A Study of the Cultivation of Linguistic Competence

刘玉巧+巨静

In the 90s of the last century， western countries put international talent training in a high strategic position. However， compared with western countries， Chinas international talent training is still a big gap. Foreign language scholars should assume the mission by the times， explore the new ways of international talents， explore “the third place” in intercultural communication both to protect our own culture and absorb the essence of foreign culture， and cultivate high-level foreign language talents with world vision and Chinese soul.

1. The definition and development of “The third place”

The concept of “The third place” in intercultural communication was raised by the Claire Kramsch in 1993， who is the director of university of California at Berkeley. In intercultural communication， the connotation and extension of “the third place” are different from social research. The third place has the same cultural characteristics of the first and second place and is different from them in some extents， highlights the hybird culture in intercultural communication. It refers to through intercultural exploration and negotiation， creatively exploring a neutral cultural space between mother language and target languge， where the mother tongue and the target tongue both will be strengthened and deepened. Here the mother tongue and foreign tongue will truly achieve equality， which exchanges foreign language learners into compound talents in intercultural communication in order to adapt to the increasing political， economic， cultural exchange needs in the world.

2. The Imbalance between Mother Linguistic Competence and Target Linguistic Competence

The traditional foreign language teaching inherited the dualistic ideals that the mother tongue and target tongue should be opposite. That is to say， regarding the grammar rules and cultural concepts as the standard， foreign language majors are required to exclude the interference of the mother tongue culture and follow the cultural conventions of the target countries. Obviously， the development of students language ability is unbalanced under the traditional concept.

Although it is essential for English majors to have a good command of foreign language， yet being proficient in their own language and culture is even more significant. As intercultural communicators， if you have low Chinese competence， how can you spread your culture. Besides， English majors in China live in the atomosphere of Chinese and culture， they should acquire more knowledge of Chinese culture. However， many English majors attach great importance to the mastery of English language and basic skills neglecting the increasing of their Chinese competence. Not possessing a qualified Chinese competence or abundant knowledge of Chinese culture， students may make multiple mistakes in translation. If you want to be a translator in the future， you must balance the mother tongue and target tongue. For instance， some institutes of translation， in order to select translators， design test specially for examinees native languages to see whether they meet the conditions of good translators. According to xu Jun， Yuan Xiaoyis studies， there are many poor performances of Chinese competence， firstly， there are many incorrect Chinese characters and misused Chinese words. Secondly， there are many illogical sentences which are not clear and coherent. Thirdly， sentence organization is copied directly from that of English. Fouthly， for those words embedded with deep cultural connotations， students often make some low mistakes in translating lack of understanding them. Finally， their foundations of Chinese language and cultural knowledge are not solid and strong.

So foreign language teaching takes the responsibility of cultivating qualified foreign language talents， while the qualification should not exclude the Chinese copetence from it. Therefore， the curriculum setting should include not only courses of western culture， but also that of Chinese culture and the interaction of the twos， in order to balance the inputs and outputs between the mother tongue and target tongue.

3. The Promotion of Linguistic Competence of Foreign Language Majors in “the third place”

Under the globalization of the coexistence of multi-cultures， mutual infiltration and mutual supplements， the third place in intercultural communication bred by the new era is different from the second place of duality. The linguistic competence of foreign language majors is no longer close to the target tongue， but it should be developed simultaneously in order to find the appropriate balance in different cultural contexts.