The present study is an exploration of the cognitive mechanism of the meaning construction of yiqian and yihou, which can be used either individually or collaboratively in the same sentence or utterance. The conceptualization of the meaning of yiqian and yihou used individually or collaboratively should have a reference point, which can be the time of the utterance known to both the speaker and the hearer, or the time specified by the actual expressions in the utterance, or the time of the occurrence of the event explicitly expressed in the utterance. When used separately, yiqian in the sentence profiles the earlier event with the later event as the reference; and yihou in the sentence profiles the later event with the earlier event as reference. The sentence with yiqian and yihou used collaboratively profiles contrast or discrepancy between the earlier and later events, or locates the occurrences of the two events within the period of time bounded by yiqian and yihou. It is observed that the meaning of yiqian is the against-flow-of-time conceptualization of the period before the time of the utterance or the specified time, or the period before the onset of the event expressed in the utterance, with the starting-point of the time of the utterance or the specified time, or the onset of the event as the reference point. It is also observed that the meaning of yihou is the along-flow-of-time conceptualization of the period after the time of the utterance or the specified time, or the period after the close of the event expressed in the utterance, with the outset of the time of the utterance or the specified time, or the close of the event as the reference point. The conceptualization of the meaning of yiqian and yihou can be generalized into a Temporal Perception Principle, that is, the flow of time is unidirectional and the perception of time in language is bidirectional.

As a reverse process of language acquisition, Language attrition has been drawn much attention in the past three or four decades. The fruitful research on language attrition is of great importance in research on language acquisition. Attrition can be divided into first language attrition and second language attrition with the former receiving more concerns and have been investigated by researchers at home and abroad. Among the causes having impact on first language attrition, age is considered as a key factor and has been a research focus. This paper discusses the corelation between age and L1 attrition based on previous researches by resorting to related theories and provides an overview of the relevant research. Firstly, this paper presents a brief introduction to critical period hypothesis in language acquisition by which the correlation between age and L1 attrition is explained. Then the paper reviews the major researches abroad which can be classified into studies investigating children or adults respectively and contrastive studies between children and adults. Finally, it discusses the shortcomings existing and how significant it is to the linguistic research at home.

As a discourse-texture indicator pervasive in languages, the foreshadowing-echoing plays a crucial role in both cohesion and coherence in the construction of discourses, and it also helps readers to have a better understanding of the textures of discourses. The co-authors of the present paper make an attempt to probe into the cognitive mechanism of foreshadowing-echoing in novels from the perspective of conceptual metonymy, especially from that of high-level metonymy. To take Lu Xun’s novels as an example, it shows that there are various corresponding counterparts between foreshadowing and echoing in different contexts in novels. However, it is also found that there exist delicate shades of cause-effect differences among three types of foreshadowing-echoing in Lun Xun’s works. As for one foreshadowing for one echoing or one foreshadowing for multiple-echoing, the echoing is taken as the cause while foreshadowing as the effect. On the other hand, concerning multiple-foreshadowing for one echoing, the foreshadowing is treated as the cause while the echoing as the effect. Based on the present research, it is obvious that the frequent use of foreshadowing-echoing in texts undoubtedly enhances both the writing art and the literary thoughts in Lu Xun’s works. Thus, it is concluded by claiming that our research is of some implication to cognitive linguistics, translation studies and foreign language teaching and research in China.

Epistemic modal adverbs normally function as propositional operators. However, it has been observed that such adverbs can apparently modify the subpropositional material DPs. This study inquires into the well-formedness conditions of English “epistemic modal adverb + DP”(EPI-MB+DP for short) construction. The article first demonstrates that modal adverbs modifying DPs only take scope over those DPs, then explains how a type entry for modal adverbs allows them to compose with type DP intensions. It finds that DP in the construction undergoes type shifting, i.e. changing from a phrase to a property-type expression before being modified by epistemic modal adverbs, with DP taking the same meaning as a proposition does. It also finds that the proposition can be realized as a relative clause, which underlies “EPI-MB +DP”, where DP becomes a surface form through the mechanism of metonymy. In terms of semantic compatibility, since EPI-MB expresses uncertainty, it requires the DP (with its associated proposition) to match the uncertainty, which is another well-formedness condition for “EPI-MB+DP” construction. The paper also investigates the Chinese encoding of “EPI-MB+DP” construction, and finds that Chinese does not have the syntactic device of relatives to encode the semantic relation specified by English EPI-MB+DP, hence no syntactic mechanism for the Proposition-to-DP metonymy. As a result, such English DPs can only be realized as propositional clauses in Chinese.

From the perspective of translator’s subjectivity, this paper, by taking Song Biyun’s Chinese translation of Between Tears and Laughter as an example, attempts to analyze the impact of the androgynous translator’s subjectivity and historical background of her time on the target text reconstruction from such five aspects as choice of source text, manipulation of target language, motivation of translation activity, cognition of the translator and fusion of horizons. It holds that the translator is the very translation subject acting independently from the source text as well as its writer in the translation process, and that the translator’s subjectivity, in fact, results from the joint action made of his/her political stand, cultural background, value priorities as well as the specific social and historical environment where he/she lives, so that it is inevitable for the translator to manipulate and modify somewhat the source text regarding its textual meaning, textual structure and even its political orientation. Therefore, the translator’s subjectivity is likely to be clearly described in terms of his/her intentional manipulation of the text and his/her thinking path. In this sense, the translator’s manipulative modifications of this kind would impose a significant impact on the target text and pump a new life into the source text originally created in a given era.

The study of language for specific purpose (LSP) came into being with the development of technology and commerce. Translators of technical and commercial texts have to pay attention to the features of LSP in both source and target texts. Based on an overview of the LSP corpus-based translation studies at home and abroad in recent years, the present paper has provided a summary of the characteristics in this area including the development of new research topics, diversity in mode of comparison, high maneuverability in investigations, and more applicability to practical research. The investigations introduced in the present paper include corpus-based studies of translations in various contexts, such as law, medicine, tourism, commerce and advertisement, religion and science, etc. The author maintains that genre, as a significant variable in translation studies, has always been the focus of attention of translation researchers. It is the genre that decides the strategies employed by translators which may lead to different translations. In the field of LSP corpus-based translation studies, investigations into the features of translational language, hypotheses of translation universals testing, explorations into translator’s style and changes in the TL brought about by translation in different genres, development of computer-assisted translation tools, translation of terms, translation quality assessment, and specially designed research methodology may provide new perspectives for researchers. LSP corpus, which is more utility-oriented, can be applied to both theoretical research and practical use. Translation studies based on LSP corpus may further broaden the scope of and provide new topics for the Corpus-based Translation Studies and shows great promise for the future.

The article approaches Goethe’s understanding and criticism on modernity by the method of close reading. He thought modern times meant the age of large scale mechanized industry after the Middle Ages. He summarized the characteristics of the new age as Velocity. Velocity refers to quick pace of modern life and a rash for quick results of modern people under the pressure of competition. He thought the time spirit of Velocity was brought about by the industrial revolution and the French Revolution. The limitless progress of technology and speedy industrialization not only destroyed the nature, but also ruined human spirit. In addition, they caused the popularization of commercialized mass culture and the decaying of elite culture. The article also reveals influences of Goethe’s criticism on modernity on the cultural pessimism and technological pessimism of later ages by the studying method of history of thought. Through exploring Goethe’s idea of modernity and locating his criticism on modernity in the history of thought, the article fills the gap which has hitherto existed in the history of the concept of modernity.

Essay of Dramatic Poesy by John Dryden has been regarded as a work of literary criticism with a focus on the three unities. This paper aims to break through this traditional interpretation and point out the ignored significance of Essay of Dramatic Poesy. By reading this work closely against the literary and historical background of the West, we can find that both the setting and the interlocutors in Essay of Dramatic Poesy are more imaginary than real. Essay of Dramatic Poesy is a fictional literary dialogue. Dryden suggests more than once about this fictionalization in the part of dedication to his patron before the dialogue proper. The naming of the four characters also points to this fictionalization. The arguments involving the three unities, comparisons between English and French drama, and between the ancient and the modern drama, are all closely related to the quarrel of the ancients and the moderns, and are in fact embodiments of this quarrel. Dryden’s juxtaposition of the dialogue between the four speakers on the Thames and the encountering of the English fleet with the Dutch at sea near the mouth of the Thames is by no means random, but in fact purposeful and related to this quarrel. However, this has seldom been mentioned by scholars. In short, Essay of Dramatic Poesy as a fictional literary dialogue has proved to be a tool with which Dryden takes part in this quarrel. This research will to some extent update the scholarship on Dryden and Essay of Dramatic Poesy.

Slaughterhouse-Five is the masterpiece of American author Kurt Vonnegut and is well-known for its unique narrative techniques and strong anti-war theme. However, the rich animal images in the novel have long been ignored. In light of the newly rising animal studies, this article explores the meaning of the animal images in an effort to find out their significant meaning. We find that they serve several roles. Firstly, as metaphorical symbols, they function as mirrors, reflecting the human predicament of embarrassment and helplessness in face of war, and thus deflating the myth of “the paragon of animals”. Secondly, they are independent subjects of life and stand for their own sufferings in war, which reflects Vonnegut’s extended humanitarianism. Thirdly, by paralleling and displacing animals, prisoners of war, and earthlings in the slaughterhouse in Dresden and the Tralfamadore zoo, the novel blurs species boundaries and trespasses the “insuperable line” between humans and animals that has long been regarded sacred in the western culture. Thus, Slaughterhouse-Five transcends the genre of war novel and launches its critique at the entire western civilization, its anthropocentricism and speciesism in particular.

Collaborative learning has been a heated issue in FLT research in recent years. It can not only promote language acquisition, but also help learners develop their autonomous learning ability, collaborative ability and innovation ability. However, the classroom teaching practice proves that collaborative learning is not successfully applied in Chinese learners. According to the past research, influenced by cultural and social background, learners from Asian countries often come across difficulties in adapting to leaner-oriented collaborative learning activities. The author believes that since collaborative learning originated from western counties, the design of the activities is inevitably restricted to western cultural and social background and fit in the needs and characteristics of western learners. Thus, in order to implement collaborative learning in Chinese classrooms effectively, teachers should make adjustment according to the learning needs of Chinese students by constructing a localized collaborative learning mode. Therefore, on the basis of constructing a localized collaborative learning mode in college Japanese intensive reading class, this paper aims to interpreting the feature and the limitations of collaborative learning, then put forward construction rules and build framework for collaborative learning.