Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning No. 1, 2021
Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning
(Bimonthly)
Vol. 6 No. 1
Jan. 2021
CONTENTS
Foreword
Linguistic Study Should Be Geared to Future Challenges / Lu Jianming
Interdisciplinary Talk: Views on Language and Language Use from Painters and Calligraphers
Aspiration in Heart and Poem in Language: My Opinions on Poetic Language / Zheng Xinmiao
Pen and Ink: The Beauty of Language in Chinese Traditional Painting / Zhang Xiaoling
Lines: The Metalanguage of Chinese Traditional Painting / Xue Xiaoyuan
Special Issue: Interdisciplinary Study of Linguistics
Teaching and Researching in Interdisciplinary Subjects: What to Do and How to Do It / Chen Ping
Interdisciplinary Studies of Linguistics: Theory and Practice / Chen Ping
Cultural Systems in Ancient China and Language Evolution / You Rujie
A Review of the Contributions of Theoretical Linguistics to Pathologic Linguistics / Liang Dandan
A Cross-Disciplinary Exploration of the Mechanisms Underlying Child Language Acquisition: Progress, Challenges and Outlook / Zhou Peng
Multiple Views on Interdisciplinary Study of Linguistics / He Lianzhen, Li Yuming, Stephen Crain, Xu Daming, Wang Feng and Lu Shuo
Studies on Language Use
A Study of the Connotation and Denotation of Language Industry from the Perspective of Knowledge Economy / Yin Zhiping
Reflections on Publishing SCI Research Articles in Domestic Journals / Cai Jigang
Language Status of Arab Countries along the “Belt and Road” and Corresponding Proposals / Yu Guangwu, Zhang Sen and Song Siqi
Book Review
New Achievements and Directions of Applied Linguistic Research in China: A Review of A New Edition of Applied Linguistics / Yin Xiaorong
ABSTRACTS
Interdisciplinary Studies of Linguistics: Theory and Practice
Chen Ping
School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland
Abstract Discrete academic disciplines were identified and institutionalized as university departments between the mid-19th century and the early 20th century. Calls for interdisciplinarity ensured soon thereafter to address what was considered to be the most serious downside of the process–lack of proper communication and interaction between the disciplines. Interdisciplinary collaboration has been actively promoted since the 1970s as an indispensable approach to tackle tasks of gigantic proportions facing contemporary society, and at the same time as the most effective way leading to innovation. This article proposes a typology of four types of interdisciplinary activities–multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary, each with its distinctive features. It elaborates on how linguistics has benefited from interactions with other fields of intellectual pursuit since Plato and Aristotle, and what contributions it has made to the advancement of knowledge in other disciplines, highlighting in particular the continuous cross-fertilization of ideas between language studies and philosophy, logic, mechanics, mathematics, biology, psychology, computer science and anthropology.
Key words academic discipline; linguistics; interdisciplinary; multidisciplinary; cross-disciplinary; transdisciplinary
Cultural Systems in Ancient China and Language Evolution
You Rujie
Abstract Evolution of language is closely related to its cultural background. This study explores the relationship between cultural systems of ancient China and historical evolution of the Chinese language. The main findings include: It was the traditional education system and the Civil Examination System (keju) that caused literary reading in Chinese dialects; the continued efforts of unification of Chinese language and characters started by Qin dynasty have been the backbone accounting for the consistent maintenance between the regionalects across the country. Official corpus planning and the policy of appointing an official elsewhere played an important role in the process of forming and developing Mandarin as lingua franca. Geographic distribution of Chinese dialects was closely related with ancient system of regionalized administration in dynastic China. Chinese is a language with a history of 3-4 thousand years, and the modern Chinese language is the outcome of language evolution of ancient Chinese throughout the history. This paper argues that the current state of modern Chinese and geographical distribution of various dialects is related not only with the laws of language development per se, but also with China’s long history and culture. The most parts of Chinese long history discussed in this paper are over two thousand years.
Key words cultural systems in ancient China; literary reading; Chinese dialects; Mandarin Chinese
A Review of the Contributions of Theoretical Linguistics to Pathologic Linguistics
Liang Dandan
Abstract Pathologic linguistics is an interdisciplinary field with a focus on the study of language impairment and various kinds of damages in the process of language transmission. Despite its late start in China, pathologic linguistics has been developing rapidly in China. In recent years, the rapid development of pathologic linguistics at home and abroad shows that one of the important trends of this discipline is that theoretical linguistics is receiving an increasing attention and findings of theoretical linguistics are being applied to pathologic linguistics. This study provides a review of the contributions of theoretical linguistics to pathologic linguistics. With the aid of various clinical cases, the review demonstrates the application of theoretical linguistics in the description, interpretation, assessment and intervention of language impairments. These achievements include not only phonetic, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic studies, but also studies on the basic issues of contemporary linguistics. Given the weak linguistic foundation of pathologic linguistics and an accelerating integration of linguistics and other disciplines, this study argues that a large number of researchers with linguistic background are needed to speed up the interdisciplinary development of pathologic linguistics.
Key words linguistic theories; pathologic linguistics; contributions
A Cross-Disciplinary Exploration of the Mechanisms Underlying Child Language Acquisition: Progress, Challenges and Outlook
Zhou Peng
Abstract Language is fundamentally a biologically determined computational cognitive system that enables us to produce and understand an infinite number of hierarchically structured expressions. Infants develop this system remarkably quickly within the first few years of life, and by age 5, they are effectively adult-like in their language competence. The development of language, like any biological system, is shaped both by internal constraints and by language experience from the external environment. This paper first gives an overview of major research questions and debates in the field of child language research in the past 50 years, and then reviews prior cross-disciplinary investigations that attempted to address these questions. On the basis of the prior research, the paper proposes a cross-disciplinary approach to the study of child language that integrates fields like linguistics, cognitive science, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence. This cross-disciplinary approach requires a new generation of child language researchers who are well versed in the child language research tradition, well informed about cross-disciplinary approaches that integrate the relevant fields, as well as open-minded to explore new possibilities for cross-disciplinary collaborations when looking into the grand areas of language, mind and brain.
Key words child language acquisition; cross-disciplinary; cognitive science; neuroscience; artificial intelligence
A Study of the Connotation and Denotation of Language Industry from the Perspective of Knowledge Economy
Yin Zhiping
Abstract The past decades have witnessed a rapid development of language industry in China. The delimitation of connotation and denotation of language industry is a prerequisite for language industry research. Based on the definition of knowledge economy, this study defines language industry as an industry engaged in the production, distribution, use and consumption of language knowledge, or the provision of language services to meet others’ needs with language knowledge as its main service content. The language industry can be divided into secondary and tertiary industry/service industry, and the latter can be further divided into profit-based language service industry and public language service industry. Language industry covers translation, language training, language publishing, language exhibition, language rehabilitation, language information processing, language testing and assessment, and language art, with language creativity assigned to the advertising industry. It is of great theoretical and practical significance to understand the knowledge economy feature of the language industry. It is also necessary to find new directions and questions based on the language knowledge needs of the development of language industry in order to conduct research from the perspective of language industry. In addition, the development of language industry should meet the needs of language knowledge consumption in different areas of language industry.
Key words language industry; connotation and denotation; knowledge economy; language knowledge
Reflections on Publishing SCI Research Articles in Domestic Journals
Cai Jigang
Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a controversy as to whether research articles should be published first in international journals or in domestic Chinese journals first. Comparing the international and domestic journals in terms of publication efficiency and information circulation, we find that English-medium international journals enjoy the advantages of both aspects and there is a long way to go before research articles are published in Chinese and in domestic journals first. We offer the following suggestions. First, the current evaluation system must be changed to attract researchers to submit their articles to Chinese journals. Emphasis might be placed on the impact factors of the paper rather than its international or domestic publication. Second, the publication of research articles must be adapted to the changing situation and hot topic articles might be published in the China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) before they have their print copies. Third, the current reviewing of submitted manuscripts might be reformed to simplify the peer-reviewing procedure of some controversial articles. Fourth, the articles published in CNKI might be withdrawn according to the comments and responses of peer-reviewers and readers. Fifth, the number of English-medium domestic journals should be increased greatly to satisfy the needs of researchers who attempt to share their research with international colleagues as quickly as possible. Finally, we may study the feasibility of publishing research articles in both international and domestic journals at the same time. For example, the English abstracts published in Chinese journals might be substantially long (say, approximately 800 words) so that international readers can obtain core contents.
Key words research articles; SCI journals; international publication, language choice; COVID-19 pandemic
Language Status of Arab Countries along the “Belt and Road” and Corresponding Proposals
Yu Guangwu, Zhang Sen and Song Siqi
Abstract Arabic countries are considered by China as the important partners in collaboration to further the “Belt and Road” construction. Arabic is the only language that serves as both religious language and pluricentric language in a number of countries. Although very necessary, little systematic investigation was conducted before to understand the language planning and policy in these countries. This paper attempts to investigate language use in thirteen Arabic countries along the “Belt and Road”. As important partners, these Arabic countries have increasingly become the focus of the “Belt and Road” Initiative. We first analyze the language situation of these Arabic countries from the perspective of corpus planning, including the use of the standard Arabic, Arabic dialects, and foreign languages with a focus on diverse language use patterns in these countries. When it comes to acquisition planning, we discuss the relationship between mother tongue education and foreign language teaching. Regarding the latter, we foreground Chinese language teaching by examining the role of Confucius Institutes in these countries. In conclusion, with a prospect of China’s collaborative role there, we elaborate on four proposals of how to promote Chinese language and culture with consideration of the complex language situations in these countries.
Key words “Belt and Road” Initiative; Arab countries; language status
2021