第一讲序言(西方语言学流派).ppt

2. What is linguistics? a separate discipline to deal with the range and complexity of linguistic phenomena; partly the impact of the subject’s own internal development at this time, arising largely out of the work of Chomsky whose powerful theoretical claims gave linguistics an unprecedented scope and applicability. When we say the scientific study of language, we can ask how scientific is scientific? There are often four principles to follow in order to be scientific. 2. What is linguistics? 1. Objectivity: An objective account is one which attempts to capture the nature of the object studied in a way that does not depend on any features of the particular person who studies it. An objective account is, in this sense, impartial, one which could ideally be accepted by any person, because it does not draw on any assumptions, prejudices, or values of particular subjects. This feature of objectivity means that disputes can be contained to the object studied. 2. What is linguistics? Some people regard science as objective in this sense and this objectivity is often accompanied by scientific measurement that can be tested independent from the individual scientist who proposes them. This gives it testability and reproducibility. Then the results of measure-ment must be communicated from person to person, and also demonstrated for third parties, as an advance in understanding of the objective world. Such knowledge confers powers of prediction or technical construction. 2. What is linguistics? However, this traditional view about objectivity ignores several things. First, the selection of the object to measure is typically a subjective decision and it often involves reductionism. Second, more problematic is the selection of instruments and methodology. Some features of the object under study will be ignored in the measurement process and the limitations of the chosen instruments will cause data to be left out of consideration. 2. What is linguistics? In addition t