得原文和译文采用了不同的因果链整合方式,但两种语言中结果事件均是因果链中最为关键的子事件,注意视窗开启较为频繁;2)汉英翻译包括语义要素分解、语义要素重组和再词汇化三个过程.本文提出两项翻译策略,即因果链接合策略和因果链切分策略.因果链的接合与切分受到两种语言的类型学差异、词汇可及性差异和词汇搭配差异的影响.
情感叙事学对女性文学翻译具有解释力,这是因为翻译过程中需要创造性处理女性文学独特的情感系统,而这些创造性离不开情感叙事学在解释层面的分析手段.基于此,本文通过考察英国汉学家翻译的当代女作家丁小琦的作品《女儿楼》,从情感叙事学方面分析翻译的情感化处理方式及其评价与启示.研究表明,译者从以下五个方面实现了女性文学翻译的情感叙事:情感叙事系统的构式类比、情感叙事引发条件的强化、情感叙事体验的增量认知、情感叙事注意力取向的移情、叙事事件与情感发展目标的明晰化.总体来看,用英文的情感叙事手段重新阐释中文的情感观念,在英文的情感系统中可激发出深层的回应.这一领域值得文学翻译研究关注.
"What are you/we talking about?"是英语口语交际中常见的习语构式,不仅具有规约意义和语境制约下的语用意义,而且用来调节和管理前述话语与交际行为,属于元语用意识指示语.本文基于元语用理论,通过分析美国当代英语语料库口语子库中构式"What are you/we talking about?"的语用意义,揭示其在不同语境下说话人的元语用意识体现.研究发现,构式"What are you/we talking about?"体现说话人对交际中语篇、信息、发话人和交际双方四个维度的元语用意识,具体表现在管理话语组织结构,为听话人提供认知解读框架,构建权威身份,管理人际亲疏关系.本研究拓展了构式研究的理论视角,对构式的元语用阐释有助于我们更全面地推理和解读说话人的交际意图.
本研究采用自定步速阅读范式下的语义判断任务,考察中国学习者英语方向性语义的加工特征及知觉运动模拟参与情况.结果显示,与英语母语者的具体性效应显著不同,中国学习者加工抽象语义的正确率高于具体语义.动词在方向性语义加工过程中获得较高关注度;尽管从反应时上看具体性效应较弱,但小品词并入方式对加工时间具有一定影响.换言之,动词作为独立兴趣区(AOI)呈现时存在弱具体性效应;动词与小品词在同一兴趣区呈现时,受具体语义生成性特征与汉语编码偏好影响,加工速度变缓.研究还发现,二语加工过程的知觉运动模拟参与机制受母语概念与二语认知方式等多元因素制约.相关结果对于探索二语加工过程中语言机制和认知机制的互动关系具有一定启发.
级差含义是当代语义语用界面研究的热点,其意义归属和加工属性引发了持久的学术讨论.理论研究的争论促进了该领域的"实证转向",在实验语用学背景下涌现出许多新的研究视角、研究方法和研究问题.本文借助CiteSpace工具对级差含义实验语用学研究成果进行梳理和归纳,概括了当前该领域关注的焦点问题和发展趋势并在此基础上对现有研究进行评价,针对研究不足对未来研究加以展望,以期为相关研究提供借鉴.
以往对评注性副词的翻译研究较少,且未涉及评注性副词与叙述话语之间的关系.本文以张爱玲小说《小团圆》及其英译本Little Reunions为语料,利用汉英平行语料库,考察评注性副词的英译与叙述语式——包括叙述视角和叙述距离——的改变模式.研究发现,原文使用大量评注性副词不仅服务于固定式内聚焦叙述,且构成自由式引语,形成一种较近的叙述距离;而译文通过删除评注性副词、给涉及评注性副词的话语添加言者主语,使叙述视角变成了选择性的全知叙述,且造成叙述距离时而大时而小.本文认为,叙述语式的改变与译者的翻译原则、译文在目的语文化中的体裁定位及提高译文可读性的需要有关.
话语具有时间和空间属性,信息技术的飞速发展使话语时空动态变得更为复杂.话语生态分析以系统功能语言学为基础,认为语言构建现实,通过分析话语揭示语言对生态和环境的影响.本文基于系统功能语言学在进化系统类型上的认识,通过实例分析表明,将特定话语视作一个意义生态系统,引入进化思维对话语时空动态进行生态分析,有助于从量化角度认识话语变化模式,扩展话语生态分析的语言服务功能.
