Journal of Southeast Asian Education
2003, Vol. 4 (1), 104-136.
Community Participation in Minority
Language Education in Thailand
KOSONEN Kimmo
SIL International, 41/5 Soi Sailom, Phahol Yothin Rd. Bangkok 10400. Thailand.
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ABSTRACT
Community participation has been a popular approach in development endeavours, including education. In many countries local communities have played important roles in the provision of education using local minority languages. The Chong are an ethnolinguistic minority living in Thailand. An action-research project on Chong language development and education in Chong has been established. This paper discusses the provision of local language education in Chong focusing on community participation. The paper also proposes general prerequisites for basic education and literacy using local languages. The paper concludes that the lessons learned in the Chong project can be adapted to other contexts with needs for literacy and basic education in local languages. Many minority language communities in Southeast Asia would benefit from such endeavours. Biliteracy and bilingual basic education using local languages would benefit especially those having an insufficient knowl-edge of languages used in formal education.
INTRODUCTION
“It is not possible or feasible to provide education in small minority lan-guages. They have no script, no books, and if they do, it is too expensive anyway.” Arguments such as these are not uncommon in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Such arguments, however, come from those preferring centralized and top-down approaches to educational planning and man-agement. Therefore, apparent resources existing in all local communities may not be fully utilised for educational and socio-economic develop-ment. There are many examples around the world indicating that local communities can play an important role in the provision of educational services for their own communities, even using a local language. Na-
105 tions struggling to provide education for all may welcome appropriate and less costly approaches that facilitate the provision of education to, for example, diverse ethnolinguistic minorities. One possible approach is the participation of local community in educational development.
Community participation has been a popular approach in various development endeavours, including education. In Thailand, for example, recent national de-velopment plans encourage local communities to participate in the manage-ment of education (Chantarat 2000). The concept and different views of com-munity participation have been discussed thoroughly elsewhere (e.g. Bobb 1994; Cooke & Kothari 2001; Kosonen 1998, 206-224; Midgley 1986; Shaeffer 1992a, 1992b, 1994). Ideal participation of a local community can be defined as follows: “Ideal participation includes the following assumptions: firstly, local rather than outside ideas form the basis of a programme; sec-ondly, the local people plan the activities at the local level; thirdly, the local communities implement the programme, and last, the local communities re-flect the experiences of the endeavour” (Kosonen 1998, 212). Some interpret community participation as pushing some of the financial burden of schooling on to parents, sometimes called cost-sharing. However, in this paper commu-nity participation refers mainly to management participation, and participation in developing materials and curriculum rather than cost-sharing.
Community-based approaches to educational development might prove useful in Southeast Asia due to the region’s apparent linguistic and cultural diversity. Exact figures of the languages spoken in Southeast Asia are difficult to deter-mine, but available estimates indicate this diversity. For example, the follow-ing are the estimated numbers of languages spoken in Southeast Asian nations: Brunei Darussalam 17, Cambodia 19, Indonesia 726, Lao PDR 82, Malaysia 139, Myanmar 107, Philippines 169, Singapore 21, Timor Lorosae 19, Thai-land 75, Vietnam 93 (Grimes 2000). Not all speakers of these hundreds of lan-guages have sufficient knowledge of the respective national languages - or languages used in education - and thus they are easily underprivileged in terms of educational access, retention and achievement. Furthermore, speakers of local languages are easily marginalized and threatened by being completely excluded from education. Yet education in mother tongue is a basic human right, as UNESCO (2003a) clearly spells out, but in most cases the speakers of minority languages are not able to exercise this right.
Of the five nations in mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand has been perhaps the most successful in its attempts of creating national identity and unity among its heterogeneous population. Many ethnolinguistic minorities are active par-ticipants in the Thai society, and the situation has been described as unity in diversity (Smalley 1994). Concomitantly, these minority groups, however, are increasingly assimilating into the mainline population. One reason for this is that, until recently, the use of other languages than Thai was prohibited in Thai
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schools. Political democratisation of the Thai society in the 1990s has pro-vided new opportunities for ethnolinguistic minorities to strengthen their iden-tity. The Chong are an ethnolinguistic minority living in Thailand’s Chanta-buri province. The Chong language belongs to the Pearic branch of Mon-Khmer languages, part of the Austro-Asiatic language family. The Chong population in Thailand is estimated at about 2000 - 4000 people (Isara 2002; Schliesinger 2000; Suwilai 2000, 2002). There are Chong also in Cambodia, where Chong population may be several thousands (Grimes 2000: 399). In Thailand, Chong is clearly an endangered language, as many Chong children no longer learn it as their first language. In addition, Thai, the national lan-guage, is gaining ground as the medium of communication in most domains. Therefore, Chong community leaders have requested assistance from the Insti-tute of Language and Culture for Rural Development (ILCRD) at Mahidol University in their efforts of language development. As a result of this coop-eration, an action-research project has been started to increase the use of Chong language in the community.
The purpose of this paper is firstly, to describe the provision of local language education as a part of Chong language development, secondly, to discuss community participation at different stages of the effort, and thirdly, to pro-pose general prerequisites for basic education and literacy projects using local and lesser-known languages. Local languages and lesser-known languages are languages (a) without a written form, (b) for which language development is not yet complete or (c) that are otherwise not considered suitable for educa-tion, for example, due to their low status or small number of speakers (CAL 2001; Robinson 1999; Vawda & Patrinos 1999; Walter 2003). Walter (ibid.) demonstrates that about 20 percent of the world’s population - i.e. approxi-mately 1.3 billion people - speak such languages as their first language (see also CAL ibid., 16; Klaus, Tesar & Shore 2003; Vawda & Patrinos ibid., 287). These and related issues are elaborated in several books and articles (Crystal 2002; Dalby 2002; Grenoble & Whaley 1998; Hagège 2001; Hinton & Hale 2001; Nettle & Romaine 2000; Robinson 1999; Skutnabb-Kangas 2000; Wat-son 1999).
The Chong case illustrates the most important steps of language development in order to use the particular language for educational purposes. The main sources of data for this paper are published articles and unpublished project reports (Choen ym. 2001a, 2001b, 2002; Isara 2002; Isara & Sirichan 1999a, 1999b; Kosonen 2001, 2002a, 2002d; Malone 2001, 2002a, 2002b; Solot 2000; Suwilai 2000, 2002). Participant observation and informal interviews with various stakeholders - Thai as well as Chong - have also been employed as data collection techniques. Thai was used as the main medium of communi-cation. The author has worked as a part-time literacy consultant to the Chong project for about two and a half years, mainly in terms of orthography devel-opment, literacy survey, and literacy materials production. The responsibilities
107 as a consultant have provided a role that is partly that of an outsider, yet pro-viding sufficient inside information. The reference to local language use in this paper implicitly refers also to bilingualism, bilingual education and biliteracy. THE PROJECT OF CHONG LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT When the focus of a study is on education of ethnolinguistic minorities, a mul-tidisciplinary approach must be utilised. Therefore, in addition to mere study of educational development, it is necessary to use research in applied linguis-tics and sociolinguistics as well. Language development is a part of language planning belonging to the field study of applied linguistics. Issues related to the role of minority languages in multilingual societies - including educational issues – are addressed in sociology of language, which is an area of sociolin-guistics. Language planning – in its simplest form – can be divided into two parts: status planning and corpus planning (CAL 2001; Cooper 1989; Deumert 2001; Kaplan & Baldauf 1997; Robinson 1999). Cooper (ibid.), however, adds acquisition planning, i.e. the approaches used to help people acquire a particu-lar language.Status planning refers, for the most part, to language policy and includes, for example, the determination of status and domains of use for dif-ferent languages, and decision-making about which languages are used for of-ficial and educational purposes in a given society. Jernudd (1999) and Kaplan & Baldauf (2002) discuss status planning in various Southeast Asian coun-tries. Corpus planning, on the other hand, refers to the linguistic aspects of a particular language, and is thus directly relevant to the development of local and lesser-know languages, or any languages for that matter. Corpus planning can be further divided into several components: codification, standardisation, and elaboration. Codification refers to the development of orthographies, i.e. writing systems. Standardisation refers to spelling and standard usage of the writing system among various dialects of a language. Elaboration refers, for instance, to the development of new terminology and styles. The Chong en-deavour attempts to revitalise the use of an endangered language through lan-guage development, and thus emphasises corpus planning, with implications for status planning also. The following discussion provides an overview of various steps of the project. For more elaborate accounts of different parts of the project see Kosonen (2002a, 2002d), Malone (2001) and Suwilai (2000, 2002).
The problem
In the past few decades, many Chong parents have shifted to speaking mostly Thai to their children. There are several reasons for the decreasing use of Chong. Many Chong have experienced discrimination by the Thai, for exam-ple, in schools or Chong novices in Buddhist temples. Until recently, school-
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teachers prohibited the use of Chong at schools. They also advised Chong par-ents to speak Thai to their children at home to help them acquire better skills in the national language, and thus succeed in their studies. Also other social and economic factors have accelerated the language shift. The situation is not much different from that of other linguistic minorities around the world (e.g. Baker 2001; Bratt Paulston 1994; CAL 2001; Fishman 2001; Hinton & Hale 2001; May 2001; Skutnabb-Kangas 2000). Nowadays, many children and young people are shy to use what little Chong they know. Most Chong under 20 years of age have a limited knowledge of Chong, and the first language of many is in fact Thai (Choen et al 2002; Isara & Sirichan 1999a, Suwilai 2000). Nevertheless, many Chong of all ages still use the language in daily interac-tion. Migration of Chong youth to urban areas, unlike in many rural areas of Thailand, is not common. Therefore, those who have remained, married, and found work in their home or nearby villages are still exposed daily to Chong. This obviously helps in the maintenance of the language.
Efforts to alleviate the problem
To address the community concern the “Project on the promotion of Chong language and culture” was established in 1999. The Chong community initi-ated the effort, and its core component is community-based action research. The Thailand Research Fund funds the research project. Local government officials have also shown interest in providing funding. The main responsibil-ity of the project lies in the Chong language committee. The committee has about twenty members, and several coordinators are responsible for more fo-cussed areas. Local schools have provided facilities for the project. ILCRD and SIL International – an international nongovernmental organisation - pro-vide technical support and minor funding for particular program components. The research team of the project consists of ILCRD staff, graduate students, and SIL consultants.
The goals
The general goals of revitalization of Chong language are: to record Chong language for the younger Chong and for future generations, and encourage the use of Chong in daily life. The process of revitalization is attempted on three fronts: linguistic research, awareness raising, and literacy activities as dis-played in figure 1 below. The project sees literacy in the local language as an important way of a) raising the status of Chong language, b) increasing the use of Chong, and c) transferring it to younger generations. Kosonen (2001, 2) lists the objectives of the literacy component as follows: “1) all Chong people (adults as well as children) speaking Chong and literate in Thai will be literate also in Chong and understand the importance of the local language for the Chong community, 2) all Chong children with some knowledge of Chong and literate in Thai will be progressing in learning Chong in oral and written forms, 3) an infrastructure will be established for making the literacy effort on-going in formal schools (for children) as well as nonformally, outside the
109 school system (for adult learners in particular), 4) an infrastructure will be es-tablished for on-going literature production in Chong.”
Figure 1. Components of the project on revitalization of Chong language.
The strategies
The general goal of Chong language revitalization is pursued through re-cording Chong language, culture and history through production of written Chong stories, dictionaries and other literature. Also important is to train peo-ple to use and produce such materials independently. The orthography is seen essentially as a tool in the process of maintaining Chong language and culture (Suwilai 2000: 9). Consequently, this process is expected to strengthen Chong identity and create an important precondition for general community devel-opment.
Linguistic research and orthography development
Linguistic research is the basis of language development. Several linguists (Edmondson 1996, Huffman 1985, Theraphan 1991) have studied Chong ear-lier. Although these papers describe the characteristics of the language, the sound system in particular, they use the phonetic alphabet for writing the lan-guage. These studies thus do not discuss the specific problems encountered when an orthography based on the Thai script is adopted for writing Chong. A functional and sustainable orthography is based on the sound system of the given language. Although the linguistic factors form the first step of orthogra-phy development, orthography is also very much dependent on sociolinguistic factors, such as language attitudes, knowledge of neighbouring and larger lan-guages and their orthographies as well as political considerations. Native speakers’ ideas about the sounds of their language, and the expression of these sounds by written symbols are also important. Likewise, educational factors such as the ease of learning must be taken into account. For a more compre-hensive discussion on the intricacies of orthography development see, for ex-ample, Coulmas (1989), Hinton (2001), Sebba (2001), Smalley (1994) and Smalley et al. (1964). Morse & Tehan (2000), Person (1999), Smalley (1974)
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and TU-SIL (2002) provide case studies of orthography development in many minority languages of Thailand.
The tentative Chong orthography(Suwilai 2000) was based on earlier linguis-tic research as well as new data on the phonology of the language collected by graduate students in linguistics. A team of Thai linguists headed by professor Suwilai Premsrirat from Mahidol University developed the first draft orthog-raphy in collaboration with the Chong community. The draft employed the Thai script. The draft was processed in three orthography workshops between November 1999 and November 2000. In these meetings, the Chong and the linguists came to a consensus about fundamentals of the orthography. The ten-tative orthography was approved after the last workshop.
Soon after the second orthography workshop, the tentative alphabet was or-ganized in the form of two posters – alphabet charts. In the beginning, all con-sonants, 22 initial and 13 final, of the tentative alphabet were displayed on a large A2-size sheet of paper. This poster was used in subsequent meetings with the language committee, and members came up with appropriate key words for each consonant. An appropriate key word was expected to be easily illustrated and known by Chong speakers. Later, local students illustrated the charts. The poster and the key words were examined, tested and modified regularly, and the final draft and choice of words was finished about a year after the process had started. Another poster, this time including 24 vowels and 4 distinct “registers” was compiled the same way. Register is a commonly found characteristic of Mon-Khmer languages. Theraphan (1991, 144) defines register language as “a language that has a lexically contrastive register com-plex (a combination of vowel quality, pitch, phonation type, etc.), whereas a tone language has only lexically contrastive pitch.”
After the tentative orthography was agreed upon, the research team saw a need for an appropriate orthography test.The intention was to either refine the al-phabet or accept and approve the alphabet as a part of the established Chong orthography. The basic idea of the orthography test was to determine the us-ability and readability of the tentative Chong orthography. The most difficult step in this process was to find suitable texts for the use of testing purposes, but soon some language committee members agreed to write short stories in Chong. In addition, the committee members wrote sentences based on the key words chosen for the teaching of the alphabet. These texts were then used in designing a test instrument. In mid-2001, a group of testers, Chong and re-search team members alike, conducted the orthography test on a sample of 33 women and men of various age, educational background, and home village. The test data show that the tentative Chong orthography is usable and learn-able. All informants could read it, more than half of them very well, and most could use it for writing. The test shows that the people having difficulties in reading Chong have either limited Thai reading skills or limited knowledge of
111 Chong language. The Chong case thus confirms Smalley’s (1994, 284) argu-ment about a well-devised writing system and the transfer of literacy skills be-tween languages.
Thus far standardisation and elaboration of Chong have not yet received much emphasis. However, the project intends to address this question after a suffi-cient corpus of written Chong texts exists. The production of Chong dictionar-ies has progressed well. In addition to an academic dictionary, a Chong dic-tionary - the village edition - is under production. This book will facilitate the preservation of the language by strengthening the maintenance of the rich Chong vocabulary. Community members are active in collecting vocabulary for the Chong language data bank.
Awareness raising
Awareness raising about the importance of the local language, and the creation of community support for language development activities are immensely im-portant. The Chong language committee is mainly responsible for these tasks. The main goals are to mobilise the Chong community at large to support the endeavour, and to promote the use of spoken Chong in daily interaction. En-thusiastic committee members have been able to get other Chong interested in the project. The second goal is progressing at much slower pace. Hitherto there is no indication that great changes in the patterns of language use would have taken place. Of course this is a long process. The research team could perhaps be more active in this, for example, by introducing practical strategies that might facilitate the use of spoken Chong.
Literacy activities in local language
Literacy in Chong language is considered an important strategy in increasing the use of Chong. Central to this have been a) the development of literature in the local language, b) the development of literacy materials in the local lan-guage, and c) the development of human resources necessary for sustainable literacy work.
Literacy survey
In the beginning, the planning of the Chong project was hindered by a lack of sufficient, credible and appropriate data. Therefore, a literacy survey was con-ducted. The research team suggested the use of a sample of Chong population, but the language committee insisted on interviewing all people with Chong roots in Takhiangthong and Khlongphlu sub-districts. As a result, the literacy survey turned out to be in fact a local level census. The language committee produced a questionnaire with the help of the research team. In addition to personal information, the questionnaire included information on, for instance, speaking and comprehension of Chong and Thai, reading and writing of Thai, attitudes towards Chong language development, and needs in terms of Chong literacy.
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Language committee members received training in interview techniques in May 2001. By October, the committee members had interviewed about 1716 Chong. The research team assisted the language committee to analyse the data at the grassroots using low-tech and sustainable research equipment such as cardboard boxes, wooden sticks, slips of paper, and notebooks. Table 1 shows some findings of the literacy survey. The survey data shows that about 70 per-cent of the population in the area understand spoken Chong and more than half also speak it. Only a small minority of less than 10 percent of the population are illiterate in Thai. It must be noted that about 85 percent of the people inter-viewed for the survey were Chong by ethnicity, and thus only about 15 percent of the Chong population have hardly any or no knowledge of the language. This also means that some non-Chong residents in the area understand Chong. Table 1. Skills in Chong and Thai language, percent of population surveyed.
THAI CHONG SKILL Reading Writing Understanding
Speaking
Good 2.8 5.9 22.9 23.3 Functional 90.4 86.6 47.4 31.8
Hardly
3.4
4.5 22.5 34.5
any
Not at all 3.4 3.0 7.2 10.4
Total 100 100 100 100
The survey provided information also on the educational level of the Chong community. People without any schooling consisted of 6.8 percent of the population, 68.8 percent had primary-level education (4 years for middle-aged and older people, and 6 years for younger), 15.1 percent had gone to junior high-school (9 years of schooling), 8.5 percent had finished senior high-school (12 years of schooling), and 0.8 percent had attended higher education institu-tions. Unfortunately, the survey data has not yet been segregated according to different age groups. It can be assumed, however, that nowadays almost all Chong children receive 6 years of primary education. A large number of them also continue at least to the lower secondary school.
The survey was conducted by Chong farmers, whose educational background usually is 4 or 6 years of primary school. Therefore, the survey may not fulfil all academic criteria of such studies. For example, there is data from 1716 people in terms of ethnic background, but only from 1700 in terms of gender. Nevertheless, despite such inconsistencies, the survey provides the best out-look into the literacy and sociolinguistic situation of the area. A survey of this
113 scale is not only useful for collecting information about the literacy situation, but also excellent in awareness raising about local language development. During the interviews, Chong researchers were able to share their experiences in language development activities and their progress. Thus, almost every member of the Chong community is now aware about the new orthography, local language literature and literacy activities.
Different groups of intended beneficiaries were determined on the basis of the survey results. The first priority was given to those who speak and read Thai, but whose skills in Chong are limited. This group includes mainly children and youth of Chong background. Strategies required for reaching this group include teaching Chong - comprehension and oral expression in particular - as if a second language. Literacy activities are transitional, meaning that the learners will transfer their existing reading skills from the majority language (L2) to their first language or mother tongue (L1). Other groups of intended beneficiaries need different strategies. For example, those who speak Chong as well as Thai and read Thai, can learn to read and write Chong after a brief in-troduction to the orthography, by attending a short workshop or by reading through the Chong transfer primer. The third group consists of illiterate Chong and Thai speakers. These people are mainly older women, and if some want to become literate, they can be taught privately or in small groups. Development of literature and learning materials
Chong community members requested teaching-learning materials in Chong from the beginning of the cooperation between the research team and the lan-guage community. However, the research team wanted to wait until the tenta-tive orthography had been tested and decisions about the curriculum and teaching-learning approaches had been made. Also, the research team waited until appropriate workshops could be arranged to train writers and editors as well as curriculum developers and volunteer teachers. Nonetheless, after the first draft of the tentative orthography, the research team encouraged language committee members to write stories in Chong. The rationale for this was two-fold. The usability of the orthography was tested in natural situations when people used it for writing. On the other hand, this helped to identify good writ-ers, storytellers, editors and proofreaders who could later be trained for further literature production. A couple of better stories were made into sample book-lets to encourage other writers.
In August 2000, a short introductory writer’s workshop was arranged and the workshop provided the basic skills in literature production at the village level (Malone 2001). The twenty workshop participants learned ideas about writing stories, editing them and producing booklets. As a result of the workshop, the first 15 written stories in Chong were produced. Another Chong writers’ workshop was organized in October 2001, and again about twenty Chong par-ticipated, this time including also three women and five teenage girls. The
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workshop attempted to provide participants with necessary skills for sustain-able and independent production of graded reading materials for the needs of basic literacy. In the end, about 40 Chong stories - with Thai translations - were written and illustrated, and most of them were produced in booklet for-mat. These booklets are being used as additional reading materials for Chong children.
One tool for literacy is the Chong transfer primer (Kosonen 2002b, 2002c) that attempts to help learners transfer their already existing literacy skills to Chong. The primer was developed for the teaching of third grade primary school stu-dents. Literate adults and youth can also use it in self-learning. Local commu-nity members wrote all parts of the primer, with the exception of exercises and drills. This author coordinated the production as well as edited the book. Community members were active in most steps of the primer production. It took about six months to finish the primer. The primer came into use in Chong classes in October 2002. Feedback from the primer users shows that the primer suits well for learning reading and writing. The students particularly like the story booklets. However, drills for practicing and distinguishing sounds and letters turned out to be unnecessary for students of transfer liter-acy.
Curriculum and teacher training
A workshop in curriculum development and materials production was organ-ized in January 2002. The goal was to prepare for the start of teaching Chong in a formal primary school. Chong language learning and teaching was suited to fit the local curriculum. Special attention was paid to making the curriculum sufficiently detailed and straightforward so that volunteer teachers could use it independently. Therefore, the theme and contents of each lesson were planned and included in the curriculum. The workshop was participatory in a way that after the trainers introduced a topic of curriculum development, the trainees divided into small groups to process it with a tutor. The curriculum was based on a theme web that the participants developed on the basis of the annual cal-endar of the Chong community. The participants identified relevant and inter-esting themes for each month of the year. Themes not directly related to the calendar were also used.
In the first term, each lesson of the curriculum included three parts: listening (e.g. stories, songs and rhymes), adapted TPR, and shared reading by using ‘big books’. TPR (Total Physical Response) is a monolingual method of lan-guage learning (Asher 2000). The Chong big books are size A3, and the whole class can read a book simultaneously. On the other hand, the curriculum for the second term focuses on literacy, improvement of oral expression and in-creasing vocabulary. The workshop participants wrote all required texts about each theme, and they also identified essential Chong vocabulary to be used in TPR. With the help of some Chong, the research team divided the chosen vo-
115 cabulary for each lesson. Participants also wrote appropriate stories for big books. The stories were then edited, checked and finally bound as books. Lo-cal high-school students illustrated the books. Two months after the workshop, 23 books were ready to be used in the first twenty weeks of school. The re-search team compiled all texts and parts of the curriculum into computer files and produced a hard copy of the curriculum document. The workshops and materials production have sparked a lot of enthusiasm about local language literacy. Various people have taken the responsibility of writing, illustrating, editing and proofreading materials. A recent donation of a second-hand com-puter and printer enables sustainable production of Chong literature at the community level. A young Chong woman with training in secretarial work has taken responsibility for word-processing.
The language committee chose two Chong men to become volunteer teachers in the Chong language class. A teachers’ training workshop was arranged in February 2002 with a goal to give the trainees necessary skills for successful schoolwork. The trainees practiced all parts of the language classes, first with other Chong and workshop trainers, and later with local school children. One of the trainees turned out to be a talented teacher, and after some practice could start the work with confidence. After the first school term in October 2002, a refresher course was arranged for the teacher of the pilot class. The workshop included practice in new teaching-learning methods to be used in the second term. These methods included reading and writing Chong. Curricu-lum for the second term was designed, and new materials were produced, for example, new big books and level two storybooks. Tests for evaluating learn-ing were also designed.
Chong in primary school
The provision of studies in Chong language started in May 2002. A local pri-mary school allocated three hours of its weekly syllabus for the Chong lan-guage component. Chong is taught in the curriculum slot reserved for local studies. The biggest setback in the classes appears to be that one of the volun-teer teachers has been left almost alone to run the class. Despite their promises of helping the teacher, for instance, by telling stories and teaching songs, few villagers have actually done so. The other of the two trained teachers has been busy with his work, and thus unable to contribute to teaching. However, this first phase is a pilot class for third-graders who already know the basics of Thai literacy. Therefore, the curriculum, materials and methods are being tested, and their suitability and usefulness are assessed, and modified accord-ingly. It currently seems that the effort will be extended to other grade levels and later to other local schools as well. New volunteer teachers have been identified, and they are receiving part of their training by observing and help-ing the pilot class. Teaching Chong in a government school is an extremely positive sign, as few schools in Thailand have hitherto included an indigenous language in the curriculum.
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COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
The roles of various stakeholders can be divided into two groups, implemen-ters and supporters. The language committee and its members as representa-tives of the local community are clearly implementers of several project com-ponents. The role of the research team has been supportive in many project activities. The research team has been predominantly responsible - thus having the role of an implementer - for various activities requiring technical expertise such as linguistic research and provision of training. Other stakeholders have mainly had the role of a supporter. This group includes, for example, the fund-ing agency, government officials, and a local primary school and its teachers. Table 2 summarises the roles of implementers and supporters in different pro-ject activities. The table shows that the role of the local community has been significant. The community has been predominantly responsible for awareness raising, literacy survey, literature production, curriculum development, and actual running of language classes. In addition, the participation of the local community has been indispensable in many activities that other stakeholders have mainly implemented.
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Table 2. The roles of various stakeholders.
Activity Implementer Supporter
Linguistic analysis ILCRD *chong*
Draft orthography ILCRD*chong*
Tentative orthography ILCRD, *chong* Orthography test ILCRD, *chong*
Awareness raising Chong
Literacy survey Chong ILCRD
Literature production Chong ILCRD
Curriculum development Chong*ILCRD*, primary school Production of learning materials:
-training ILCRD*chong*
-big books Chong
-primer ILCRD *chong*
-illustrations Chong
Teacher training ILCRD*chong*
Selection of teachers Chong
Teaching Chong* primary school* Supervision Chong ILCRD, primary school Assessment Chong, ILCRD primary school, govern-
ment officials
Funding TRF ILRCD, primary school,
government officials Reporting Chong, ILCRD
PR, dissemination of ideas Chong ILCRD
- Bold text indicates the predominant responsibility of an activity
- *Asterisks* around an actor indicate that the participation of the actor is imperative
- Chong = the local community, ILCRD = the research team, TRF = Thailand Research Fund SUCCESSFUL PROVISION OF EDUCATION IN LOCAL LANGUAGES
Highlights and challenges
The Chong project has functioned only a few years, and thus it is still too early to draw conclusions of the endeavour’s impact on the Chong community. Nevertheless, to date the project has experienced highlights as well as chal-lenges. In the following these experiences are divided into three groups, inter-nal and external conditions, and challenges.
Internal conditions refer to the project itself and the community in which the project operates.
?Teaching Chong in a government school is a remarkable achievement.
The Chong project can be an example to various government agencies
and other ethnolinguistic minorities in Thailand.
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?The community-based approach seems to work quite well, and has de-creased the need for outside funding.
?The community members who participate in the project are highly mo-tivated. Many are clearly proud of their achievements and consider the
venture their own.
?The participants in project activities have acquired new skills and ex-pertise, such as working as writers, editors, researchers, coordinators and planners. Many have improved their Thai literacy skills, writing in
particular.
?The project has identified many talented local people, for example, sto-rytellers, writers, poets, artists, teachers, organizers, and leaders.
?Solidarity and community spirit are becoming apparent among the people involved in the project. There are signs of improved group iden-
tity and strengthened self-esteem of the Chong community. This is ap-
parent in comments such as “We are no longer ashamed of being Chong”, or “We Chong are a people just like the Thai and others”. External conditions refer to the society outside the immediate Chong language community.
?The current Thai constitution gives ethnolinguistic minorities the right to maintain and strengthen their own culture and language.
?Government officials at the district and local levels support the initia-tive.
?Local formal schools support the initiative.
?Sufficient technical support for language development and literacy is available.
?Some funding for project operation is available from various sources. The Chong project has encountered also challenges in its work.
?Cooperation of multiple partners and coordination of responsibilities has been difficult. Clear delegation of responsibilities is nonexistent.
?The project lacks sufficient funding. In the beginning, funding was available only for materials, workshops, and travel expenses, for ex-
ample, and the project operated on a voluntary basis. Most Chong are busy with their agricultural work, and thus do not have much spare time to get involved in the project. (Recently project coordinators and teachers, however, have started to receive a small honorarium for their
contributions.)
?The majority of the Chong community are not yet involved in the pro-ject. Women as well as young and middle-aged men are underrepre-
sented.
?The project does not have examples in Thailand (if other similar pro-jects do exist, they are neither well-documented nor are reports readily
available).
119 ?Most people involved in the project (including members of the re-search team) have little or no experience in activities such as this.
?Language shift from Chong to Thai is common and most young people use more Thai than Chong in daily interaction.
Prerequisites for education in local languages
The Chong case indicates some general prerequisites for the operation of edu-cation projects using local languages. The arguments below are supported by other studies and reports. Benson (2002), CAL (2001), Cenoz & Genesee (1998), Dutcher & Tucker (1996), Klaus et al (2003), Malone (2003), Malone & Arnove (1998), Robinson (1999), Stroud (2002), Tucker (1998), UNESCO (2003b) and Watson (1999), for example, discuss these factors generally and on the basis of a variety of situations, Asian countries included. Studies con-ducted in Asia and Pacific point out similar factors, for example, Escott (2000) and Thomas (2002) in Cambodia, Geary (2003) and Postiglione (1999) in China, Gustafsson (1991) in India, Hohulin (1995) and Young (2002) in the Philippines, Kosonen (2002a, 2002d) in Thailand, Kua (1998) and Smith (2001, 2003) in Malaysia, and Nagai (1998, 1999, 2001) in Papua New Guinea. Aikman (1995), Hornberger (1997), Hornberger & King (2001), Hornberger & López (1998) and Trudell (1993), for example, provide evi-dence from Latin America, and Benson (2001), Gfeller (2000), Herbert (1996), Hill (2002), Mbuagbaw (1999), Obanya (1999), Omolewa (2000), Robinson & Gfeller (1997) and Webb (1999) from various African situations. Prerequisites discussed here are also similar to factors determined in success-ful programmes of nonformal education (Kosonen 1998) or learner-centred adult literacy (Malone & Arnove 1998).
The Chong case shows that local communities can be responsible for a variety of activities in local language development and the provision of education in a local language. Yet, unless some community members have the required lin-guistic and educational expertise, outside contribution is needed. Relevant out-side stakeholders can be local or foreign linguists, educators and other aca-demics, national or international NGOs, or various funding and donor agen-cies. The community-based approach seems to be an inexpensive, efficient and sustainable way to provide literacy and basic education in local languages. A good principle per se, however, is not sufficient, and thus continuous and regular internal assessment of the process is required. Modification of prac-tices due to assessment is essential in maintaining the community-based ap-proach. This approach often requires multiple partnerships. Unless multipartite cooperation and coordination of various stakeholders’ responsibilities receive particular attention, such cooperation may decelerate or even paralyse the ven-ture. The key issue throughout the process is that the community itself is equipped to be responsible for and do most of the work.
120
True partnership and cooperation between the local community and outsiders as the central principle of work help make education in a local language as beneficial as possible for an ethnolinguistic minority. Outsiders’ paternalism is not beneficial. Clear delegation of roles, responsibilities and power is critical and calls for transparency in all action. All stakeholders should also accept the delegation of power and responsibilities. Awareness raising and community mobilisation should be a priority throughout the project. If the endeavour is based on the initiative of local people it has better chance of sustainability than if it is based on outsiders’ ideas. In many cases the role of outsiders as con-sultants and trainers is sufficient.
Sufficient funding for the project is critical. It is important to agree on what is the necessary and sufficient level of outside funding to avoid “over-funding”. Funding received too easily or in too large amounts may discourage commu-nity contributions and ownership. Political conditions prevailing in the project area must support, or at least permit, independent activities of minority peo-ples, particularly in education. Without supportive economic and political conditions the goals of education in local languages can rarely be achieved. However, if supportive environment exists for education in local languages, minority language education can be successfully provided, even under difficult economic circumstances, like the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo shows (Hill 2002; Robinson & Gfeller 1997).
Experiences in Chong orthography development provide the basis for a feasi-ble approach to orthography development of previously unwritten languages.
A functional team of orthography development includes members from three groups: 1) native speakers aware of the special characteristics of their lan-guage, 2) linguistic experts, and 3) educational experts. An in-depth study of dialects of the particular language and a consensus reached by the team on the use of different dialects as the basis for the orthography is critical. In addition, the phonological analysis of the language should employ a tentative writing system adapted from the national or regional language. This would facilitate the identification of difficulties in orthography development and the need for additional linguistic research.
These factors notwithstanding, our current knowledge about what supports and what hinders the operation of education projects using local languages is quite limited. More research is needed, especially in determining (a) which factors can be anticipated as critical before a project commences, (b) which factors are not critical, but rather facilitate the efforts, and (c) which factors can be identified only ex post facto. Additionally, it would be useful for practitioners and researchers alike to know which factors are culture-specific and which more universal. Therefore, there is a need for research that would thoroughly analyse different well-documented cases in different contexts and would build
121 also on the experience of personnel of such projects. Further studies might perhaps shed light on factors thus far not determined.
CONCLUSIONS
This article has discussed different aspects of the Chong language project, fo-cussing particularly on the community participation in the effort. The local community has been responsible for many project components and this is what makes the Chong project noteworthy. Although the role of the local commu-nity has been crucial, the community has not succeeded in the effort entirely on its own. Outside stakeholders have been responsible for the technical as-pects of language development. The role of outsiders, however, has been mainly consultative and their main duty has been to train community members to become independent in various project activities. Such approach may facili-tate making the endeavour sustainable.
It can be argued that the local community is already in charge of all activities for which it can be independently responsible. The research team members are currently acting as trainers, yet the need for training is diminishing. Most likely, the local community can train new writers, artists and possibly new volunteer teachers as well. The community can produce much of the additional literature and literacy materials without outside assistance. The Chong project thus shows that, under favourable circumstances, the role of the local commu-nity can be rather similar to the concept of ideal participation. Strong commu-nity participation has been facilitated by supportive political and economic conditions. Strong participation such as this would not be possible if the local community were extremely poor, the tradition of local level participation did not at all exist, or the political situation were not relatively stable. Other re-search (Baker 2001; CAL 2001; Dutcher & Tucker 1996; May 2001) indicates that a minority group’s participation in the provision of education facilitates, for example, learning achievement of minority children, relevance of educa-tion for minority needs, and improved cooperation among community mem-bers. Traces of such developments are becoming apparent in the Chong com-munity as well.
The Chong project has not been without difficulties. The biggest challenges have been the lack of sufficient funding, delegation of responsibilities, coordi-nation of various tasks, and mobilisation of the wider community. Language shift is also a challenge. Starting a similar effort some 20-30 years earlier might have been easier than currently. Then bilingual Chong children could have been provided bilingual education of some kind. The challenge is much greater now when many Chong children are no longer fluent in Chong. Only time will tell what role language development and language teaching, includ-ing literacy, play in the revitalisation of a small endangered language such as
122
Chong. Theoretical literature and experiences elsewhere do not suggest that this alone is sufficient for reversing the language shift (Baker 2001; Bratt Paulston 1994; Crystal 2002; Fishman 1991, 2001; Malone 2003). Therefore, the future of a language spoken by a few thousand people in the Thai context does not seem too promising unless the use of the minority language will in-crease in different domains and the status of the minority community will im-prove in the eyes of the dominant groups.
This article has also discussed some general prerequisites for basic education and literacy using local languages. The main conclusion is that if an ethnolin-guistic minority receives sufficient training and technical support for language development, the community can conduct most language development activi-ties with only a minor contribution of outsiders. Under supportive circum-stances, the production of materials, teachers’ training and actual teaching-learning activities, for example, can be implemented at the local level without great outside funding. The costs of initial language development of a previ-ously unwritten language, however, are considerable. Yet, cooperation be-tween local communities, academics, NGOs, civil society organisations and various donor agencies, as the Chong case has shown, enable this to happen even in small language communities. Language development can be economi-cally viable through cooperation (e.g. Klaus 2001; Litteral 1999; Robinson 1999; UNESCO 2003b). Examples of cost-effective education in local lan-guages are elaborated, for instance, in most case studies referred to earlier in this paper. After sufficient language development, costs for bilingual educa-tion can be included in general education budgets, especially if the effort is taking place within the formal system of education. Nonformal approaches may be less expensive. There is sufficient evidence to argue that bilingual education can be provided in ways not necessarily more expensive than other basic education, in particular if bilingual education also reduces repetition and dropout of minority students (CAL 2001; Dutcher & Tucker 1996; Klaus et al 2003; Litteral 1999; Obanya 1999; Patrinos & Velez 1996). This is an ex-tremely important point, as a common argument against bilingual and multi-lingual education is its assumed costliness. Also UNESCO (1953, 2003a) sup-ports the use of learners’ first language in education and its reports provide further justification for the use of local languages. The case of Papua New Guinea (Klaus 2001; Litteral 1999; Nagai 2001) may act as a supportive ex-ample to other nations pondering with this issue. About 850 languages are spoken in the country, and yet it is providing pre-school and Grade 1 and 2 education in almost 400 languages. Klaus (2001) concludes his discussion of the situation with the following words: ”The case of Papua New Guinea is compelling: a small, poor country with more languages than any other country of the world appears to be successfully implementing a reform which (a) uses a multiplicity of languages, (b) conserves local cultures, (c) results in superior pedagogical outcomes, including better acquisition of a language of wider communication, and (d) is financially sustainable. If Papua New Guinea can
123 do it, the burden of proof is on other countries to demonstrate why they can
not.”
The lessons of the Chong project and other similar endeavours can be adapted to other contexts in which there are needs for language development, literacy and basic education in local languages. Most members of these communities have to start their education in a language they neither understand nor speak. Biliteracy and bilingual basic education using local languages is of most bene-fit to those who speak only a local language or who have an insufficient knowledge of the language used in formal education. Hundreds of minority communities in Southeast Asia and elsewhere would benefit from such en-deavours.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to Dennis Malone, Susan Malone, Suwilai Premsrirat, Clinton Robinson, Tuomas Takala and Catherine Young for their invaluable comments on earlier drafts of this paper. All responsibility for the remaining shortcom-ings and final interpretation remain solely with the author. REFERENCES:
Please note that Thai authors are alphabetised by their first name, as is the common practice in Thailand.
Aikman, S. (1995). Language, Literacy and Bilingual Education: an Amazon People’s Strate-gies for Cultural Maintenance. International Journal of Educational Development
15 (4), 411–422.
Asher, J.J. (2000). Learning Another Language through Actions. Los Gatos: Sky Oaks. Baker, C. (2001). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Third edition. Bilin-gual Education and Bilingualism 27. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Benson, C. J. (2001). Final Report on Bilingual Education. Results of the external evaluation of the Experiment in Bilingual Schooling in Mozambique (PEBIMO) and some re-
sults from bilingual adult literacy experimentation. New Education Division
Document 8. Stockholm: Swedish International Development Cooperation
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Benson, C. J. (2002). Real and Potential Benefits of Bilingual Programmes in Developing Countries. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 5 (6),
303-317.
Bobb, M. (1994). The Illusive Essential: Evaluating Participation in Non-Formal Education and Community Development Processes. Convergence 27 (1), 23-45.
Bratt Paulston, C. (1994). Linguistic Minorities in Multilingual Settings. Studies in bilingual-ism 4. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
CAL (2001). Expanding Educational Opportunity in Linguistically Diverse Societies. Wash-ington DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Cenoz, J. & Genesee, F. (eds.) (1998). Beyond Bilingualism: Multilingualism and Multilingual Education. Multilingual Matters 110. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
《英语语言学概论》课程教学大纲 一、课程说明: 《语言学概论》课程是英语专业本科阶段的一门必修课。 《语言学概论》研究始于20 世纪初，其目的是揭示人类深层结构，对语言和语言交际作出客观、科学描述。现已形成了语音学、音系学、形态学、句法学、语义学、语用学等一系分支学科。语言学研究社会学等人文学科的结合逐步形成了社会语言学这样的交叉学科。 对于主修语言学的学生来说，了解语言学的知识和语言理论是完全必要和有益的。 本课程的对象是英语专业高年级学生，在本科阶段第6学期和第7 学期开设。其中第一、二、三、四、五、七、八、十一章为必修，其余章节为选修。 二、教学目的及要求: 本课程的具体要求是：比较全面，系统地了解《语言学概论》这一领域的研究成果，以及一些最主要、最有影响的语言理论和原则，从而加深对人类语言这一人类社会普遍现象的理性认识，并具备一定的运用语言学理论解释语言现象、解决具体语言问题的能力。 本课程是一门知识性比较强的课程。在教学过程中，应重点讲授主要理论、原则、和研究方法，使学生着重掌握基本概念和基本理论，在理解消化的基础上记忆。 本课程的对象是英语专业学生，在讲解过程中原则上采用英语范例，但不排除一些有助于学习者理解的、针对性强的汉语例子。应鼓 励学生结合自己的语言实践提供更多的例子来解释相关理论，以达到理论和实践相结合的目的。
三、教学重点与难点: 本课程的教学重点是语言学的基本知识和基本理论，语音学、词汇学、句法学、语义学和语用学这些语言学的核心内容。 本课程的教学难点是音韵学理论、句法结构和各个语言学流派的理论观点及其局限性。 四、与其它课程的关系: 本课程是一门主干性课程。与其相关的课程，如语法学、词汇学和语体学等都是语言学的分支，属于选修课程。 五、学时与学分: 学时：72学时 学分：4学分 六、教学内容： 第一章绪论 本章主要教学内容: 1．语言学习的意义 2．语言的定义。 3．语言的定义特征 4．语言的起源。 5．语言的功能。 6．语言学的定义。 7．语言学的核心内容。 8．宏观语言学的定义及分支。
Chapter one Introduction 一、定义 1.语言学Linguistics Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. 2.普通语言学General Linguistics The study of language as a whole is often called General linguistics. 3.语言language Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. 语言是人类用来交际的任意性的有声符号体系。 4.识别特征Design Features It refers to the defining poperties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication. 语言识别特征是指人类语言区别与其他任何动物的交际体系的限定性特征。 Arbitrariness任意性 Productivity多产性 Duality双重性 Displacement移位性 Cultural transmission文化传递 ⑴arbitrariness There is no logical connection between meanings and sounds. P.S the arbitrary nature of language is a sign of sophistication and it makes it possible for language to have an unlimited source of expressions ⑵Productivity Animals are quite limited in the messages they are able to send. ⑶Duality Language is a system, which consists of two sets of structures ,or two levels. ⑷Displacement Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker. ⑸Cultural transmission Human capacity for language has a genetic basis, but we have to be taught and learned the details of any language system. this showed that language is culturally transmitted. not by instinct. animals are born with the capacity to produce the set of calls peculiar to their species. 5.语言能力Competence Competence is the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language. 6.语言运用performance Performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication. 语言运用是所掌握的规则在语言交际中的体现。 7.历时语言学Diachronic linguistics The study of language change through time. a diachronic study of language is a historical study, which studies the historical development of language over a period of time. 8.共时语言学Synchronical linguistics The study of a given language at a given time. 9.语言langue The abstract linguistic system shared by all members of a speech community. 10.言语parole The realization of langue in actual use. 11.规定性Prescriptive It aims to lay down rules for ”correct” behavior, to tell people what they should say and what should not say.
Design features（定义特征）: the distinctive features of human language that essentially make human language distinguishable from languages of animals. Synchronic（共时的）: said of an approach that studies language at a theoretical “point” in time. Diachronic（历时的）: said of the study of development of language and languages over time. Prescriptive（规定式）: to make an authoritarian statement about the correctness of a particular use of language. Descriptive（描写式）: to make an objective and systematic account of the patterns and use of a language or variety. Competence（语言能力）: unconscious knowledge of the system of grammatical rules in a language. 对于一门语言的语法规则系统的无意识获得的知识。Performance（语言运用）:
the language actually used by people in speaking or writing. 人们说话写作时实际使用的语言。 Langue（语言）: the language system shared by a “speech community”. 一个“语言社团”共有的语言系统。 Parole（言语）: the concrete utterances of a speaker. 说话人实际说的话语。 Phonology（音系学）： the study of the sound patterns and sound systems of language. It aims to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur. International Phonetic Alphabet（国际音标）: a set of standard phonetic symbols in the form of a chart (the IPA chart), designed by the International Phonetic Association since 1888. It has been revised from time to time to include
对比语言学的定义、起源与发展 对比语言学(Contrastive Linguistics的定义 1、语言学中的比较与对比 比较是人类认识事物、研究事物的一种基本方法，也是语言学研究的一种基本方法。如果说，语言学的根本任务是对语言的某种现象加以阐述的话，那么要对某一语言现象作出阐述，总是需要对这一现象的种种表现加以比较和分析(Harlmann1980:22。因而，按其本质来说，对比语言学也是一种比较,不过是一种具有特定含义的语言学中的比较。下面，先让我们来看看对比语言学的比较，与语言学中其他分支的比较有什么不同，从而使我们能够确定对比语言学在整个语言学中的位置，及其与其他语言学研究的联系。 在进行语言学比较时，根据比较对象的不同，可以沿两条轴线来进行。一方面，可以选择共时或历时的语言现象来进行比较;另一方面，可以选择在某一语言内部或各种语言之间的语言现象来进行比较。这两条轴线的互相交叉，便形成了如下四个象限，这四个象限将语言学研究分成四大类性质和目的不同的比较。
象限I代表了同一语言内部的共时比较。这类比较是对某一语言在其历史发展的某一阶段(特别是现时阶段的语音、语法和词汇等系统的内部构成成分及组织结构的比较。 在共时语言学研究中，要对某一语言的某一结构系统进行描述，就必须对这一结构系统里的各种语言现象加以比较分析。例如，如果我们要研究一种语言的语音系统，我们就要比较这个系统里的各个音素的发音部位和方法有什么不同，它们的声学物理属性有什么不同，在音节中的分布又有什么不同的规律，我们就必须比较这个语言中各类词的语法作用有什么不同，组合搭配有什么特点，等等。而且，要确定一个语言中的词可以区分为哪几个词类，这本身就要进行大量的形态、语义、语法特征等方面的比较。因此可以说，同一语言内的共时比较是语音学、语法学、词汇学等构成当代语言学主流的各个分支学科的一种主要研究方法。 象限Ⅱ代表了同一语言内部的历时比较。这类比较是对某一语言在其历史演变的不同阶段的语音、语法和词汇等系统加以比较，从而使我们了解这一语言的发展历史，找出其基本发展演变规律。例如，通过对英语的历时比较，语言学家一般认为，英语的演变经历了古英语、中古英语、早期现代英语和现代英语等四个阶段。其语法演变的总趋势表现为从一个综合型的语言逐步向一个分析型的语言发展，即词的屈折变化逐渐减少，语法意义的表达越来越多地依赖语序以及介词等语法作用词的运用。这类比较是对某一语言的语言史及其分科(如词源学、古今比较语法学等研究的主要方法。 象限Ⅲ代表了不同语言之间的历时比较。这类比较是对不同语言(一般是亲属语言在各个历史发展阶段的语音、语法和词汇等系统进行比较，其目的主要是探讨语言之间的历史联系，并据此对世界上的语言进行谱系分类，重建或构拟某一组亲属语的共同原始语(proto-language，找出它们之间的某些共同发展规律. 例如，语言学家通过对印欧语系诸语言之向的历时比较研究，使我们能够大致了解这些语言在历史演变过程中的关系，推断出原始印欧语的大致形式。不同语言之间的历时比较往往
get around/round to: do (something that you have intended to do for a long time.) e.g: I was meaning to see that film but I just never got around to it. 我一直想看那部电影，但始终还是没能去看。 just as well/as well: suggesting that something will be a good thing to do/or that it was luckily that something was done or happened. 正好，幸好，不妨 e.g: “Shall I phone to remind him? ” “That would be just as well.” It was just as well you’re not here. You wouldn’t like the noise. get by (Line 3): be good enough but not very good; manage to live or do things e.g: It is a bit hard for the old couple to get by on a small amount of pension. 如果我们坚持到底，我们就能熬过难关。 We’ll get by if we hold on to the end. get across: be understood Did your speech get across to the students? get away with: run away without being punished The teller had been stealing money from the bankand got away with it. 这个出纳一直在偷银行的钱却能侥幸逃脱。 get through (Line 45): come successfully to the end e.g: We’ve stored enough food and fuel to get through the cold winter. 为了度过寒冬，我们已经储备了足够的食物和燃料。 make it (Line 9) : be successful, fulfill the purpose e.g: Having failed for thousands of times, he eventually made it. 她最后成功地成为了一家大公司的总裁。 She finally made it as a CEO of a big corporation. haul (Line 16) v. transport, as with a truck, cart, etc. e.g: These farmers haul fruits and vegetables to the market on a cart in the early morning every day. v. pull or drag sth. with effort or force e.g: A crane has to be used to haul the car out of the stream. long-overdue (Line 20) adj. Being something that should have occurred much earlier. e.g: Changes to the tax system are long overdue .She feels she’s overdue for promotion. supplement (Line 21) v. add to sth. in order to improve it (followed by with) e.g: 1) Forrest does occasional freelance to supplement his income. 2) The doctor suggested supplementing my diet with vitamins E and A. supplementary adj. additional, auxiliary spray (Line 22): v. force out liquid in small drops upon (followed by with) eg: I’ll have to spray the roses w ith insecticide to get rid of the greenfly. freelance (Line 23) adj. doing particular pieces of work for different organizations rather than working all the time for a single 自由职业者的 e.g: Most of the journalists I know are/work freelance.
Desig n features （定义特征）： the disti nctive features of huma n Ian guage that esse ntially make huma n Ian guage disti nguishable from Ian guages of ani mals. Synchronic （共时的）： said of an approach that studies Ianguage at a theoretical point "in time. Diachro nic （历时的）： said of the study of developme nt of Ian guage and Ian guages over time. Prescriptive （规定式）： to make an authoritaria n stateme nt about the correct ness of a particular use of Ian guage. Descriptive （描写式）： to make an objective and systematic acco unt of the patter ns and use of a Ian guage or variety. Compete nee （语言能力）： uncon scious kno wledge of the system of grammatical rules in a Ian guage. 对于一门语言的语法规则系统的无意识获得的知识。 Performa nee （语言运用）： the Ianguage actually used by people in speaking or writing. 人们说话写作时实际使用的语言。 Langue （语言）： the Ianguage system shared by a speech community ” 一个“语言社团”共有的语言系统。 Parole （言语）： the con crete uttera nces of a speaker. 说话人实际说的话语。 Pho no logy （音系学）： the study of the sound patter ns and sound systems of Ian guage. It aims to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in Ianguages, and to explain the variati ons that occur. Intern ati onal Phon etic Alphabet （国际音标） a set of standard phonetic symbols in the form of a chart （the IPA chart）, designed by the Intern ati onal Phon etic Associati on si nee 1888. It has bee n revised from time to time to include new discoveries and changes in phonetic theory and practice. Cardi nal Vowels （基本元音）： a set of vowel qualities arbitrarily defined, fixed and unchanging, intended to provide a frame of reference for the descriptio n of the actual vowels of exist ing Ian guages.
articulatory phonetics(发音语音学)--the study of the production of speach sounds. acoustic phonetics:(声学语言学) --the study of physical properties of speech sounds. Allophones(音位变体)--the different phones which cab represent a phoneme in different phonetic environments are called the allophones of taht phoneme. consonant(辅音):a major category of sound segments produced by a closure in the vocal tract,or by a narrowing which is so marked that air can not escape without producting audible friction. compositionality(综合性原则):the meaning of a sentence should be viewed from both the grammatical structure and the word meaning.In other words,the meaning of a sentence depend on the meanings of the constituent words and the way they are combined. cooperative principle(合作原则):1,Maxim of Quantity.2,maxim of Quality.3,Maxim of relatiob.4,Maxim of manner. Constatives(叙事句):a constative sentence is a description of what the speaker is doing at the time of speaking.It can be said to be ture or false. Endocentric(向心结构):is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent to that of one or more of its constituents,i,e,a word or a group of words,which serves as a definable centre or head. Exocentric(离心结构)：it refers to a group of syntactionally related words where none of the words is functionally equivalent to the group as a whole,that is,there is no definable "center" or "head" inside the group
Linguistics - Terms Metafuncion: The general roles language plays are termed metafunctions. Language plays three metafunctions: 1. the ideational function, to identify things, to think, or to record info; 2. the interpersonal function, to use it as a medium to communicate in a community; 3. the textual function, to organize message in a logical way; to bring units of language into unity. Contractive distribution: sounds appearing in the same environment. a. minimal pairs: two words differing by only one sound in the same position (e.g. sip, zip); b. minimal sets: words distinguished by one segment in the same position (e.g. beat, bit, bet, bat). Complementary distribution: allophones that are not found in the same position, but share phonetic features Free variation: if segments appear in the same position but the mutual substitution does not result in change of meaning, they are said to be in free variation. Segments in free variation are generally dialectal variation (e.g. economics). Morpheme: the smallest meaningful unit of language is called a morpheme. The morpheme can be classified into free morphemes, bound morpheme (inflectional morpheme and derivational morphemes). Allomorphs: a morpheme may be represented by different forms, called allomorphs. (E.g. the prefix：in has four allomorphs as found in the words impossible, immoral, irregular, irresistible.) Inflectional morphemes: indicating grammatical categories (e.g. indicates case and number of nouns, tense and aspect of verbs, and degree of adjectives and adverbs.) Derivational affixes: Derivational affixes are bound morphemes added to existing forms to construct new words. The process of putting affixes to existing forms to create new words is called deviation. Syntagmatic relations: chain relations, supported by TG grammar, regarding language as an abstract system, analyzing its form; It is a method of analyzing sentences by looking into their constituents and generalizing the pattern. Paradigmatic relations: choice relations, supported by SF grammar, emphasizing the vertical relations in order to explain the realization of the function of language; It focuses on the language in use. Transitivity: Transitivity is the syntactic structure as representation of experience. The ideational function is realized by the transitivity system of language. It is a type of linguistic process which represents what exists and what is going on around us and
第一节语言的本质 一、语言的普遍特征（Design Features） 1.任意性 Arbitratriness：shu 和Tree都能表示“树”这一概念；同样的 声音，各国不同的表达方式 2.双层结构Duality：语言由声音结构和意义结构组成（the structure of sounds and meaning） 3.多产性productive: 语言可以理解并创造无限数量的新句子，是由双层 结构造成的结果（Understand and create unlimited number with sentences） 4.移位性 Displacemennt：可以表达许多不在场的东西，如过去的经历、将 来可能发生的事情，或者表达根本不存在的东西等 5.文化传播性 Cultural Transmission：语言需要后天在特定文化环境中 掌握 二、语言的功能（Functions of Language） 1.传达信息功能 Informative：最主要功能The main function 2.人际功能 Interpersonal：人类在社会中建立并维持各自地位的功能 establish and maintain their identity 3.行事功能 performative：现实应用——判刑、咒语、为船命名等Judge， naming，and curses 4.表情功能 Emotive Function：表达强烈情感的语言，如感叹词/句 exclamatory expressions 5.寒暄功能 Phatic Communion：应酬话phatic language，比如“吃了没？” “天儿真好啊！”等等 6.元语言功能 Metalingual Function：用语言来谈论、改变语言本身，如 book可以指现实中的书也可以用“book这个词来表达作为语言单位的 “书” 三、语言学的分支 1. 核心语言学 Core linguistic 1)语音学 Phonetics：关注语音的产生、传播和接受过程，着重考察人类语 言中的单音。Its main focus is on the articulation， transmission and reception of human sounds， especially isolated sounds 2)音位学Phonology：从功能的角度出发对出现在某种特定语言中的语音及其 组合、分布规律进行研究的语言学分支。The branch of linguistics which studies the sound patterns from function perspective. 3)形态学 Morphology：研究单词的内部构造the internal structure of words 4)句法学 Syntax：研究组词造句的规则the rules governing the combination of words into sentences.
语言language Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used by social group for communication. Arbitrariness: the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meaning. Productivity:language is resourceful because of its duality and its reclusiveness. We can use it to create new meanings. Duality:the property of having two levels of structures, such that units of the primary level are composed of element of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization. Displacement:human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present(in time and spare) at the movement of communication. Cultural transmission:language is not genetically inherited. Passed from generation to generation, it requires some learning. It is true human are born with language capacity, but a particular language a person learns to speak is a cultural one, rather than a genetic one like the dogs’ barking system. Interchangeability:any human being can be both a producer and receiver of messages. Language function: informative: language is the instrument of thought, record the facts. The use of language to record the facts is a prerequisite of social development. Interpersonal: by far the most important sociological use of language, and by which people establish and maintain their status in a society. Performative: the performative function of language is primarily to change the social status of persons Emotive: to change the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something. Phatic communion: we all use such small, seemingly meaningless expressions to maintain a comfortable relationship between people without involving any factual contents.
定义 1.语言学Linguistics is generally defined as the scientific study of language. 2.语言Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.语言是人类用来交际的任意性的有声符号体系。 4.识别特征Design Features It refers to the defining poperties of human language that distinguish it from any animal system of communication.语 言识别特征是指人类语言区别与其他任何动物的交际体系的限定性特征。Arbitrariness任意性Productivity多产性Duality双重性 Displacement移位性Cultural transmission文化传递⑴arbitrariness There is no logical connection between meanings and sounds.P.S the arbitrary nature of language is a sign of sophistication and it makes it possible for language to have an unlimited source of expressions⑵Productivity Animals are quite limited in the messages they are able to send. ⑶Duality Language is a system,which consists of two sets of structures,or two levels.⑷Displacement Language can be used to refer to contexts removed from the immediate situations of the speaker.⑸Cultural transmission Human capacity for language has a genetic basis,but we have to be taught and learned the details of any language system.this showed that language is culturally transmitted.not by instinct.animals are born with the capacity to produce the set of calls peculiar to their species. 5.语言能力Competence is the ideal user’s knowledge of the rules of his language. 6.语言运用Performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in linguistic communication.语言运用是所掌握的规则在语言交际中的体现。 7.历时语言学Diachronic linguistics The study of language change through time.a diachronic study of language is a historical study,which studies the
13. ★举例说明切分和归并及二者的关系。 （一）切分：按一定标准将语言单位分割成更小的单位的过程。 切分要求：A、按一定的标准切分（有无相同功能） B、复现（切分出来的片段必须能在别的话语中重复出现） C层次 （二）归并：判明在话语中多次出现的类似单位是否同一个单位的过程。（要去掉或忽略一些非实质性的差异：教小孩叫“爸爸” ） 米： ①稻米、大米、糯米 ②泛指去掉壳或皮后的种子，多指可以吃的：花生~、小米、高梁~ ③像米一样的小粒东西：石米 （三）切分和归并的关系P42 ①切分和归并是研究语言单位的两个必要程序，互为依存。 ②有归并才能切分出有意义的单位，归并是衡量切分正确与否的手段。 如：我是大学生。——切分为“我——是大——学生。”便切分错了，因为“是大”不能在别的语流中复现，没法归并成词也不合上下文，应该切分为“我——是——大学生。”“是”、“大学生”才能够不断复现、可以经过归并形成的语言单位。 15. ★某展览会上立有一块“眼看手勿动”的牌子，某看客好奇地用脚踢了一下展品，被主办方抓住罚款，看客非常不服气地说“你们的牌子上只写明不能用手动展品，并没有写明不能用脚动展品。”试用语言学原理对看客的言行加以分析评述。P144 （参考基地：） 预设机制 1、预设是指说话或写作时假设对方已知晓的信息。 预设大量存在于语言中。 眼看手勿动——请勿乱摸（用脚踢），请不要惊扰小草的美梦。预设是交际得以顺利进行的必要条件，也是语言经济的必要条件。“你上哪儿去？——上电影院” （不一定看电影）你今晚有什么娱乐活动？——上电影院（一定去看电影） 吃花生（不吃花生壳） 吃唐僧肉=吃唐僧的肉；吃东坡肉工吃东坡的肉 2、预设带有一定的民族性 吃了？——寒暄寒暄功能 ——吃了 ——没吃 广义预设和狭义预设 借自逻辑学术语，最初由德国哲学家弗雷格（G.Frege ）1892 年提出，指确定一个命题是否真实的必要条件。广义预设：眼看手勿动（交际时假设对方已知晓的信息） 狭义预设：我朋友是市长的儿子（确定一个命题是否真实的必要条件） 18．分析下列语流音变现象： 棉袍[mi?n p ' a u ] 宀[mi?m p ' a u ] 衣服[i fu ] T [i f]