首页 理论教育以人文素养为导向的词汇教学案例优化方案

以人文素养为导向的词汇教学案例优化方案

【摘要】:(一)分类词汇与学生人文素养培育词汇有不同的类型,词汇类型的划分本身就蕴含一定的文化因素。(二)舶来词与学生人文素养培育在英语教学中,说到舶来词,可以分两类:一类是指英语本身,因贸易、科技等原因,有着不少来自拉丁语、法语、希腊语、阿拉伯语等语言的词汇,如:alcohol,coffee,guitar等。这两类舶来词,都会为语言学习者带来充分的文化给养。来源于英文的舶来词多数都源于近代工业革命后,彰显了英语国家科技文化领域的领先。

(一)分类词汇与学生人文素养培育

词汇有不同的类型,词汇类型的划分本身就蕴含一定的文化因素。仅就颜色而言,英语词汇便有着丰富的文化内涵和延伸意义。例如:

Red,很多时候单纯表示红色,有red wine(红酒)、red carpet(红地毯)等,但也有与颜色不对应的表述,如:be in the red(赤字;亏空)、a redletter day(日历上用红字标明的值得记住的重要日子)等。

White,除了表示白色,在英语文化背景中,有white coffee(牛奶咖啡),有a white lie(善意的谎言)、white elephant(昂贵而无用之物)等表述。

Blue,除了表示蓝色,很多时候用来表示心情,如:I’m feeling rather blue today.(我今天感觉很沮丧)。还有非常经典的欧式传统婚礼中的新娘必需品:something old,something new,something borrowed,something blue,and a silver sixpence in her shoe.(一个老的东西,一个新的东西,一个借来的东西,一个蓝色的东西,外加一个6便士放在她的鞋底)。根据他们的文化传统,这些东西都会给新娘带来好运,如果她在婚礼的时候带着所有的这些,那她的marriage(婚姻)就会非常幸福。

Green,除了表示绿色、新鲜,在英语中可以表示“嫉妒、眼红”,如green-eyed monster。中文中表示“嫉妒”可以说“眼红”,但在英语中却不能直译成red-eyed。又如,由于美元纸币是绿色的,所以green在美国也指代“钱财、钞票、有经济实力”等意义,green power就是指财团。另外green在英语中还指“没有经验、缺乏训练”,如a green hand就是指“一名新手”。

Black,除了表示黑色,如black coffee(不加牛奶或奶油的咖啡),还可以指黑皮肤的人种,如a black hero(黑人英雄);可以指“苦中作乐”,如black humor(黑色幽默)、black comedy(黑色喜剧)等,还有black sheep,相当于中文里的“害群之马”。

Yellow,除了表示黄色,可以专指由黄色纸张印刷的专用书刊,如Yellow Pages(黄页—电话号码簿)。

(二)舶来词与学生人文素养培育

在英语教学中,说到舶来词,可以分两类:一类是指英语本身,因贸易、科技等原因,有着不少来自拉丁语、法语、希腊语、阿拉伯语等语言的词汇,如:alcohol,coffee,guitar等。另一类是指汉语从英语中“舶来”的词汇,如:沙发(sofa)、咖啡(coffee)、逻辑(logic)等。这两类舶来词,都会为语言学习者带来充分的文化给养。从舶来词可以看出一个民族在国际上输出了些什么东西,留下了什么样的声誉。来源于英文的舶来词多数都源于近代工业革命后,彰显了英语国家科技文化领域的领先。

1.英语中的拉丁语

英语虽然是日耳曼语族中的一个语支,但由于不列颠这个岛国历史上受罗马帝国长达400年的统治和占领(BC55-AD407),罗马天主教的早期(6世纪)传入和诺曼王朝将近400年的侵略(AD1066-1399),以及随即兴起的文艺复兴运动的影响,拉丁语直接间接对英语施与了极大的影响。我们可以说,英语是受拉丁语影响最深的日耳曼语族中的一个语支。根据语言学家对两万个英语单词进行研究的结果,拉丁语词汇包括法语(来源于母语拉丁语)、希腊语(通过拉丁语转入英语)占两万个英语词中的绝对多数。由于受拉丁语如此深远的影响,英语的构词法与其说是英语的构词法,还不如说是拉丁语构词法或拉丁语词素分析法。英语的语法,英语的成语、格言,英语的缩略词以及英、美各国的文学、艺术作品的标题中,不少都有拉丁语煊耀其间。

在英语阅读中,我们经常会碰到诸如a.m.(午前,上午),p.m.(午后,下午),A.D.(公元)等表示时间、年代的拉丁语缩略词。

a.m.,又作AM,缩自拉丁语ante meridiem,解释为before midday,译作“午前、上午”;

p.m.,又作PM,缩自拉丁语post meridiem,解释为after midday,译作“午后、下午”;

A.D.,又作AD,缩自Anno Domini,解释为since the birth of Christ,译作“公元”。

正好英语本身也有与AD相对应的B.C.,又作BC,解释为before the birth of Christ,译作“公元前”。

另外,常见的拉丁语缩略词还有:

e.g.,缩自exempli gratia,解释为for example,译作“举例、例如”。

i.e.,缩自id est,解释为that is(to say)on in other words,译作“换句话说”。

etc.,缩自et cetera,解释为so forth and so on,译作“等等”。

同时,拉丁语作为古罗马人使用的语言,有些也辗转传入英语,如我们现在普遍使用的英语12个月及每周7日的英语单词。

2.英语中的法语外来词

自诺曼底公爵征服英格兰,成为英格兰国王,便将法语带到了英国。他的子女与法国王室在接下来很长的一段时间里进行了长达百年的战争,俗称“百年战争”。学英语的人多半了解这段历史。那么,英语当中便不可避免地融入了法语味道。找工作前要写简历,resume一词,便是出自法语,还有说成是CV,这个词来自于拉丁语,curriculum vitae;出去旅游买纪念品,souvenir一词,也是出自法语;约会,除了英语中原有的date一词,若使用rendezvous一词,便明显有了法国气息;salon一词,也是源于法语,如今在英语中普遍使用,便是在汉语中,也直接用其发音,称作“沙龙”,意思大家都明白;还有现在用得较多的“精英”一词,elite,也出自法语。

3.其他方式的舶来词

还有一些舶来词,最初为音译,在不断的使用中由于语言习惯、记忆和理解习惯的问题,逐步向意译发展,最终形成音译+意译的词汇。

如:internet(inter+net)因特网

link链接

blog部落格→博客

miniskirt(mini+skirt)迷你裙

hippy嬉皮→嬉皮士

a jar of beer扎啤

milk shake奶昔

(三)“谚语”“俚语”与学生人文素养培育

1.谚语(proverbs)

英语谚语和中文谚语、格言等一样,它是人们社会生活经验的概括和结晶。它经历了千百年历史的涤荡,浓缩着睿智和哲理,是人类文化和道德领域里熠熠生辉的明珠。“Proverbs are the wisdom of the ages”,因此,在英语教学中适当地进行谚语教学,既欣赏英语谚语的精练和美感,更有利于学生人文素养、心理素养、科学精神的培养。

如:(1)Make every day count.(让每一天都过得有意义)

(2)Diligence makes up for the lack of intelligence.(勤能补拙)

(3)The early bird catches the worm.(捷足先登)

(4)An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.(一分预防胜过十分治疗)

(5)Too many cooks spoil the soup.(人多手杂)

(6)A rolling stone gathers no moss.(滚石不生苔)

(7)Time and tide wait no man.(时不我待)

(8)Many hands make light work.(众人拾柴火焰高)

在上述谚语中,蕴含着十分宝贵的人文素材。在教学过程中,通过教师讲解,可以引导学生深入思考、领悟哲理、陶冶情操。

2.俚语(slangs)

俚语(slang)指非习惯用语,用以表达新鲜事物,或对旧事物赋以新的说法。它可以让说话变得更“生动”、更“流利”,是英语中较为活跃的语言成分。了解和掌握英文中俚语的特点,不但有助于提高文化素养,理解英美人的思维方式,更能从一个方面窥探英语发展的趋向,加深对西方文化的理解。

如:(1)the last straw:the final annoyance or setback,which even though minor,makes one lose patience(最后一根稻草)

例文:At 1 PM today,I have an appointment with my dentist to repair a broken tooth—actually to replace the broken tooth with a crown,which is probably a multiple—step arrangement—he said the tooth may well have been cracked in the fall and then just came out with a little more pressure.I was eating cherries and DID NOT just bite into a pit!I think the pit just hit it and it was the last straw for the tooth!

(2)hang out:spend one's free time in...(闲逛;出去消遣)

例文:Dr Das told me I could travel if I felt comfortable,but I figure I won't really know if I'm comfortable until I travel some more so we took Matthew up on the invitation to help him celebrate his birthday and Samantha's 8-month birthday.We'll take the train tomorrow morning,get into DCaround 2 PM(hopefully),and return next Thursday evening.I'll use half a pain pill each for the two legs so it will take the edge off.Terry and Matthew will go with 2 others to a Cubs game Tuesday afternoon/evening.Amy and I will go to the spa Saturday for manicures(both)and a pedicure too(Amy).Amy,Samantha and I will generally hang out for the week—and we'll let Terry join us as often as he wants!

(3)hit or miss:haphazard,at random(can also be used as an adverb,as in:I took photos at our niece's wedding hit or miss,hoping many would turn out well)(任意的,随便的)

例文:My times at the computer lately have been hit or miss,and there have been some things I would have sent you if I'd had just a tad more energy(does that sound pitiful?it's not meant to be).But this one speaks to our ideals and the shared conviction that when we learn about one another,we can appreciate our similarities and our differences and make the world a better place!

(四)拓展阅读与学生人文素养培育

例文:“Let me lie like a stone,and let me rise like a loaf.”Whoever it was that coined this proverb must surely have felt keenly about our two most besetting(不断侵袭的)daily problems:getting to sleep at night,and waking up in the morning.People who fall asleep the moment their heads touch the pillow and wake up early enough to take a long walk before breakfast are indeed fortunate.At night,they do not toss and turn,or count before backwards in a desperate effort to go to sleep.In the morning,they do not turn to that most inhuman of all inventions,the alarm clock,to wake up.Most of us are forever thinking up new ways to cheat time.The sweetest minutes of each day are those that immediately follow the angry sound of the alarm.Even if we possess the more expensive kind of clock that,with soft chimes,gently hints that morning has arrived and offers us a tempting cup of hot tea,the result is the same.The chiming is followed by a sudden,guilty realization that we have overslept and there is yet another mad morning rush to get to work.

Beds are the best evidence of the importance man attaches to sleep.What deep sleeper can have gazed without envy at the monumental,spacious,four-poster beds of the past?It is easy to imagine one climbing into a bed like this,drawing the curtains,and enjoying hours and hours of uninterrupted sleep.It is only in our days that beds have been debased.The first victim in our effort to save space has been,of course,the bed.Everything is done to make it less spacious.It folds up and disappears into the wall or performs astonishing acrobatic(杂技的)tricks and turns itself into a couch or an armchair.Even the bedroom as such has disappeared and has been replaced by a thing called a“bed sitting room”in which you can neither comfortably sleep nor sit.What with further refinements like rubber mattresses and electric blankets!It is no wonder that many of us suffer from insomnia and seek salvation(拯救)in alarm clocks.Psychologists,meanwhile,are busy studying our sleep habits,and tell us that we cannot truly rest unless we dream.But most of us know from bitter experience that the only dreams we have are those that come in those few minutes of blissful sleep that follow each rude awakening.Only our ancestors knew the true value of sleep.We have simply to remember that Shakespeare not only gave the subject a lot of his attention,but rated beds so highly as to make out a will leaving his wife his“second best bed”.

本节课的重点是对于阅读语篇的讲解,通过阅读中的词汇教学,侧重对于词汇的赏析,从而帮助学生从人文的角度体会文章的写作意图。

讲解一,词块:“Let me lie like a stone,and let me rise like a loaf.”以“stone”与“loaf”的对比揭示文章对于睡眠的态度,石头与面包的比喻非常形象地表明了,睡要睡得踏实,醒要醒得轻松。理解了这一组对比,对于后文展开讨论的两个问题的理解就非常容易,睡眠的两大问题即是睡着和醒来。

讲解二,词块:At night,they do not toss and turn,or count before backwards in a desperate effort to go to sleep.扣住toss and turn这一动词结构,让学生猜测其“辗转反侧”之意,从而帮助学生理解语篇接下来对于难以入睡的描述。

讲解三,词块:What deep sleeper can have gazed without envy at the monumental,spacious,four-poster beds of the past?It is easy to imagine one climbing into a bed like this,drawing the curtains,and enjoying hours and hours of uninterrupted sleep.在对于床的描述段落中,紧扣了monumental,spacious等一些形容词,让一张空间大、有四根床柱的大床形象地呈现在学生的理解中,更抓住了climb into,draw the curtains这两个动词帮助学生来想象睡眠的隆重程度,从而理解文章要“尊重睡眠”的中心思想。

睡眠是一个与每个人的生活息息相关的主题,在这节阅读课中,可以耐心地从文章中抓住一些非常形象的能让人感受到睡眠的词,如“toss and turn”,“climb into the bed”,通过词汇的讲解使得阅读文章的内容更为清晰。

应该说,将词汇教学融入句子和语篇的教学中,帮助学生在语境中熟悉词义,掌握其用法,深化对词汇的理解,同时也加强了对于阅读语篇的理解。