研究生英语.docx
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研究生英语.docx
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研究生英语
Unit1Slang:
TalkingCool
Teacher:
OK,let'sgetstarted...Todaywe'regoingtobelookingatareallyinterestingphenomenon,slang.We'llbelookingatwhereslangcomesfrom,whousesitandwhy.Wealluseitmoreoftenthanyoumightthink—everydayofourlives,infact.Andweuseitforareason.
Youknow,mostofusarefascinatedwithslang.Wecontinuallyhearnewwordsandphrasesenterthelanguageandreplaceold,andweseefamiliarwordstakeonnewmeanings.Wefeelaneedtokeepintouchwiththesechanges,tobeawareofthelateststreettalk.Factis,weloveslang.Butwhatisitexactly?
Whatisslang?
Anyoneliketosuggestadefinition?
Student1:
Isn'titbasicallykindofcasualtalk?
TEACHER:
Canyousayabitmore?
STUDENT1:
Youknow,thesortofwordsweusewithfriends...inrelaxedsituations.
TEACHER:
Good.You'reprettymuchtherewithyourideaofcasuallanguage.Wecansaythatslangislanguagethat'sfoundonlyintheveryinformalspeechofparticulargroupsofpeople.Itcanhelptoidentifythecommunities,thegroupsofpeople,whouseit.Andthisbringsmetothefirstimportantpointofthelecture—whypeopleuseslang.
Alotofslangcomesfromnotwantingtobeunderstoodbyoutsiders,peopleoutsideyourcircle.Inotherwords,peopleexploitslangtogivetheirgroupanidentity,bymakingtheirlanguageexclusive,oratleastprivate.Throughthisprivatelanguage,theycanteaseoneanother,enjoysharedexperiences,andkeepeveryoneelseatadistance.Allculturescontaingroupsorsubcultureswithdifferentinterestsandpriorities,andeachgrouptriestoestablishaseparateidentity.Theywantpeopletoknowwhotheyare,whattheystandfor—andslanghelpstoconstructandcementthatidentity.Wecansay,then,thatslangreflectstheexperiences,beliefs,andvaluesofitsspeakers.
Nowlet'slookmorecloselyatthisrelationshipbetweenslangandcommunity,slangandidentity.Aniceexampleofthisis,uh,studentlanguage,sometimescalled"youth-speak."Youngpeopleusealotofslang,andmanyofthewordstheyuseareusedbybothsexes,oftenmetaphoricallyratherthanliterally.Thatistosay,theconventionalmeaningofthewordschange.Forexample,wordsthathavetraditionallyhadstrongnegativeliteralmeaningsthatareusedasinsultshavetakenon,uh,gentler,andinmanycasesevenpositivemeaningsinconversation.We'lllookatsomeexampleslater.
Now,ifyouaskcollegestudentswhytheyuseslang,they'lltellyouit'scool,andthat'strueinseveraldifferentways.First,it'scoolbecauseit'sinstyle,infashion.Usingcurrentslangshowsthatthespeakerisintunewiththetimes...youknow,thatheorsheknowswhat'sinfashionandispanofthatfashion.
Second,slangiscoolinthesenseofshowingthatthespeakerisknowledgeable...thespeakeris"intheknow,"thespeakerknowswhenslangisacceptable.Peopledon'tuseslangallthetime,onlyinsituationsandwithpeoplewhoaccepttheuseofslang—apointI'llreturntolater.Researchtellsusthatalthoughyoungpeopleoftendenythattheyuseslangintentionally,infacttheyclearlychoosewhetherornottouseitdependingonthesituationthey'rein.Aswe'vealreadysaid,slang'stypicallyusedininformalratherthanformalsettings,andthisiscertainlytrueamongcollegestudents:
Theyusuallyavoidusingitintheclass-roomoraworkenvironment,forexample.Anyoneliketosuggestwhy?
Student1:
Peoplewon'tunderstandthem.
STUDENT2:
Yeah,soit'slikeawasteoftime.
TEACHER:
Well,thatmaybetrue,butit'snotthemainreason.Theydon'tuseitsimplybecauseitcouldmakethemlookbad.Andeveryonehateslookingbad,right?
So,toreview,we'vesaidthatstudentsuseslangonlyincertainsituations.Buttheyalsoonlyuseitwithcertainpeople,usuallyfriends.Whentheyuseslang,theyareshowingthattheysharesocialandemotionalexperiences—soslangreinforcestheirrelationships.But...italsogivesspecialmeaningtowhattheysay.Forinstance,tosay"Thatpartywasthebomb"ismorethanmerelysayingitwasaverygoodparty.Itsharesanemotionalexperiencethatmightotherwisetakeseveralsentencestoexplain.Inotherwords,it'sakindof...shorthand.
Thethirdandfinalwayslang'scoolisthatit'sfun;it'sverycreativeinthesamewaythatpoetryis,andit'softenhumorous.Inotherwords,it'saformofplay,awayofentertaining.
So...uh,letmerepeat:
I'vesaidthatslang'scoolforthreereasons:
One,itshowstheuser'sfashionableandintunewiththetimes;two,it'sawayofreinforcingrelationshipsandcommunicatingefficiently;andthree,it'sfunandentertaining.Gotthat?
Allrightthen,let'snowtakealookatdifferentkindsofslang,inparticularthreetypesofslangwords:
thosethatarecurrentlymostused,thosethatlingeryearafteryear,andthosethathavebecomeunfashionable.
So...nowwhatisthemostusedslang?
Well,researchtellsusthatoverthepastfewyears,inthenumberonepositionis"dope,"whichbasicallymeansverygood,great,
excellent,attractive,ornice.Sosomebodymightsay,forexample,thathisfriend'snewmotorbikeisreallydope;inotherwords,it'sverygood.Otherwordsthatfeatureinthetoptwentyinclude"chillout"(tocalmdownorrelax),"thebomb"(meaningthebestormostexcellent),"whack"(whichmeansbad,unfair,crazy,orfoolish),and"dude"(meaningperson—usuallyaman,actually).Anyotherexamples?
Yes?
Student1:
Hella.
Teacher:
Meaning?
Student1:
Very,alot.
Teacher:
OK,yep.Luis?
STUDENT3:
"Kickit,"whichmeans,like,tohangout,uh,relax,youknow,sitarounddoingnothing.
TEACHER:
Right.Andit'sinteresting,isn'tit,howmostslangtermsindicateapprovalordisapproval;theyshowwhatwefeelpositiveornegativeabout.So,like"dope"and"thebomb,"wehave"sweet,""phat"—spelledP-H-A-T,notF-A-T—"cool,"and"tight"—allmeaninggood,excellent,nice,orattractive.
Andthenyouhavewordslike"bad"whichreallymeangood;so"ThatnewCDisbad"actuallymeansit'sgood!
Soyousee,slangdoesstrangethingswithlanguage.LikeIsaidearlier,it'scertainlycreative.Asamatteroffact,someslangwordshavemanydifferentmeanings,sometimesasmanyasnineorten.Forinstance,theword"trip"or"tripping"hasvariousmeanings,buttheyallreflecttheideaofunusual,strange,orextreme.Whenaword'susedalotorhasanumberofdifferentmeaningslikethis,wesometimessayit"workshard."Theword"trip,"then,isawordthatworkshard.
Uh...now,thesecondtypeofslangconsistsofwordsthatlingerfromdecadetodecadeandneverseemtogooutoffashion—andthesewordsalsoworkhard,thatis,theyhavealotofmeanings.Agreatexampleisthewordcool—foreverpopular,itseems!
Othertermsinthiscategoryare"nerd,""cheesy,""chick,""theman,""toasted,""wasted,""what'sup,""blowaway,"and"gross."Andonceagain,mostoftheseshowapprovalordisapproval.
And...now,finally,thereareslangtermsthatcomeandgo;theydisappearalmostasquicklyastheyappear.Examplesinclude"gimmefive,""how'sithanging,"and"core."Wordsliketheseoftendisappearbecausethey'recloselyassociatedwithfamouspersonalitieswhosimilarlycomeandgo—they'repopular,inthespotlightforawhile,andthenseemalmosttodisappear.Andwhentheydisappear,theslangassociatedwiththemtendstodisappearaswell.
Now,today,publictoleranceofslangisatanall-timehigh—justlookathowwidelyit'susedinnewspapers.Buthowdocollegeteachersandacademicsviewslang?
Well,somepersistwiththeideathatitsusewilldegrade...uh,youmightevensay"pollute"academicdiscourse.However,amongthemselvesstudentstoleratewordstheirteachers
mightconsidertaboo.Studentsareactuallyverygoodatcode-switching;thatis,they'reverygoodatusingdifferentstylesorcodesofcommunicationindifferentsituations.Doyouagree?
Doyouuseslanginyouressaysorwhenyouspeakwithateacher?
STUDENT3:
PersonallyIneveruseslanginessays.Itjustdoesn'tfeelright.It'strue,youknow,moststudentsknowwhentouseslang,andwhennotto.
STUDENT2:
Iagree.Isometimesuseitwithteachers,though;itjustdependsonwhotheteacheris.
TEACHER:
Why,Iimaginemostpeopledothesame.Here'ssomethingyoumayfindsurprising:
Arecentstudyonstudentconversationsuggeststhatstudentsdon'tinfactuseslangthatoftenbutinsteadtheychoosemoreordinarycolloquialvocabulary.
OK,tofinishup,nowletmesaysomethingaboutthehistoryofslang.Manyyearsago,slangwascloselyassociatedwithunderground,criminalorganizations,groupsthatdeviatefrommainstreamsociety...uh...withnotionsofoutcastsandsociallyunacceptablebehaviors.Alookbackintimeshows,forexample,thatintheseventeenthcenturymorethantwentywordswereusedtorefertovagrants,thatis,tosomeonewhohasnohomeorjob.Today,ofcourse,theseassociationsaremuchweakerandslang'susedmuchmorewidely.Asundergroundculturehasbecomemoremainstream,there'snotthesameneedforthekindofsecretcodethatslangoffered.Today,mostofususeslangandaren'tashamedofusingit.Itmaystillhavenegativeconnotations,butlikeitornotit'sheretostay,andincreasinglyit'sbecomethesubjectofseriousacademicstudy.Andwhynot?
AsI'vetriedtoshow,it'safascinatingsocialaswellaslinguisticphenomenon.So,anyquestions?
...
Unit2Murphy'sLaw
TEACHER:
Goodafternoon,everyone.Morethan200yearsago,theScottishpoetRobertBurnssaidthat"thebestlaidplansofmiceandmenoftengoawry."I'msureweallhavefirsthandexperiencewithwhatBurnsmeans;no
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