The periodization of the historical development of applied linguistics in china till 1977

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The periodization of the historical development of applied linguistics in china till 1977

One of the most popular researches today is the development comparably new subject in scientific area - Applied Linguistics. The Chinese educational system is developing rapidly and the positive changes of its high education are valuable for improvement of the teaching methods, plans and forms in high education of our country. The comprehensive study of the issue demands a retrospective approach in the analysing of the current state of Applied Linguistics in China.

The aims of the study to represent the historical view of the Chinese studies on Applied Linguistics; to show our own historical periodization of the science development from 5 B.C. till 1977; to distinguish the main tasks of the studies on applied language at that time; to describe the main factors that influenced the development of Applied Linguistics as an independent science in China.

General questions of Applied Linguistics were researched in the works of the scientists from different countries. The historical analysis of the development of the Applied Linguistics as independent science was researched in the works of: Zavialova O., Kaplunova M., Leninceva V., Semenas A., Bolton K., Lam A.S.L., Na Liu, Norman J., Chen Changlai, Feng Zhiwei O^f^), Gui Shichun, Liu Yanchun, Shi Linping, Yu Genyuan, Wen Qiufang Zhang Yan and others.

For solving tasks we set in the study we used such research methods as: the general scientific method which helped us to analyze foreign and domestic sources and synthesized the results; the analysis of the documentation, what was useful for the studying of the main laws and acts of regulation of the language situation in the PRC; the comparative-historical method for the revealing of regularities and tendencies of the development of Applied Linguistics in China.

The People Republic of China is the country with population of more than 1.3 billion people, its territory covers about 9.6 million square meters. From the time of the initiation of economic reforms and the Opening-up Policy from 1978 China has become one of the world's leaders in economic growth with it's average GDP per capita from 7-8% per year during last decades. China has become the second economy in the world according total nominal GDP.

China is now one of the most influential economies in the world, yet relatively little known in other countries about the language situation in China. Depiction of the events that influenced the development of the language situation and reforms that was held in China is one of the integral parts of our research, which is devoted to the study «Professional training of masters of foreign language and Applied Linguistics in higher education establishments of China».

There are 56 nationalities in China: according to census data in 2010. The Han nationality accounts 91.6% of the general Chinese population, at the same time the part of minorities is 8.4%. The total number of languages used in the country according to different data varies from 80 to 300, among them 33 are written languages. According to Chinese classification all languages are divided into Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, Austronesian, South Asian and Indo-European. Chinese includes hundreds of totally different local dialects, subdialects, speeches and language variants. According to the classification given in the Language Atlas of China, the Chinese language includes 10 main dialects, sometimes are selected only 7 and the last 3 are selected as subdialects: Guanhua Cantonese, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Anhui, Ping and Jin. Due to the sheer amount of dialects in the country, we can conclude that this the main reason for the official language policy formation, namely implementation of «Standard Mandarin/Putonghua» which is based on Beijing dialect that belongs to the northern group of dialects in the Chinese language.

At the same time like spreading Putonghua became one of the main tasks of the Chinese language policy, the number of related issues arose. These are some of them: finding a compromise between the official state language and dialects on the territory of the country; elimination of illiteracy of the population; proliferation of simplification of hieroglyphics and popularization of the official system of the Chinese language Romanization - Hanyu pinyin 5lnj# ^), which greatly facilitated the studying of Putonghua.

Since the middle of 1980s, much effort has been spent on developing an exam for native speakers - Putonghua Proficiency Test which began to be taken in China in 1994 and was officially approved in 1997. Another exam was previously developed in 1988 - The Chinese Proficiency Test of China 5Іп7КФФІЙ / HSK) - for non-native speakers. Today HSK is globally recognized as the test standard for Chinese as a foreign language.

For today, the significant resources of knowledge about the Chinese language policy are analytical reports about the linguistic situation in China)) from the National Language Working Committee, which is under direct leadership of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. These reports monitor the language policy of the country in spheres such as education, publications, media, television, and the Internet. Reports have been published since 2005 and contain the detailed study of the most important linguistic issues, relevant to the language statistics data, laws and other valued material of the People's Republic of China.

Today's main tasks of applied language researches are:

1) Work on the standardizing of the pronunciation in Putunhua; researches about the tones of words; completing the list of words with a neutral tone and erized final.

2) Implementation of «Written Norms of Foreign Language Translation in the Field of Public Service»

3) Completion of the writing rules of the transcription of the Chinese names; using digits and punctuation marks; release of the standard of the national language and other development of the standards in China.

4) Completion of the work on the international coding of Chinese characters ф#^ - oracle bone inscriptions - inscriptions on the bones or tortoise's shells of the Shang Dynasty, as well as the ancient hieroglyphic handwriting ФКФ.

5) Work on the publication «Green book of the existence of the Chinese language»)).

6) Publication of the «Sample forms of running-hand script characters» etc.

The study of the professional training of Applied Linguists in China is not limited with analyzing its current situation, but it needs a retrospective approach - identification of objective socio-economic and political factors which influence the formation and development of Applied Linguistics as an independent science in China. According to our reconnaissance, the establishment and development of Applied Linguistics in China has deep historical roots. Moreover, the reform of the system of vocational training on the specialty «Foreign Language and Applied Linguistics» is also due to the development of Applied Linguistics as a science at various stages.

An analysis of psychological and pedagogical works has shown that Chinese researchers do not have a unified approach about distinguishing the main periods of the formation and development of Applied Linguistics in China.

One of the first linguists in China Gui Shichun subdivides the historical development of Applied Linguistics as follows: 1) The first period - 40_s of the 19^th century. The years when the term «Applied Linguistics» is introduced into use, when a faculty of the English language appeares at Michigan University, the years when the first linguistic journal «Journal of Applied Linguistics» in America was established. 2) The second period - 60_s of the 19^th century - the period of the development of Applied Linguistics. This period is divided into: the first stage before the Second World War: the time of «requirements of reality»; the second stage - late 50's: so-called time of «development of linguistics»; the third stage - the middle of 60_s: the period of «the development of language teaching»; the fourth stage - the end of 60_s: the time of «the formation of Applied Linguistics». 3) The third period - from 1964 when the Applied Linguistics was in the active process of its development. 4) The fourth period - from 1978, the time of the development of Applied Linguistics in China.

It is interesting to analyze the research of another famous Chinese linguist Feng Zhiwei. In his book «General description of Applied Linguistics» he gives another periodization of the historical development of applied linguistics in China: 1) from Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period; 2) 50-60_s of the 20^th century - conception; 3) 70-80_s of the 20^th century - active development, 80_s - official researches on Applied Linguistics as independent scientific brunch in China; 4) 90_s - foundation of the first journal on Applied Linguistics, holding the first Chinese scientific conferences in this field.

Leading linguist in China Yu Genyuan offers 4 periods of the development of the Applied Linguistics in China in 20^th century. His periodization mainly connected with the main events in the evolution of the country: 1) at the junction of the 19^th and 20^th centuries; 2) from the beginning of the 20^th century to the proclamation of the People's Republic of China; 3) from the proclamation of the PRC to the beginning of «the reform and opening-up policy»; 4) from «the reform and opening-up policy» till 21^st century.

Wen Qiufang fallows to the periodization of Shu Dingfang and Hua Weifen, namely the distribution of the historical development for decades, so: 1) the first period - conception from 1978 till 1987; 2) the second period - development from 1988 till 1997; 3) the third period - innovations from 1998 till 2007.

In the context of our study, we also focus on periodization of the famous researcher Chen Changlai : 1) initial period - from the Shang - Zhou Dynasties till Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period; 2) traditional period - from Qin and Han Dynasties till the last years of Qing Dynasty; 3) period of reconstruction - from the beginning of the 20^th century; 4) the period of experimental reforms - after 1949; 5) the period of development of mentality - after 1978

Worth paying attention periodization of Liu Yanchun, which has only two periods of development of Applied linguistics as independent science: 1) starting period and 2) period of development

After we have analyzed the works of leading Chinese scientists about historical development of Applied Linguistics, we believe it is ground-breaking to bring our vision of the periodization of the establishment and development of Applied Linguistics in China.

According to our periodization the first period began from the 5^th century B.C. and the beginning coincided with the date when the first sources, in which the question of language appeared. It can be affirmed that Applied Linguistic issues were part of Chinese experience long before the term - «Applied Linguistics» came into use.

The first period is the time when the scientists of that time actively extended their knowledge in the field of linguistics, when the research or compilation of dictionaries conducted not to the field of scientific research, but because of the society's needs for this information. The Chinese sources of the language studying became important things in the development of Applied Linguistics. The applied nature of ancient linguistics showed first in the interest to the interpretation of words in ancient texts from the 5^th century B.C., concepts and connections between the word and its meaning were formed; in the 3^rd century B.C. the theories of the «names' correction» appeared, that was the correct selection of the name, which would correspond to the essence of the meaning of the word. Thus, Confucius made a significant contribution to the development of Applied Linguistics when he stressed indissoluble, that was, natural, connection of names with things and affirmed that the correction of the names should be the first necessary step in the management of the country. His theory of the «names' correction» was taken at the school of legists. But the philosophers of the Daoism, by contrast, talked about the random connection between the word and the things. Xun Kuang synthesized both approaches.

However, we can talk about the formation of linguistic tradition only from the 3^rd - 2^nd century B.C., when several scientists compiled the first explanatory dictionary «Erya»). There were given interpretations of the words arranged according to the semantic groups.

Also worth of attention such first dictionaries as: «Shi Zhounian»), there is the list of the characters for learning; «Fang Yan»), where the words that were used in different cities of the Han Dynasty were collected; «Shuowen Jiezi») by Xu Shen is the first full dictionary which contains all characters the compiler knew, with explanation of the characters, structure and origin. This dictionary grouped character by the main semantic element - «key» or radical. And the etymological dictionary «Shiming») by Liu Xi. Writing radical's dictionaries according to the example of «Shuowen Jiezi» became traditional thing. In the 3rd - 6th centuries there appeared dictionaries of homophones, where the tones of the words were described, rhyming dictionaries where we can found an idea of the characters' sound at that time.

We also would like to note such an early grounds of Applied Linguistics in China as: creating a transcription Fang Qie - a traditional method of indicating the pronunciation of a Chinese character by using two other Chinese characters, the first having the same consonant as the given character and the second having the same vowel and tone; creating rhyming dictionaries; interpretation of ancient literature; compiling such

textbooks for children as «Three Character Classic»), «The Book of Family Names»), «Thousand Character Classic»), the invention of such teaching methods as copying of the writing the words and making a pair of antithetical phrases Dui Zi, as well as a large number of monographs that were created over the centuries and which are devoted to the studying of ways of the expressions of poetry - poetic criticism and genre notation about genre «Ci»).

During next ages the development of Chinese traditions continued, but in the same frames. New dictionaries were created and reached a huge amount. The biggest Chinese dictionary was compiled in 10_s of the 18^th century, it contained 47 035 characters and 1 995 their variants. At the late stage from 19^th century «the empty words dictionaries» - dictionaries of particles and other language's grammatical elements appeared.

The second period: 1870-1963 years. In 1870_s the prominent Polish linguist Jan Baudouin de Courtenay was the first who offered the definition «Applied Linguistics». It was the origin of Applied Linguistics as an independent scientific discipline. After nearly a hundred years of researches and accumulation of experience, after the end of the Second World War, after social, scientific, cultural and educational development especially the development of electronic technology, each language in the world has faced the challenge of the continuous implementation of new language strategies, stimulating of the implementation and development of such a new science as Applied Linguistics. It is worth to note that the development of Chinese Applied Linguistics, compared with the global development of this discipline, was late for almost a hundred years.

But there were particular importance in the release of the grammar of the Chinese language «Basic Principlesfor Writing Clearly and Coherently by Mister Ma» by Ma Jianzhong AAffi)) in Commercial Publishing House of Shanghai in 1898. It was this manual that became the symbol of the origin of Applied Linguistics in China.

An important feature of the first period was the transition from the traditional study of linguistics to the modern one. In 1919 during «the Vernacular Movement»)) and «Yan'an rectification movement» in 1942-1944 raised the relevant issues, which were related to many important linguistic issues of that time. These movements determined changes in the views of the Chinese intelligentsia: the massive reorientation from traditional culture to westernization. The movement touched all aspects of China's life: spreading spoken language Baihua, revision of the Confucian ethical standards, criticizing traditional historiography, new requirements for education. The main questions of the scientific researches at that time were: simplification, not proper attention to the theoretical side of research, nor scientific language style and excessive Europeanization in the researches.

The opening of the world's first courses on Applied Linguistics at the University of Michigan in 1946 was an important historical date of that period. In 1949 at the same university was founded the world's first magazine of Applied Linguistics.

Meanwhile, a major event in the development of Applied Linguistics in China was the publication of works of Lu Shuxiang and Zhu Dexi «Course in stylistic grammar»)) in «The People's Daily») July 6^th 1951. It was the work that gained enormous popularity and educated several generations of linguists.

In October 1955 in Beijing was held the National Conference on Reform of the Chinese Written Language and «Academic conference on the standard of the modern Chinese language»)), which became the symbol of the entering of Applied Linguistics in China to a new stage of its development. Those were setting the standards and future directions of spreading Putonghua, selected the content, methods and main tasks about standards in modern Chinese language. Teaching Chinese language has got significant reforms. In 1955 trial lessons were hold on the teaching of Chinese language and literature and in 1956 this system was introduced to the whole country.

In China at that time, we should value such a prominent sphere of early development of Applied Linguistics as a machine translation. In 1956, a project on machine translation was begun at the Academy of Sciences of the People's

Republic of China, mainly between Chinese and Russian languages. Later it was changed to a multilingual translation system. Mostly at this time there was spreading of philological knowledge, it became aware that the development of language studies is an important part of the development of culture and state policy.

The third period: 1964-1977 years. The beginning of the second stage of the formation and development of Applied Linguistics was characterized by reduction of the researches in this direction. As Yu Genyuan mentioned in his work «Formation and development of Applied Linguistics in China»: «After the 60s of the 20th century, it was difficult to carry out research and develop the industry, the time from 1966 can be called a period of stagnation, which lasted for 10 years».

The beginning of the third period year 1964 matches with the year when the First International Seminar on Applied Linguistics was hold in France and the Scientific Union for Applied Linguistics was founded. These two events can safely be called the symbol of the formation of a scientific subject. In the developed countries of Europe and America in 1970_s new sciences at the junction of Linguistics and Computer science were rapidly progressing: Processing of Linguistic Information, Computer Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Language Planning and the Theory of Language Teaching etc. A large number of scientists who made significant progress in the development of these areas appeared at that time.

In China in 1978 the publication of the articles on Applied Linguistics by young scholars in the journal «Chinese Philology»)) deserves the attention.

The analysis of the historical development of Applied Linguistics as an independent science in China allowed, to find out the connection between developing Applied Linguistics and objective socio-economic and political factors which influence the formation and the development of Applied Linguistics as an independent science in China. As we can see according to the paper the main tasks of the studies on Applied language at that time were: compilation of dictionaries; reforming Chinese language; work on the standardizing of the pronunciation in Putunhua.

The performed study does not cover all periods and aspects of the multisided problem of historical development of Applied Linguistics in China and requires further investigation. The prospects of our further research are: the work with the development of Applied Linguistics up to our days; the analysis of main thoughts and views of the Chinese scholars on Applied Linguistics as an independent science.

References

leading linguists chinese

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