汉英中介语中隐性话题结构研究

A study of implicit topic structures in Chinese-English inter-language

由于汉语话题突出特征的影响,汉英中介语中不仅存在不符合英语语法的显性话题结构,也不乏符合英语语法、但语义上不地道的隐性话题结构。随着英语水平的提高,两种话题结构都会逐渐减少。本研究通过写作和翻译测试证实了以上假设,并运用认知语法理论从概念迁移角度对汉英中介语中的话题结构进行了分析,发现英汉动词概念化方式的差异以及确立概念参照点时视角的差异是产生这些结构的主要原因。

Chinese EFL learners,influenced by topic prominence in their L1,tend to produce both explicit topic structures which are ungrammatical in English,and implicit ones which are grammatical but not idiomatic in English.The number of both in Chinese-English interlanguage is likely to decrease as their English proficiency increases.Empirical data collected from writing and translation provide support for this hypothesis.The data are analyzed from the perspective of conceptual transfer,based on Cognitive Grammar.The researcher argues that both implicit and explicit topic structures result from the differences between Chinese and English conceptual structures,one such difference being that actions expressed by verbs are conceptualized differently and another that different viewpoints are chosen in the determination of conceptual reference points.