evidencefromliangshanliuchengyu刘承宇.ppt

Trilingualism and Cognition: Evidence from Liangshan LIU Chengyu (刘承宇) Southwest University, Chongqing E-mail: liucy@swu.edu.cn Trilingualism and Cognition: Evidence from Liangshan ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the language diversity and language universals in relation to cognitive diversity and cognitive universals based on some empirical evidences collected from Liangshang Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, China. The study focuses on kinship expressions in Yi (Nuosu), Chinese (Mandarin) and English. The results indicate that both language diversity and language universals can be identified in such culturally-loaded expressions in the three languages, which can then be interpreted as the reflection of cognitive diversity and cognitive universals of the speech communities involved. The pedagogical implications of this investigation for trilingual education will then be explored, particularly highlighting language transfer and cultivation of cross-cultural communication competence in TEFL in the trilingual context. KEY WORDS: trilingualism; language diversity/universals; cognitive diversity/universals; language transfer; cross-cultural communication competence OUTLINE 1. Introduction 2. Language and cognitive diversity/universals 3. Trilingualism and cognition: Evidence from Liangshan 4. Implications for trilingual education 5. Conclusion References 1. Introduction 1. Introduction Trilingualism and trilingual education in Liangshan L1: Yi (Nuosu) L2: Mandarin Chinese L3: English 1. Introduction Research Questions: 1. Are there any language and cognitive diversity / universals between Yi (Nuosu), Mandarin Chinese and English? If yes, then what are they? 2. What are the relationship between language diversity / universals and cognitive diversity /universals? 3. What impacts do the language and cognitive diversity / universals have on trilingual education? 2. Language diversity / universals vs. cognitive diversity / universals 2.1 Language diversity