On the relationship between language and speech and its implications for foreign language teaching?

Abstract: Language is the most important communication tool for human beings. It is a vocabulary and grammatical system that combines sound and meaning; speech is the use of language in a specific environment to complete specific communication tasks. of use. Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure's theory of the distinction between "language" and "speech" has had an extremely important influence in the history of modern linguistics. This article discusses the definitions and characteristics of "language" and "speech", as well as their mutual relationships and classification of categories. On this basis, it further explains the important implications of the theories of "language" and "speech" for foreign language teaching. and impact.

Keywords: language-speech relationship, foreign language teaching

1. Introduction

As early as the beginning of the 19th century, the German linguist Humboldt proposed the distinction Language and speech are very necessary. The Swiss linguist Saussure, the "father of modern linguistics", pioneered the study of "language" ***langue*** and "speech" in his foundational work of modern linguistics "A Course in General Linguistics" *parole*** made a comprehensive distinction and elaboration, and for the first time proposed the concepts of "linguistics of language" and "linguistics of speech". Since then, the relationship between language and speech has attracted widespread attention from linguistic circles around the world. From the 1960s to the present, there have been many major discussions on "language" and "speech" in the linguistic circles of our country. The core issue of the discussion is whether it is necessary to distinguish between language and speech, and a series of issues arising from this . Many scholars have expressed their own opinions and expressed different views, but the fact that language and speech must be distinguished has been accepted by more and more people, and the application of this theory and its enlightenment and influence in foreign language teaching have also become a language Research objects for researchers.

2. The relationship between language and speech

Saussure used many vivid metaphors in his book "A Course in General Linguistics" to describe phenomena and problems in language. Before discussing the relationship between language and speech, let’s first look at a strange mathematical formula:

1+1+1……=1***Saussure, 2003: 41***

1+1+1……=1***Saussure, 2003: 41***

This is a formula used by Saussure to describe the relationship between language and speech. From a mathematical perspective, we can completely overturn this formula, because in the field of mathematics, the sum of countless 1s can never equal 1 again. So what is the basis for this linguistics master to establish this formula?

From a linguistic point of view, this mathematical formula can be "translated" into:

Speech + speech + speech +...= a certain language

Its meaning is : The sum of countless words equals language. The "1" before the equal sign represents each speech work, and the "1" after the equal sign represents a language, such as Chinese, English, and French. However, the relationship between language and speech is far more than as simple as described by the formula. Language is not It is not a simple accumulation of verbal works, but language embodied in words.

People compare the relationship between language and speech to the relationship between building materials, building rules and buildings. Building materials are equivalent to the vocabulary of language, building rules are equivalent to the grammatical structure of language, and buildings are concrete Language can also be compared to playing chess. The chess pieces are equivalent to vocabulary, chess rules are equivalent to grammar, and chess records are equivalent to verbal works. From this, we can understand that limited vocabulary and grammatical rules can create unlimited verbal works. Speech works have There are good and bad, but language is not good or bad; the relationship between language and speech is like the relationship between staff, scale symbols and music. The process of speaking is similar to the process of composing. They both require materials and rules, and both can create works that express certain thoughts and feelings and have a personal style; because there are still differences in the relationship between language and speech. Regarding the issue of quality and quantity, we can also compare language to *** numbers and the combination rules of these numbers, and compare language to the specific numbers composed of these numbers. Using the 10 *** numbers from 0 to 9, through With certain combination rules, we can express endless numbers.

Words in language, like *** numbers, are limited in a certain period of time, and the grammar of language also has certain combination rules like *** numbers when expressing specific numbers; finally, language can also be Compare it to the brushes and colors used in painting, the tools and materials used in sculpture, and compare language to Chinese painting and sculpture. This metaphor helps us understand the rhetorical color of speech and the influence of language on speech rhetoric ***Ji Yongyou, 1983: 56***.

From a formula proposed by Saussure and the five metaphors commonly used by people above, we can briefly summarize the relationship between language and speech: The relationship between language and speech can be expressed through the philosophy of the unity of opposites point of view to explain. "Language and speech are interdependent. Whether from the perspective of hologeny or ontogeny, there is speech first and then language, and language exists in speech." *** Cen Yunqiang and Shi Yanhua, 2007: 12***, Language On the one hand, it is essentially different from language, but on the other hand, it is closely connected. The difference between language and speech is obvious. Professor Cen Yunqiang believes that there are four criteria for distinguishing language and speech: the meaning criterion*** whether it expresses a complete meaning***, the formal criterion*** whether there is a specific and fixed pattern***, and the functional criterion*** whether it can Whether it is out of context*** and quantitative standards ***limited or infinite**** Lu Chunxia, ??2007: 181***.

In short, language and speech are in a relationship between the general and the individual, and between the abstract and the concrete. Therefore, studying language must start by observing speech and paying attention to a large number of universal linguistic facts shown in speech.

3. Application of language and speech theory in foreign language teaching

Saussure’s dichotomy theory of language and speech is widely used in second language teaching research. "Language" and "speech" are two opposite and unified aspects in foreign language teaching. They are both different from each other and penetrate each other. "'Language' in foreign language teaching refers to the structural rules and usage rules of language. The practical activities of teaching 'language' are called language teaching. The main goal of language teaching is to enable learners to master the systematic knowledge of 'language'. This lays the foundation for the use of language. 'Speech' refers to ordinary speech. The practical activities of teaching 'speech' are called language teaching. The goal of language teaching is to cultivate students' listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities, so as to use them. Language rules for language communication”***Bi Yanhua, 2007: 123***. Below we discuss the application of language and speech theory in foreign language teaching practice from three aspects.

***1*** The "speech-language-speech" model in foreign language teaching

The "speech-language-speech" language learning model is that each baby learns his or her mother tongue The only way to learn a foreign language is also an effective way. When learning a mother tongue, we often start with a few words and imitate external sounds, which is the speech stage; at the same time, in the continuous accumulation of speech, we consciously or unconsciously master the system of the language, which is the language stage; however, mastering A language system is not our purpose. During the acquisition process, we will use this system to speak and write, which brings us back to the speech stage.

Of course, these stages cannot be completely separated. When learning and teaching foreign languages, we should strive to use this model to enable foreign language learners to better grasp the rules of language and use the language proficiently in practice in the three stages of teaching. Of course, learning a foreign language cannot have a language environment for learning a native language, so there can be a very short pure language teaching stage in the initial stage of foreign language teaching, such as teaching English letters or International Phonetic Alphabet. At this stage, the amount of language teaching activities is greater than the amount of language teaching activities, because the language knowledge mastered by students is still very limited and is not enough to carry out large-scale language teaching to generate and understand new discourse. As time goes by, the amount of language teaching activities should show a decreasing trend, while on the contrary, the amount of language teaching activities should show an increasing trend. Because at this stage, students gradually master the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical rules, etc. of the language, and can generate sentences more freely, and the degree of freedom in language teaching increases. Entering the advanced foreign language learning stage, verbal activities should greatly exceed language activities to allow students to use language more flexibly.

***II*** Cultivation of language and speech abilities of foreign language learners

1. Language abilities include phonetic ability, vocabulary ability, semantic ability and grammatical ability.

Phonetic ability includes phonemic ability, phonetic ability, intonation ability, and foreign language speaking ability. To cultivate pronunciation ability, we need to use linguistic methods, such as analyzing the acoustic properties of speech, imitating pronunciation parts and methods, making phonetic comparisons, etc.; we also need to use verbal methods, such as using intensive methods to listen to a large number of foreign language discourses, and in speaking practice Develop speech skills, etc. Lexical semantic ability includes the ability to identify parts of speech, understand word meanings, and the ability to distinguish synonyms, homographs, and homophones. In addition to relying on vocabulary work in foreign language teaching, the cultivation of lexical semantic ability also requires words to reappear in different discourses. Understand the subtle meanings and rhetorical colors of words in discourse. Grammatical ability includes the ability to analyze the vocabulary characteristics of words, the ability to analyze parts of speech and sentence components, the ability to identify collocation relationships and the ability to form sentences, etc. In addition to analyzing grammar, the cultivation of grammatical ability requires grasping the concreteness of grammatical rules in speech and utilizing grammatical rules in discourse.

2. Verbal ability includes listening, speaking, reading, writing, translating, etc. It refers to students’ ability to use language. The main purpose of learning a foreign language is to communicate socially, so the cultivation of language skills is very important. Generally speaking, the initial stage of foreign language teaching focuses on reading and speaking, but spoken language cannot be developed independently of written language. Listening, speaking, reading and writing must be closely coordinated with language system teaching; the second stage of foreign language teaching focuses on reading and writing. On the one hand, it cultivates reading and writing. Ability, on the other hand, continue to strengthen listening and speaking through reading and writing, raising listening and speaking ability to a high-level stage; the third stage focuses on solving translation, solving translation on the basis of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and gaining greater benefits from translation practice develop.

***III*** The inspiration of the relationship between "language" and "speech" on foreign language teaching materials

The relationship between "language" and "speech" reminds us in the arrangement of teaching materials It should focus on text, language exercises and conjugation exercises, and pay attention to practical application and the cultivation of language skills. In the past, many teaching materials were mainly based on grammar translation, focusing on written language and ignoring the importance of oral language. Although there is text and grammar content, the importance of vocabulary lists, theoretical knowledge of grammar and pronunciation, and mechanical exercises cannot be ignored. This kind of teaching material mainly focuses on teaching the language system. The teaching of language seems insignificant at this time. Without language, knowledge such as words and grammatical rules are not easy to memorize, and even if they are memorized, in actual application, students cannot When connected with the specific context, the only knowledge of language seems pale and ineffective. Therefore, in teaching materials, it is very important to correctly grasp the relationship between language and speech. Whenever a new language phenomenon occurs, there should be corresponding texts to consolidate it, and the content of the texts should be as close as possible to the actual language situation. In addition, for the emergence of language phenomena, attention should be paid to the common usage and recurrence rate, so that students can deepen their impression and apply what they have learned. After-school exercises should be based on flexible exercises and supplemented by mechanical exercises.

4. Conclusion

The relationship between language and speech is a dialectical unity. They are closely connected, different from each other, and are prerequisites for each other.

Speech is always based on the unique rules of language as the basis of activity; language always summarizes and enriches the rules from the use of speech. It is a social phenomenon that is constantly moving. Language exists in Among the masses, in constant use, in words. It is important to distinguish between language and speech. First, in linguistic research, distinguishing language and speech has great theoretical and practical significance, and is helpful for scientific understanding of language; second, it helps to determine the research objects of linguistics; third, it helps In order to understand the different nature and characteristics of language and speech, we can develop the linguistics of language and the linguistics of speech respectively; fourth, distinguishing between language and speech can also help improve language teaching, especially foreign language teaching methods. We should closely integrate the theory of linguistics with the practice of foreign language teaching to maximize the development of foreign language teaching.

References:

[1] Bi Yanhua, Saussure. The theory of "language" and "speech" and the teaching of Chinese grammar as a foreign language. Language, Writing and Rhetoric, 2007, 12: 122 -124.

[2] Cen Yunqiang, Shi Yanhua. Review of research on language and speech issues in the past twenty years. Journal of Jinggangshan University. 2007, 9: 11-16.

[3] Fei Erdinand de Saussure. General Linguistics Course. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2003.

[4] Ji Yongyou. Interesting Talks on Linguistics. Beijing: Bibliographic Literature Press, 1983.

[5] Lu Chunxia. Conceptual analysis of "language" and "speech" and their impact on teaching. Times Economics and Trade, 2007, 5: 181-183.