【正文】 ds or, to be more exact, in words. So, language is monly regarded as a tool of thoughts. ? When we have ideas forming in our minds, we need to find the appropriate words to express these ideas. ? Our ideas are coded in language. Although the relationship between language and the mind is plicated, speaking and writing are forms of thoughts. This is why most people feel that they have not really understood something until they have been able to express it in language. (How about ―只能意會 ， 不能言傳 ” ？ ) ? A problem is that the meaning of many words are not stable and as a consequence it is difficult to think with any precision. Words mean different things to different people and may have different connotations （ . Monday morning, 十三點 ， 二百五 ） . ? In recent years, however, a number of studies have shown that not everything in our mental life depends on language. Communicating Function (交際功能 ) ? As we have seen in the previous section, language is a means of municating ideas and facts. ? In human society, people need to understand and be understood, to have their feelings and ideas recognized and acknowledged. ? We use language to express ourselves to others. We also need language in order to understand what others are municating to us. ? We use language for requesting, ordering, promising, asking for permission, and so on (. All the Dialogue 2. parts in A New English Course—functional English). ? All human achievements are closely related to successful acts of munication. Language is the most developed and most subtle way to perform munication acts, and it is the natural inheritance of humans. . Pleasure Function (愉悅功能 ) ? Language allows us to derive pleasure from it. A large part of the pleasure we derive from language es from the successful exploitation of linguistic novelty at different levels of the language. ? Advertisers (crosstalking) exploit this capacity just as much as poets and novelists. ?At the simplest level there is the enjoyment of sound itself and the melody of certain bination of sounds (. No Sun, no fun! 溝通從“ 心 ” 開始； “ 胃 ！ 你好嗎 ？ ” ；斯達舒 —―四大叔 ” ). ?Most poetry exploit this function (onomatopoeia, alliteration頭韻 , and assonance諧音 ). Examples ? Onomatopoeia: The stream is murmuring through the woods. Jane started giggling. The door crashed open. Heavy rain drops began pitterpattering on the tent. I eat what I can, I can what I can‘t. ? Alliteration: Promise, Problem, and Provision. Presentation, Practice and Production. Worldwide web. Assonance: fair and square。 2) Children automatically learn a language as they grow up. There is normally no tutoring, but with writing, the learning process is different. The development of reading proficiency depends to a great degree upon the pedagogical skills or teachers. 3) The spoken form came earlier than the written in human history. The written form of any language is always much more recent than the spoken. 4) Writing is based on speech. Writing system represents some levels of the spoken language, such as distinct words, syllables, or sounds. 5) People use spoken language more often than writing. People use the spoken form more frequently than writing as a basic form of verbal munication. ? (Have a look at the exercises at the back of this part on P. 10.) Language Is Human Specific (P. 10.) ? There are certain characteristics of human language that are not found in the munication system of any other species. ? Attempts to teach animals more plicated systems have ended in failure. ? Human children can acquire language with ease, and without intensive and directed instruction. Yet, animals lack the capacity to learn. They do not have the mental capacity to be municatively creative. The differences between human language and animal munication: ? Language has the ability to refer to things far removed in time and space. ? Humans have the ability to produce and understand an indefinite number of novel utterances (creativity/openness/productivity). No animal can municate creatively with another animal. ? Learning is much more important as a factor in human language than in animal munication. Human languages have very much in mon, but they differ from one another on many specific points ? Language is plex in its structure. Human language structure and language use are vastly more plex than any known animal munication system. ? Animal munication systems are closed, whereas human languages are openended. People can talk about anything they can observe or imagine. ? Humans can perform acts with language just as they can with objects of different kinds. ? (Have a look at the exercises at the back of this part on P. 12.) . Language Is Used for Communication ? Language is used for munication. Language is the result of our munication needs. Its attractiveness es from its social utility. ? Human beings municate in ways different from those used by any species. Through language we can do things animals can not do. ? It is by the use of language that we can transmit our social heritage from one generation to the next. ? Twoway munication occurs frequently when the sending and receiving functions are performed with equal frequency by two or more persons. ? With the growth in foreign travel, the migration of people to other countries, and expansion of international trade, there has been an increase in intercultural munication across national and ethnic borders. ? (Discuss the e