Applying Cognitive Linguistics to Second Language Learning and Teaching(1)

the cover

1Introduction

1.1What is CL
It embraces a number of closely related theories of language.
I refer here to Chomsky(1965) and others(e.g. Fodor,1983)whose theories about language are based on the conviction that the human mind includes a faulty for language acquisition which is largely 'walled-off' from the rest of cognition.
Unlike generative linguists, cognitive linguists argue that the cognitive processes governing language use and learning are essentially the same as those involved in all other types of knowledge processing, or as Croft and Cruse(2004:2)put it:……
There is no distinction between language competence and language performance, as performance equats to usage. Language knowledge and learning are usage-based.
key cognitive processes用于语言，也用于make sense of our surroundings.
One of the contributions that CL makes to second language learning and teaching is to suggest ways in which the relationships between grammatical expressions and their original lexical meanings can be made apparent in the classroom to enhance learning and memorization. 学习者思考为什么这样表达？
从几个认知语言学概念入手分析对SLTL的作用：

construal

construal P5

categorization

categories are said to be radial and to have 'fuzzy boundaries'.

language-specific categories

protptypical member
Different languages conventionally construe things differently, and although we may not be consciously aware of it, it is likely that our cognitive systems will, to some extent, have been 'primed' by our L1 in ways which might inerfere with our learning of subsequent languages.
We may be preconditioned in some ways to pay more attention to, or be more aware of those features of the world that are explicitly encoded in our language, and to be less aware of those that are not. In other words, we may develop 'cognitive habits' as a result of having acquired our first language, which may need to be broken or adapted in order to facilitate the learning of a L2.
Comparing the respecitive construal patterns of a learner's L1 and L2 may thus get us some way towards predicting the types of problems that L2 learners are likely to encounter.
contrastive analysis
Indeed,CL contribute to对比分析,第一语言的识解模式确实可以影响第二语言学习,but CL can also address the issues that were not covered by the 对比分析hypothesis. play a key role in determining both the 'what' and the 'how' of SLL.
I argue that if teachers present language features as flexible categories they will give learners a more accurate picture of how language really works and help them to understand why the 'rules' they may have learned have so many exceptions.
A sencond aim is to use corpus data to test some of the claims that have been made by cognitive liguists about the nature of radial categories, and to see how these claims stand up in the light of authentic data.

encyclopaedic knowledge

bachelor VS spinster

In the terminology favoured by cognitive linguists, words and phrases act as 'access nodes' into a complex knowledge network(Langacker, 1987:163). They are tools that cause listeners to 'activate' certain areas of their knowldge network.

metaphor and metonymy

In very basic terms, metaphor draws on relations of substitution and similarity, whereas metonymy draws on relations of contiguity.

Chapter6 Metonymy

embodiment

Embodiment allows us to understand abstract concepts by relating them directly to our physical experience. Through embodiment, 'people's subjective, felt experiences of their bodies in action provide part of the foundamental grounding for language and thought'(Gibbs,2006；9).

motivation

3 types identified by Boers and Lindstromberg(2006):
form-form mind your manners, tea for two
form-meaning ??? Form–meaning motivation refers to the fact that the actual sounds of words can sometimes provide clues as to their meaning. For example, most learners would be able to hazard a pretty good guess at the meanings of stodgy cake, a lump of clay or a flimsy dress. ???
meaning-meaning metaphor metonymy, abstract senses of words relate back to their more basic senses.

construction grammar

The meanings of the examples can be seen as being somehow related

A criticism that has been levelled at cognitive linguistics is that it relies too heavily on artificial data and made-up examples.
This book attempts to address this criticism by referring throughout to naturally occurring data from a wide variety of settings, ranging from language classrooms, learner corpora, university lectures, and workplace settings where native and non-native speakers have to engage in authentic interaction to communicate their ideas and accomplish their tasks.

the Bank of English corpus. (The Bank of English, http://www.titania.bham.ac.uk/, is a 450-word English monitor corpus, jointly owned by HarperCollins Publishers and the University of Birm- ingham. It contains a representative selection of written and spoken English and is regularly updated to provide a permanently up-to-date record of current English usage.)