Literature Review on the Application of Adaptation Theory in China

【Abstract】：After Verschuren proposed adaptation theory in his Adaptation Theory as the Pragmatics， more and more scholars begin to attach attention to the study of adaptation theory and its application. The author will briefly introduce the adaptation theory， and will mainly focuses on reviewing and giving some advice to some researches.

【Key words】： Adaptation theory； Application； Review and comment

1. Introduction

In 1987， Belgium pragmatics Jef. Verschuren proposed adaptation theory in his Adaptation Theory as the Pragmatics， and then he improved his theory in his Understanding Pragmatics in 1999. The Adaptation Theory holds that the use of language is a process of choice making.

2. Adaptation Theory

Verschueren （1999） holds that “using language must consist of the continuous making of linguistic choices， consciously of unconsciously， for language - internal （i.e. structural） and language - external reasons.” In order to show the process of language choice - making clearly， it is necessary for us to illustrate the three properties of language use： variability， negotiability， and adaptability.

Yu Guodong （2001） put forward his CS adaptation model in order to suit the specific analysis of the Chinese/English CS. He defines the CS in this model as a kind of linguistic choice an d a communicative goals. In Yu’s model， CS is not only a communicative strategy used by the language users to achieve their purpose in specific context， but also “should be adapted to three elements： linguistic reality， social conventions and psychological motivations”.

3. Review on Application of Adaptation Theory

3.1 Application of Adaptation Theory in Translation

Chinese scholar Ge Lingling （2001） was the first one who introduced Adaptation Theory in translation field. Ge Lingling （2002） explored the explanation character of the Adaptation Theory and inspiration of the Adaptation Theory to translation from the perspective of adaptation. Ma Li （2011） put forward that translation is a process of continuous selection. Like verbal communication activity， translation process is a continuous process. Zhong Wen （2010） also did research of enlightenment of adaptation theory to translation. These scholar’s study are very similar and there is few new perspective in their article.

3.2 Application of Adaptation Theory in Pragmatic Strategy

Understatement and code-switching are the most popular pragmatic strategy which were studied from an adaption-based perspective. Ju Hong （2006） a study of understatement as a pragmatic strategy from an adaptation-based perspective. Wang Aiying and Wangyi （2012） did the study of code-switching as a pragmatic strategy from an adaptation-based perspective. They also explained their opinion from three main aspects. Yu Guodong （2004） thinks that compared with other forms of language use， code-switching is a kind of language selection with the high level of consciousness. Yu’s research is relatively comprehensive， and accepted by the majority.

3.3 Application of Adaptation Theory in Teaching

The adaptation theory was applied in listening teaching， reading， teaching， speaking teaching， and translation teaching. Li Jin （2009） said that adaptation theory provides a a new attempt in terms of teaching idea and teaching method of college English oral teaching. Wujie， Hou Songshan （2011） mentioned that from the dynamic context of adaptation theory， we can see that the language comprehensive ability comes from the static context is not enough for learners. Yang Yishu （2010） proposed that teachers should provide different genre， different content of the article.

In fact， the study of the application of adaptation theory in teaching is relative comprehensive and can consists of a small system. Studies of application adaptation theory in vocabulary teaching and speaking teaching is more， however， studies of application adaptation theory in reading and listening is few. So， scholars should pay attention to these two aspects in the future study.

4. Conclusion

Adaptation theory is a powerful theory， and it should be applied in as much fields as possible. The explanatory power of adaptation theory can absolutely make meaningful research in many aspects. At present， the main focus of application of adaptation theory are translation， pragmatic strategy， and teaching. There are some shortcomings in previous studies. The application of adaptation theory in other fields is relatively few， so scholars should do much efforts in these aspects.

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