语言的经济学分析

This article proposes a framework of rational behavior in language learning,which should be understood both from an evolutionary point of view including genetic and cultural factors and from a socially interactive point of view including rational choice made by the learner and rational influence by the power\|structure built in learning environment.The economic model of language learning focuses on rational choice of the learner,given as parameters of all other factors aforementioned,resulting in a four\|dimensional space of difficulty\|measurement in language learning with the points nearest to the origin representing the words’pragmatistic easiness to the learner whose rational choice finally stops the learning process within a bounded area in the 4\|D space.Different individuals with different life\|histories and environmental structures therefore end in different areas in the 4\|D space,and showing different aspects as well as degrees of rationality (the so\|called Multiple lntelligence for example).No matter how formal the economic model of language learning can be,it cannot model all characteristics of language activities in social interaction,just as no model can represent a complete individual human life.