语言作为心智发展的工具——兼论外语学习的意义  

Language as a Tool for Mental Development: On the Significance of Foreign Language Learning

作　　者：程晓堂[1] 岳颖[1] 

机构地区：[1]北京师范大学

出　　处：《中国外语》2011年第1期51-57,共7页Foreign Languages in China

摘　　要：近几十年以来,我国外语教育发展迅速。目前,外语学习的热情仍然有增无减。但是,关于外语教育的一个关键问题,即中国人为什么要学习外语,我们的认识还不完全清楚,也不够全面。一般认为,学习外语是为了在学习、生活和工作中使用外语。其实,这只是学习外语的目的之一。本文将以社会文化理论和功能语言学理论等为基础,论证语言对促进人的心智发展的作用,并在此基础上探讨学习外语的意义。In the past few decades, China has witnessed rapid developments in foreign language education. Currently, the ＂foreign language fever＂ shows no sign of declining. However, in terms of the answer to the fundamental question of why Chinese people need to learn foreign languages, we are still far from reaching a consensus. It is often believed that we learn a foreign language so that we can use it for study, life or work purposes. However, this is only one of the purposes of learning a foreign language. Drawing on the Sociocultural Theory, Systemic Functional Linguistics and existing empirical data, this paper attempts to demonstrate that foreign language learning promotes learners＇ mental development.

关 键 词：语言 外语 心智发展 外语教育 

分 类 号：H319[语言文字—英语]