Since its establishment as an independent discipline in the early twentieth century, linguistics ... more Since its establishment as an independent discipline in the early twentieth century, linguistics has undergone rapid development, as is witnessed by the great diversity of theories, methodologies, and practices in the area. This prosperity is, on the one hand, a blessing for all linguists considering the wealth of linguistic knowledge that we have gained, but on the other, it leads to the segmentation of the discipline that should be an organic entirety. According to the Legitimation Coding Theory of Karl Maton (2014: 106), segmentalism in intellectual fields arises with the accumulation of new ideas or approaches that fail to integrate existing knowledge, which is caused by the strong classification and framing values both inside and outside the field. As an intellectual field, linguistics at its current state of development is also characterized by segmentalism, as is shown by the strong boundaries between different schools and subfields, and by the strong framing of research methods and procedures adopted in each school and subfield. Each school has its own premises, aim, methodology, theory, and practices that clearly demarcates its field and prevents trespassers with different backgrounds. As a result, different subfields have their own realms that are often mutually incompatible, which renders it difficult, if not impossible, to integrate them into a coherent whole. Scholars from different backgrounds no longer sit together to communicate; and even if we want, we find it difficult to understand each other as we speak different “languages”. To facilitate further development of linguistics, we need to eliminate this segmentalism, cross the boundaries, and sit together to communicate with each other.
It is out of this belief that the Free Linguistics Conference (FLC) was initiated, which aims at providing a widely accessible forum for linguists in all areas of research to come together and share their diverse perspectives and findings. The 8th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference (The 8th FLC), held at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 26-27 September, 2014, is another significant step toward this aim. In this all-inclusive forum are congregated more than 180 scholars from more than 20 countries/regions. Presentations delivered cover a wide range of mainstream linguistics, including both theoretical linguistics (phonetics and phonology, lexicology, syntax, and semantics), and applied linguistics (such as sociolinguistics, educational linguistics, language teaching and acquisition, computational linguistics, translation studies, and discourse analysis), and involve more than ten languages such as English, German, Chinese, Tibetan, Arabic, Tagalog and Pashto. In one word, as trespassers of both geographical and intellectual borders, scholars with different intellectual backgrounds sit together, share their insights and discoveries, and make concerted efforts to further our studies of languages.
This book, Multiperspective Studies of Language: Theory and Application, is the fruition of the concerted efforts of the scholars presenting at the 8th FLC. It consists includes 20 selected papers that are organized into four parts according to the subfields they belong to: theoretical linguistics, educational linguistics, social linguistics, translation studies and computational linguistics. All papers included in this volume were selected after going through a double-blind peer-review process.
Since its establishment as an independent discipline in the early twentieth century, linguistics ... more Since its establishment as an independent discipline in the early twentieth century, linguistics has undergone rapid development, as is witnessed by the great diversity of theories, methodologies, and practices in the area. This prosperity is, on the one hand, a blessing for all linguists considering the wealth of linguistic knowledge that we have gained, but on the other, it leads to the segmentation of the discipline that should be an organic entirety. According to the Legitimation Coding Theory of Karl Maton (2014: 106), segmentalism in intellectual fields arises with the accumulation of new ideas or approaches that fail to integrate existing knowledge, which is caused by the strong classification and framing values both inside and outside the field. As an intellectual field, linguistics at its current state of development is also characterized by segmentalism, as is shown by the strong boundaries between different schools and subfields, and by the strong framing of research methods and procedures adopted in each school and subfield. Each school has its own premises, aim, methodology, theory, and practices that clearly demarcates its field and prevents trespassers with different backgrounds. As a result, different subfields have their own realms that are often mutually incompatible, which renders it difficult, if not impossible, to integrate them into a coherent whole. Scholars from different backgrounds no longer sit together to communicate; and even if we want, we find it difficult to understand each other as we speak different “languages”. To facilitate further development of linguistics, we need to eliminate this segmentalism, cross the boundaries, and sit together to communicate with each other.
It is out of this belief that the Free Linguistics Conference (FLC) was initiated, which aims at providing a widely accessible forum for linguists in all areas of research to come together and share their diverse perspectives and findings. The 8th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference (The 8th FLC), held at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 26-27 September, 2014, is another significant step toward this aim. In this all-inclusive forum are congregated more than 180 scholars from more than 20 countries/regions. Presentations delivered cover a wide range of mainstream linguistics, including both theoretical linguistics (phonetics and phonology, lexicology, syntax, and semantics), and applied linguistics (such as sociolinguistics, educational linguistics, language teaching and acquisition, computational linguistics, translation studies, and discourse analysis), and involve more than ten languages such as English, German, Chinese, Tibetan, Arabic, Tagalog and Pashto. In one word, as trespassers of both geographical and intellectual borders, scholars with different intellectual backgrounds sit together, share their insights and discoveries, and make concerted efforts to further our studies of languages.
This book, Multiperspective Studies of Language: Theory and Application, is the fruition of the concerted efforts of the scholars presenting at the 8th FLC. It consists includes 20 selected papers that are organized into four parts according to the subfields they belong to: theoretical linguistics, educational linguistics, social linguistics, translation studies and computational linguistics. All papers included in this volume were selected after going through a double-blind peer-review process.
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Books by Liangtao Lai
It is out of this belief that the Free Linguistics Conference (FLC) was initiated, which aims at providing a widely accessible forum for linguists in all areas of research to come together and share their diverse perspectives and findings. The 8th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference (The 8th FLC), held at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 26-27 September, 2014, is another significant step toward this aim. In this all-inclusive forum are congregated more than 180 scholars from more than 20 countries/regions. Presentations delivered cover a wide range of mainstream linguistics, including both theoretical linguistics (phonetics and phonology, lexicology, syntax, and semantics), and applied linguistics (such as sociolinguistics, educational linguistics, language teaching and acquisition, computational linguistics, translation studies, and discourse analysis), and involve more than ten languages such as English, German, Chinese, Tibetan, Arabic, Tagalog and Pashto. In one word, as trespassers of both geographical and intellectual borders, scholars with different intellectual backgrounds sit together, share their insights and discoveries, and make concerted efforts to further our studies of languages.
This book, Multiperspective Studies of Language: Theory and Application, is the fruition of the concerted efforts of the scholars presenting at the 8th FLC. It consists includes 20 selected papers that are organized into four parts according to the subfields they belong to: theoretical linguistics, educational linguistics, social linguistics, translation studies and computational linguistics. All papers included in this volume were selected after going through a double-blind peer-review process.
Papers by Liangtao Lai
It is out of this belief that the Free Linguistics Conference (FLC) was initiated, which aims at providing a widely accessible forum for linguists in all areas of research to come together and share their diverse perspectives and findings. The 8th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference (The 8th FLC), held at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 26-27 September, 2014, is another significant step toward this aim. In this all-inclusive forum are congregated more than 180 scholars from more than 20 countries/regions. Presentations delivered cover a wide range of mainstream linguistics, including both theoretical linguistics (phonetics and phonology, lexicology, syntax, and semantics), and applied linguistics (such as sociolinguistics, educational linguistics, language teaching and acquisition, computational linguistics, translation studies, and discourse analysis), and involve more than ten languages such as English, German, Chinese, Tibetan, Arabic, Tagalog and Pashto. In one word, as trespassers of both geographical and intellectual borders, scholars with different intellectual backgrounds sit together, share their insights and discoveries, and make concerted efforts to further our studies of languages.
This book, Multiperspective Studies of Language: Theory and Application, is the fruition of the concerted efforts of the scholars presenting at the 8th FLC. It consists includes 20 selected papers that are organized into four parts according to the subfields they belong to: theoretical linguistics, educational linguistics, social linguistics, translation studies and computational linguistics. All papers included in this volume were selected after going through a double-blind peer-review process.