母語與英語學習

Mother Tongue and English Learning

摘 要：今日的中國，英語學習變得非常重要，其原因為英語已經成為國際溝通工具、升學與職業發展的必要條件。但是，如果將英語學習的重要性提升到超過掌握中文母語的程度，甚至讓孩子在能夠熟練掌握中文前就學習英語，是一個謬誤。我們無法人工制造一個純英語的環境，而且中文語言有其獨特的美感，也是中國文化的承載工具，因此對于中國人來說，中文的重要性非常高。另外，許多實例證明，即便成人后再學習英語，也可以熟練掌握。所以，認為英語學習比中文學習重要的想法不科學。

Abstract：In today’s China， it is important to learn English because English is a tool for international communication， criteria for further education and career development. However， to regard English more important than Chinese， and even to let the kids begin to learn English earlier than their being able to speak Chinese freely， is a fallacy， because to force the kids to learn English in a non-English environment is not an effective method for language learning. Plus， Chinese language has its special beauty and is the vehicle of Chinese culture， which is of great importance to Chinese people. Also， innumerable samples have proved that English could be well mastered even learned during adulthood. Therefore， to deem English learning more important than Chinese learning is not scientific.

關鍵詞：英語，中文，母語，語言學習

Keyword: English， Chinese， Mother Tongue， Language Learning

作者簡介：冷怡佳，女，上海人，出生日期1976年2月，畢業于華東政法大學，現正在上海外國語大學研究生課程班學習。

Preface

Many Chinese parents regard English as a language more important than Chinese， their mother tongue. Some kids begin to learn English even earlier than their going to kindergarten. However， such understanding is of certain extent a fallacy. Therefore， this essay is aiming to analyze the fallacy in such assumption.

1. Introduction

1.1 The Popularity of Kids’ English Study in ChinaIn today’s China， particularly in big cities such as Beijing， Shanghai or other capitals of eastern costal provinces， the importance of English is highly emphasized. Many educational institutions for zero-to-three-year-old -pre-school “enlightenment”， by their propaganda through modern media， indoctrinate the idea that English shall be learned as early as possible， otherwise， the kids will be the loser at the starting point. Partially deluded by this advocacy， many parents decide to have their kids begin to learn English as soon as they begin to speak， in order to let the kids to master English as a “mother language” in replacement of Chinese. Even， in mind of some parents，t English is more important than Chinese and they try to make an environment purely in English for the kids， namely， to deliberately disallow the kid to get in touch with Chinese.

1.2. Reason of such TrendIn the recent two decades， there is a strong tendency of westernization; the importance of English has been significantly exaggerated in the Chinese education system and human resource policy， and has been repetitively reinforced and even institutionalized.[1] The causation of such trend is of certain pragmatic reasons as summarized below:

1.1.1 English is tool of global communication. The world has become a “global village” as described by Canadian writer Marshall Mcluhan， and in the village the residents communicate with others face to face[2]. Accordingly， English， as a second language being spoken by most of the population[3] ， played an important role of such communication. No matter how

1.1.2 English is a necessary course for Education in China. English is one of the mandatory exams for colleague entrance， and the passing of band 4 or band 6 English test is the prerequisite of colleague graduate; Needless to say， the test of English will be the threshold for further education abroad. TOFEL， GRE， IELTS and other English tests for non-English native speakers have been popular for decades in China.

1.1.3 English is an important criteria for career development. In higher education institutions， such as colleague and universities， the good command of English is a mandatory criterion for personnel promotion and performance evaluation. In many other institutions or enterprises， people able to speak English proficiently will have more chance of working opportunity or promotion than the others. Therefore， learning and mastering English have direct positive influence linking with personal interest.

The above three reasons all seem to sound really convincing that English is of great importance to today’s Chinese people. However， is English so important even than Chinese， our real mother tongue? Is it necessary for the kids to learn English so early in the age before 3 year old and before they could express themselves in Chinese freely? The answer to the above questions will be explored hereinbelow.

2. Analysis

2.1 Too early study of English is a disadvantaged language learning method

Reading the above three reasons for learning English in China， namely， for international communication， for education and career development requirement， they emphasize more on the objective necessities of learning English and using English as a tool. They are sound reasons to learn English， but not sound enough to justify that English shall replace Chinese. However， for kids less than 3 year old， their key interest is in “play” rather than to “learn”. Their grasp of their first language is by “habits”， which is formed when learners respond to stimuli in the environment and subsequently have their responses reinforced so that they are remembered[4]. Such habits include the stimuli during the kids’ observation of and response to its outside world. With such stimuli- response system， kids learn their mother language almost voluntarily during their eating， seeing and playing process.

However， the parents we discussed here are residents in China， where English is not the common language. Therefore， the parents aiming to have their kids grasp English as a first language， they must forge an English environment for the kids. Nonetheless， the entire environment， including the TV programs， the daily communication with other family members， neighbors and other kids， are all in Chinese. Thus， it is almost impossible for the parents to create a pure English environment for the kids inside China. Therefore， to force a kid to master a language with such compulsory effort， the kid will have much less stimuli in English and thus will have less response to the stimuli， and correspondingly， they will become slower in mastering a language.

In light of the above， unless the parents are in a purely English community where an English environment exists， it is no good to have the kids to learn English as the first language under forced effort.

2.2 Chinese has its irreplaceable importance to Chinese people

2.2.1 The Chinese language is the vehicle of Chinese culture

Chinese is one among the five official languages used by United Nations， and is the symbol of the Chinese people and culture. The Chinese culture， its art， literatures， philosophy and the intelligence of our ancestors， is carried over to us through the language as a significant vehicle. The attention， protection and inherit of a language by the people is a sign of self-esteem of a nation and the people. English is an important tool of communication， but Chinese is not only a tool， but also the character “base” of our Chinese people.

If the parents deliberately move such “base” of their kids， when the kids grow up， they will suffer confusion of their national attribution， they will feel “rootless” emotionally and psychologically. The parents shall not， by their own discretion， deprive a kid’s right to have a close touch of the Chinese culture.

2.2.2The Chinese language has outstanding aesthetic value

2.2.2.1 Linguistic difference of the two languages: English and Chinese are two different languages in many features. Although there maybe exist a kind of hidden universal grammar， by nature English is a sound shaped text， but Chinese is a kind of Hieroglyphs. According to Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) [5]， words are signs made up of two parts: the signifier (a written or spoken mark) and a signified (a concept). For example， when we hear the sound “forest”， the sound is the signified and the concept of a forest that comes to our minds is the signified. There is no nature link between the signifier and the signified， nor is there no natural relationship between the linguistic sign and what it represents. [6] However， Chinese language is Hieroglyphs language， there is certain nature link among the sound， shape and meaning of the language. For example， when we hear the world “林”， the shape of this word directly links to the image of a forest with many trees. Based on the sound and image of the “林”， other words such like “淋” are created based on the evolution of the first word “林”. Therefore， the analysis of Saussure is not able to explain the Chinese language， which has its unique touch to human being in all three aspects sound， sight and meaning.

2.2.2.2 The beauty of Chinese language: As discussed above， the Chinese language could have simultaneously three impacts on human sense: in reading the meaning， in hearing the sound， and in appreciating its shape. Therefore， Chinese language is a poetic language， according to Yu Jian[7]， because of its historical and born nature. The Chinese language effectively kept the memory of people to the nature， as well as the link between people and ancient world.[8]

2.2.2.3 In light of the above， Chinese is a language of unique beauty， and is by nature has its esthetical value. To learn Chinese， so as to master Chinese， and then to appreciate the beauty of Chinese， will invisibly add value to build up the a character of dignity， amiability and refinement of a person. In the following comment by Mr. Lu Gu Sun (陸谷孫) of Professor Xu Yanmou (徐燕謀)， Professor Lu politely criticized the trend of reckless devotion to English study and the regret of the ignorance of our mother tongue Chinese:

“For all I know， Xu may have been the only professor of English in China in his time who was indisputably a poet worth his salt. Prominent scholar-friends of his like Qian Zhongshu (錢鐘書) and Su Buqing (蘇步青) sang praises of him in glowing terms in their own poems. A Chinese professor of English， so enamored by and so well versed in his infinitely rich mother tongue， is nothing short of a phenomenon for a host of xenogenetic member of present-day Chinese young men and women who are head over ears into English often， regrettable， at the expenses of needful linguistic equipment in Chinese”.[9]

As we are Chinese， unless in case to remove completely our root in China， it is necessary to learn Chinese， master Chinese， appreciate Chinese， then we may understand our people， our country and our culture. Equipped with English as a communication tool， those have deep study and knowledge of both cultures will have more advantage over those who has only unbalanced sight of the world.

2.3 English could be well mastered as a foreign language in adulthood

The law of examples is the most convincing method in this chapter. A lot of samples could be listed about how English could be well mastered in adulthood despite a childhood fully devoted to Chinese studies. Many great masters， such as Chen Yin Que (陳寅恪)， Qian Zhong Shu (錢鐘書) ， Lin Yu Tang (林語堂) and innumerable others， were all born and raised up in traditional Chinese families， receiving obturate Chinese education in their childhood well before their adventures abroad during their teenage. It is undeniable that all of them are great masters of both Chinese and English languages (even more foreign languages)， and have made remarkable achievement in their areas using both mother language and foreign language. Outstandingly， Mr. Chen Yin Que was able to read thirteen languages， not because he has gifted talent， but because of his persistent endeavor to learn.[10] And their deep foundation in Chinese culture， their graceful personality， also contributed to their later academic achievement.

3、Conclusion

In light of the above， it is recognized that English is of great importance of today’s China. However， to regard English more important than Chinese， and even to ask kids to learn English earlier than their being able to speak Chinese， is a fallacy methodologically， sociologically and psychologically.

注釋：

1、Professor Wang Yue Chuan: My Opinions about the Enthusiasm of Chinese and English in Language Learning. 王岳川: 漢語熱與英語熱之我見. http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=26237

2、Linell Davis， Doing Culture， Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2001

3、see http://baike.baidu.com/view/1458.htm

4、page 31， Rod Ellis.

5、Swiss linguist， generally recognized as the creator of the modern theory of structuralism and the father of modern linguistics. His best-known book， \"A Course in General Linguistics\"， was published posthumously in 1916.

6、Page 81， Bressler.

7、Renowned Chinese poet， winner of the Lu Xu Literature Prize.

8、Professor Wang Yao Wen: The Problem of Chinese Language in the Globalized Language Environment 全球化語境中的漢語問題"， http://www.poemlife.com/Wenku/wenku.asp?vNewsId=412

9、Page 4， Selected Modern English Essays for Colleague Students.

10、Page 93， 陳寅恪與傅斯年

References：

1、Rod Ellis.， Second Language Acquisition， Oxford University Press， 1997.

2、Charles E Bressler， Literary Criticism， an introduction to theory and practice， person Education， 2003.

3、Selected Modern English Essays for College Students， selected and annotated by Professor Xu Yan Mou， Fudan University Press， 2006.

4、岳南， 陳寅恪與傅斯年，陜西師范大學出版社， 2008