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Language
Mark Garner
其他書名
An Ecological View
出版
Peter Lang
, 2004
主題
Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Sociolinguistics
ISBN
0820462950
9780820462950
URL
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=SM9qQgAACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
註釋
Ecological thinking has in recent years come a long way from its origins in biology, to become a new paradigm within many disciplines. Its approach is holistic, and focuses on dynamic, interactive systems and the interrelationships between the object of study and its context. The author demonstrates how adopting such an ecological perspective fundamentally changes our understanding of human language, and calls into question a number of assumptions: that language is rule-governed, for example, or that it represents a distinctive form of knowledge. From an ecological point of view, language is inseparable from all expressions of human sociality, such as communication, culture, and community. Arising from this perspective are key concepts, such as patterning, predictability, and creativity, which the author suggests as the basis of a very different approach to linguistics. Linguists, along with everyone interested in the many facets of meaningful human behavior, will find the ideas presented here both stimulating and challenging. Furthermore, an ecological framework supersedes the distinction between theoretical and applied linguistics, and the book is specifically addressed to language practitioners of all kinds, for whom an ecological view of language is particularly relevant.