CogniiveInerpreaionofEnglishEmphaicSenencesBasedonProminenceViewandFigure-groundTheory_开题报告

Cognitive linguistics is an interdisciplinary branch of both linguistics and psychology. It describes how language interacts with cognition, how language forms people’s thoughts, and so on. Cognitive Linguistics has three main approaches, including experimental view, prominence view and attentional view.

The prominence view is widely used to deal with prominent problems by explaining why people can single something out as a perceptually prominent figure from the ground when looking at an object in the environment. 

The prominence view reflects the choice and arrangement of information in language structures, while figure-ground theory reflects the relationship between language and linguistics. Figure- ground theory, one of the basic cognitive principles, was first introduced into psychology by Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin in 1915. And it is Linguist Leonard Talmy who firstly studies figure- ground theory in simple and complex sentences. According to Talmy, what figure-ground theory studies is the segregation of the figure and the ground. The figure is a moving or conceptually movable object, the particular value of which is the salient issue. And the ground is a reference object with respect to which the figure receives characterization. According to Ronald Wayne Langacker, an American linguistics professor, the figure within a scene is a substructure perceived as ‘standing out’ from the remainder(the ground) and accorded special prominence as the pivotal entity around which the scene is organized and for which it provides setting. 

Based on the prominence view and figure- ground theory, this paper is trying to explain the realization of language salience function in emphatic sentences. 

2、Outline

Title: Cognitive Interpretation of English Emphatic Sentences Based on Prominence View and Figure- ground Theory

1.Introduction

1.1.Research Background 

For lots of Chinese students, English emphatic sentences are difficult to master while learning their second language. That’s because there are a number of ways in English to express emphasis. However, emphatic sentences are so important in English learning that Chinese students need to acquire a better understanding. 

Previous studies on emphatic sentences usually focus on aspects of syntax, grammar and semantics. However, prominence view and figure-ground theory, two important cognitive linguistics principles which are used to explain many language phenomena efficiently by scholars, can expound emphatic sentences from another perspective. This paper is trying to explain the realization of language salience function in emphatic sentences and help middle school students to get a better understanding in second language acquisition. 

1.2.Research Object

In English, there are a number of ways to emphasize important information. For example, words, accents or sentence patterns can all be used to highlight what speakers want to emphasize. Emphatic sentences are such useful sentence patterns. In English, the fact that the prominent part of a emphatic sentence is usually placed at the start or end of a sentence accords with the focus of language expression. And it also completely conforms to people’s cognitive law. Figure-ground theory is surely a good way to explain the prominent problem. Figure is perceived as special prominence, which is the important information a speaker wants to emphasize, while ground, less important information, is regarded as the scene that is organized around the figure. In this paper, the salience function of emphatic sentences is going to be interpreted based on prominence view and figure-ground theory.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Studies on prominence view and figure-ground theory 

2.2. Studies on emphatic sentences

3. Cognitive Interpretation of English Emphatic Sentences 

3.1. salience function of emphatic sentences

The prominent part of a emphatic sentence is usually placed in a prominent place, such as the beginning or end to emphasize the most important information that a speaker wants to express.

3.2. cognitive interpretation of emphatic sentences based on figure- ground theory

It Cleft Clauses , which divide a whole sentence into two clauses, make a certain part of a sentence an emphatic part. For example, speakers can transfer “ subject(figure)- predicate- complement(ground)” into “subject(figure, it is/ was + emphatic part)- predicate- complement(ground, That Subordinate Clause.)

3.3 the change of prominence

Rubin’s face/ vase illusion is a classic example. If we focus on the black figure, what we can see is a vase. However, if we focus on the white part, we can see two faces instead. Choosing different reference points makes different figures prominent. Different reference points that have been chosen reflect people’s different visual angles while they are watching. The fact that people sometimes change reference points also conforms to cognitive law.

In It Cleft Clauses, speakers can also choose different emphatic parts to meet  different demands for semantic expressions.

4.Conclusion

3、References

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