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语言点来自于语篇,没有连续的、完整的语篇的支撑,语言点不会构建出确定的意义,不会表现出独特的内涵。因此,文本中的语言点教学应该建立在语篇评析基础之上。
基于语篇评析的语言点教学,主要就是引导学生积极参与到语篇的理解之中,把对语言点的理解和文本分析、说明、评估、推理、判断、鉴赏等评析活动结合起来。语言点的理解或顿悟是这些评析活动的成果之一,反过来又助推评析活动的进行。笔者把这种基于评析活动的教学,称为“评析性教学”。文本阅读中语言点的评析性教学通常可以从以下五个方面来进行。
一、基于关联词语的语言点评析性教学
关联词语是指意义相近、相同、相反、相容甚至相斥的一组词语。在语篇中构建词语的关联,能够促进学生对某些语言点的理解。
1. 意义相反的关联词语
比如,NSEFC Book 8 Unit 2的“CLONING: WHERE IT IS LEADING US?”中有这样一段话:
On the one hand, the whole scientific world followed the progress of the first successful clone, Dolly the sheep. The fact that she seemed to develop normally was very encouraging. Then came the disturbing news that Dolly had become seriously ill. Cloning scientists were cast down to find that Dolly’s illnesses were more appropriate to a much older animal. Altogether Dolly lived six and a half years, half the length of the life of the original sheep. Sadly the same arbitrary fate affected other species, such as cloned mice. The questions that concerned all scientists were: “Would this be a major difficulty for all cloned animals? ... ”
On the other hand, Dolly’s appearance raised a storm of objections and had a great impact on the media and public imagination. It became controversial ...
针对第一段,笔者先提问学生:What were scientists’ responses to the first clone?逐步引导学生根据sadly一词找出意义相关联的形容情感的词或短语:encouraging, disturbing, cast down, concerned等。在此基础上,请学生猜测首句主题词汇——follow the progress的意思(be interested in something and in the way it develops)。由此说明克隆科学家虽然有时会担忧和沮丧,但实际上他们都对克隆动物的研究乐见其成,持正面积极的态度。所以第一段的主题句即:(On the one hand,) the whole scientific world followed the progress of the first successful clone.
第二段列举了科学界之外的人士对克隆动物的态度。通过请学生画出句子中表达负面意义的关键形容词:evil, nervous, conservative, forbid, controversial,让学生更明确地理解首句中的关键词objection (being opposed to sth or disapproving)的意义。由此得出第二段的主题句是:(On the other hand), Dolly’s appearance raised a storm of objections.
接着,把这两段的主题句合并起来,学生就不难看出这两段话描述的是两个阵营的人士对克隆动物截然相反的态度。这时,学生就可以发现,“on the one hand ... on the other hand ...”是用以引出两个不同的观点、尤其是相对观点的一对信号词。通过对一组意义关联的词汇进行评析,使学生自我发掘和探究语言点“on the one hand ... on the other hand ...”的使用语境,从而更加深入和明晰地理解它的用法。
2. 语义外延有交集的关联词语
关联词语未必一定要意义相近或相反,不同词语只要有语义外延上的交集,都可以称为关联词语。比如,NSEFC Book 2 Unit 3的“WHO AM I?”中有这样一段话:
In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing, wrote a book about how I could be made to work as a “universal machine” to solve any difficult mathematical problem.
虽然universe和any看上去风马牛不相及,但universal machine的这一称谓和它的作用一定有着某种内在的关联。我们可以提问学生:“What was the universal machine like in Turing’s mind?”universal 用以形容某物suitable in every situation or can be used to solve any problem。而Turing心目中的universal machine只是用来解决“any mathematical problem”,而非“any problem”。可见当时他虽然高瞻远瞩,但对计算机未来的巨大作用,还是缺乏更丰富的想象力。今天的计算机,已经是在医学、金融、商业、军事、科学各个领域无所不能的、真正意义上的universal machine了。对universe一词与其相关的any一词进行评析,让学生领会到了文中的universe的局限性,并同时理解了universe的真正意义。 所以在进行关联词语的评析时,教师必须能深入理解特定词汇的语义、涵义、概念,才能建立起它们之间的关联。基于关联词语的评析活动,可以让学生通过语篇中相关词语的不断重现,从不同角度丰富读者对目标词语的认识,从而对语言点有更为深刻的理解。
二、基于推理的语言点评析性教学
1. 归纳
推理最常见的方法之一是归纳。归纳帮助我们从个别的、特殊的事物中概括出一般的概念。[1]在文本的条件下,常常有一些词汇、句子或段落牵涉到个体与一般、部分与整体的关系。理清这些关系,可以帮助学生发现文本间的内在关联并推测出目标词汇的意义和用法。我们以NSEFC Book 7 Unit 4的“A LETTER HOME”的第2、3段为例。这两段主要描述的是作者(志愿者)所在学校的恶劣条件。为了讲解condition一词,教师先提问:The bush school is in terrible conditions. Can you name just a few of the conditions?
学生列出具体的conditions (no electricity, no textbooks, no equipment, muddy tracks, no water available)后,教师帮助学生归纳这些conditions的共性,即:particular things you see, hear or feel。然后,教师进一步提出:Besides the terrible conditions, does the school have other things to worry about?
通过学生提供的答案(如:The students have no concept of studies. Parents can’t afford their children’s education ...),教师指出:The school is actually in a difficult situation. 这样通过对文本信息的归纳,教师用不着举更多的额外例子,学生就明白了situation指的是combined things,而condition主要是指具体的条件。
在同一文本背景下,作者提到“Science is my most challenging subject”。为解释challenging一词,教师向学生提问:Why does the writer say it is “a challenging subject” instead of “a difficult subject”? Does he happen to choose the word at random?如果学生回答有困难,请他们立刻查阅词典,可知challenging的意思为:most difficult but in an interesting and enjoyable way。教师鼓励学生通过文本找到作者作为志愿者教师生活清苦但依然乐此不疲的语篇信息,如:He ended up as an experienced and imaginative teacher;As a volunteer teacher, he is always willing to do better because he came here to make a difference等等。通过对这些信息的归纳,学生对challenging一词的理解更加丰富、更加全面。在文本背景下,我们不建议学生查词汇表、查词典。词典编纂者不会将社会意义、心理联系与词语本身联系在一起。文本则比词典有更为丰富的语义,而且学生若能从文本上下文寻找解决问题的契机,不仅能发现关联信息的蛛丝马迹,也锻炼了归纳能力和解决问题的能力。
2. 演绎
与归纳相反的是演绎的方法,它是从一般的原理推导出特殊情况的一种推理方法。以NSEFC Book 8 Unit 3 的“THE PROBLEM OF THE SNAKES”为例。课文中提到了捕蛇的程序(procedure),为帮助学生准确理解procedure的意义,我们可以将捕蛇的程序列在PPT上,但中间夹杂非程序的一些信息,比如器具描述、试验结果和试验反思等,然后请学生把它们挑选出来。
1. First, I bought an ice-cream maker which was made of stainless steel.
2. Between the outside and the inside walls of the bowl there is some jelly, which freezes when cooled.
3. Then, I put the bowl into the fridge and waited for 24 hours.
4. At the same time I prepared some ice-cubes.
5. After that, I placed the frozen bowl over the snakes’ habitat and the ice-cubes on top of the bowl to keep it cool.
6. Finally I covered the whole thing with a large bucket.
7. Then I waited. After two hours I removed the bucket and the bowl.
8. The snakes were less active but they were still too fast for me. They abruptly disappeared into a convenient hole in the wall. 学生通过对以上8个陈述的分析、识别,界定它们是否属于procedure的一部分。这一活动是对procedure一词的概念的理清。这种通过文本具体例证去证实概念的演绎方法,对理解语言点有很大的帮助作用。
3. 推测
除了归纳和推理,利用推测的思维活动也能进一步理解语言点。例如,NSEFC Book 7 Unit 4的“A LETTER HOME”讲的是一个澳大利亚的志愿者教师到巴布亚新几内亚支教的故事。他给国内的朋友写信,里面有一句话说:Thanks for your letter, which took a fortnight to arrive. 教师提问学生:What is the implied meaning of the additional part(which took a fortnight to arrive)? 这是一个推断的问题。有些学生答,这说明作者patient;有些学生答,这说明作者感到grateful。这些答案,暴露了不少学生的思维弱点:其实,patient有两层意义:(1)wait calmly,(2)without being angry,但语篇中并没有提到作者如何平静地等待。而依据前文提到的thanks for your letter,也不能推断出作者对朋友的感激。这时,教师引导学生去推测fortnight一词是表达一段长时间还是短时间。一封信需要fortnight才能到达,说明作者的支教地一定地处穷乡僻壤。所以,这里的非限制性定语从句which took a fortnight to arrive并不是用来限定letter,而是用来做补充和说明。通过这样的推测,学生既明白了fortnight的意思,又掌握了非限制性定语从句的用法。
三、基于背景知识的语言点评析性教学
任何文本,背后都有着一定的社会、文化、政治等语境支撑。文本评析就可以以此为出发点。比如,NSEFC Book 3 Unit 1的“FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS”中有这样一段话:
Festivals can also be held to honour famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan. In the USA, Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in New World. India has a national festival on October 2 to honour Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain India’s independence from Britain.
本文对这三个名人只作白描式的描写。但是,如果引导学生深入了解相关背景知识,则不仅能激发学生的人文情怀,更可以进行语言点的教学。以本段的arrival和gain为例。教师可以提问:Which festival celebrates a person from a different culture?学生知晓Columbus Day是用来纪念意大利航海家哥伦布发现美洲大陆,所以这个节日基本是北美洲的一个庆祝日。但是,北美洲当今还有不少人(比如说美洲土著后裔)很憎恨哥伦布,因为他们认为他的到来(arrival)几乎摧毁了土著人的文化,给他们带来痛苦的记忆。而圣雄甘地为追求印度独立,发动非暴力不合作运动,数度被捕入狱而矢志不渝,经过坚苦卓绝的斗争,终于赢得(gain)国家独立。gain的真正意义(gradually achieve something that is valuable)因为有这样的背景支撑而更加清晰和丰满。
词汇如此,语法点的理解也一样。比如,“FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS”中有这样一句话:If the neighbours do not give any sweets, the children might play a trick on them.本单元教学重点是情态动词might等的用法。教师可以给学生适度提供万圣节的背景,指出万圣节夜晚小孩挨家挨户讨糖果,大人们总是会满足他们的愿望,因此小孩对屋主play a trick几乎没有付诸实践的机会。这就是文章中为什么要用might(用以指实现的可能性很小)的原因。
四、基于语篇情节的语言点评析性教学
语篇中的语言点实际上是作者根据具体语境在整个语言系统中的选择结果,因此语言点不能孤立分析,而应该与语境充分结合在一起。比如说NSEFC Book 1 Unit 3的“JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG”中有这样一段话:
I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didn’t know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now I know that the proper way is always her way ... Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.
Several months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library ... 文中的can表达“有时可能会”的意思。我们可以建立在语篇内容的基础上提这样一个问题:Is Wang Wei always a stubborn person?学生进行讨论,充分发表见解。然后教师继续提问:Who might have first come up with the idea of doing some research at the library?
事实上,不管谁提出去图书馆做个资料研究,只要Wang Wei去了,就说明她还是能够听从别人意见,而不总是一意孤行的人。所以,基于语篇的情节,学生就可以较好地理解情态动词can在肯定句中表示“有时可能会这样”的用法。语言点教学若能建立在语篇的基础上,就可以帮助学生发现各种隐含的信息,从而大大提高学生的评析能力和评判性思维。
五、基于语言鉴赏的语言点评析性教学
文本阅读的大部分目的是为了获取信息和了解他人的观点,但不可否认的是,阅读同时也会提高一个人的语言鉴赏能力。我们在文本阅读时,也应该充分注意文本的遣词造句对文本信息传达所起到的不可忽视的作用。比如,NSEFC Book 3 Unit 1的“A SAD LOVE STORY”中有一段话:
She said she would be there at seven o’clock, and he thought she would keep her word. He had looked forward to meeting her all day, and now he was alone with his roses and chocolates, like a fool. Well, he was not going to hold his breath for her to apologize. He would drown his sadness in coffee.
显然,Li Fang因为女孩的爽约,心情极其郁闷。想到女孩可能故意放他鸽子,不由得心生怨恨。作者使用了短语hold his breath和drown his sadness,极其传神地把Li Fang的气恼和郁闷描写了出来。而如果将这一句子改写为:He wouldn’t expect her to apologize. He would forget about his sadness,句子平淡而寡味,意蕴全失。教师可以从此扩展开去,举出更多使用breath,drown等词使得语句更加生动的例证。如:Don’t waste your breath. He was drowning in frustration等等。
再如,NSEFC Book 1 Unit 4的“A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN’T SLEEP”是描述唐山地震的一篇记叙文。这篇文章使用了大量的修辞手法。如明喻(Simile):Bricks were like red autumn leaves;暗喻(Metaphor):Hard hills of rocks become rivers of dirt;重复(Repetition):The water in the wells rose and fell, rose and fell; 幽默(Humor):The cows would never give milk: the cows died;拟人(Personification):The city began to breathe;夸张(Exaggeration):The world was at an end;等等。教师可以引导学生用描述事实的手法重述以上的句子,让学生去发现使用修辞手法和写实手法之间的差异。这个评析过程可以帮助学生更加准确地理解at an end,rise and fall等词汇的用法。
总之,教师必须认识到,绝大部分语言点都可以附着于文本上,而文本又有着丰富的张力。教师不能盲目接受文本中语言点的“字面”信息[2],不能为了教语言点而教语言点,不能视语言点的学习为语言学习的终极目标,而应该引导学生跳出文本,以评析、批判的态度,从整体的角度来审读课文、评价课文、欣赏课文。这样一种积极的、有创造性的阅读态度,可以促进语言和意义最大限度地交融,给语言点的学习注入更加多维的认识。
参考文献:
[1] 理查德·保罗,琳达·埃尔德.思考的力量[M].丁薇,译.上海:格致出版社,上海人民出版社,2010:249.
[2] 杨进红,代秀秀.阅读教学中的文本解读:“多元”与“有界”[J]. 现代教育论丛,2011(4): 56.
基于语篇评析的语言点教学,主要就是引导学生积极参与到语篇的理解之中,把对语言点的理解和文本分析、说明、评估、推理、判断、鉴赏等评析活动结合起来。语言点的理解或顿悟是这些评析活动的成果之一,反过来又助推评析活动的进行。笔者把这种基于评析活动的教学,称为“评析性教学”。文本阅读中语言点的评析性教学通常可以从以下五个方面来进行。
一、基于关联词语的语言点评析性教学
关联词语是指意义相近、相同、相反、相容甚至相斥的一组词语。在语篇中构建词语的关联,能够促进学生对某些语言点的理解。
1. 意义相反的关联词语
比如,NSEFC Book 8 Unit 2的“CLONING: WHERE IT IS LEADING US?”中有这样一段话:
On the one hand, the whole scientific world followed the progress of the first successful clone, Dolly the sheep. The fact that she seemed to develop normally was very encouraging. Then came the disturbing news that Dolly had become seriously ill. Cloning scientists were cast down to find that Dolly’s illnesses were more appropriate to a much older animal. Altogether Dolly lived six and a half years, half the length of the life of the original sheep. Sadly the same arbitrary fate affected other species, such as cloned mice. The questions that concerned all scientists were: “Would this be a major difficulty for all cloned animals? ... ”
On the other hand, Dolly’s appearance raised a storm of objections and had a great impact on the media and public imagination. It became controversial ...
针对第一段,笔者先提问学生:What were scientists’ responses to the first clone?逐步引导学生根据sadly一词找出意义相关联的形容情感的词或短语:encouraging, disturbing, cast down, concerned等。在此基础上,请学生猜测首句主题词汇——follow the progress的意思(be interested in something and in the way it develops)。由此说明克隆科学家虽然有时会担忧和沮丧,但实际上他们都对克隆动物的研究乐见其成,持正面积极的态度。所以第一段的主题句即:(On the one hand,) the whole scientific world followed the progress of the first successful clone.
第二段列举了科学界之外的人士对克隆动物的态度。通过请学生画出句子中表达负面意义的关键形容词:evil, nervous, conservative, forbid, controversial,让学生更明确地理解首句中的关键词objection (being opposed to sth or disapproving)的意义。由此得出第二段的主题句是:(On the other hand), Dolly’s appearance raised a storm of objections.
接着,把这两段的主题句合并起来,学生就不难看出这两段话描述的是两个阵营的人士对克隆动物截然相反的态度。这时,学生就可以发现,“on the one hand ... on the other hand ...”是用以引出两个不同的观点、尤其是相对观点的一对信号词。通过对一组意义关联的词汇进行评析,使学生自我发掘和探究语言点“on the one hand ... on the other hand ...”的使用语境,从而更加深入和明晰地理解它的用法。
2. 语义外延有交集的关联词语
关联词语未必一定要意义相近或相反,不同词语只要有语义外延上的交集,都可以称为关联词语。比如,NSEFC Book 2 Unit 3的“WHO AM I?”中有这样一段话:
In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing, wrote a book about how I could be made to work as a “universal machine” to solve any difficult mathematical problem.
虽然universe和any看上去风马牛不相及,但universal machine的这一称谓和它的作用一定有着某种内在的关联。我们可以提问学生:“What was the universal machine like in Turing’s mind?”universal 用以形容某物suitable in every situation or can be used to solve any problem。而Turing心目中的universal machine只是用来解决“any mathematical problem”,而非“any problem”。可见当时他虽然高瞻远瞩,但对计算机未来的巨大作用,还是缺乏更丰富的想象力。今天的计算机,已经是在医学、金融、商业、军事、科学各个领域无所不能的、真正意义上的universal machine了。对universe一词与其相关的any一词进行评析,让学生领会到了文中的universe的局限性,并同时理解了universe的真正意义。 所以在进行关联词语的评析时,教师必须能深入理解特定词汇的语义、涵义、概念,才能建立起它们之间的关联。基于关联词语的评析活动,可以让学生通过语篇中相关词语的不断重现,从不同角度丰富读者对目标词语的认识,从而对语言点有更为深刻的理解。
二、基于推理的语言点评析性教学
1. 归纳
推理最常见的方法之一是归纳。归纳帮助我们从个别的、特殊的事物中概括出一般的概念。[1]在文本的条件下,常常有一些词汇、句子或段落牵涉到个体与一般、部分与整体的关系。理清这些关系,可以帮助学生发现文本间的内在关联并推测出目标词汇的意义和用法。我们以NSEFC Book 7 Unit 4的“A LETTER HOME”的第2、3段为例。这两段主要描述的是作者(志愿者)所在学校的恶劣条件。为了讲解condition一词,教师先提问:The bush school is in terrible conditions. Can you name just a few of the conditions?
学生列出具体的conditions (no electricity, no textbooks, no equipment, muddy tracks, no water available)后,教师帮助学生归纳这些conditions的共性,即:particular things you see, hear or feel。然后,教师进一步提出:Besides the terrible conditions, does the school have other things to worry about?
通过学生提供的答案(如:The students have no concept of studies. Parents can’t afford their children’s education ...),教师指出:The school is actually in a difficult situation. 这样通过对文本信息的归纳,教师用不着举更多的额外例子,学生就明白了situation指的是combined things,而condition主要是指具体的条件。
在同一文本背景下,作者提到“Science is my most challenging subject”。为解释challenging一词,教师向学生提问:Why does the writer say it is “a challenging subject” instead of “a difficult subject”? Does he happen to choose the word at random?如果学生回答有困难,请他们立刻查阅词典,可知challenging的意思为:most difficult but in an interesting and enjoyable way。教师鼓励学生通过文本找到作者作为志愿者教师生活清苦但依然乐此不疲的语篇信息,如:He ended up as an experienced and imaginative teacher;As a volunteer teacher, he is always willing to do better because he came here to make a difference等等。通过对这些信息的归纳,学生对challenging一词的理解更加丰富、更加全面。在文本背景下,我们不建议学生查词汇表、查词典。词典编纂者不会将社会意义、心理联系与词语本身联系在一起。文本则比词典有更为丰富的语义,而且学生若能从文本上下文寻找解决问题的契机,不仅能发现关联信息的蛛丝马迹,也锻炼了归纳能力和解决问题的能力。
2. 演绎
与归纳相反的是演绎的方法,它是从一般的原理推导出特殊情况的一种推理方法。以NSEFC Book 8 Unit 3 的“THE PROBLEM OF THE SNAKES”为例。课文中提到了捕蛇的程序(procedure),为帮助学生准确理解procedure的意义,我们可以将捕蛇的程序列在PPT上,但中间夹杂非程序的一些信息,比如器具描述、试验结果和试验反思等,然后请学生把它们挑选出来。
1. First, I bought an ice-cream maker which was made of stainless steel.
2. Between the outside and the inside walls of the bowl there is some jelly, which freezes when cooled.
3. Then, I put the bowl into the fridge and waited for 24 hours.
4. At the same time I prepared some ice-cubes.
5. After that, I placed the frozen bowl over the snakes’ habitat and the ice-cubes on top of the bowl to keep it cool.
6. Finally I covered the whole thing with a large bucket.
7. Then I waited. After two hours I removed the bucket and the bowl.
8. The snakes were less active but they were still too fast for me. They abruptly disappeared into a convenient hole in the wall. 学生通过对以上8个陈述的分析、识别,界定它们是否属于procedure的一部分。这一活动是对procedure一词的概念的理清。这种通过文本具体例证去证实概念的演绎方法,对理解语言点有很大的帮助作用。
3. 推测
除了归纳和推理,利用推测的思维活动也能进一步理解语言点。例如,NSEFC Book 7 Unit 4的“A LETTER HOME”讲的是一个澳大利亚的志愿者教师到巴布亚新几内亚支教的故事。他给国内的朋友写信,里面有一句话说:Thanks for your letter, which took a fortnight to arrive. 教师提问学生:What is the implied meaning of the additional part(which took a fortnight to arrive)? 这是一个推断的问题。有些学生答,这说明作者patient;有些学生答,这说明作者感到grateful。这些答案,暴露了不少学生的思维弱点:其实,patient有两层意义:(1)wait calmly,(2)without being angry,但语篇中并没有提到作者如何平静地等待。而依据前文提到的thanks for your letter,也不能推断出作者对朋友的感激。这时,教师引导学生去推测fortnight一词是表达一段长时间还是短时间。一封信需要fortnight才能到达,说明作者的支教地一定地处穷乡僻壤。所以,这里的非限制性定语从句which took a fortnight to arrive并不是用来限定letter,而是用来做补充和说明。通过这样的推测,学生既明白了fortnight的意思,又掌握了非限制性定语从句的用法。
三、基于背景知识的语言点评析性教学
任何文本,背后都有着一定的社会、文化、政治等语境支撑。文本评析就可以以此为出发点。比如,NSEFC Book 3 Unit 1的“FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS”中有这样一段话:
Festivals can also be held to honour famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan. In the USA, Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in New World. India has a national festival on October 2 to honour Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain India’s independence from Britain.
本文对这三个名人只作白描式的描写。但是,如果引导学生深入了解相关背景知识,则不仅能激发学生的人文情怀,更可以进行语言点的教学。以本段的arrival和gain为例。教师可以提问:Which festival celebrates a person from a different culture?学生知晓Columbus Day是用来纪念意大利航海家哥伦布发现美洲大陆,所以这个节日基本是北美洲的一个庆祝日。但是,北美洲当今还有不少人(比如说美洲土著后裔)很憎恨哥伦布,因为他们认为他的到来(arrival)几乎摧毁了土著人的文化,给他们带来痛苦的记忆。而圣雄甘地为追求印度独立,发动非暴力不合作运动,数度被捕入狱而矢志不渝,经过坚苦卓绝的斗争,终于赢得(gain)国家独立。gain的真正意义(gradually achieve something that is valuable)因为有这样的背景支撑而更加清晰和丰满。
词汇如此,语法点的理解也一样。比如,“FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS”中有这样一句话:If the neighbours do not give any sweets, the children might play a trick on them.本单元教学重点是情态动词might等的用法。教师可以给学生适度提供万圣节的背景,指出万圣节夜晚小孩挨家挨户讨糖果,大人们总是会满足他们的愿望,因此小孩对屋主play a trick几乎没有付诸实践的机会。这就是文章中为什么要用might(用以指实现的可能性很小)的原因。
四、基于语篇情节的语言点评析性教学
语篇中的语言点实际上是作者根据具体语境在整个语言系统中的选择结果,因此语言点不能孤立分析,而应该与语境充分结合在一起。比如说NSEFC Book 1 Unit 3的“JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG”中有这样一段话:
I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didn’t know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now I know that the proper way is always her way ... Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.
Several months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library ... 文中的can表达“有时可能会”的意思。我们可以建立在语篇内容的基础上提这样一个问题:Is Wang Wei always a stubborn person?学生进行讨论,充分发表见解。然后教师继续提问:Who might have first come up with the idea of doing some research at the library?
事实上,不管谁提出去图书馆做个资料研究,只要Wang Wei去了,就说明她还是能够听从别人意见,而不总是一意孤行的人。所以,基于语篇的情节,学生就可以较好地理解情态动词can在肯定句中表示“有时可能会这样”的用法。语言点教学若能建立在语篇的基础上,就可以帮助学生发现各种隐含的信息,从而大大提高学生的评析能力和评判性思维。
五、基于语言鉴赏的语言点评析性教学
文本阅读的大部分目的是为了获取信息和了解他人的观点,但不可否认的是,阅读同时也会提高一个人的语言鉴赏能力。我们在文本阅读时,也应该充分注意文本的遣词造句对文本信息传达所起到的不可忽视的作用。比如,NSEFC Book 3 Unit 1的“A SAD LOVE STORY”中有一段话:
She said she would be there at seven o’clock, and he thought she would keep her word. He had looked forward to meeting her all day, and now he was alone with his roses and chocolates, like a fool. Well, he was not going to hold his breath for her to apologize. He would drown his sadness in coffee.
显然,Li Fang因为女孩的爽约,心情极其郁闷。想到女孩可能故意放他鸽子,不由得心生怨恨。作者使用了短语hold his breath和drown his sadness,极其传神地把Li Fang的气恼和郁闷描写了出来。而如果将这一句子改写为:He wouldn’t expect her to apologize. He would forget about his sadness,句子平淡而寡味,意蕴全失。教师可以从此扩展开去,举出更多使用breath,drown等词使得语句更加生动的例证。如:Don’t waste your breath. He was drowning in frustration等等。
再如,NSEFC Book 1 Unit 4的“A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN’T SLEEP”是描述唐山地震的一篇记叙文。这篇文章使用了大量的修辞手法。如明喻(Simile):Bricks were like red autumn leaves;暗喻(Metaphor):Hard hills of rocks become rivers of dirt;重复(Repetition):The water in the wells rose and fell, rose and fell; 幽默(Humor):The cows would never give milk: the cows died;拟人(Personification):The city began to breathe;夸张(Exaggeration):The world was at an end;等等。教师可以引导学生用描述事实的手法重述以上的句子,让学生去发现使用修辞手法和写实手法之间的差异。这个评析过程可以帮助学生更加准确地理解at an end,rise and fall等词汇的用法。
总之,教师必须认识到,绝大部分语言点都可以附着于文本上,而文本又有着丰富的张力。教师不能盲目接受文本中语言点的“字面”信息[2],不能为了教语言点而教语言点,不能视语言点的学习为语言学习的终极目标,而应该引导学生跳出文本,以评析、批判的态度,从整体的角度来审读课文、评价课文、欣赏课文。这样一种积极的、有创造性的阅读态度,可以促进语言和意义最大限度地交融,给语言点的学习注入更加多维的认识。
参考文献:
[1] 理查德·保罗,琳达·埃尔德.思考的力量[M].丁薇,译.上海:格致出版社,上海人民出版社,2010:249.
[2] 杨进红,代秀秀.阅读教学中的文本解读:“多元”与“有界”[J]. 现代教育论丛,2011(4): 56.