- Goethe once stated that ‘the time has come for a world literature,’ yet as globalization promises to homogenize the world’s cultures, there is little sign that literature is becoming homogenized. In general, our limited linguistic competence and our specific cultural identities entail that we are generally most familiar with the literature of our own culture, while other literatures are ‘foreign.’ Historical events and developments that help to shape literature differ between nations, and each literature has its own major authors and texts; however, this does not mean that literature should be constrained by national or cultural boundaries. Translation and adaptation provide modes of creative transfer, and literature has always thrived on diversity of cultures and places. By studying literature comparatively, I will develop an enhanced awareness of the complexity of literary communication and develop my cultural imagination.
- Linguistics and anthropology are connected through the transfer of theoretical frameworks. A focus on language has been a part of anthropology from the time of Boas, and concepts and frameworks from the works of theoretical linguists have influenced theories in anthropology. Linguists have benefitted from both the original linguistic data collected by anthropologists and from an awareness of social and cultural factors on language usage.
- It will also inform my interest in comparative literature, specifically translating Chinese novels into English – in order to cultivate reading across linguistic boundaries as to highlight everything that the exclusive focus on a national literature tends to obscure. When reading literature in multiple languages, one must trace the transformations and travels of literary genres and texts across time and space. They explore the connections of literature with history, philosophy, politics, and literary theory. In our increasingly globalized age, translation studies are an important part of the approach to literature, and to language. Literary translations have their own kind of history and even politics.
- The course in Applied Linguistics and Language Pedagogy at SOAS, specifically “Chinese Applied Linguistics and Language Pedagogy” is closely tailored to my own academic and personal interests. The MA program provides advanced training in the field of Language Pedagogy with a specialization in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Tibetan. The programme provides an appreciation of the concepts, modes of analysis and theoretical approaches in the area of Language Pedagogy, including second language learning theories and teaching methodologies. Students will also be familiarised with the general areas of linguistic inquiry (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse structure) and how they are relevant to the study of second language acquisition. Graduates will be qualified and well prepared for such professions as teaching the target language in higher education in the UK or in other countries, North America, and other parts of the world, teaching the target language at private institutions or at company, administrative or consultative staff at educational organizations, and editing staff at publishers related to language teaching.
- Sociocultural Linguistics degree at Goldsmiths University, London. Goldsmiths’ Linguistics Department because I was looking for a program which offers explores aspects related to Sociology and Cultural studies from a linguistic point of view. I am particularly interested in studying linguistics and socio-linguistic methodologies to not only inform my study of the English and Chinese languages, but also to expand my knowledge and understanding of other languages, equipping me to be a more adept global citizen. Linguistics is an extremely broad subject, yet Goldsmiths’ Sociocultural Linguistics MA manages to touch on many different aspects of language through the specific sociocultural lens that I am interested in. I have taught English in China and worked as a language tutor in various communities, and these experiences have made me crave the ability to affect more people in new places with my work.
- My undergraduate and study abroad experiences have taught me that it is crucial to study society in order to understand language. For a graduate degree, I believe that it is equally important to study language in order to understand society. In an extremely diverse and complicated world composed of different religion, race, sexuality, age, social class, and nationality, language provides a way of interpreting and organizing similarities and differences. Language is not just an indicator of pre-existing identities, but resources for shaping the ever changing social and interactional needs of communities. The concept that we are what we say is what I am most excited about studying at Goldsmiths.
sep 2 2012 ∞
dec 16 2012 +
dec 16 2012 +