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1Chapter1IntroductionObjectivesThestudentswillgetageneralinitialimpressionoflinguistics:itiscloselyrelatedtoourunderstandingoflanguageandtoourlearningandteachingaswellasouruseoflanguage;linguisticsisenlighteningandcanbeinteresting.Studentswillbeableto1)seethesignificanceoflearningthecourse,2)understandthatlanguageishuman-specific,3)dofunctionalanalysisofthelanguageinuse4)makeageneraldescriptionoflinguistics,and5)tellsomebasicdistinctionsinlinguisticsKeypoints1)Definitionoflanguage2)Designfeaturesoflanguageanditsfunctions3)Branchesoflinguistics4)BasicdistinctionsinlinguisticsTimerequired:120minutesProcedurePart1WhyLinguistics?(40minutes)1.1Warming-updiscussionTopic1:Whichsentenceisbetter?(2minutes)我们还见不见面呢？我们什么时候再见呢？我们明天什么时候再见呢？Situation:Afterhoursofpleasanttalkonablinddate,themanistosaysomethingbeforesayinggood-byetotheladywhichheisquitefondof.Asksomestudentstochoosethebestone,andexplainwhy,leadingthemtoseetheimplicitmeaningofsentences.Topic2:WhatdoesBmean?Whydoesshesayso?(3minutes)A:刚才和我跳舞的那位跳得太好啦！是你们单位的吗？B:是的。他妻子跳得更好呢！Situation:Aisa30-year-oldwoman,unmarried;B,awoman,isherfriend.Leadingstudentstorealizesomeknowledgeaboutlanguageusemayenablethemtobemorecompetentinusinglanguage.21.2Howfarislinguisticsawayfromus?(15)Listingthepotentialfieldsthatlinguisticsistocover,whichshowsthatitisclosetoourlifeandcanbeinteresting.1.3Whyshouldwecareaboutlinguisticstudies?(10)1)First,informedpeopleoughttoknowatleastsomethingaboutmodernscience.ItishelpfulandnecessaryforEnglishmajors,aslanguagelearnersorwould-belanguageteachers,toknowsomebasiclinguisticknowledge.2)Second,linguists’modesofthoughtaregeneralizableandcaninformotherstudies.Particularly,learninglinguisticscanhelpimproveyourlogicalanddialecticalthinking.E.g.Howcanweapproachanobjectscientifically?Principles(thethreecanonsofscience):(i)exhaustiveness;(ii)consistency;(iii)economy.Methodology：Prescriptiveordescriptive;Levelsofstudy:Observation，description，explanation3)Third,languageplaysacentralroleinourlivesasindividualsandsocialbeings.Unawareofthenatureandmechanismofourlanguage,wewillbeignorantofwhatconstitutesouressentialhumanity.Linguisticsdirectlyorindirectlysaysmuchabouthumannaturethatweoughtalltobeinterestedin.1.4CourserequirementsandAssessment(4minutes)1)Ourtextbookissoinformativethatinthisintroductorycoursewecannotcoverallthetopicsinit;youwillfindthatmuchofthetextbookisleftwithoutanytouch.Self-taughtstudyisveryimportant.2)Extranotesareprovidedforeachchapter;youmayreadthesebefore,after,orwhileyoureadtherelevantsectionsinyourtextbook.Allofthesearedesignedtohelpyoutomasterthematerialfromthechapterandtoprepareyouforthefinal.3)Homeworkshouldbefinishedintime;classroomgroupworkisessential.Classparticipationandperformanceinclassandassignmentwilltakeup50%ofthetotalscore,finalexamtakinguptheother50%.1.5HintsonHowtoStudy(6minutes)1)Readingquestionswillbegivenbeforeeachclasssoastohelpstudentsextractthenecessaryandusefulinformationfromthetextasyougoalong.2)Youaresuggestedtolookoverthereadingquestionsforeachsectionofthetextbeforeyoureadthatsection.Afteryouhavereadthetext,readtheoutlineImakeofthemainpointsofthechapter.Then,lookagainatthereadingquestionsandmakesurethatyoucananswerthembeforeyougoontothenextsection.3)Afteryoucompletetheassignedreadings,lookatthequestionsintheassignment,inhandoutorontheline.Ifyouhaveunderstoodthereadingsyoushouldbeabletoanswerthequestionswithoutreferringtothetext,so3keepthatinmindforthetests.Tosomeoftheassignedquestions,suggestedanswersaregiveninourtextbook’s“KeytoQuestionsandExercises”.Butmakesureyouwillnotlookatthembeforeyouanswerthequestionsbyyourself.4)Remember:Donottrytolearnanythingbyrote;withoutunderstandingwhatyouread,learninglinguisticsisnothingbutawasteoftime.Iexpectthatyouwillbedoingalotoftextsearchinginansweringthequestions(thatiswhatIwoulddo,anyway).YouwillfindmorespecifichintsonstudyingcertainitemsintheoutlineIwillmakeforeachchapter.Part2WhatisLinguistics?(80minutes)2.1Warming-updiscussion(5minutes)Doesthewordlanguagemeanthesameinthefollowingsetofexpressions?“thelanguageofmusic”“badlanguage”“MarkTwain’slanguage”“bodylanguage”Asksomestudentstotellthedifferences,leadingthemtorealizethattodefinetheobjectofanyinvestigationisnoeasyjob.2.2Whatislanguage?2.2.1Atentativedefinition(10minutes)2.2.2Designfeaturesoflanguage(20minutes)Focusisonarbitrariness,dualityandproductivity.Leadstudentstotheconclusionthatlanguageishuman-specific.2.2.3Functionsoflanguage(5minutes)Focusisonphatic,informative,performativeandmetalingualfunctions.Leadstudentstothefactthatasentencecanbemulti-functionalinagivencontext.2.3Branchesoflinguistics(15minutes)1)Groupdiscussion:Whatshouldorcanwestudyaboutlanguage?(5minutes)Askstudentstonamesomethingsthatmaybestudiedbylinguists,leadingthemtothethreelevelsoflanguage:sound,form,andmeaning.2)Introducethenotionsofmicro-linguisticsandmacro-linguistics.2.4Importantdistinctionsinlinguistics(15)Onlydescriptive/prescriptive,langue/parole,competence/performance,speech/writingaretobeelaboratedinclass.Leadingstudentstothebasicdistinc