Introduction
Language is a major characteristic of a state. English linguistic communication has developed 100s of 1000s of parlances. It has been estimated that about 7,000 parlances are used by a native talkers per hebdomad ( Cooper, 1999, p. 249 ) . At the same clip, “ hold oning parlances can be a great plus to scholars in geting a new linguistic communication ” ( Celce-Murcia & A ; Larsen-Freeman, 1999, p.36 ) . Parlances are inordinately hard for their flexible constructions and nonliteral significances ( Liu, 2003, p.675 ) . For illustration, the significance of high Equus caballus has nil to make with high and Equus caballus but means an chesty people. Harmonizing to the surface significance, 2nd linguistic communication scholars can barely state its significances.
Besides, Language is the most of import communicating tool. Peoples use linguistic communication to continue and convey human civilisation, that is, linguistic communication conveys the civilization. Sapir ( 1921 ) observed that civilization can be defined as what a human community does and believe. The map of linguistic communication is to explicate what a idea is. Therefore, linguistic communication does non be entirely. It is rooted in national civilization and reflects national establishments. If civilization is regarded as the cradle of linguistic communication, carnal parlances can be seen as the crystallisation of civilization.
Animal parlances are plentiful in English. They conspicuously reflect English civilization. For a long period, surveies on animate being parlances chiefly focus on interlingual rendition, cross-cultural comparing, literature, and so on. However, there are few surveies on English animate being parlances acquisition associating to British civilization. Animal parlances, like a mirror, can clearly reflect the features of a national civilization. By and large talking, anthropologists are divided into three degrees of civilization: high civilization, popular civilization, deep civilization. High civilization includes doctrine, literature, art and faith. Popular civilization refers to imposts, etiquette and the interpersonal facets of life. Deep civilization contains the significance of beauty and ugliness, clip orientation, problem-solving methods ( Yin Li & A ; Han Xiaoling, 2007 ) . High civilization and popular civilization belong to low context civilization ; deep civilization belongs to high context civilization. In this thesis, the cardinal point is to look into whether the Chinese English scholars can understand the low context civilization by analyzing the bid of animate being parlances. High context civilization is out of the range of this undertaking.
Literature Review
Culture and Language
There are a big figure of definitions in civilization, but a few of them can be reviewed. The most classical definition of civilization is made by Edward B. Tylor ( 1871 ) , the male parent of cultural anthropology. The definition describes the civilization as a centre of society, which is regarded as the first of import anthropological theory about civilization. Tylor provided that “ civilization is that complex whole which includes cognition, belief, art, ethical motives, jurisprudence, imposts and any other capablenesss and wonts acquired by adult male as a member of a society. ” He believed that civilization is shared by all world, all community. Then, following the definitions of sociologists, they believe that civilization refers to human attitudes, establishments, and beliefs etc. Reflecting the life of a human community is the cardinal point in civilization. Williams ( 1965 ) references that the definition of civilization contains three general classs. First, civilization is a province or procedure of human public presentation and has certain cosmopolitan values. Second, civilization is the organic structure of rational and inventive work. It records human idea and experience. Finally, 3rd, civilization refers to a society, that is, civilization expresses certain significances and values in people ‘s life. It is non merely in art and acquisition but besides in usage and ordinary behaviour. Besides, Deng and Liu ( 2007 ) point out that civilization illustrates “ the ways of a people ” , that is to state, civilization refers to the full manner of life of a society.
Language is the bearer of civilization which contains people ‘s day-to-day life. Writing in 1950, Luo Changpei who was a celebrated linguist and pedagogue in China recognizes that linguistic communication is a crystallisation of national civilization, which spreads the past, pushes the hereafter. Each linguistic communication is a living dodo to a state. Language as the chief stuff has the most direct and close contact to construct a civilization. Furthermore, linguistic communication is used for communicating. It is impossible to utilize a linguistic communication without consciousness of its civilization. That is to state, linguistic communication can be a signal to place different civilizations. When linguistic communication used by peculiar talkers, it conveys certain context which is how words be chosen, why to take it, what significance can be expressed. Language can non be without transporting civilization significance.
Given the statements above, the relationship between linguistic communication and civilization can be described as follows: linguistic communication come from civilization and civilization embodies the full manner of life of a society. Using linguistic communication can advance cultural spread and civilization can advance linguistic communication development. Language and civilization work closely and act upon each other. Expressing facts, thoughts, or events and reflecting the people ‘s attitudes, beliefs etc. are the most of import map of a linguistic communication. Language exchange really is cultural communicating. Learning a linguistic communication good must be cognizant of its civilization.
Surveies on Parlances
Smith L.P. ( 1925, p.167 ) points out that there is the component of enrichment which is of greater importance, which comes from popular, free and untaught English. This element consists of what people call “ parlances ” . Smith besides defines its usage in this connexion. “ Idiom ” is sometimes used to depict the signifier of address peculiar to a people or state ; “ parlance ” for the significance is expressed by the Gallic word idiotisme, that is to state, those signifiers of look, of grammatical building, or of phrasing, which are curious to a linguistic communication, and approved by its use, despite the significances they convey are frequently different from their grammatical or logical meaning.
Makkai ‘s Idiom Structure in English, an drawn-out version of his doctoral thesis ( 1965 ) , identifies two major types of parlances: one is encoding ; another is decrypting. Makkai finds a principle to explicate this division. The head word listed in the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) ( 1970 ) is sense 3a, which besides appears in an indistinguishable signifier in the OED ( 1989 ) : “ A signifier of look grammatical building, phrase etc. , peculiar to a linguistic communication ; a distinctive feature of wording approved by the use of a linguistic communication, and frequently holding significance other than its grammatical or logical one ” ( cited from Fernando C. , 1996, p.3-4 ) .
Harmonizing to Moon Rosamund ( 1998:4 ) , narrower utilizations restrict parlance to a peculiar sort of unit: one is fixed and semantically opaque or metaphorical, for illustrations, every bit white as a sheet or cold shoulder. In broader utilizations, parlance is a general term for many sorts of multiword point, no affair semantically opaque or non. For animate being parlances, the signifier is normally loose, and it chiefly focuses on nonliteral significances instead than actual significance, for illustrations, put the cart before the Equus caballus, or directly from the Equus caballus ‘s oral cavity.
English parlances with the strong characteristic of rhetoric are formed from long-tem usage and their constructions are alone and have fixed look. It contains proverbs, expressions, slangs, and allusions, etc. There are two of import features of parlances: one is semantic integrity, that is, the overall significance can non be tracked from each word, for illustration, draw all one ‘s eggs in one basket. It means the despairing state of affairs non the surface significance. Another is the construction of fastness, that is, its construction can non be altered randomly, for illustration, kick the pail. It can non state kick the bucket or be used in the inactive voice- the pail is kicked ( Wang Benhua, 2010 ) .
Animal parlances and British civilization
There is a close relationship between animate beings and people ‘s lives. On the one manus, animate being is the chief beginning of nutrient and vesture for homo ; the other manus, sorts of animate beings represent certain images which people pay court to them. These animate beings reflect human idea and contain certain national civilization. There are three bases to do carnal vocabularies to do cultural significances. First, derive from animate being ‘s visual aspects, physical construction, outlook, behaviour. Second, come from cultural content such as fabrications, fables, faiths, physical geographics, and imposts. Third, be created by association, that is to state, animate beings are associated with another things which relate to possible cultural psychological science ( Liao Guangrong, 2000 ) . In the position of linguistics, animate being images used in parlances have nonliteral significance. Idioms linked to animate beings normally contain metaphors. Animals denote and connote supposed qualities. These qualities are applied to people and human state of affairss. There is a phenomenon that no idiom database contains carnal or insect, although many contain subordinates such as cat, Canis familiaris, or Equus caballus. The ground may be that general words such as animate being are excessively impersonal to do these sorts of institutionalised metaphors, despite the fact that both carnal and insect are used in other contexts with metaphorical significances ( Moon, R. , 1998, p.196 ) .
In the interim, the formation of animate being parlances relies on civilization. Harmonizing to the statements mentioned above, civilization refers to all facets of a people such as geographical state of affairs, the manner of production, and literature etc. In the history, Great Britain was the master in the sea. Despite the Europe, other continents were the British settlements. Therefore, British state could reach with many carnal species. Britain is surrounded by islands. Due to the abundant resources from physical geographics, animate being parlances flourished in the early old ages of that century. Thereby, English parlances have close contact with sea and fishing, for illustration, hook one ‘s fish. Comparing with China, Great Britain is filled with little mountains and strait lands. In ancient Britain, Equus caballuss are chief arable force. The map of Equus caballuss is above all. Therefore, there is peculiarly big figure of horse-related parlances, such as Equus caballus of another colour, an Fe Equus caballus, or Equus caballus sense etc. In ancient China, the cowss played a important function. That is why so many parlances related to cowss in China, for illustrations, niu chi chong tian i??feng mom niu bu xiang Jemaah Islamiyah etc. These cowss and Equus caballuss have been portrayed by cultural intension. In add-on, some carnal images come from Greek and Roman mythology or Bible, like snake which means Satan in Bible ( Zhao Shuyun, 2010 ) .
Animal parlances related surveies
In the 2nd linguistic communication acquisition, right utilizing parlances has ever been regarded as a tough job. A scholar must acknowledge the hole constructions and given significance, non merely the actual significance but besides the nonliteral significance. Figurative significance refers to metaphors which have close relationship with civilization. What ‘s more, carnal parlances are more flexible and unwritten orientation. It is non easy for 2nd linguistic communication scholars to transgress the syntactic, semantic, and matter-of-fact barriers in parlance acquisition. Blasko and Connine ( 2002 ) made an experiment in comparing Malay and English to look into 2nd linguistic communication nonliteral proficiency. They found two consequences as follows: First, “ nonliteral looks with an tantamount conceptual footing and lingual signifier are the easiest ” ; Second, “ nonliteral looks with an tantamount lingual signifier but a different conceptual footing are the most hard. ” Lin Weiyan ( 2003 ) designed a undertaking to look into English parlance larning in different cultural background. He observes that English parlances with same nonliteral significance as Chinese are easy to understand comparing with different nonliteral significance as Chinese. That is to state, if the English parlances are similar to Chinese 1s in look and significance, female parent lingua will do efficaciously transportation ; if non, mother tongue will do negative transportation. Wu Xudong and Chen Bin ( 2006 ) rapidly came to the decision that the procedure of conceptual and cultural transportation is the procedure of groking English animate being parlances, and Chinese English scholars has low capableness to grok English animate being parlances with different metaphors.
From the presented surveies above, it can be concluded that commanding parlances, particularly carnal parlances is one of the large obstructions in 2nd linguistic communication acquisition. Chinese English scholars have the advantage and disadvantage of understanding carnal parlances, because there are some similar nonliteral significances. But due to the acquisition environment, Chinese English scholars have low capablenesss to command carnal parlances.
Research Question
Can the bid of English animate being parlances promote Chinese English Learners to understand British civilization?
Hypothesis
Due to the relationship with linguistic communication, animate being parlances and civilization, bid of English animate being parlances can advance Chinese English Learners to understand British civilization.
