A Cross-cultural Study of Pragmatic Differences in Chinese and English Taboo Words开题报告

 2022-07-13 15:19:33

1. 研究目的与意义

As the international communication becomes more frequent, English, as a language spoken by a wide range of people in the world, is an important part of improving the language competence of citizens in China. Almost every school in China has opened some English lessons of all kinds of level. In recent years, more and more people can speak English fluently and talk with each other about some normal topics. However, the majority of them only learn basic English, including words and grammar, not the culture of western countries. We all know that language is the product of a society, which means language is closely concerned with the culture of this society. That#8217;s why some misunderstanding or even conflicts happen from time to time. If we want to learn a language well, we must learn its culture very well. Taboo is a kind of phenomenon concerning culture and society, which universally exists in every corner of the world, not only in Chinese culture but also in Western culture. Taboo words, as a variant of language, have been endowed with characters of its nation, showing a nation#8217;s historical development, traditional views, customs and rituals, conventional morality, religion and belief as well as values. In modern times, communication between people from different cultures has become more and more frequent. As an important part of cultural differences, taboo words make intercultural communication a great challenge. Lacking relative knowledge of taboo words or misusing taboo words may result in unnecessary misunderstanding or even conflicts, especially in some significant occasions, which leads to a failure of communication. As we can see, taboo words can be an obstacle in the success of intercultural communication. Therefore, by analyzing and studying pragmatic differences in Chinese and English taboo words, we can correctly use language in different occasions and get a better understanding of each other#8217;s culture, which can bring great convenience in intercultural communication.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

The paper analyzes reasons for communication mistakes caused by taboo words through a comparative study on Chinese and English taboo words. It figures out cultural differences behind Chinese and English taboo words, bringing readers a systematic knowledge of taboo words and some enlightenment in their intercultural communication.

According to a systematic study of pragmatic differences between Chinese and English taboo words, the paper aims to make the public be aware of their language used in intercultural communication and pay more attention to taboo words which is closely related to the success of intercultural communication. It encourages people who are learning English to attach great importance to western culture, not only just words, grammar or sentences. Only in this case can they learn English well and communicate with foreigners in a good manner. Moreover, the paper wants to offer people some important strategies to avoid taboos and improve the quality of intercultural communication in such an age.

Outline:

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3. 国内外研究现状

In early times, works, which exert a great influence in history, includes British anthropologist and folklorist James George Frazer#8217;s The Golden Bough (1834), Austria psychiatrist Sigmund Freud#8217;s Totem and Taboo (1918), Russian ideologist Nicolas Berdyaev#8217;s Slavery and Freedom of People (2001). These three books, with different emphasizing points though, all cover taboos in language and make a deep analysis and interpretation, which gives a clear direction of study for later intercultural linguistician. Like Totem and Taboo (Sigmund Freud, 1918) it discusses the origin of taboos by analyzing people#8217;s spirit, which is a pioneering work in this field. As the time goes on, people get more information about human beings and the society. As a result, sociolinguistics is well developed, which gets more and more scholars and experts in this field into the deeper study on taboos. Two of the representative works is Sociolinguistics (Saussure, 2007) and Introductory Theory of Sociolinguistics (Wardhaugh, 2006). In the book Introductory Theory of Sociolinguistics (Wardhaugh, 2006), taboo words are described as #8220;people try not to talk about the topic which is against the morality or makes them lose faces or status when they use language to show what they feel; and regard words that make people unhappy or get fed up with as taboo words#8221;(Wardhaugh, 2006). Sociolinguistics (Saussure, 2007) on the other hand, analyzes the background where taboo words began to appear and the significance of them and it also points out that taboo words will become different when it deals with different object, occasion or topic.

In our country, early in Zhou Dynasty BC, there were records about taboo words. In later feudal society with restrict hierarchy, every dynasty wrote down specific range and object of their taboo words. Examples of historical taboos (1962) by Chen Yuan, which was published in 1962, is the first treatise on language of taboos, which gives over 80 examples that explain all kinds of taboos in every dynasty and ways of avoiding them. Since opening and reform in China and the integration of the whole world, communication between people from all countries becomes extensive and sociolinguistics is becoming mature. So more and more scholars and experts begin to pay more attention to the study on the field of taboo words and make some achievements as well. Exploration in social language culture (Chen Jianming, 1986) studies changes in language from little details. Chinese taboos (Chen Beijiao, 1991) and taboos (Zhao Huiping, 1990) both try to find taboos in the language by listing a lot of examples. Sociolinguistics (Chen Yuan, 2004) discusses language and language taboos from the perspective of sociology. Comparisons on customs in China and Western countries discusses (1999) differences in Chinese and English taboos by studying customs in China and western countries.

Actually, in China, studies on taboo words began very later than western countries. However, in recent years, our scholars work hard on it and have achieved a lot. Many treatises on taboo words have been published and a large number of papers about taboo words have been issued. For example, the qualitative research, especially comparative studies on Chinese and English taboo words, has formed a basic system and laid a solid foundation. But methods of analyzing seem to be few and the range of studying is not very wide. We are lack of the spirit of discovery and creativity and we should try to dig out, find, study, and explore more new things.

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4. 计划与进度安排

At first, the paper makes a brief introduction of taboo words, including its definition, origin, features and so on. It gives readers a general concept of what we will touch on in the later part of this paper.

Then, it introduces similarities and differences between Chinese and English taboo words, each from several specific parts with some examples.

For the similarities, it discusses from some classical or main perspectives like religion and God, death and disease, and vulgarities. These are both China and western countries may agree with.

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5. 参考文献

[1]. Frazer, George. The Golden Bough [M]. Chinese science and technology, 1834.

[2]. Freud, Sigmund. Totem and Taboo [M]. Routlege, 2001.

[3]. Berdyaev, Nicolas. Slavery and Freedom of People [M]. W. W. Norton amp; Company, 2001.

[4]. Rawson, Hugh. A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double Talk. [M]. New York: Crown, 1981.

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