Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 283

International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Ecological Studies (CESSES 2018)

An Exploration on English Learning and Teaching

Based on the Theory of Figure and Ground

Yuanzhen Wu Shijun Liu

Gongqing College Nanchang University Gongqing College Nanchang University
Gongqingcheng, China 332020 Gongqingcheng, China 332020

Abstract—Originated from psychology, the theory of Figure cognitive concepts or perception, the focus of cognition
and Ground was integrated by gestalt psychologists to the which attracts people’s attention while the ground poses the
framework of perceptual organization and currently it has contrast with figure that contains vague concepts and serves
been put into use in the analysis of linguistic structure by as a foil to figure, and it acts as a cognitive reference to
cognitive linguists, especially in the construal of prepositions figure. When people observe an object, they see a figure in
and complex sentences indicating temporal events. In addition, an undifferentiated ground. In cognitive linguistics,
this theory could serve to explore its guidance in English Langacker employed trajector and landmark instead of the
teaching and the switch of teachers’ role in the process of
terms of figure and ground. If an object is in a position
teaching.
relative to another object or moves towards the latter, the
Keywords—figure-ground; prepositions; temporal events; former is called the trajector and the latter is the landmark.
English teaching M.Wetheimer, German gestalt psychologist, proposed the
1aw of Pragnanz, which is one of the most basic law of
I. INTRODUCTION consciousness, also called law of containing. (Ungerer &
Schmid, 2001:34). According to it, the figure is characterized
Cognitive linguistics mainly employs three methods to
by small or moving object of gestalt. In other words, people
characterize language (Wenxu 2004): experiential view,
have tendency to present what they perceive in the best
attentional view and prominence view. According to the
possible way, namely gestalt. If a person's field of perception
experiential view, people's description of things is not only
is disturbed, he immediately forms a new field of perception
limited to objective description, but also provides richer and
so that there is still a good form of what is perceived. It
more natural interpretation of their meaning, including
should be noted that this perfect form does not refer to the
metaphor. According to the attention view, what we express
best one, but emphasizes its integrity. This process is the
in language actually reflects only those parts of the event that
process of perceptual restructuring. Its operation contains
attract our attention. According to the highlighting view, the
five perceptual laws:
choice and arrangement of information in the language
structure are determined by the highlighting degree of  1aw of proximity, indicating that people's
information. And the theory of Figure and Ground is based consciousness is combined based on the degree of
on the theory of highlighting, which can not only be applied closeness and adjacence of each part to another. The
to the psychological research, but also can be used in closer the parts are, the more likely they are
cognitive linguistics as a reference to analyze language combined together;
structure, and it plays a guiding role in English teaching as
well.  1aw of similarity, indicating that when people
perceive items of similar stimulus elements, they tend
to combine them as long as they are not disturbed by
II. THEORETICAL BASIS adjacent factors. In other words, similar parts form
The theory of Figure and Ground was first put forward several combinations in perception;
nearly a century ago by psychologist Denmark Rubin
through the famous "illusion" face/vase experiment (Ungerer  1aw of closure indicating that closed patterning in the
& Schmid, 2001:157). He argued that it was impossible to field of vision are easy to form figure;
identify face and vase at the same time, which is called  1aw of continuity, that is, in the process of perception,
"figure- ground separation principle" (figure - ground people tend to maintain the original form of the object
segregation). This theory was employed by Gestalt of perception, where the line continues to be a
psychologists as a reference to the study of perceptual field. straight line and the curve continues to be a curve;
They were very interested in how visual and auditory input
had impact on this issue based on the highlighting principle,  1aw of the membership character, indicating that
which focuses on the whole, and they thought that perceptual according to gestalt psychologists, the individual
field had always been divided into two parts, namely figure parts of a whole does not have fixed characteristics
and ground. The perceptual field in figure is a highlight in

Copyright © 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

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 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 283

and the characteristics of individual parts are shown In both examples, the cup and chair are figures, and the
from the relationship between these and other parts. table and house are used as reference points for ground.
Since cups and chairs are smaller, simpler and more
III. FIGURE AND G ROUND PRESENTED IN LANGUAGE prominent than tables and houses, they are seen as figures.
Compared with cup and chair, table and house take up more
Traditional linguistics focuses mainly on the level of space, with more complex structure and less degree of
grammatical rules of language, while cognitive linguistics prominence, so they can be regarded as ground. All of these
believes that the experience structure and cognitive mode of conform to the 1aw of Prägnanz and the definition and
human also play a significant role in language interpretation. association characteristics of figure and ground. That is to
And the figure - ground separation principle can be used in say, whatever angle an observer takes, the glass is still on the
the study of the language structure due to the fact that table, and a chair is in the room and there is no case that the
language expression is based on people's perception and table and the house serve as a figure, while cup and chair is
arrangement of things or events, and figure and ground are ground. For instance:
organized to express the language. The perception of figure
and ground is the direct result of human experience, because  (3) A table is under the cup.
people will always use an object or concept in our daily life
 (4) There is a house outside the chair.
as the cognitive reference point to explain or illustrate
another object or concept while the ground here is the These two sentences are against the 1aw of Prägnanz and
cognitive reference point of figure. also the laws of cognition, which sound strange. This is what
we call the asymmetrical relationship between figure and
The first scholar who applied figure and ground theory in
ground, which in turn is not true. There are, of course, not to
language study is Talmy, who thought the figure - ground
say that these two sentences are completely unacceptable. It
separation principle is a basic cognitive principle of
might make sense in a specific context, just like in the third
organization, and cited respectively the definition
example. Is it possible that there is such a situation: some
characteristics and association characteristics of figure and
sort of tables are small enough, and some cups are big
ground in language (Talmy2000:315-316) :
enough so that a glass cup is greater than a table, which
makes us naturally regard the cup as the ground, the glass
TABLE I. FIGURE AND GROUND IN LANGUAGE table as figure? Although this situation is almost impossible,
Figure Ground we cannot completely deny its existence. We can see the first
unknown space known space two examples here as a typical member of the general
Small area or volume Large area or volume category of simple sentence following the 1aw of Pragnanz
More mobile Fixed position and the asymmetrical examples 3 and 4 as a marginal
Simple structure More complicated structure member of the category.
High visibility Less prominence
Closer in consciousness; High Further in a situation or memory; For another example, the following two sentences of a.b,
correlation Low correlation in which the figure and ground are symmetric and they are
equal in the true value condition while it does not mean that
These characteristics are limited to the field of spatial they are semantically equivalent:
relations, which have been modified and supplemented by
Kuang Fangtao and Wen Xu (2003).The definition features  (5) a. Jim is near Lucy. b. Lucy is near Jim.
of figure and ground lie in the fact that figure could not Obviously, we can find that the two sentences listed
determine known spatial or temporal characteristics while above are different from previous sentences, because in the
the ground has known spatial or temporal characteristics, first sentence Jim is figure and Lucy is ground while in the
which can be used as reference points to describe and second sentence their positions are reversed. On the other
determine the unknown features of the figure. At the same hand, this pair of sentences is symmetrical and both can be
time, five descriptive dimensions have been added to the accepted. This is because in the absence of specific context,
association features, such as time span, accessibility, the gap between the figure and the ground in all aspects is
dependence, familiarity and predictability. unknown, or as a rule, people mentioned in the sentences are
similar with no big difference, which is different from the
A. The Interpretation of Prepositions case above, so the 1aw of Prägnanz could not account for
The meaning of the preposition of orientation can be this phenomenon strongly enough. In this case, the figure
understood as a figure-ground relationship. The commonly and the ground are interchangeable, that is, with symmetry.
used preposition are on/above/over.; under/below; in front of; However, it does not mean that these two sentences are
behind; by/fit/near. In a simple sentence, more often than not completely equal. They are semantically different, which can
the noun in a preposition phrase is the ground and the other be considered from the perspective of defining features. In
noun is the figure. For example: the first sentence Lucy is the reference point of Jim, namely
determining the position of the Jim by Lucy. From this we
 (1) A cup is on the table. can assume that such a situation: in a classroom, student A
tries to find Jim's seat, but student B only knows Lucy's
 (2) There is a chair in the house. position A, and then B said Jim is near Lucy, so it is easy for
A to find Jim, without specifically saying the line and row.

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Similarly, (5b) is the opposite, that is, determining Lucy's appears in the main clause. This is in line with the inclusion
position from Jim, the reference point. In short, the ground is principle, from which we know that dreaming is included in
known and the figure is unknown, and the unknown can be the big event of sleep; on the other hand, from the principle
construed from the known. of interdependence, usually in the true sense dreaming does
not exist alone; in other words, sleep decides the existence of
However, we can note that not all figures and grounds are
a dream, and a dream highlights in this event of sleep,
specific, such as: naturally serving as figure. This is why (8a) is acceptable and
 (6) The future is in front of us. (8b) is counterintuitive, because the event of dreaming does
not outweigh and determine the existence of sleep. In fact,
 (7) Harry is in love. (Lakoff 1980:59) this is also the asymmetry mentioned above, and the figure
According to defining characteristics, in the sixth and ground do not switch. However, we often can find the
example, the future is viewed from the perspective of us, and switch of figure and ground in some complex sentences
thus us is the ground, while the unknown future is figure. indicating time events more flexible:
More often than not, people only know the past or the  (9) a. He walked while he listened to the music.
moment, without predicting what will happen tomorrow. The b. He listened to the music while He walked.
example is different from the above examples, for people
could neither see nor touch abstract concepts like the figure - Both examples are acceptable, and the figures and
future with unboundedness and unpredictability, but in this grounds of the first and second sentence are switched and
sentence the future is externalized and metaphorized as an symmetrical. In general, listening to music is more
object standing in front of us. The ground love in the seventh prominent, therefore more appropriate as a figure, and
sentence is abstract, and it belongs to the category of feelings walking is a larger event, serving as a ground. However, this
without indicating time and space, and therefore it is is not necessarily true, because walking and listening to
inconsistent with the definition characteristics of ground. music can be simultaneous, excluding the possibility of one
Instead it possesses metaphorical senses in prepositional event containing another. In other words, other things can be
phrase, namely comparing love to a container. In other words, done during walking and listening to music can also be
Harry is in the container of love, however the meaning of the associated with other events. It should be noted that the
preposition does not change, and in love conveys an connotation of these two sentences are not exactly the same:
emotional state. in (9a) the walking event is highlighted and in (9b) the music
event is emphasized.
B. Analysis of Complex Sentences Representing Time
Events IV. CONCLUSION
According to the degree of highlighting, Langacker
(1987:120) made a discussion on figure and ground: the A. Implication in English Teaching
figure in a ground is a secondary structure, more prominent In simple sentences, the subject and object or
than the other parts of ground, and as a central entity it has a complement can be regarded respectively as the indication of
special highlight, with scene organized around it, providing the figure and ground, and the predicate reflects the
an environment for it. In addition, a relatively dense area in relationship between them. According to the definition and
sharp contrast to the environment is more likely to be chosen associative features, the subject is unknown and people are
as a figure. This contains the concept of inner inclusion, that not familiar with it while in contrast, the object is known. In
is, the ground containing the figure. After that, Talmy clearly the practice of reading comprehension, it is often required to
proposed the inclusion principle and contingency principle summarize the main idea, and as a rule, if a word or phrase
(Liu Guo-hui 2006).The inclusion principle refers to that the in a discourse always appears in the position of subject, it
big events with time inclusion are usually taken as the acts as the figure, so it can be concluded that this article is
ground and placed in clauses, and the inclusive events in the mainly about something the word or phrase refers to.
main clause are regarded as the figure; The dependency However, a large number of sentences do not fall into this
principle refers to the event that determines another event in category, and we can often meet them when the ground is in
the clause serves as the ground, and the event that is attached the front and the figure is in the back, such as inverted
to the clause event in the main clause as the figure. These sentences and passive sentences. In inverted sentences,
two principles have strong explanatory power for complex usually the ground is in the position of the subject; for
sentences expressing time events, for instance: example, the focus of the sentence on the desk is a book is
the book, which moves back, whereas the ground moves
 (8) a. He dreamed while He slept. b. *He slept while forward. It is to highlight the ground, the unknown table, and
He dreamt. the subject of a book is known at the end of the sentence. In
This typical example was put forward by Talmy passive sentences, e.g. the clothes were washed by Mary, the
(2000:325). In general, it is known that compared with clothes becomes the subject instead of the object in the
dream, sleep lasts longer, and in other words, dream is the original sentence, and acts as the figure. Correspondingly,
phenomenon of what happens during sleep, so it is included predicate verb is changed, and so these two sentences are
in sleep in terms of time length. It follows that dream, the asymmetric. In short, the two typical sentence patterns
figure, appears in the clause, while the bed, the ground discussed above have something in common, that is, the
order of the known to the unknown, the old information to

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new information. Therefore, in writing, we need not be [6] Liu guo-hui, the space concept of figure-ground and its metaphorical
constrained by the linear structure of figure to ground or representation in language [J]. Foreign language research,2006, (2).
subject to object; instead in the layout of an essay we can [7] Talmy, L. Towards a Cognitive Semantics Vol. 1.[M]. Cambridge,
Mass: The MIT Press, 2000.
flexibly place focus, employing different sentence patterns,
in order to make structure compact yet dynamic. [8] Ungerer, F. & H. J.Schmid. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics
[M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001.
[9] Wen xu and Liu Xianqing, analysis of figure-ground theory in
B. Change in the Role of Teachers English inverted sentences [J]. Foreign language teaching and
Zhong Meisun (2014) pointed out that China's research,2004,(4).
popularization of higher education has a significant impact [10] Zhong Meisun, Sun Youzhong, Personnel training as the center,
on higher foreign language education results in the lack of comprehensively promoting the reform and development of foreign
language teaching, working ideas of the fifth foreign language
features of cultivating talented college students and the teaching steering committee of colleges and universities [J]. Foreign
problem of unguaranteed teaching quality. One of the main language world, 2014 (1), 2-8.
reasons for this is that traditional teachers act as the leading
role, and the lack of interaction between teachers and
students in class hinders the further improvement of English
teaching at present. This is because students are always in
the passive state of accepting knowledge, and lots of input
and little output restrains timely feedback by students in the
classroom. Despite the rise of new teaching models such as
flipped classroom in recent years, many ordinary colleges
and universities in less developed areas still adopt traditional
teaching models.
Combined with the theory of figure and ground, we can
consider the relationship between teachers and students in
class as the figure and the ground. In such a relationship the
teacher is the focus, free to "move" while students in class
are the ground. Therefore, it is necessary to change the
teaching mode and switch the position of figure and ground,
namely student-figure, teacher-ground. It emphasizes the
students' participation and the teacher's leading role; in other
words, students become the focus in class, and are given
more opportunities to convert input into output. Harmer
(2000) pointed out that two or three students were asked to
form a group to discuss a topic. During the discussion,
teachers did not participate but wrote down students'
mistakes. When the discussion goes on for a certain period of
time and the students have difficulties to continue, the
teacher can intervene, correct the mistakes and guide the
discussion. It can be seen that in the previous stage, the
teacher, as the ground, allowed students to freely participate
in the discussion, and in the later stage, the teacher, as the
figure, helped the students to solve problems. In this mode,
the teacher alternates between the role of figure and ground,
which helps to arouse the enthusiasm of students to express
their views freely, achieving better interaction between
teachers and students.

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[4] Lakoff , G. & M. Johnson. Metaphors We Live By [M]. Chicago: The
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