The tide of globalization makes it essential for everybody riding the tide to pick up a second, or even a third, language. The advancement of information and communication technology is partly responsible for bringing the tide and it also changes the way a second language can be acquired. This forum invites learners and will-be-learners, experts and nonexperts, to present and discuss views on how is best to learn a second language in the 21st century and beyond.
November 26, 2013
學語言是在學什麼？
When we say "acquire a language", what do we acquire?
也就是說，你認為語言是什麼？
The lion cub calls out to its mother as she approaches through the tall grass. A pack of wolves howl at the moon, letting other wolves know this territory is theirs. Busy bees dance and turn here and there to direct their efforts. Feathers are flashed to attract, tails are wagged in excitement, and the elephant even shares its sorrows with tears.
But a human speaks, and that is something else entirely. Language, no matter written, spoken, or signed, whispered, shouted, broadcasted before millions or kept to oneself, sometimes an unintelligible mutter, sometimes following iambic pentameter, whether it boils our blood with rage or brings tears to our eyes when it stirs our soul, raises hairs on our neck with fear or gently sends a child to sleep in a sweet lullaby, despite the fact that it can brainwash peoples from every nation or bring freedom to those who cannot speak for themselves, can other-ize you as either “foreigner” or “dumb” when spoken unlike the majority, or lets your heart sing with pride and soar on high as you know your song is sung with the language of your ancestors, making you a “brother” or “sister,” and as a second language, can change everything we thought we knew about the world we live in, reconstruct the inner-workings of our minds, and although ever-changing and evolving, still amazingly enough, the faintest and slightest accenting or a single colloquial word can send us back to our childhood in a hometown far, far away in a most beautiful way …
Language is the essence of humanity.
When we acquire a language, we are becoming a part of everything that makes us most human. By analyzing it we can begin to understand how we work; our brains, our interactions, our society, our history, all our creations, who we are, where we are from, and where we are headed. Language allows us to connect with others within society, but also connects us to our ancestors, places and times far away; across continents and oceans and across millennia. It connects us with our thoughts and emotions and even constructs the way we use our brains and interpret the world we live in. We can use it to create identity, be persuaded with it to give our lives or even befriend a former foe. Language represents unique qualities between each of us, and at the same time identifies the similarity among all of us as members of humankind.
我的答案是：使用一套新的符號表徵世界，進而使用新的觀點解釋世界。
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete我的答案是：學語言是在學習和人溝通分享的能力，以及為了使「溝通效果最佳化」所必備的一切前導知識（如正確判讀他人動機、判斷溝通場合適當性等等）。
ReplyDelete我的答案是：一套可供思考、得到資訊以及與人交際的符號工具。
ReplyDeleteThe lion cub calls out to its mother as she approaches through the tall grass. A pack of wolves howl at the moon, letting other wolves know this territory is theirs. Busy bees dance and turn here and there to direct their efforts. Feathers are flashed to attract, tails are wagged in excitement, and the elephant even shares its sorrows with tears.
ReplyDeleteBut a human speaks, and that is something else entirely. Language, no matter written, spoken, or signed, whispered, shouted, broadcasted before millions or kept to oneself, sometimes an unintelligible mutter, sometimes following iambic pentameter, whether it boils our blood with rage or brings tears to our eyes when it stirs our soul, raises hairs on our neck with fear or gently sends a child to sleep in a sweet lullaby, despite the fact that it can brainwash peoples from every nation or bring freedom to those who cannot speak for themselves, can other-ize you as either “foreigner” or “dumb” when spoken unlike the majority, or lets your heart sing with pride and soar on high as you know your song is sung with the language of your ancestors, making you a “brother” or “sister,” and as a second language, can change everything we thought we knew about the world we live in, reconstruct the inner-workings of our minds, and although ever-changing and evolving, still amazingly enough, the faintest and slightest accenting or a single colloquial word can send us back to our childhood in a hometown far, far away in a most beautiful way …
Language is the essence of humanity.
When we acquire a language, we are becoming a part of everything that makes us most human. By analyzing it we can begin to understand how we work; our brains, our interactions, our society, our history, all our creations, who we are, where we are from, and where we are headed. Language allows us to connect with others within society, but also connects us to our ancestors, places and times far away; across continents and oceans and across millennia. It connects us with our thoughts and emotions and even constructs the way we use our brains and interpret the world we live in. We can use it to create identity, be persuaded with it to give our lives or even befriend a former foe. Language represents unique qualities between each of us, and at the same time identifies the similarity among all of us as members of humankind.
我的答案是：一套可打開世界上另一扇窗，與他人交際溝通的工具。
ReplyDelete