Toward integrating research on parent–child emotion talk and linguistic theory: A spotlight on parents’ (in)direct communication

Parent–child discussions about emotion are a key socialization influence on children’s socio‐emotional development. Extant research on parent–child discussions about emotion largely focuses on three main types of discourse content: parental elaboration, parental use of emotion labels and explanations, and parental emotion coaching. A new direction involves distinguishing between parents’ direct and indirect communication of discourse content. This distinction may be vital when considering the role of children’s communicative competence in their developing socio‐emotional competence. We integrate literature on (in)direct communication, a concept prominent in linguistics, and emotion socialization. We argue that parental indirect communication can teach children communicative competence in the context of emotion talk. We discuss literature from the developmental and linguistic fields on parents’ teaching of communicative skills, as well as potential cognitive, relational, and emotional functions of indirectness, with communication and its socialization embedded within cultural context. Finally, we suggest new research directions examining the role of parental indirect communication in children’s socio‐emotional development. By integrating developmental and linguistic literatures, we provide a novel approach to the study of parental emotion socialization through parent–child discourse.     

第二语言学习与母语习得的比较

从“语言习得机制”(LAD) ,即人们天生的、遗传的习得语言的能力入手 ,对该机制在语言教学中所起到的作用进行分析 ,找出母语与第二语言的共同点及母语习得与第二语言习得过程中文化和语用规则的区别 ,将其运用于语言教学实践 ,以使课堂教学更有成效。     

What Do You Think? The Relationship between Person Reference and Communication About the Mind in Toddlers

The present studies examined the relationship between children's use of grammatical structures indicating self–other differentiation (i.e., personal pronouns, verb conjugation) and their ability to use language to express their own and others' mental states (MSL). In Study 1, 104 parents of two‐ to three‐year‐old children filled out online checklists assessing children's vocabulary, their use of MSL, and first‐ and second‐person pronouns and verb forms. In Study 2, 77 mothers of 1.5‐ to 2.5‐year‐old children filled out the MacArthur–Bates communicative development inventory, and additional checklists for MSL and verb conjugation. Results of both studies showed that children's use of grammatical person reference is strongly related to their level of grammatical abilities. Importantly, pronominal and inflectional references to others were correlated with children's discourse about the mind. Thus, linguistic tools that are used to distinguish self from others are not only indicators of children's grammatical development, but also their level of sociocognitive understanding.     

Pragmatic competence,autistic language use and the basic properties of human language

The unique linguistic profile of autistic people urges linguists to address the divergences in human language, its acquisition and use among major linguistic perspectives. Fitting with the dual roles of language (thought and communication), this paper adopts an internal pragmatic competence (IPC) and a (similar) pragmatic competence for external communication (PCEC) to elucidate how autistic linguistic profile discloses the divergences between nativism and constructionism on language use and acquisition (ultimately language proper). IPC justifies why autistic people resort not to mind-reading but to self-sufficient mental interactions among organism-internal submodules or nearly intact grammatical subsystems when abstractly processing linguistic and communicative needs, contra constructionists' assumption of sole intersubjective language use. PCEC, required for facilitating the authentic intersubjective language use, explains how the dysfunction of modular interactions and their interactions with outside contexts leads to autistics' sociopragmatic impairment and the double empathy gap. In this way, the divergences, along with the possible reconciliation between the two perspectives, can be expounded.     

National Language Capacity in Global Competition

The term national language capacity refers to the sum total of a nation’s ability to grasp linguistic resources, provide language services, deal with linguistic issues, develop the language, and related tasks. Key capacities include the possession of linguistic resources, utilization of language and language services, development and use of linguistic resources, the language of the members of the nation, reserves of linguistic talent, language management, development of language enterprises and linguistic influence. The development of informatization has made national language capacity an important part of national strength. It is hard power as well as soft power, playing a very important role in social progress and cultural inheritance, in promoting economic development and technological innovation, and in protecting a country’s national security and international development.     

跨文化交际与语言学习

文化人类学认为,文化具有经由社会习得、为民族所共有、象征性和整体性的本质特征。文化的创造离不开语言,语言是文化的载体。语言的学习,是文化的学习与渗透。因此,学习第二语言,掌握第二文化,必须同步并进,将语言置于其文化背景下,有助于开阔视野,获得较为全面的知识,从容地跨越文化交际的沟壑。     

简论语言功能

语言的形式与功能之间并非总密切相关。交际实质上是一系列的交际行为或言语行为 ,而任何言语行为由最少两种或典型的三种分行为组成 :非语内表现行为、语内表现行为和言语表达效果行为。分析言语行为以及语言的各种功能有助于第二语言学习者掌握如何利用语言知识来实现语言的各种功能     

What you say,and how you say it: Preschoolers' growth in vocabulary and communication skills differentially predict kindergarten academic achievement and self‐regulation

The idea that language skills support school readiness, predicting later self‐regulation and academic success, is widely accepted. Although vocabulary is often emphasized in the developmental literature, the ability to use language appropriately in the classroom, or social communication skills, may also be critical. This article examined longitudinal contributions of children's vocabulary and social communication skills, from preschool to kindergarten, to kindergarten academic achievement (reading and math) and self‐regulation (executive functions and learning behaviors). Participants were 164 children (14% Latinx, 30% Black, 56% White; 57% girls) enrolled in Head Start programs. Results revealed that initial levels and growth in vocabulary and communication skills predicted better academic achievement. Social communication skills uniquely predicted self‐regulation, after accounting for vocabulary. We discuss potential mechanisms for these links and recommend that strategies to build social communication skills be incorporated in preschool interventions promoting school readiness.     

浅谈大学英语听力理解能力的提高

听力理解的过程是一个涉及语音、语调、词汇、语法等语言知识、相关国家的文化背景,以及一定听力技巧的综合过程.只有采取多种教学方法帮助学生加强听力训练,逐步克服各种障碍,才能使学生全面提高听力理解能力.     

Speaking on Behalf of Others: A Qualitative Study of the Perceptions and Feelings of Adolescent Latina Language Brokers

Children of Latino immigrants are often called upon to interpret and mediate linguistic and cultural information for adults in a process termed language brokering. The present qualitative study examined the experiences of nine female first- and second-generation Latina adolescent language brokers. Results showed that mothers were the persons for whom participants translated the most. In addition, school-related issues were the most frequently reported reason for brokering activities as well as the most stressful. Age, gender, and birth order influenced the range of brokering experiences, whereas language fluency influenced the frequency of brokering experiences. Additionally, the presence of another sibling who brokered was related to fluency. Finally, participants reported several familial responsibilities, other than language brokering, as being more important contributions to their families' well-being. The findings are discussed in terms of how language brokering affects the academic and linguistic activities as well as the family roles of young Latinas.     

Perceptions of Achievement and Achieving Peers in U.S. and Chinese Kindergartners

Two studies were conducted to examine perceptions about achievement and achiev‐ing peers in 190 U.S. and Chinese kindergartners. Children provided free‐narrative responses to story beginnings about an achieving protagonist in school settings. We found marked cultural differences. For achievement, U.S. children perceived more intellectual development, positive affects of the protagonist, and adult praise, where Chinese children perceived more social respect and their ability to help others. For lack of achievement in non‐achieving peers, U.S. children identified more negative affects, and Chinese children anticipated more negative reactions from adults. Moreover, although children in both cultures used non‐ability factors to explain achievement, Chinese children did so more consistently. Most strikingly, whereas Chinese children often expressed peer respect and desire to emulate the achieving protagonist, U.S. children frequently attributed peer negative reactions toward him or her. We interpret these differences as reflecting U.S. and Chinese cultural values regarding learning, achievement, and related self‐other perceptions.     

Joint Attention and Imitative Learning in Children,Chimpanzees, and Enculturated Chimpanzees*

In this study we compared the nature of the joint attentional interactions that occurred as chimpanzees and human children engaged with a human experimenter (E). Subjects were three chimpanzees raised mostly with conspecifics (mother-reared), three chimpanzees raised in a human-like cultural environment (encultur-ated), and six 18-month-old human children. Of particular interest were possible differences between the two groups of chimpanzees that might have resulted from their different ontogenetic histories. Observations were made as subjects participated in an imitative learning task involving a number of novel objects. Variables coded were such things as subjects' looks to the object, looks to E, the coordination of such looks in periods of joint engagement with E, and gestural attempts to direct E's attention or behavior (declaratives and imperatives). Results showed that encultur-ated chimpanzees were most similar to human children in social interactions involv-ing objects, for example, in their attention to the object in compliance with E's request, their joint attentional interactions during less structured periods, and their use of declarative gestures to direct E's attention to objects. They were not similar to children, but rather resembled their mother-reared conspecifics, in the duration of their looks to E's face. A positive relation between subjects' joint attentional skills and their imitative learning skills was found for both chimpanzee and human sub-jects. It is concluded that a human-like sociocultural environment is an essential component in the development of human-like social-cognitive and joint attentional skills for chimpanzees, and perhaps for human beings as well     

“Like Two Musketeers”: Socialization beliefs about toddler's friendships among Dominican,Mexican, and African American mothers

Parental ethnotheories shape socialization beliefs around childrearing more broadly, and children's friendships more specifically. While prior work has examined aspects of parental socialization of friendships among school-aged children and adolescents, no studies have examined beliefs held around the function of friendships among ethnically diverse mothers of toddlers from low-socioeconomic contexts. Toddlerhood marks a point in development when the concept of “friendship” gains impact and relevance due to leaps in children's social, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as children's increasing access to contexts where they organically encounter peers. Toddlerhood is also a time when caregivers may initially consider the influence of peers on their children, beliefs that could eventually guide and shift how they navigate socialization practices around friendship. In the present study, we document U.S. Dominican American, African American, and Mexican American mothers’ socialization beliefs around functions of friendship for their 2-year-old children. We found that mothers emphasized a variety of friendship functions, including learning of social skills and morality, and communicating and experiencing emotions. A majority of mothers viewed their children's friendships as unidirectional, and framed their children as undiscerning in their engagement with social information from peers. Findings are discussed in relation to mothers’ orientation to children and “childhood” via cultural and developmental beliefs.     

Communicative competence in 5- to 8-year-olds with mild or moderate learning difficulties and their classroom peers: referential and negotiation skills

Two studies were run to examine communicative and social aspects of the interaction between 5- to 8-year-old children with mild or moderate learning difficulties (LD) and their classroom peers for whom no such difficulties had been observed (NLD). In the first study, the children's communicative responses to a referential group task were explored, through children describing drawings to each other. In terms of the nature of information exchange, few differences were found between NLD and LD children. Differences were found in terms of the social content of language: in the listener role, LD children tended to be the recipients of more critical and directive speech. The second study, focusing on consensus forming and negotiation processes in a co-operative group task, mirrored the patterns of social aspects found in Study 1. LD children tended to be less influential in affecting the consensus and in directing the course of the task.     

Individual Differences in Infant Skills as Predictors of Child-Caregiver Joint Attention and Language

Current research suggests that the extent to which child-caregiver dyads engage in interactions involving episodes of joint or coordinated attention can have a significant impact on early lexical acquisition. In this regard it has been recognized that individual differences in early developing child communication skills, such as capacity to follow gaze and early infant language, may contribute to these child-caregiver interactional patterns, as well as to subsequent language development. To address this expectation, 21 infant-parent dyads were recruited for participation in a longitudinal study. Early infant language, responding to joint attention skill, and cognitive development were assessed at 12 months of age. Child-caregiver joint attention episodes, as well as responding to joint attention skill and child language, were assessed at 18 months of age. Developmental outcome, using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, was assessed at 21 and 24 months of age. Consistent with previous findings, results indicated that individual differences in child-caregiver episodes of joint attention were related to language at 18 months. In addition, though, 12 month vocabulary and responding to joint attention skill were associated with some aspects of 18 month child-caregiver interaction, as well as subsequent language development. In general, 12 month child measures and 18 month child-caregiver interaction measures appeared to make unique contributions to language development in this sample. These results suggest the need to further consider the role of infant skills in the connections between child-caregiver joint attention episodes and language development.     

论轭式修辞的文化意蕴--以姜文的电影语言为例

通过对轭式修辞的结构、符号特征和文化意蕴等进行研究发现,作为符号体系,电影和语言在修辞方面有很多相通之处。语言中的生动形象、滑稽幽默等效果,同样可以通过类似的修辞手法在电影语言中获得。因此,语言的研究成果可以为电影研究甚至电影制作所借鉴。分析、对比姜文作品《让子弹飞》中所采用的轭式修辞,可为制作具有市场竞争力的影片提供一份相当有价值的参考,对振兴国产电影事业具有一定启示意义。     

方言能力、语言环境与城市移民创业行为

本文旨在探讨方言能力对城市移民创业行为的影响和对语言环境的调节效应。基于“身份认同理论”，以2010年和2012年中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）数据为样本，通过区分移民方言能力的沟通属性与文化属性，建立基于线性概率模型的创业决策模型和基于多元回归模型的创业收入模型。研究发现，方言能力的文化属性使移民创业的概率增加1.8%。在采用“双胞胎样本”方法排除样本选择偏误和内生性后，这一结果依旧稳健存在。分样本回归分析发现，方言能力只对教育水平较低的移民有显著的正向影响，对拥有不同物质资本的个体没有敏感性。进一步分析发现，方言能力对移民创业决策的促进作用在语言种类较少和普通话普及程度较低的地区更加明显，但对创业收入没有上述影响。本文有助于揭示语言在移民创业活动中的重要作用。     

Nations,National Cultures,and Natural Languages: A Contribution to the Sociology of Nations

This paper seeks to contribute to the sociology of nations, a literature that is only starting to carve out its place in the social sciences. The paper offers a reconceptualization of “nations” as “national cultures”, employing an evolutionary perspective and a systemic framework in which “nations” are understood as cultural systems of a special kind. National cultures are intimately tied to natural languages, and the acquisition of a national culture occurs as part and parcel of the acquisition of a natural language. Acquiring a natural language is a prerequisite for learning other cultural systems (artefactual languages as well as other natural languages). National cultures function as metacultures. They are also the reference cultures for modern states and their citizens, a political dimension of nations that is of paramount importance, though it will only be touched on in this paper. National cultures should be considered as the most fundamental type of cultural system today.