爱华网英语用法之四：according to的用法是思维方式问题
看了一篇中国老师关于课程标准的英文文章，感觉到还是有自己的观点的，且不论观点我是否赞同，引起我思考的却是为什么要用英文写这篇文章，读者是非中国读者吗？
坦率地说，如果读者是英语国家的专家、英语教师的话，我倒反而担心的不是这位老师的观点，而是其语言，如何能够让英语国家的专家相信文章所表述的观点，因为文章中多次使用了Accordingto my opinion, according to my understanding, according to myteaching experience, according to myobservation等等表述方式，我用word搜索功能一查，发现12次类似的表达。
这里涉及到一个关键问题：according to的用法到底是否会发生变化？
几年前，我曾经和一位英国专家讨论，尽管英语为母语的人认为according to myopinion是错的，但现在全世界那么多非英语国家的人都这么使用，会不会导致英语最终认可、接受这种表达？
这位专家（一位国际知名学者，当时没有说过是否公开其姓名，这里不言明，请谅）认为，因为这涉及到的是语义问题，accordingto 指的基于自己之外的证据（externalevidence），所以如果用according to my opinion就是自己的证据，与accordingto语义不符，所以，他估计不大可能接受这种用法，除非according to的词义就需要发生变化。
我当时的感受是，如果强调这一点，accordingto就不能等于汉语的“根据”，因为汉语的“根据”没有要求只使用外在证据。
看这篇文章时，我其实有一个新的感受，我们基于什么表达观点，基于我们个人判断？还是基于他人判断、他人提供的事实？也就是一个核心问题：要不要采用第三方观点支持自己的观点？还是自说自话？自圆其说即可？
这也是中国现在面临的国际表达问题，许多问题我们都是在自说自话，根本不采用第三方观点支持自己，这样的表达是否可以实现国际交流？我有些怀疑。
据此分析，窃以为，accordingto的问题不是语言问题，而是思维方式问题、论证方式问题、话语方式问题。
是然，只从语法纠正语法实乃枉然，唯从思维方式入手，方得可能。
这或可再次印证外语学习促进心智发展的可能性。
我这里也借用第三方来说明以上的看法，关于according to的用法，剑桥语法是这么说的：
套用这一用法，也就是：Accoring to Cambridge Grammar of English, the use ofaccording to is as follows:
According to meaning ‘asreported’
The most frequent use ofaccording to is when reference is made to external evidence to support a statement or anopinion:
According to the safety experts, it was all rightwhen they left it.
It’s the same in every block,according to Cliff, thecaretaker.
This delay, according to Mr Mckay, probably violated federallaw.
It’s going to be delayed,according to what Nick toldus.
According to is frequentlyused to refer to statistics, officialreports, surveys, opinion polls, studies, research, etc.,especially in more formal contexts:
According t o a recent report by the National FoodAlliance, children are being saturated with advertisementsfor sugar-rich confectionery.
And regional government,according to a poll taken last month byGallup, attracts the support of less than one in three ofthe public.
Note that according to refersto evidence from someone or somewhere else. As such, it usually hasa third person referent. It cannot be used to refer to one’s ownviews or statements: In my opinion all those sites should be madegreen-field sites.
(According to me/according to my opinion, all those sitesshould be…)
这是专门作为错误案例展示的，书上画了中间横线。
当然，according to还有inagreement with的意思。
According to is also used tomean ‘in line with’, ‘in harmony with’ or ‘depending on’. In thismeaning it is most typically not used in front position:
And is it all going accordingto plan so far?
If the police acted accordingto the law, then they should arrest him.[talking about placing people on a salaryscale]
I’m sure they probably gradepeople according to their experience.
Prices vary very slightlyaccording to whether you want ‘hotel’ or ‘hostel’service.
A closely related phrase isin accordance with, which is used in formal, written contexts tomean ‘in obedience to’, or ‘strictly following (rules andregulations)’:
The Socialist government,elected in 1994, resigned in December, but, in accordance with theconstitution, the President had to call on the Socialist party toform another government.
