整体论假说与外语教学

The Holistic Hypothesis and L2 teaching

本文结合Wittgenstein的语言游戏观,将整体论假说(梁瑞清2006)从母语习得推进到外语学习。在分别探讨了整体论假说与补缺假说、习得与意义之间的关系的基础上,本文认为整体论假说对外语教学的启示有二:第一,外语学习和母语习得一样也和意义的理解有着密切的关系,而且习得和理解都是动态的;第二,理解在于使用,而使用离不开由各种各样的语言游戏所构成的“生活形式”,亦即社会语境,外语语境知识的最大化是提高外语水平、特别是听说水平的重要手段。

This paper, inspired by Wittgenstein's conception of language-games, aims to extend the Holistic Hypothesis from L1 acquisition to L2 learning. Following a discussion on the relationship between the Holistic Hypothesis and the Compensation Hypothesis as well as that between acquisition and meaning, two implications for L2 teaching emerge from the Holistic Hypothesis. First, L2 learning, like L1 acquisition, is closely related to meaning-oriented comprehension, and both learning and comprehension are dynamic. Second, comprehension is targeted at use, which in turn occurs in the 'form of life' composed of various language-games, i.e. the social context. Therefore, maximization of the role of L2 contextual knowledge in L2 learning is an important way to improve L2 proficiency, especially L2 listening and speaking abilities.