◆王 東
(浙江信達(dá)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)校)
在十幾年的英語(yǔ)教學(xué)中,常聽(tīng)到同事抱怨,作文教學(xué)不知道怎么開(kāi)展?因?yàn)檫@是一項(xiàng)耗時(shí)多、見(jiàn)效慢的艱苦工作,給教學(xué)繁重的英語(yǔ)同仁增加了許多困難與壓力。于是,英語(yǔ)作文教學(xué)老師不滿意,學(xué)生也怨言頗多,兩看相厭。為了探索一條可行的英語(yǔ)作文教學(xué)之路,這些年來(lái)一直在做一些改革與嘗試,總結(jié)出“順、亮、彩”作文教學(xué)三部曲,與各位同仁分享,希望有所借鑒。
我發(fā)現(xiàn),初級(jí)中學(xué)和一些英語(yǔ)薄弱的高中學(xué)生容易犯這類錯(cuò)誤:作文讀讀,就是不夠順、語(yǔ)病繁多。文章只有“寫(xiě)順”了,才能達(dá)到最基本的可讀性要求,否則就有可能胡言亂語(yǔ)。那么,我們?cè)鯓硬拍馨盐恼聦?xiě)順?
1.語(yǔ)言順
我們讀那些錯(cuò)誤率高的文章,磕磕絆絆、索然無(wú)味。究其原因有這些:
(1)漢語(yǔ)思維影響英語(yǔ)表達(dá)
在學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)過(guò)程中,我們每個(gè)人或多或少都受到母語(yǔ)的干擾,因此Chinglish的表達(dá)方式在學(xué)生的習(xí)作中應(yīng)該是司徒見(jiàn)慣。詳見(jiàn)下列句子(所有病句均摘自于筆者學(xué)生平時(shí)作文中):
①The rain is big.改成:It rains/rained heavily.
②The price is expensive.改成:The price is high.
③His body is very healthy.改成:He is very healthy.
(2)語(yǔ)法錯(cuò)誤影響表達(dá)
A.動(dòng)詞扎堆,謂語(yǔ)不明確
①Stay uplateisn’tgood for your health.
改成:Stayingup late isn’t good for your health.
②I’m often dochores,such as make the bed,water the flowers.
改成:I often dochores such as making the bed and wateringthe flowers.
B.代詞混亂,指代不清
①I(mǎi)t is bad for you health.改成:It’s bad for yourhealth.
②You should try ourbest to care about the poor kids.
改成:You should tryyour best to care about the poor kids.
C.時(shí)態(tài)混亂
①I(mǎi)f you sleep well last night,you will have good spirit to study.
改成:If yousleep well every night,you will have good spirit to study.
②When Iseethese,I was very satisfied.改成:When I sawthese,I was very satisfied.
D.標(biāo)點(diǎn)誤用
①You can just talk with your classmates andteacher,then you’ll be OK.
改成:You can just talk with your classmates and teachers. Then you’ll be OK.
②Reading books is a goodhabit,I want to let me keep it.
改成:Reading books is a goodhabit andI want to let me keep it.
E.單詞拼寫(xiě)不正確
學(xué)生單詞拼寫(xiě)不過(guò)關(guān),通常是形近詞,如下列病句:
①You are so tried.改成:You are so tired.
②They study muchhardly.改成:They study much harder.
③Expectbooks,they also need money to buy school things.
改成:Exceptbooks,they also need money to buy school things.
要糾正學(xué)生漢語(yǔ)式英語(yǔ)表達(dá)和語(yǔ)法錯(cuò)誤,平時(shí)要多積累,發(fā)現(xiàn)并改正孩子們寫(xiě)作中這類錯(cuò)誤,讓他們整理。
2.內(nèi)容順
總體來(lái)說(shuō),內(nèi)容理順,大多數(shù)同學(xué)容易做到,出錯(cuò)的概率最小。要提醒的是,小部分同學(xué)在寫(xiě)作中,沒(méi)有讀清楚題目的要求,而急于作答,有可能漏掉要點(diǎn)或要求。
3.邏輯順
“比較中西方文化差異,我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)西方人繼承了古希臘拉丁文化,擅長(zhǎng)于邏輯思維、抽象性思考和實(shí)驗(yàn)研究;然而,中國(guó)人習(xí)慣于辯證性、整體性思維和藝術(shù)性思考。”因此,中文是比較注重意連,而英語(yǔ)是比較注重邏輯連接或形連。所以,中國(guó)學(xué)生在寫(xiě)作時(shí),經(jīng)常會(huì)受到母語(yǔ)的干擾,寫(xiě)出一連串的沒(méi)有連接詞的英語(yǔ)句子。
在完成了第一步作文教學(xué)“寫(xiě)順”的前提下,要給孩子作文提更高的要求“寫(xiě)亮”。可以從以下三個(gè)方面開(kāi)展:
1.詞匯與句式寫(xiě)亮
關(guān)于文章寫(xiě)“亮”,筆者認(rèn)為主要體現(xiàn)在用詞的升級(jí)和句式的多樣性。不同階段的學(xué)生,他們的英語(yǔ)選詞方面是有變化的。比如,小學(xué)生說(shuō)“I like music very much.”初中生就可以說(shuō)“I really enjoy listening to music.”水平再高一點(diǎn)的高中生就可以說(shuō)“I definitely appreciate music.”同樣一個(gè)“喜歡”,在不同的階段,寫(xiě)作中可以表達(dá)為“l(fā)ike,enjoy,appreciate”,是一個(gè)逐漸升級(jí)的過(guò)程,而不是三個(gè)階段的學(xué)生一樣要求?!皩?shí)際上掌握較多的同義詞對(duì)豐富寫(xiě)作用詞,提高語(yǔ)言的運(yùn)用能力方面均有很好的作用。”(魏鷹,英語(yǔ)同義詞辨析)同理,如果老是用簡(jiǎn)單句來(lái)表達(dá)英語(yǔ)作文,會(huì)讓改卷老師感覺(jué)到你的英語(yǔ)句式單調(diào)、缺乏變化,不夠豐富。因此,為了把文章寫(xiě)亮,我們需要在句式的多樣性上下功夫。常見(jiàn)的有這些方式可以豐富你的英語(yǔ)句式:
(1)介詞或名詞短語(yǔ)充當(dāng)獨(dú)立成分
①Withhis left arm,he bandaged himself so thathe would not lose too much blood.
②Liu Yu,a fifteen-year-old boy from Shandong,is a running star.
(2)非謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞的恰當(dāng)使用
①Takingnotes in the class can help you study English.
②To tell you the truth,I don’t like chicken,either.
③Deeply encouraged by my teacher,I study English harder than ever before.
(3)巧用復(fù)雜句(思考下列復(fù)雜句的表達(dá)方式)
①He lives in Hangzhou and the environment is very beautiful there.
改成:He lives in Hangzhou wherethe environment is beautiful.
②There were many times whenAron almost lost his life because of accidents.
③Li Wen is a normal 15-year-oldboy whoworks hard in school and gets good grades.
(4)巧用連接詞
①Even ifyou learn something well,you will forget it unlessyou use it.
②Good learners often connect whatthey need to learn with something they are interested in.
③Everythingthatyou learn becomes a part of you and changes you,so learn wisely and learn well.
④Hou Yi wasso sadthat he called out her name to the moon every night.
⑤Tom can not onlyspeak English but alsospeak Chinese.
(5)巧用套句
The earlierkids learn to be independent,the better it is for their future.
The moreyou read,the faster you’ll be.
2.書(shū)寫(xiě)亮
就作文書(shū)寫(xiě)是否工整、美觀,絕大多數(shù)老師認(rèn)為會(huì)有2-3分的影響。書(shū)寫(xiě)美觀、整潔的同學(xué)會(huì)比那些潦草同學(xué)多2~3分。這可真不少,其實(shí)也是能理解的。如果你字跡都不清楚,潦潦草草,老師怎么有信心讀下去?怎么給高分?所以,在平??荚嚠?dāng)中,一定要規(guī)范書(shū)寫(xiě),等到中考、高考中就能以更高的“顏值”去贏得改卷老師的青睞。
1.用詞精當(dāng)考究
唐朝苦吟派詩(shī)人賈島,為了一句詩(shī)或一個(gè)詞,不惜耗費(fèi)心血,甚至幾年才作一首詩(shī)。其名句“鳥(niǎo)宿池邊樹(shù),僧敲月下門(mén)”就是這樣推敲得來(lái)。一開(kāi)始,他猶豫是用“推”還是用“敲”字,于是在驢背上反復(fù)作推敲之勢(shì),最后定下“僧敲月下門(mén)”。由此可見(jiàn),用詞精當(dāng)太重要了。改卷中,我感覺(jué)有些同學(xué)易入誤區(qū),認(rèn)為只要單詞不拼寫(xiě)錯(cuò)或盡量用一些生僻的詞匯。實(shí)際上,英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)作中,得體太重要。即把單詞用對(duì)地方,用得恰當(dāng)就是最好。
2.善于比喻、擬人、排比、設(shè)問(wèn)、倒裝等修辭
A.設(shè)問(wèn)的作用能起到吸引讀者的興趣,或引出主題。在九年級(jí)教材(P102)開(kāi)頭“Do you often throw away things you don’t need anymore?”“Have you ever thought about how these things can actually be put to good us?”兩個(gè)問(wèn)句把讀者引入“Rethink,Reuse,Recycle”當(dāng)中,讀者的興趣調(diào)動(dòng)了,并且話題引出。寫(xiě)作中如適當(dāng)引用設(shè)問(wèn),文章會(huì)更生動(dòng)。
B.排比能使用同樣的句式,給文章增添氣勢(shì)。例如,在九年級(jí)英語(yǔ)教材“Go for it”(P107) ,文章前三段,連續(xù)用了三個(gè)相同句式“I remember…”把讀者帶入了作者讀書(shū)期間的往事追憶中去,很抒情與懷舊,也增強(qiáng)了文章的情感。
C.偶爾倒裝能給作文增色彩。我們知道,通常英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)作中表達(dá)方式是陳述句語(yǔ)氣,但是偶爾倒裝一下,效果就不一樣。例如,九年級(jí)英語(yǔ)教材“Go for it”(P54),文章Should I Be Allowed to Make My Own Decisions?最后一段最后一句“Only then will I have a chance to achieve my dream.”就用的恰到好處。
D.比喻在作文中能起到使文章生動(dòng)的作用,通常是單詞“l(fā)ike,as,as…as…,as if,treat…as…,A is to B what C is to D…”
3.善于引經(jīng)據(jù)典,尤其是一些成語(yǔ)、諺語(yǔ)和格言
在閱讀中,那些旁征博引、引經(jīng)據(jù)典的文章,總是讓我們愛(ài)不釋手。“英語(yǔ)中能否正確使用成語(yǔ)、諺語(yǔ)、格言往往是一個(gè)人的語(yǔ)言水平的標(biāo)志?!币虼耍?dāng)學(xué)生英語(yǔ)水平達(dá)到比較高的階段時(shí),我們可以從成語(yǔ)、諺語(yǔ)和格言的恰當(dāng)使用上面花點(diǎn)功夫去指導(dǎo)。
當(dāng)然,英語(yǔ)作文教學(xué)是一個(gè)復(fù)雜的、長(zhǎng)期的、循序漸進(jìn)的過(guò)程。我們不要指望上一、兩次作文課就能解決學(xué)生所有問(wèn)題。但是,如果我們能夠用科學(xué)的方法去評(píng)判學(xué)生們的英語(yǔ)寫(xiě)作水平,并結(jié)合我上述的作文教學(xué)“三部曲”,我們完全可以取得一些成績(jī)。愿我的一些同仁讀完這篇文章后有所收獲。