信息状态对英语前置句式习得的语用制约

Pragmatic constraints of information status on the acquisition of English preposings

英语中的前置句式具有句法和语用两个方面的制约性。本文以中国学习者为对象,研究了信息状态对英语前置句式习得的语用制约。结果发现,三组受试普遍接受涉及活性信息的前置结构,但却拒绝接受涉及可推知性信息的前置句式,目的语水平差异对受试的影响主要体现在后者。这说明,在缺少形态线索的情况下,学习者在理解前置句式的语用关系方面有着较大的困难,需要付出更多的认知努力。

English preposing constructions are constrained by both syntactic and pragmatic factors.This study explores the pragmatic constraints on the acquisition of English preposings by Chinese EFL learners from the perspective of information status.The results show that subjects tend to accept preposings whose preposed elements represent active information,but reject the preposings in which the preposed elements carry inferentially accessible information.It is found that they are able to identify the explicit constraints imposed by information structure on preposings in discourse,but unable to identify the implicit ones.Their English language proficiency causes significant differences in dealing with the latter type of preposings.It is argued that in the absence of morphological clues the Chinese EFL learners have more difficulty in recognizing the pragmatic relations of preposing constructions,and more cognitive efforts are therefore needed.