劍橋雅思4 Test 3閱讀原文翻譯 obtaining linguistic data

劍4 Test 3 Passage 3閱讀原文翻譯

A自然段

Many procedures are available for obtaining data about a language. They range from a carefully planned, intensive field investigation in a foreign country to a casual introspection about one’s mother tongue carried out in an armchair at home.

許多步驟可用于獲取有關(guān)語(yǔ)言的數(shù)據(jù)。從在國(guó)外精心計(jì)劃，深入的野外調(diào)查到在家里的扶手椅上對(duì)自己的母語(yǔ)進(jìn)行隨意的內(nèi)省，其范圍十分廣泛。

B自然段

In all cases, someone has to act as a source of language data – an informant. Informants are (ideally) native speakers of a language, who provide utterances for analysis and other kinds of information about the language (e.g. translations, comments about correctness, or judgements on usage). Often, when studying their mother tongue, linguists act as their own informants, judging the ambiguity, acceptability, or other properties of utterances against their own intuitions. The convenience of this approach makes it widely used, and it is considered the norm in the generative approach to linguistics. But a linguist’s personal judgements are often uncertain, or disagree with the judgements of other linguists, at which point recourse is needed to more objective methods of enquiry, using non-linguists as informants. The latter procedure is unavoidable when working on foreign languages, or child speech.

在所有情況下，都必須有人充當(dāng)語(yǔ)言數(shù)據(jù)的來(lái)源-信息提供者。信息提供者（理想地）是該語(yǔ)言的母語(yǔ)使用者，他們提供話語(yǔ)用于分析和其他有關(guān)該語(yǔ)言的信息（例如，翻譯，對(duì)正確性的評(píng)論或?qū)κ褂玫呐袛啵?。通常，在研究母語(yǔ)時(shí)，語(yǔ)言學(xué)家會(huì)充當(dāng)自己的信息提供者，克服自己直覺(jué)的影響來(lái)判斷話語(yǔ)的模糊性，可接受性或其他性質(zhì)。這種方法因其便利性被廣泛使用，并且被認(rèn)為是語(yǔ)言學(xué)生成方法中的規(guī)范。但是語(yǔ)言學(xué)家的個(gè)人判斷通常是不確定的，或者與其他語(yǔ)言學(xué)家的判斷不一致，這時(shí)需要使用非語(yǔ)言學(xué)家作為信息提供者，采用更為客觀的詢問(wèn)方法。研究外語(yǔ)或者兒童語(yǔ)言時(shí)，后一種方式是不可避免的。

C自然段

Many factors must be considered when selecting informants – whether one is working with single speakers (a common situation when languages have not been described before), two people interacting, small groups or large-scale samples. Age, sex, social background and other aspects of identity are important, as these factors are known to influence the kind of language used. The topic of conversation and the characteristics of the social setting (e.g. the level of formality) are also highly relevant, as are the personal qualities of the informants (e.g. their fluency and consistency). For larger studies, scrupulous attention has been paid to the sampling theory employed, and in all cases, decisions have to be made about the best investigative techniques to use.

選擇信息提供者時(shí)，必須考慮許多因素-一個(gè)人是在與單個(gè)說(shuō)話者進(jìn)行研究（當(dāng)語(yǔ)言之前沒(méi)有被描述過(guò)一種普遍情況），還是兩個(gè)人互動(dòng)，又或者是小組或大型樣本。年齡，性別，社會(huì)背景和身份認(rèn)同的其他方面都很重要，因?yàn)楸娝苤恼聛?lái)自老烤鴨雅思這些因素會(huì)影響所用語(yǔ)言的種類(lèi)。談話的話題和社會(huì)環(huán)境的特征（例如，正式程度）也高度相關(guān)，信息提供者的個(gè)人素質(zhì)（例如，他們的流利程度和連貫性）也是如此。對(duì)于較大的研究，它們所采用的抽樣理論通常經(jīng)過(guò)仔細(xì)的考慮，并且在所有情況下，都必須對(duì)將要使用的最佳調(diào)查技術(shù)做決定。

D自然段

Today, researchers often tape-record informants. This enables the linguist’s claims about the language to be checked, and provides a way of making those claims more accurate (‘difficult’ pieces of speech can be listened to repeatedly). But obtaining naturalistic, good-quality data is never easy. People talk abnormally when they know they are being recorded, and sound quality can be poor. A variety of tape-recording procedures have thus been devised to minimise the ‘observer’s paradox’ (how to observe the way people behave when they are not being observed). Some recordings are made without the speakers being aware of the fact – a procedure that obtains very natural data, though ethical objections must be anticipated. Alternatively, attempts can be made to make the speaker forget about the recording, such as keeping the tape recorder out of sight, or using radio microphones. A useful technique is to introduce a topic that quickly involves the speaker, and stimulates a natural language style (e.g. asking older informants about how times have changed in their locality).

現(xiàn)在研究人員經(jīng)常使用錄音帶記錄信息提供者。這使得語(yǔ)言學(xué)家對(duì)語(yǔ)言的主張得以檢查，并提供了一種使這些主張更加準(zhǔn)確的方法（可以反復(fù)聽(tīng)“難”的語(yǔ)音）。但是獲取自然，高質(zhì)量的數(shù)據(jù)絕非易事。人們?cè)谥雷约赫诒讳浺魰r(shí)說(shuō)話會(huì)比較反常，而且音質(zhì)可能很差。因此，已經(jīng)設(shè)計(jì)出各種磁帶記錄步驟以最小化“觀察者悖論”的存在（如何觀察人們?cè)诓槐挥^察時(shí)的行為方式）。某些錄音是在發(fā)言者沒(méi)有意識(shí)到這一事實(shí)的情況下進(jìn)行的，該過(guò)程獲得非常自然的數(shù)據(jù)，盡管必須考慮到道德上的反對(duì)?；蛘?，可以嘗試讓說(shuō)話者忘掉錄音的事情，例如將錄音機(jī)放在視線以外，或使用無(wú)線麥克風(fēng)。一種有用的方法是引入一個(gè)說(shuō)話者能夠迅速參與進(jìn)來(lái)的主題，并激發(fā)一種自然的語(yǔ)言風(fēng)格（例如，向年長(zhǎng)的信息提供者詢問(wèn)當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間如何變化）。

E自然段

An audio tape recording does not solve all the linguist’s problems, however. Speech is often unclear and ambiguous. Where possible, therefore, the recording has to be supplemented by the observer’s written comments on the non-verbal behaviour of the participants, and about the context in general. A facial expression, for example, can dramatically alter the meaning of what is said. Video recordings avoid these problems to a large extent, but even they have limitations (the camera cannot be everywhere), and transcriptions always benefit from any additional commentary provided by an observer.

但是  ，錄音帶并不能解決所有語(yǔ)言學(xué)家的問(wèn)題。言語(yǔ)常常不清晰，模棱兩可。因此，在可能的情況下，錄音必須由觀察者對(duì)參與者的非語(yǔ)言行為以及一般情況加以書(shū)面評(píng)論進(jìn)行補(bǔ)充。例如，面部表情可以大大改變所說(shuō)內(nèi)容的含義。錄像在很大程度上避免了這些問(wèn)題，但是即使它們也有局限性（攝像機(jī)不能無(wú)處不在），并且轉(zhuǎn)錄總是可以從觀察者所提供的任何附加評(píng)論中受益。

F自然段

Linguists also make great use of structured sessions, in which they systematically ask their informants for utterances that describe certain actions, objects or behaviour. With a bilingual informant, or through use of an interpreter, it is possible to use translation techniques (‘How do you say table in your language?’). A large number of points can be covered in a short time, using interview worksheets and questionnaires. Often, the researcher wishes to obtain information about just a single variable, in which case a restricted set of questions may be used: a particular feature of pronunciation, for example, can be elicited by asking the informant to say a restricted set of words. There are also several direct methods of elicitation, such as asking informants to fill in the blanks in a substitution frame (e.g. /__ see a car), or feeding them the wrong stimulus for correction (‘Is it possible to say I no can see?’).

語(yǔ)言學(xué)家還充分利用結(jié)構(gòu)化的會(huì)話。在這種會(huì)話中，他們系統(tǒng)地要求信息提供者用語(yǔ)言描述某些動(dòng)作，對(duì)象或行為。雙語(yǔ)信息提供者的存在或者口譯員的使用，使得翻譯方法稱為可能（“你在你的語(yǔ)言中如何表達(dá)“stable”）。使用訪談工作表和問(wèn)卷調(diào)查，可以在短時(shí)間內(nèi)涵蓋大量要點(diǎn)。研究人員經(jīng)常希望獲取有關(guān)單個(gè)變量的信息。在這種情況下，可以使用一組受限的問(wèn)題：例如，可以通過(guò)要求信息提供者說(shuō)出一組受限的單詞來(lái)得出發(fā)音的特定特征。也有幾種直接的啟發(fā)方法，例如要求信息提供者補(bǔ)完句子（例如我 __看到汽車(chē)），或向他們提供錯(cuò)誤的刺激以求糾正（“是否可以說(shuō)I no can see ？）。

G自然段

A representative sample of language, compiled for the purpose of linguistic analysis, is known as a corpus. A corpus enables the linguist to make unbiased statements about frequency of usage, and it provides accessible data for the use of different researchers. Its range and size are variable. Some corpora attempt to cover the language as a whole, taking extracts from many kinds of text; others are extremely selective, providing a collection of material that deals only with a particular linguistic feature. The size of the corpus depends on practical factors, such as the time available to collect, process and store the data: it can take up to several hours to provide an accurate transcription of a few minutes of speech. Sometimes a small sample of data will be enough to decide a linguistic hypothesis; by contrast, corpora in major research projects can total millions of words. An important principle is that all corpora, what-ever their size, are inevitably limited in their coverage, and always need to be supplemented by data derived from the intuitions of native speakers of the language, through either introspection or experimentation.

為語(yǔ)言分析目的而編纂的，某種語(yǔ)言具有代表性的樣本被稱為語(yǔ)料庫(kù)。語(yǔ)料庫(kù)使語(yǔ)言學(xué)家能夠?qū)κ褂妙l率做出公正的論述，并提供可訪問(wèn)的數(shù)據(jù)供不同研究人員使用。其范圍和大小是可變的。一些語(yǔ)料庫(kù)嘗試從多種文本中摘錄，以涵蓋整個(gè)語(yǔ)言。其他的則是非常有選擇性的，提供了僅涉及特定語(yǔ)言特點(diǎn)的材料的集合。語(yǔ)料庫(kù)的大小取決于實(shí)際因素，例如可用于收集，處理和存儲(chǔ)數(shù)據(jù)的時(shí)間：可能需要花費(fèi)幾個(gè)小時(shí)才能準(zhǔn)確記錄幾分鐘的語(yǔ)音。有時(shí)，少量的數(shù)據(jù)樣本就足以決定語(yǔ)言假設(shè)。相比之下，大型研究項(xiàng)目中的語(yǔ)料庫(kù)可以涵蓋數(shù)百萬(wàn)個(gè)單詞。一個(gè)重要的原則是，無(wú)論大小如何，所有語(yǔ)料庫(kù)的覆蓋范圍都不可避免地受到限制，并且總是需要通過(guò)內(nèi)省或?qū)嶒?yàn)，從母語(yǔ)人士的直覺(jué)中獲得的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行補(bǔ)充。

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