A Narrow Definition of Ecolinguistics and Review of Extant Literature Abroad
-
摘要: 基于Citespace的文献可视化分析及研究热点知识图谱显示,当前的语言生态学研究存在研究边界模糊的问题。进一步的文献梳理与分析表明,尽管广义的语言生态学包括生态话语分析或生态语言研究(language of ecology),但狭义的语言生态学研究应当聚焦“语言的生态”(ecology of language)。以此为基础,文章针对语言演变、语言濒危现象及保护、主导语言、双语及多语现象等主要议题对国外狭义的语言生态学研究进行回顾,继而指出该领域在研究边界、研究思路、研究内容、研究方法等方面存在的局限,并基于所存在的问题展望未来研究方向。后续语言生态学研究应当充分借鉴生态学中成熟的概念、理论、模型及方法,充分关注语言与环境的双向互动关系,并不断拓展研究情景和研究思路。Abstract: Visualized Citespace analysis shows that extant ecolinguistics studies are with vague boundaries. Based on literature analysis, this paper points out that although ecolinguistics now broadly incorporates discourse analysis of ecology or language of ecology, a narrow definition of ecolinguistics pinpoints at ecology of language. Following the narrow definition, we further review extant studies abroad on the relationship between ecology of language and language evolution, language reservation, dominant language, bilingualism and multilingualism, and find that previous studies have obvious limitations in defining boundary, approach, content as well as methodology, which are expected to be improved in future work. This paper maintains that future studies of ecolinguistics may borrow mature concepts, models, theories and methods from the ecology discipline, pay more attention to the interaction between language and environment, and thus extend research contexts and approaches.
-
Key words:
- ecolinguistics /
- ecology of language /
- language evolution /
- language conservation /
- multilingualism
-
图 1 国外语言生态学期刊论文的研究热点共现知识图谱(1998—2021年)
图 2 文献分类情况
表 1 语言演变代表性研究
主题 代表文献 主要关注点 语言演化 Buckley和Steele,2002[35] 社会及生态状况模型;发现人类语言能力的发展经历了“强烈的正面选择压力” 语言传播 Whitman,2011[39] 东北亚的语言显示出从南到北分散的现象,与农业向北和向东扩散的假设一致 语言接触 Adamou,2010[40] 两种语言形成了“稳定的混合语种”;人们语言使用习惯的变化 Jaspers和Van Hoof,2015[42] 混合使用荷兰语的语言习惯;去标准化 Sewell和Chan,2017[44] 英语和粤语的融合情况 语言标准化 Kulikova和Brusenskaya,2017[47] 社会进程带来的俄语环境危机,发现稳定的规范是语言生态健康的重要标志 表 2 语言濒危现象及保护代表性研究
表 3 主导语言代表性研究
-
[1] HAUGEN E. The ecology of language [C] // DIL ANWAR S. The Ecology of Language Essays by Einar Haugen. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972: 325-339. [2] ELIASSON S. The birth of language ecology: interdisciplinary influences in Einar Haugen’s “The ecology of language”[J]. Language Sciences, 2015, 50:78-92. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2015.03.007 [3] FINKE P. The ecology of science and its consequences for the ecology of language [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:71-82. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.008 [4] HALLIDAY M A K. New ways of meaning: a challenge to applied linguistics [J]. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1990, 6(13):7-36. [5] HALLIDAY M A K. Applied linguistics as an evolving theme [C] // WEBSTER J. Language and Education: Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday. London: Continuum, 2007: 1-19. [6] BUNDSGAARD J & STEFFENSEN S. The dialectics of ecological morphology [C] // FILL A, PENZ H & TRAMPE W. Colourful Green Ideas. Bern: Peter Lang, 2000: 435–448. [7] ALEXANDER R & STIBBE A. From the analysis of ecological discourse to the ecological analysis of discourse [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:104-110. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.011 [8] COWLEY S J. Bio-ecology and language: a necessary unity [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:60-70. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.007 [9] KRAVCHENKO A V. Two views on language ecology and ecolinguistics [J]. Language Sciences, 2016, 54:102-113. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2015.12.002 [10] WENDEL J N. Notes on the ecology of language [J]. Bunkyo Gakuin University Academic Journal, 2005, 5:51-76. [11] CREESE A & MARTIN P, Introduction to volume 9: Ecology of language [C] // CREESE A, MARTIN P & HORNBERGER N H. Ecology of Language: Encyclopedia of Language and Education. New York: Springer, 2008: i-vi. [12] WIERTLEWSKA J. Ecolinguistic approach to foreign language teaching on the example of English [J]. Glottodidactica, 2011, 37:141-151. [13] FILL A. Ecolinguistics: state of the art 1998 [J]. Aaa-Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, 1998, 23(1):3-16. [14] FILL A & STEFFENSEN S V. Editorial: the ecology of language and the ecology of science [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.002 [15] STEFFENSEN S V & FILL A. Ecolinguistics: the state of the art and future horizons [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:6-25. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.003 [16] DO COUTO H H. Ecological approaches in linguistics: a historical overview [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:122-128. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.001 [17] OWEN C. The ecolinguistics reader: language, ecology and environment [J]. Language & Communication, 2004, 24(2):183-193. [18] EFREMOV V. Language game and game language on ecolinguistics [J]. Chuzhdoezikovo Obuchenie-Foreign Language Teaching, 2018, 45(4):398-405. [19] MORAR M & AGACHI P S. Important contributions in development and improvement of the heat integration techniques [J]. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 2010, 34(8):1171-1179. [20] NIAZI M & HUSSAIN A. Agent-based computing from multi-agent systems to agent-based models: a visual survey [J]. Scientometrics, 2011, 89(2):479-499. doi: 10.1007/s11192-011-0468-9 [21] CHEN C, HU Z, LIU S, et al. Emerging trends in regenerative medicine: a scientometric analysis in CiteSpace [J]. Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, 2012, 12(5):593-608. doi: 10.1517/14712598.2012.674507 [22] CHEN C. The Citespace manual [Z], College of Computing and Informatics, 2014. [23] STIBBE A. Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By [M]. New York: Routledge, 2015. [24] POTTS A, BEDNAREK M & CAPLE H. How can computer-based methods help researchers to investigate news values in large datasets? A corpus linguistic study of the construction of newsworthiness in the reporting on Hurricane Katrina [J]. Discourse & Communication, 2015, 9(2):149-172. [25] KACERAUSKAS T. Discourses of ecology and the sketches of creative ecology in the context of sustainable development [J]. Problemy Ekorozwoju, 2016, 11(1):31-39. [26] PENNYCOOK A D. Language-free linguistics and linguistics-free languages [C] // MAHBOOB A & KNIGHT N. Questioning Linguistics. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008: 18-31. [27] KRAL I. Shifting perceptions, shifting identities: communication technologies and the altered social, cultural and linguistic ecology in a remote indigenous context [J]. Australian Journal of Anthropology, 2014, 25(2):171-189. doi: 10.1111/taja.12087 [28] KULIKOVA E G, BRUSENSKAYA L A & LITVINOVA S A. Modern media: influence on communicative behavior and pedagogical projection of the legal problem in the light of ethical and speech standard [J]. Mediaobrazovanie-Media Education, 2018(3):89-98. [29] HONG S, KWAK T, LEE B, et al. MUSEUM. Debugging real-world multilingual programs using mutation analysis [J]. Information and Software Technology, 2017, 82: 80-95. [30] HONG S, LEE B, KWAK T, et al. Mutation-based fault localization for real-world multilingual programs [C] // ASE Conference. Proceedings of 30th Ieee/Acm International Conference on Automated Software Engineering. New York: IEEE. 2015: 464-475. [31] ALIMI M. Botswana English: Implications for English language teaching and assessment [J]. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2011, 32(4):309-324. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2011.574700 [32] SHI X L. Discussion on the British and American literature education from the perspective of ecological linguistics [C] // ICSSEHR. Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. Paris: Atlantis Press, 2016: 301-404. [33] WEI Y H. View into the college English teaching from the perspective of language ecology [C] // ICASS. 2015 Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Applied Social Science. Newark: Information Engineering Research Inst, 2015: 137-141. [34] BEDNAREK M & CAPLE H. Playing with environmental stories in the news—good or bad practice? [J]. Discourse & Communication, 2010, 4(1):5-31. [35] BUCKLEY C & STEELE J. Evolutionary ecology of spoken language: co-evolutionary hypotheses are testable [J]. World Archaeology, 2002, 34(1):26-46. doi: 10.1080/00438240220134241 [36] EMONS R. The ecology of language evolution [J]. Anglia-Zeitschrift Fur Englische Philologie, 2004, 122(3):495-498. [37] DANILOVA M I & SUKHOVERKHOV A V. The Biological and social foundations of evolution of language and communication: current discussions [J]. Voprosy Filosofii, 2015, 12:77-87. [38] MCDANIEL D, MCKEE C, COWART W, et al. The role of the language production system in shaping grammars [J]. Language, 2015, 91(2):415-441. doi: 10.1353/lan.2015.0021 [39] WHITMAN J. Northeast Asian linguistic ecology and the advent of rice agriculture in Korea and Japan [J]. Rice, 2011, 4(3-4):149-158. doi: 10.1007/s12284-011-9080-0 [40] ADAMOU E. Bilingual speech and language ecology in Greek Thrace: Romani and Pomak in contact with Turkish [J]. Language in Society, 2010, 39(2):147-171. doi: 10.1017/S0047404510000035 [41] ANSALDO U. Identity alignment and language creation in multilingual communities [J]. Language Sciences, 2010, 32(6):615-623. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2010.08.003 [42] JASPERS J & VAN HOOF S. Ceci n'est pas une Tussentaal: evoking standard and vernacular Language through mixed Dutch in Flemish telecinematic discourse [J]. Journal of Germanic Linguistics, 2015, 27(1):1-44. doi: 10.1017/S1470542714000154 [43] EHRHART S. An ecolinguistic approach to define the position of Tayo of Saint-Louis between New Caledonian French and the Kanak languages of New Caledonia [J]. Langages, 2016, 203:37-47. [44] SEWELL A & CHAN J. Hong Kong English, but not as we know it: Kongish and language in late modernity [J]. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2017, 27(3):596-607. doi: 10.1111/ijal.12163 [45] STEWART J, MEAKINS F, ALGY C, et al. The development of phonological stratification: evidence from stop voicing perception in Gurindji Kriol and Roper Kriol [J]. Journal of Language Contact, 2018, 11(1):71-112. doi: 10.1163/19552629-01101003 [46] HU Z L. The Standardization of Chinese characters: an eco-linguistic perspective [J]. Chinese Semiotic Studies, 2015, 11(2):123-133. doi: 10.1515/css-2015-0007 [47] KULIKOVA E G & BRUSENSKAYA L A. The Normativity of the Russian Language in the light of Ecological Linguistics and Social Processes in Contemporary Russian Society [J]. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 2017, 9(1):312-318. [48] WANG X Q. Language Ecology Perspectives on Chinese Socialization and Standardization [M]. Lancaster: Destech Publications, Inc, 2015. [49] CERNY M. Language death versus language survival: a global perspective [C] // University of Ostrava. Beyond Globalisation: Exploring the Limits of Globalisation in the Regional Context (conference proceedings). Ostrava: University of Ostrava, 2010: 255-261. [50] WAGNER I. New technologies, same ideologies: learning from language revitalization online [J]. Language Documentation & Conservation, 2017, 11:133-156. [51] WILLANS F & JUKES A. How far can the language ecology metaphor take us? A Pacific perspective on language vitality (Response to Mufwene) [J]. Language, 2017, 93(4):263-274. doi: 10.1353/lan.2017.0070 [52] MEY J L. Ecology, language, and pragmatics [J]. Revue Roumaine De Linguistique-Romanian Review of Linguistics, 2018, 63(1-2):9-19. [53] NDHLOVU F. Language politics in postcolonial Africa revisited: minority agency and language imposition [J]. Language Matters, 2010, 41(2):175-192. doi: 10.1080/10228195.2010.492231 [54] SERCOMBE P G. Language and education: the experience of the Penan in Brunei [J]. International Journal of Educational Development, 2010, 30(6):625-635. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2010.05.001 [55] TOSCO M. The case for a laissez-faire language policy [J]. Language & Communication, 2004, 24(2):165-181. [56] CRUZ I V R. The Nonuya language and linguistic conservation: some considerations [J]. Mundo Amazonico, 2015, 6(2):49-65. [57] ECHEVERRI J A & CRUZ I V R. Agony and revitalization of a language and its people: Nonuya from Amazon [J]. Forma Y Funcion, 2016, 29(2):135-156. doi: 10.15446/fyf.v29n2.60192 [58] NORO H. The role of Japanese as a heritage language in constructing ethnic identity among Hapa Japanese Canadian children [J]. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2009, 30(1):1-18. doi: 10.1080/01434630802307874 [59] SIEBENHÜTTER S. Language practices and attitudes among young minority language speakers in Thailand [J]. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2021, 42(7):1-26. [60] BARNES L. The speckled people: a study in language ecology in Ireland [J]. English Academy Review-Southern African Journal of English Studies, 2017, 34(1):99-114. [61] KUBOTA R & MCKAY S. Globalization and language learning in rural Japan: the role of English in the local linguistic ecology [J]. TESOL Quarterly, 2009, 43(4):593-619. doi: 10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00188.x [62] DOIZ A, LASAGABASTER D & SIERRA J M. Internationalisation, multilingualism and English-medium instruction [J]. World Englishes, 2011, 30(3):345-359. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01718.x [63] OFORI D M & ALBAKRY M. I own this language that everybody speaks Ghanaians’ attitude toward the English language [J]. English World-Wide, 2012, 33(2):165-184. doi: 10.1075/eww.33.2.03ofo [64] ANGOURI J & MIGLBAUER M. ‘And then we summarise in English for the others’: the lived experience of the multilingual workplace [J]. Multilingua-Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2014, 33(1-2):147-172. [65] KUTEEVA M & MCGRATH L. Taming Tyrannosaurus rex: English use in the research and publication practices of humanities scholars in Sweden [J]. Multilingua-Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2014, 33(3-4):365-387. [66] WILDSMITH-CROMARTY R & CONDUAH A N. Issues of identity and African unity surrounding the introduction of an exogenous African language, Swahili, at tertiary level in South Africa [J]. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2014, 17(6):638-653. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2014.953772 [67] BRETXA V, COMAJOAN L & VILA F X. Is science really English monoglot? Language practices at a university research park in Barcelona [J]. Language Problems & Language Planning, 2016, 40(1):47-68. [68] UFOMATA T. Major and minor languages in complex linguistic ecologies: the Nigerian experience [J]. International Journal of Educational Development, 1999, 19(4-5):315-322. doi: 10.1016/S0738-0593(99)00031-0 [69] WYMAN L T. Youth, linguistic ecology, and language endangerment: a Yup’ik example [J]. Journal of Language Identity and Education, 2009, 8(5):335-349. doi: 10.1080/15348450903305122 [70] SIEMUND P, SCHULZ M E & SCHWEINBERGER M. Studying the linguistic ecology of Singapore: a comparison of college and university students [J]. World Englishes, 2014, 33(3):340-362. doi: 10.1111/weng.12094 [71] THORNE S L, FISCHER I & LU X F. The semiotic ecology and linguistic complexity of an online game world [J]. Recall, 2012, 24(3):279-301. doi: 10.1017/S0958344012000158 [72] VAN LIER L. The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective (Vol. 3) [M]. New York: Springer, 2004. [73] MACE R & PAGEL M. A latitudinal gradient in the density of human languages in North America [C] // Spencer B. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 1995: 117-121. [74] HORNBERGER N H. Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach [J]. Language Policy, 2002, 1(1):27-51. doi: 10.1023/A:1014548611951 [75] KAPLAN R B & BALDAUF R B. Language Planning: From Practice to Theory (Vol. 108) [M]. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1997. [76] URYU M, STEFFENSEN S V & KRAMSCH C. The ecology of intercultural interaction: timescales, temporal ranges and identity dynamics [J]. Language Sciences, 2014, 41:41-59. doi: 10.1016/j.langsci.2013.08.006